And yet the club signed players he did not want... I think that's part of the problem with our recruitment.

Which players were that?

I would be very surprised if Price was knocking on Simon Morans door begging him to sign Luther Burrell.
That indicates to me that not all of the recruitment is the responsibility of the coach. Don't get me wrong I think they are consulted.
I am still convinced that our season started to unravel after we announced big luthers signing (same time that Atkins was dropped) then it dropped off a cliff about the time he became eligible to play.
I am sure big Luther is a lovely fella and I hope he makes it but a lot of players in our squad spent a lot of time with Atkins and would have felt he was not treated great. None of that is Luthers fault and maybe not a whole lot was Price"s fault either.

Didn't they have a "clear the air" session or was that 2018? Maybe both.

A "clear the air" session, you say W71?
Whenever these "sessions" occur, players OBVIOUSLY have a problem with the coach (and his staff). Bearing in mind, he's not exactly long serving, and he had no leverage, I'm surprised he survived.
But, with our reputation of being "a bit too nice", nothing surprises me

Oh no, Price is going nowhere until the train hits the end of the track. Just hope if that does happen we are better at finding coaches than perfunctory, work-a-day prop forwards.

I don’t remember any “clear the air discussions” but my memory is terrible! When were they?

last one i remember was during the 2nd to last year of Smith (i think)... a few of the senior players voiced their concern to the management, after a little meeting of their own.

or something along those lines.

Hill had a player only talk for the team to get behind TS.

It was Ashton Sims who led it from what I heard at the time.

I guess that would make sense...but he isn't the type to pull rank on Hill. He'd have had Hill's ear.
It was Sims who broke the news on it too.

Wasn't that the year there was a general feeling that Harrison had been shafted? I think Higham walked out that year too.

Allegedly TS and Higham wasn't even speaking. Moran brokered the deal to aļlow MH an early release.

So no “clear the air meetings” during Price’s tenure?

6th game into next season

Quote ="Gaz3376"It was Ashton Sims who led it from what I heard at the time.'" https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/33243705

Quote ="Gaz3376"It was Ashton Sims who led it from what I heard at the time.'" https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/33243705

I think i am getting my memories jumbled up. I think last season was when Hill declared the players need to take a long look at themselves.

Matt Prior has signed with Leeds 2 year deal! & surprise surprise Merrin has returned to the NRL with St George.

We have had all year scouring the earth for props and now we are going to end up in the pound shop.

I've given up now, i'll take whatever we get. It's gonna be a chance Prop now, we'll sign an unknown Prop who has Potential and hope he can do something special but that hasn't worked out for 4-5 years so i don't care anymore.

I did say Listone is waiting for visa clearance.
We was in for Prior but got gazumped

We've collectively moaned for the last few seasons about a lack of half-backs. We now have two marquee signings in Austin and Widdop. Austin has demonstrated a commitment to making a go of it in the UK and we've seen what he is capable of over here. We know what Widdop can do, the risk is around his age / injury record.

Having used up our two marquee spots we now have to compete on the open market, within the limits of the salary cap, against NRL and SL clubs some of whom have not filled both their marquee slots. It doesn't matter how much money our benefactors are prepared to put into the club, we are limited by the cap and we are likely to be some way down the batting order.

As things stand we need Akauola to step up in 2020.

Well said!
This rumours thread needs renaming the moaning thread

Moaning or not, I believe our pack is in need of a Prop or two. We've been back row heavy for a while now, and we are where we are because of some poor recruiting.

Take SHW's point with the salary cap, hence we cannot attract a prop with what we have left. However, we've had too many back rows on the books which hasn't helped in the last couple of years.

It's perfectly reasonable to discuss our attempts and failures to land a decent forward under a thread called "Rumours".