One thing we have to factor in with the NRL is there will be a brand new team in there in 12 months time and they’re going to need 25 players. That doesn’t automatically mean Superleague teams losing players to them but they could feel a knock on effect of spots opening up at other clubs down under.

Anyway, I'm going into Wests v Manly now, to see how Ollie Gildart performs!

Pretty sure Fields partner didn’t settle and is back in Aus.

Think he’s grinning and bearing it until he can head home and pick up an NRL deal.

Pretty convinced Field will be off at the end of the year if he gets offers. He said on a podcast just after his injury his plan was to come for 2 years and then go back. Plus he doesn't exactly look thrilled to be here though that may just be his personality. In contrast Ellis, Cust and Mago all look enthused and happy to be at Wigan which is good to see.

Pretty sure it’s his manner. I’ve seen old interviews on YouTube from his St George and Parra days and he’s exactly the same. He seems extremely shy/awkward to me but there’s something refreshing about that. He looks like a lad that needs to do his talking on the field and by crikey, he’s doing that and some.

Pure speculation and nothing more, but I've just seen that Paramatta are in the midst of a winger injury crisis. Both 1st team wingers are missing, with Haze Dunster now out for the full season.

I wonder if they'll look at French as an option for this season?

Didn’t Field choose not to go home in the off season? Doesn’t sound like someone who doesn’t want to be here to me.

Especially if his partner is supposedly back in Aus. Something not stacking up here. Be good to hear something from the club or the man himself about his future plans but I'm not sure how likely that is to happen.

If we have any hope of any Australian speedsters sticking around, it would help us if Mother Nature f*cked the constant storms off. I’m tempted to go home to Australia and I’m from Platt Bridge.

There's been some pretty inclement weather in Australia lately, haven't you noticed?

The Ashes were a bit wet to be fair. Still I think I’d rather be wet in 30 degrees, than wet in 1 degree, all whilst chasing my wheelie bin down the street in my slippers.

Who knows but on the plus side I’ve just noticed he’s back in the country on Instagram, which is nice to see. They can get plenty of work in to him now and ease him back in when he’s ready.

Glad he’s back, luckily no need to rush him.

How long do we reckon it’ll be until he plays?

I reckon 5/6 weeks

Tough to say. I suppose it depends on his condition right now and if that hamstring is 100% and ready to go. If it is then you think they’d want to put him through a few weeks conditioning and then look at a couple of reserve fixtures maybe. There looks to be a reserve fixture on the last weekend in March, so in an ideal world maybe that, then a decent challenge cup fixture and then it’s the Easter fixtures and you’d like as many options as possible around then. If that’s realistic who knows! Whatever we do we can’t make the same mistakes as last season.

I really hope we can hang on to at least one of them. Everyone is talking about Field now, obviously, but Bevan wasn't exactly shabby before, was he? I think 'fitting them both in' is much less of a problem than 'what shall we do when they've both gone?'.

This.

A few ifs but ‘if’

-We can keep Field playing like this

-Get French back to the form of 2020

-find a way of getting them both heavily involved in our attack

then my word I’m looking forward to watching it! It could be something we’ll speak about for decades to come.

Agree, however a still think we are either a prop short who can take two big carries per set as we aren't always making it to halfway having started a set deep in our own twenty, or we need an extra 10% out of current forwards.

Looking at how Byrne has either progressed or Ellis and Mago have impacted and made it easier for him then I can only hope Havard will benefit the same. His figures was already impressive him coming off the bench may take some worries away next few weeks.

Fully agree and I think it should be a priority for 2023. As a side you want to have all bases covered and to be able to play in different ways and against different styles and I do feel we’re still probably destined to struggle against sides with huge packs and good line speed (Catalans and clearly Saints being the two I’m thinking of). We’re lucky though that we shouid have that get out card of pace up our sleeve and that should always give us a chance in most games. No side is matching us for pace this season when we have a full 17 out there and any side will be wary of that.

I also agree with the above post that Havard could make a difference. We’re seeing a 20% plus improvement in most players from last season and Havard seemed our only prop forward capable of going over 100 metres a game at times and if we can get that improvement from him as well, then we might not be as short as we think. He’s the one player I really want to see in the flesh now he’s under Peet and Shaun Wane. There an international front rower there ‘if’ we can get his potential turned in to consistent performances.

I'll bet supporters of every team in the comp think, we could really do with one more quality prop...

You’re not wrong, I do read it from pretty much ever set bar Saints and Catalans but it’s probably because it’s a real area of strength for those two.

On the plus side if we think we’re one short, that’s better then the three we were short last season.

The problem with trying to sign a top quality prop is that they are mainly in the NRL and would cost a big wedge to sign,i do think that we have dropped lucky with Mago and Ellis.If we can find another one like them it would be good as long as it's not at the expense of Havard or Byrne

I don't think it necessarily needs to be a top quality prop. There's plenty of good players knocking around SL that weren't what you'd class as top props in the NRL - Mago & Ellis from us, Vete, Satae, Paasi, Yates are all good examples of the type of player that seems to work.

What we need, quite frankly, is a replacement for what Singleton should be. Let's not tip toe around the elephant in the room here. Singleton is, for intents and purposes, out most experienced prop, but he's holding us back. He's 29 & played close to 250 games, which roughly equates to the total number of games played by Mago, Ellis, Byrne and Havard combined! He's supposed to be in his peak years as a prop, but turns out 30m games.

I wonder if a player has ever posted a negative rate? When playing Saints as soon as that ball is played (maybe even sooner, would love a wide shot) they are on you. Someone like Singleton could easily get pushed back further from where he started.