My comment was more towards the great marketing approach suggested

Wow we made hard work of that. Never seen such a farcical end to a game either. Nice that we won by conning a penalty from the ref. Karma.
Not sure what was up with Rankin today - but in that first half I think he forgot he was playing fullback! Some poor kicking from us - some excellent kicking from Catalan.
Interesting penalty count....

Feel like we got away with that but, we're due out slice of luck. The last 3minutes in particular was an absolute farce.

Nice to see a long range try too!

We are about to sign Jackson Hastings from Manly according to some Aussie press.

He would come straight away as Manly want rid due to a bust up/fight with Dally Cherry Evans and he’s only 22 with lots to prove.

Has some bad boy in him, but so did the last very good half back we signed and he didn’t do too bad for us .....

In the current climate this seems to be the only way SL teams can get NRL players who could otherwise get an NRL gig. I'm all for it, could be a star, and exactly what we need. Now to find a big prop who has spilt beer on an NRL coach or similar

Seems Woolford is well liked and respected which will help us attract a better quality of player from Aus

Like when you introduce a new dog to the family when you already have one-We need to arrange a meet and greet between Hastings and brough, let them sniff each other’s behinds and make sure they get on before he joins us.

Tricky one this. Good player, comes from a tough background, bit of a handful.

Could be a disaster, could be a great move.

Moving away from the limelight of the NRL could well be the making of him. As others have said, it wouldn’t be the first time someone with a difficult reputation has come to the Giants, and it’s often worked out well.

Worth reading some of the articles about him. Whatever else he is, he’s a really interesting bloke. And Wayne Bennett speaks very highly of him, which has to count for something.

hastings... do we need a hooker

He’s a half back and like all h/b’s can play hooker in the modern game. Wouldn’t surprise me to see Brough play some hooker next year if Leeming or O’Brien cop a knock...l

Hastings is a half back Brearley but sometimes plays 9 as well.

If we sign him it will definitely be to play in the halves and I think it will spell the end of Ryan Hinchliffe at the Giants as I can see Jordan Turner playing loose forward next year if we bring in a new half.

Ollie Russell is definitely going to be the future of the club but he definitely needs to mature physically.

Can see Brough been used sparingly next season. He will probably be used in specific games and may even be used as hooker cover when someone is injured too.

Even with Hastings and Uate I still think we need another 2nd row and prop to be a real competitive team in the top 4.

1. Rankin/Darnell - I don't think Darnell has been given a fair extended run at Full Back and I think Rankin isnt great myself. Very hesitant and isnt playing no where near as good as he was last season.
2. Jerry
3. Leroy
4. Wardle/Gaskell
5. Uate
6. Hastings
7. Turner/Brough
8. English
9. Leeming
10. Taai
11. Mellor
12. New 2nd row?
13. Turner/Smith

14. O Brien
15. Seb
16. Roberts (when fully fit, not on this years form though)
17. New prop

I will get slated for this but I honestly dont think the likes of Murphy, Clough and Bruno are first choice top 4 players. They are all very dependable players and great servants who do whats asked of them but I honestly think we need more quality to be a top 4 team.

We also have the likes of Ferguson (new deal still not announced) Dickinson and Sam Wood.

I expect to lose :

Hinchliffe
Wakeman
Mamo
Walne - I think he will join his brother at KR or go searching for regular first team action
Colton Roche - Think he will leave early also in search of regular first team action and probably to a top end Championship team.

Id try offload Gaskell but simply cant see that happening given the contract hes on.

Nathan Mason, Liam Johnson, Izaac Farrell & Mikey Wood are all OOC and I expect them all them to move on. I was thinking we may keep Farrell but after Russells performances and the fact weve been linked to Tom Holmes, I doubt it.

Weve promoted Sam Hewitt, Jon Luke Kirby, Ollie Russell and the Senior Twins. I expect us to loan Kirby and Hewitt out to Championship/league 1 sides. Senior twins I think will remain in our academy and will get first team chances too.

Will be interesting to see how Kirby does in comparison to Dickinson as English has burst onto the scene and is well further up the pecking order.

No place anywhere for O'brien then or did i miss him somewhere

Edited. Of course there is - hes playing exceptional at present.

Anyone know if Ukuma Taais contract up this season? The link below seems to think so but I was under the impression he still had a year left? https://www.examiner.co.uk/sport/rugby- ... d-12088244

Anyone know if Ukuma Taais contract up this season? The link below seems to think so but I was under the impression he still had a year left? https://www.examiner.co.uk/sport/rugby- ... d-12088244

ok if hastings a half back

play with brough short term as he would prob go back to nrl after a year or two

mcintosh still making his errors... at least 3 lastnight

leeming knocking on in the last minute too nearly cost us the game unbelievable that

Rankin looked very sluggish and hesitant too, In fact no one stood out particularly, Smith looked a bit better than he sometimes does, but somehow we did enough to get the points.

No Ikahifho?

i thought Woolford got it about right in his assessment about last night. Cudjoe did very well with the limited chances he got, as did Jerry. Mellor scored a good try and looks dangerous and for me, Lawrence was quite good going forward for once, maybe Woolford has given him some new insight.

Lawrence ran the ball up harder,actually passed and went to ground quickly after being tackled this allowing a quick play the ball

Now dont go taking sense- unless he’s knocking players over like skittles he’s useless according to some of our uneducated fans.
Rapira was the same- hard yards- fall on his front quick PTB - but slAted at times

cudjoes back and mcgillvary starts scoring again... strange that



mellor has really impressed past few weeks!

I agree re Mellor- been amongst if not the top tackler for the last few games and some good gains per carry.

a totally different side with hinchy on the field as shown on friday night think we still need him for next season

I agree with that, maybe woolford is going to be the man to teach him something, I would like to see him offload out of the tackle a bit, maybe that will come.

Lawrence is a real enigma and always has been. Like Cudjoe he has fantastic genetics for a rugby player and you would expect him to be a try scoring forward, regularly busting tackles and scoring from deep, but instead he's a real plodder in attack, yards and find the floor and only really shines in defence. I do indeed hope Woolford is the man to teach him to use some of that athleticism to good effect and Friday maybe saw the beginnings of that.