If he is our only signing for next year i think we might keep Drinkwater and hopefully Tai.
Forwards wise we already have Max Wood, Dan Okoro, Lucas Green in the wings, with Luke thomas added back next year, So with Yates added in we aren't looking bad.
yates Might rotate with Currie at 13 next year, keeps them both fresh and avoids burnout. We'd be swapping a high work rate player for a high work rate player, so we wouldn't have a dip in energy and impact once Currie is subbed.
Might not be the plan that at all but would be welcome

Anyone heard Ratchford to Salford?

if you're not not getting a 6'4 18 stone monster, you're getting a 5'10 squat person, then you want him to be better than your current 5'10 middle, he's a lot better in defence than philbin, he's been pretty highly rated since coming over here.

He's probably a much much better version of what we expected from jason clark in terms of doing a lot of mopping up.

I'm quite excited at the thought of him and Fitzgibbon defending together

Overall, I’ve thought of Yates as Hudds all-round best player the last few seasons. I also liked the look of McQueen for a while, but I feel Yates is more consistent even though he doesn’t grab the limelight as much.

I’d be very happy with this signing. It’s a 17 man game, so not too fussed at who starts in the 13.

Yep. I am not bothered really who he replaces. All I know is that Yates is very very likely to be in the 17 every week.

No, but he has been all we could’ve wanted, slotted in wherever he was asked and always made a decent fist of it, possibly at the expense of his personal ambitions. I would hope every Wire fan would wish him well. A possible punditry role when he retires I would think.

He has been a great signing and clubman over a long period of his career, since starting originally at Salford.

I always thought that he would be the ideal type of player to move into coaching once his playing days ended.

Maybe offer him a role at Academy/Scholarship level as an assistant and see how he does?

The best props I saw back in the day were around 5’7” to 5’10”.
I couldn’t believe how short Les Boyd and Kurt Sorenson were in off the pitch real life!

I’ll be extremely pleased to see our recruitment slow down to picking up just one or two players if those players are good and fit the system. We’ve had ample opportunity to look over at St Helens and see how they do it and finally the penny is dropping. Saints IIRC very rarely have a big turnover at the end of the season - they go for continuity and promote from within and bar the odd inevitable mistake they have got their recruitment spot on.

Hull are currently behaving like us of old…..except even worse which is horrifying if you’re a Hull fan.

More like Doc Marwan at Salford than Wire.

dont forget Jim Mills he was a real short ar… actually he was quite big

From my perspective Mills seemed to be the exception back then rather than the rule. His great adversary and our guy Mike Nicholas fits RD's Prop prototype from back in the day.

Heard a whisper that Cooper has been offered a deal. Still no decision made on his part.

Time for Cooper to go full-time on his clothing business that was his main focus towards the end of his Wire career.

I did wonder a couple of days ago when Mago signed for another couple of years at Wigan whether Cooper would look to move elsewhere. With Vaughan, Harrison, Musgrove, Yates?, Philbin, Bullock, Crowther, Wood, Thomas, Okoro we seem well stocked?

Amone would be a great signing, would be a point of difference for us, but Cooper I’m not sure what that would achieve.

It would be a "No" from me....if I had any say whatsoever!

I presume you mean at Wigan.

Cooper will probably give retirement some thought at the end of the season, I wouldn’t expect wire to offer him deal if he sought to continue his playing career away from Wigan. He wouldn’t add anything to what we already have in the forward pack.. his age and the recent acl injury he suffered would be a concerning factor as well

I wonder if Cooper would barge into Burgess when substituted?

It’s a no from me on coops.

Nope, Wouldn't surprise me if he's hoping for a contract at wigan but i think his time is up at a top club like that. When you think about the length of time he's been playing at the level he's played at and injuries, its an exceptional career and one he should be proud of.

It's looking increasingly unlikely that Nicholson will see out his contract, despite the offer of a big pay rise (not a new contract). Both The Titans & The Dolphins have offered him very good terms.

SB still trying to convince him to stay.

He wanted the 13 shirt for a while, does the fact Currie owns that position have anything to do with it.

Apologies i completely misread your original comment about this my mistake. If i dare ask, have you heard anything about Ashton being approached?

Ashton? Saw his interview on sky other day with Wilkin and Jenna. Both trying suggest he will leave us at one point. Hope not!