the club are doing some things right in terms of deals for ikahihifo and roberts tying them down long term and building for the future but in recent years i think some bad decisions have been made on players leaving/coming... thewlis has been central to that too, its not just stone... thorman aswell cant be just left out of the discussions either he has some questions to answer

I agree with you about the development of youngsters, I would be happy to see a lot more money spent on the right coach and a lot less on expensive quick fit players , A good coach can get the best out of players and we have our share of talent if it's brought on right.

Murphy would have been banned from the sidelines on Thursday night, the air would have been blue with his reaction to that effort and Brough would have got it just the same as the rest. I remember getting promoted to the second division and Murphy asking for money for two players which he guaranteed would put us in the top flight. The club declined and got rid of him, I suspect something similar occurred with Tony Smith, but that's just a suspicion.
Anyway the bottom line to all this is they are shambolic and they show no sign of making any changes.

Stone has said thewlis has no input into WHO is signed- only on the contracts based on the finances available on the cap. Not sure how Thorman is to blame- he is an assistant not an associate coach. Stone has the final say.
I’ve questioned whether stone is doing a good job for a long time- Well all those saying give him a chance it’s not his fault, are keeping very very quiet now. I get it takes time to make improvements- but I’ve yet to see one that he’s made. There’s not one recruitment he’s made that has proven better, and not one of our players has improved under him other than leeming.
As for the youngsters- that’s little to do with Stones’ input other than his willingness to give them a go. That’s all down to Andy kelly and largely Thorman who coached these lads for three years in the 19’s.

Signing Brough just shows poor planning to me. Where was/is the succession plan for him? Are we waiting til Isaac Farrell is ready? Our recruitment just seems incredibly shotgun and continuously leaves us saddled with average ageing players. Half Backs are obviously not the easiest to pick up, but I just don't see succession planning at all across the team.

isaac farrell wont make super league.

brough i suppose they just think he can still operate at this level, which he can but we wont improve but then again neither is super league as a whole.

can we afford to go out and buy a quality half back? ikahihifo and roberts will have improved their wages with their new deals... takes a chunk of the cap

That's something that always surprises me a bit People shouting for players to be resigned on better deals to stop other clubs supposedly signing them, Always improving their wages , always on the back of another season of mediocrity , God knows what they would want if they ever showed even a sign of winning anything.

do you suggest we lose ikahihifo and roberts then?

I’d say yes if it meant paying inflated wages to them weakened the rest of the squad.

Isn't that how it works for every club? It's a salary capped sport. Your best players will always get paid larger wages. Seb was our only player to make the dream team last year therefore deserves a better wage.

I suppose the main question is which positions on do you want your highest paid players? It would seem that 1,6,7 and 9 are the most influential players on a pitch.

A large portion of our cap surely goes to Jerry and Leroy who are neither those positions. Then you have the new deals to Seb and Roberts...

Youll find a huge portion of our cap goes to Hinchliffe, Murphy, Symonds, Wakeman and Mamo - all of who contribute very little for me this season....Wakeman and Symonds contribute absolutely nothing at all.

Losing Hinchy, Wakeman, Symonds and Murphy should allow us to strengthen massively.

Would I take Hardaker if he became available for next season? 100%

Yeah you're talking 400-450k there, that's 3/4 top class players that could come in, if we have any pulling power left.

who knows what we are paying them to say they are inflated... ? im sure they will have had improved deals though which is fair as seb made the dream team and was a stand our performer and roberts impressed in the world cup and is progressing ...well maybe he was and stopped on this seasons showings but not his fault not being used correctly.

would say brough WAS our highest paid player, dont know what the new deal is.

cudjoe and mcgillvary signed theirs a few years back... imagine us trying to sign mcgillvary now!

hinchcliffe will be up there with the top earners coming iver with his rep from the nrl... hope he goes and that will free up some space along with mamo who could also poss leave but not sure on that one.

good to hear ferguson is looking to stay at the club he has been our best player so far this season

I'm not suggesting we get rid of any particular player brearley, I'm suggesting we could pay our so called top 5 players a fortune and we would still be the same poor side we are now. I would far sooner pay a lot of money for a proven top coach and lets go with home grown or at least English players . 12 months ago we couldn't wait to get Mamo , now we can't wait for him to go, I wonder what some of our players are on per game because they don't play often.

Never mind our “top” players some of our “steady away” players are knocking on 100k.
Our kids are paid peanuts.

sack them all

just play the u 19's

How'd you know all this? Where can I find this information as I'd be really interested.

You can't, and anyone who thinks they 'know' are 99% wrong as the only people who do know are the players, the MD's and the agents.

Some of you will be actually surprised if you really knew - and i don't mean in an overpaid way but keep speculating.

But like the old saying "never let the truth get in the way of a good story".

It's amazing how some people like to let everyone know how much insider knowledge they have when actually they haven't. But hey ho "that's what forums are for".

few new posters! or are they old ones in disguse

When some players are being “overpaid” sometimes other players have a moan about it.

Oh!! Who and who??

is the banner still being made??? just have 'THEWLIS OUT' on it now?

that a no??!? waste of money to leave it in the shed!