The thought of Lulu at 9 next year full time fills me with dread

Agreeed, whilst Mikey Mac may well be a good prospect we could well struggle next season if he is no1 and we rely on Tommy L as backup - the more I seem him play at hooker the less convinced I am that he is any good there especailly when the pack are not dominant.

Riddel adds a lot in a game - something we could miss big time.

I would rather we signed an NRL hooker than Finch. We're going to miss Riddell a hell of a lot.

I think we missed McIllorum as well because he loves that kind of tough game. I think we would have coped better with him in the side than having to switch around as we did when Piggy went off.

I agree with the general point that it is going to be a mistake not to replace Riddell and go for a half back instead. I think TL has had his best season at 7 for us, is not a great 9 and while I probably have more faith in MCillorum stepping up than some I don't think as a whole a hooking pair of Micky Mac and TL is going to work.

Dave

Don't get me wrong I understand what awesome attacking players Tommy and Finch are.

But what does become apparent is that Riddell knows how to attack from dummy half, it's something he's been doing for years. Not only that but when we need him toohe can steady the ship and control the distribution to the forwards effectively.

I doubt either of those two players could do that so well, and it scares me that we could be taking a step back to when Higham was our frontline hooker. Maybe MM can work wonders with either of them, I hope so as I have a feeling we will have a few announcements to make on this next week.

Tommy is just not good enough to organise a game, he cant even handle it at 7. We will go backwards if he is our first choice 9 next year.

I'd like us to bring in a specialist 9 next season, just can't see TL working out there. Riddells fitness still concerns me because he quickly seems to hit a plateau and then his energy drops considerably after that. He's probably the best we've got at the club but suspect there are better out there.

I thought Monaghan was good last night, brought the forwards onto the ball well and his passing to Briers was wide and sharp, gave him loads of room to work with.

In all defence to TL i'd like to seem him have a 4/5 game spell of playing just hooker. rather than being thrown into the role when we have an injured hooker, and he gets ten minutes there.

He's not big enough ! I bet his little toes don't touch the ground when he packs down in the scrum.

It's a simple case of player availability though. If we get the opportunity to sign a quality halfback, but can't find an available quality hooker, are we supposed to just not sign either? Or do we strengthen the area that has the available player?

Firstly, so?

Secondly, I would say it has been a while since SL hookers needed to be any bigger than a halfback.

I completely agree. I do want want, and indeed dread, a hooking combination of Leuluai and McIlorum at all. A new hooker should be a priority for next season.

Which hookers are off contract at the end of the year?

Very much so. It's been noticeable that since McIlorum got injured, Piggy has had an excellent first spell, but does nothing after that. He's really not fit enough to play more than half a game, at most.

Tommy's problem is he goes missing during games. Now although I'm not the greatest fan of him at 9 I do believe that with a full preseason under his belt preparing him to play 9 he'll do well. It'll force Tommy to become more involved within the game and we'll see a lot more of the great things he capable of because of it.

So he should be playing in the halfs !

A hooker is a forward and forwards have to be big blokes or you could just get pushed on the floor if a pack decides to challenge for the ball.

I'd be curious to see how Leuluai does at hooker with a full pre season of training in that position. He hasn't performed as well as some expected at hooker in the past but I do still think his best attributes mean he is very well suited to the role.

We certainly need a better 7 with the improved kicking game he would provide just as much as a good replacement for Riddell.

There are plenty of hookers that arent big blokes. Packs dont even push at scrums and if they do then I really dont see how a hooker is going to be pushed to the floor when they are supported by 2 props and 2 second rows.

I don't see peoples' problem with Tommy at hooker. I think he's better suited to that role, and certainly the NZ national side thought so also. He was widely regarded to have done well in that role in the last couple of international tournaments.

Riddell will be a massive miss for us next year as we look at it now.
I do wonder though, if Finch goes to 6 and Sam 7 then Tommy will be our 9.
McIlorum will be interchanged with TL.

I don't think we can judge TL at 9 currently as he's playing 80 mins every week.
If he goes to 9 with MicMac then he'll be coming off the bench and doing only maybe 40-50 mins every game.
TL could be explosive off the bench, equally so if started, spelled then brought back on. Tommy will also only be playing in one position whereas now he's playing 7 & 9 every week now MicMac is injured.

We do seem to be going with that scenario for 2011 and I'm not going to pre judge how it's going to turn out. It could be a lot better than we are thinking it will be.

I think if Finch is available and wants to sign, then that's the way i'd prefer to go. The top 10 hookers in the NRL are all pretty much 80 minute players, and assuming for a second we could get one of them, where does that leave McIlorum, and how do we improve our halves?

McIlorum could do 80 minutes, IMO, if necessary, and do it well. He's one of the fittest in the squad.

Which is why I wouldn't look for a hooker, unless I had decided that MM couldn't be the answer

Roby, Monaghan, Higham, Buderes, Godwin just off the top of my head. None of which are 'big' blokes.

IMO Leuluai is suited to hooker but will struggle to inpress at the moment as he spends 10mins here and there as cover and probably does very little training in that position. With a full pre season and a run of games i think he would be pretty good there.

I think he is excellently suited to compliment a top class hooker. But yes definately a front line hooker for a team looming to maintain a consistent level of performance over a long SL and CC season.

I do feel we shouldn't turn the chance down to have a natural half back playing for us. Maybe this is the beginning of the end for TL at Wigan, but I do hope he proves otherwise.