Is that serious?

Heard BMM will be a done deal by beginning of next week. Paperwork to be sorted. Also heard about Kylie Luiluai.....no, not on the playing staff. New player welfare officer.....

I must admit i am getting increasing worried about the new half back we require...or player signings in general (or lack of). Doesn't preseason start beginning of Nov?

well, according to the guardian today, price has high hopes that Patton will be a shining star for us.

I do wonder if thats him blowing smoke to increase confidence

If Price backs one of our young guns and it works out (like Wane and Williams) he is on a winner. If he backs him and it fails he has given our youth a chance and he is on a winner, but we then need to find a more senior player.

Patton will be a top half for just as long (Like any half) as the pack are prepared to roll their sleeves up and start knocking a few teams around the park. Our weakness this season has most definitely been our middle.

Not much a half can do playing behind a bullied pack or having no one that can/will run a line for them.

They way people have been banging on about Gale you'd think he was Thurston, Cronk and Johns all rolled into one. But he still showed what happens when there's no platform to play off of.

N'ah...don't see it. He could be playing behind a Tiger tank and he wouldn't be good enough....not quick enough...not clever enough. IMO.

How can you possibly say that after only one full season? and not only that but his debut season behind a shambles of a forward pack?



One season (Our worst season for a long long time) and he isn't good enough! This is why teams like Wigan and Leeds' academys look the dogs knackers, because they stick with their young lads. Not us. We put a young lad behind 6 turnstiles and expect him to run round putting people in for hat-tricks







Jesus wept.

Why has Leeds signed Myler? If their academy is so good. Also, they signed Aston last year & have Lilley.

because I have been watching and coaching rugby long enough to recognise when somebody 'has it' or not. Yes the pack is a factor, and half backs are only as good as the platform the forwards provide.....stand by my comments re. Patton. Average Joe.

You may well be right, but it’s only fair we give Patton a chance under a new coach who may well help develop him. Could turn out to be above average and complement a new half that we bring in, even if he won’t be a world beater. Bear in mind that Brown is retiring after this season too.

Wasn’t price a half-back himself? Everyone gets a clean sheet this season for me, although a new experienced half back is an absolute necesssity

I have been told by a source close to Dec Patton that he was very much limited by Tony Smith into what he could try on the field and was kept very much under orders.

Also I believe the relationship between them could be described as 'strained.'

New coach might give him his head and we see a new Dec Patton.

This.

Brown's replacement next season will be more important to us than getting a half back right now we've got akoula n possibly bmm which also along with Crosby will be a boost to our pack!! Patton and brown can do a job behind next year's pack where we fall short is centre and wing for me as good as Atkinson has been this season he doesn't create anything for his winger or pass to him then on the other side we have russel outside a good quality centre it's an inbalance that is far more important an issue to resve than a fancy half back??? Put burgess outside springer and Watkins inside lineham we would have just as much a reason to be optimistic as signing a 3rd choice nrl half back

whos atkinson when did we sign him and where from

Where have you been, he was our best player last year.......oh i get it he means Atkins, but that Atkinson was good aswell, just didnt see much of him

Was thinking about this earlier and how refreshing it might be for Price to say to Patton - “go out and try something and play with confidence”. Long was rubbish at the start of his career at Wigan then he moved to Saints and Millward gave him the freedom to be cocky and it paid dividends. Not saying by any means that Patton will emulate that but would love to see him given the chance.

Patton = average

If he wasn't a Warrington lad he wouldn't be near the team. Same Penny. Same Riley.

I like patton, he has good vision and timing of a pass.,my only real reservation about him is that he doesn't get involved enough, maybe that was instruction, maybe not. I hope he gets a chance under price.

Wigan and Leeds academies produce better players than us, and the lads they stick with in the first team are good. The ones they persist with have performed at a high level from early on. Many others play a few games and get shipped out, sometimes to clubs like Warrington.

I wonder if guys like Patton, Rhys Evans, Matty Blythe etc would have been given more first team opportunities at Wigan or Leeds than with us?

Gaz Hock anyone....??

Wasn't he nailed on as a wire at some stage.....

[urlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/41604478[/url

I understand your point but there’s a fair few Warrington products that have possessed the raw talent but ended up looking average after a few seasons in the first team. You could equally argue that whilst Leeds and Wigan have bettter young players they also have better coaches developing the young talent. There’s nothing THAT special about Marshall, Davies or Gildart but they’ve ended up as solid first teamers at a young age and better than what we have. I wonder how far they would have got here? Remember we paid a big fee for Lineham who isn’t half the winger Davies or Marshall are.

Hopefully Price has heard enough about him to say "no ta"

I think the days of us being a ‘half-way house’ for players with issues is probably behind us. Even though sometimes the risk has paid off in the short-term (Sandow).

With that in mind, and to lighten the mood in a miserable period let’s try and create a ‘touch at your own risk’ 13 match day team. I’ll start us off:

1) FB: Zak Hardaker
2) RW: Justin Carney
3) RC: Ben Barba
4) LC: Martin Gleeson
5) LW: John Hopoate
6) SO: Sean Long
7) SH: Todd Carney


PR: Ryan Bailey
9) HK: Mickey Macilorum?
10) PR: ?
11) SR: Nate Myles
12) SR: ?
13) LF: Gareth Hock

Long had his moments but he also spent most of his career being a top player and winning trophies. I don't begrudge him a spot in this team but I would have Rangi Chase ahead of him for self-destruction.

Prop: pre-Wire Adrian Morley?