If my counting is correct, we have fifteen squad players whose contract ends this year - that excludes all the reserves btw. From that number there are some players that are surely going to get an extension; Julien, Livett, Toby King, but I would imagine that the vast majority of the rest will be leaving. Looking at the Academy, I can not see any new players coming through this year other than those ie. Moran, Smith, who have contracts beyond 2017.

Assuming we have around 10 squad places to fill, that seems like an awful lot of players to find at the end of the season - at a time when there is not a lot of quality around in the UK game, and what little there is, is jealously guarded ?

(Just as an aside, I think we also need a big effort on the Academy front to ensure at least 3 possibly 4 players are coming through each year. We can no longer rely on poaching high quality youngsters from other clubs / feeder teams.)

Well hopefully no new contracts have been negotiated yet because its being left for the new coaching staff to decide, just wishful thinking on my part.

Some players become available at short notice and can be snapped up, but surely the vast majority of recruitment will already be taking place - leaving it until the end of the season would be laughable, and simply play into the hands of the rest of the SL clubs.

The club needs to give more academy players a chance, will dagger hasn't ripped it up this year but he was asked to train with the first team for a few weeks and impressed enough to get a start, 5 or 6 youngsters should be asked to train along side the first team to see how they do. Smith/Moran/ dagger imo don't stand out much more than the rest of the u19 players but training full time/ first team has proved they can make the step up and I'm sure a few more would given the chance

I'd cut a lot of them, there's plenty of dead week.

The reserves have sent Danny Rasool, Tyler Prell and Alex Whalley out on loan, which is great for all involved and hopefully getting them some game time will ready them to come into the squad. Declan Kay has been at Rochdale recently, again these opportunities are great and it puts the ball in the players court to impress.

The under 19's have a lot of names that seem to have been around for a while, Reardon, Pythian and Gillam (not including Dagger for obvious reasons) who should be the next pushing through.

It's a shame we haven't pushed Rasool or someone else in during the centre crisis rather than persistently sticking with Hughes. Play the youngsters, give them a go. It won't always work short term, but it will battle harden them

Wigan/Widnes/Wakefield etc have all given quite a few academy kids a go this year and that will give the whole academy team a boost because the rest of the kids will know they have a chance, wire u19s know they have slim to no chance because warrington would rather go for the older/ journey man player on a 12 month contract , there's lads in the u19s that have been there from 15 year old ,let's give them a go , they must be good to have been in the academy for 4/5 years

Warrington haven't been in a comfortable enough position to blood youngsters this season.

The best outcome will be we make the top eight then once safe for the rest of the season, creating seven games that meen pretty much nothing and can be used to blood the up and coming.

Unfortunately, for a good few years now, RL has been walking into the situation the game finds itself in now.
It isn't a choice these days for a respected coach to be able to click his fingers to assemble the right set of players to do the job on the field . The way the game's grass roots & development at lower levels in clubs has dwindled has left a shortfall of decent players coming through & there is also no longer the availability of good players from Down Under....even players from overseas are over priced & below par compared to what used to be available. Now ,more than ever,is the time for coaches to step up & earn their corn in terms of coming up with developing teams at their disposal & clueless coaches will get found out.

I agree make the 8.
Well have 7 dead rubbers so we can play all the young ones.

Well there is your answer for one of the fifteen

Gidley is retiring at the end of the season

[urlhttp://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/sport/wolves/15376882.Wire_half_Gidley_announces_retirement/[/url

Cannot believe we're allowing Smith to oversee such a major overhaul that will be needed

Completely agree about if we make the 8 using the games to blood the youth. 7 top flight games would be a great boost for a young guy trying to force his way into the first team

One has to wonder whether TS is overseeing the squad for next season, there are so many first team squad members to change SM may well have his plans hatched?

Simon Moran would needed to have sounded out any new coaching set up with regards to possible replacements.

Would Hiku have been signed on a 3 year deal if that was the case, sadly I doubt it, and expect to be filled with average utility players all over the park, and Patton and Brown to be halves

Not feeling too positive myself, but you're worse than me by the sounds



It could well be that signings are lined up by the club for the current set up with a new set up in mind

I think we're stuck with Brown, can't see us releasing him 12 months in after paying a significant fee, and doubt we have enough in the pot to splash out on another half

Now we have Hiku signed, presumably that's the centre position covered for 2018.
Other targets:

Naiquama to come in on the right wing on Gidleys salary
Big Prop to replace Sims
1 or 2 x Second rower to replace Westwood & Savelio

Evans, Penny, Dwyer, & Pomeroy all leaving to be replaced by a Back up hooker and ANO to cover half back when Brown is injured / gets so terrible TS is forced to sit him out. Tony Gigot maybe a decent shout? Probably more naturally a centre but could fit in in the halves or at full back and put pressure on Atkins and Hiku to perform?

Both Kings, Julien, Wilde, Johnson, Livett, Ryan Jones to stay of the out of contract players, as I cant see them taking much cap space and we need players for back up / reserves etc

Wrong attitude, surely? Doesn't that imply that the current players were playing so well that they deserved to keep their places?

Putting them in now or earlier this season wouldn't really help them, young players need to be playing alongside quality experienced players who are in form ! What would they ha e learnt ? How to accept mediocrity? that it's not about winning but how we train ?

If we had played well but finished in the top 8 but not able to get top 4 then yes there would have been a reason to play some of the younger players !

I don't get this problem with "trained well". Doesn't a coach have to take into account how a player trains? If not how would a new player ever get into a team? it does seem that whatever TS says at the moment certain people will ridicule him. But the constant bitching about his comments smacks of playground bullies who identify a deemed weakness and constantly harp on about it, as though repetition makes it funnier rather than wearisome.

We won't make the top eight
Wakey and the pies away who are pushing to finish in the top 4 and the top eight
It ain't going to happen.

It's because he treats our match day performance outcome like it's an act of God, out of anybody's hands, rather than as a result of the coaching methods and team preparation. The latter he always vindicates with "but we trained well". But this cannot be the case as to train well must infer to have prepared well for the desired result, and our desired results have been terrible, thus bringing the preparation into question to us fans, but never seemingly to him.

If they as TS states are regularly training well can we assume that they are in peak form mentally and physically through the week?

If so what happens on game day?

Due to the consistency stated by TS they surely cannot lose that much metal and physical form and then gain it back for the next set of training sessions?

I am a believer of the best team every week playing hard and fast, like us in 2011. Does anyone think like me that perhaps the constant shuffling of the past 2-3 years to try and manipulate league the finishing position has had an affect on the team this year?

Just trying to find a "why" to this for my own sanity!

Hopefully we can scrape 8th and breathe a sigh of relief and let the young fellas prove to the club and supporters that they are worth a shot.

You can train well i.e. Lots of effort, good handling skills, good ccordination, good timing of runs etc because there is no pressure on the training field. That is quite different to a match though where you can make plenty of mistakes simply because your confidence is low.from so many defeats and players are under pressure to turn that around.

If we finish in 8th sport with no chance of getting in the top 4 that's the perfect opportunity to 'blood youngsters'.

Its no coincidence that when the chips have been down over the last few years and we've had no choice to put the kids in we've looked arguably at our most deadly.

Why? because they're academy players. They know the clubs history. They're keen and eager and play for each other the badge. As opposed to a quick fix buys like Brown who plays for his own personal agenda and cash.