I never saw any of the Leeds "golden era" team wanting to play in the NRL, Ryan Hall only went at the back end of his career. Same with St Helens, other than Thompson who else from their glory years went to Aus? We appear to be the only NRL feeder club in superleague.

I wonder if Smithies & KPP haven't been selected so that they can get to Australia a bit sooner to get settled in?

Well that one 100% is.

Club didn’t want to lose him, but it was dealt with professionally and amicably (and early) which was vital to pulling together our squad for 24.

I’m guessing that is where the Smithies not getting picked because of how he dealt with the NRL move came about.

KPP had a spell where he was trying to go early and force our hand but the club shut it down. He missed a few games around the time he was pushing.

Obviously things got back on track though between him and the club.

Different climate when those Leeds guys were coming through. The salary difference wasn't as big and it was more of an unknown to go over there at that stage, whereas now the path is well trodden. Not sure who you would want from those Saints teams to be honest. The ones who hadn't come from the NRL in the first place weren't really players the NRL sides would be chasing too hard. Maybe Walmsley and Makinson I suppose. Roby peaked before it was the done thing (similar to O'Loughlin), if they produced an identical player now he'd be off. I think Welsby will go.

We are a feeder league just something we have to get use to, only people who can change that are the RFL and they can’t seem to do anything right. It can work to Wigans advantage however, especially if there are fees involved. Not that I want Smithies to fail but if he does 3 years in Aus and we get first refusal once’s his deals done what’s the harm in that. If he stays great. We’ve seen players like Rushton, Williams, Gildart all come back if we sign these young lads to a 4 year deal with a clause to sell to the NRL plus first refusal. We get money back potentially a fitter more developed player later down the line. Having Danson as our owner makes us stable at least. The squad we have for 24 must have cost him a pretty penny so he’s happy to spend for now. Hopefully he’ll be happy seeing money coming in from players we’ve developed. We just have to assure we don’t let too many go at once

Wigan have been fending off Canberra all year and had held firm that Smithies saw out his contract before moving. Smithies was planning to do 2024 with Wigan but then Canberra have put a crazy offer on the table (more than double Wigan's) and a transfer fee and it's been enough to turn heads and convince us to let him leave early

At the end of the day it rarely works out keeping a player who has had his head turned.

That been the policy under IFL and I don’t think that will change regardless of the wealth of our new owner.

Now official, Croft & Ackers to Leeds

Good signings for them but are they enough?

No, they will be better than this year but still won’t be mixing at the top end of the table.

Salford are clearly in big trouble.

I can see a real gap between London, Cas & Salford next year at the bottom and the rest of the teams.

On paper it's an impressive recruitment drive and their spine is now one of the best in the league imo.

I think they'll be top 4 next year.

Weve also brought in Miller, Frawley and Momirosvki, our squad is far more balanced now, we just need another prop, youve got loads, fancy giving us Liam Byrne ?

The league needs a strong Leeds, so I’m happy to see them making moves like these. I’m not convinced the coach is the right man but we’ll see.

Funny how mindsets can change fans views, when you signed Frawley your fans were moaning like mad at how poor a signing he was (in the midst of some awful form) now you have signed Akers and Croft (great signings imo) he is being listed in the players that are a big improvement (may well turn out like that) but the reality is he has been less of a success than Sezer was in the NRL, I also think Momirovski is a step down from MacDonald. Miller is a 29 year old with hardly any NRL appearances, his style certainly looks like it should favour Superleague but I don’t think it’s a given he’s going to be a slam dunk over here, I get the comparisons with Jai Field but Field came over in his early 20s not late 20s.

Does anyone on here have any connections with Harvie Hill or know his contract situation? I keep seeing little murmurs about him, ones previously that he wasn’t happy with his contract/wage and others saying he is leaving (Wire mentioned). If true I think it could be a move we regret further down the line if that happens but currently it’s looking tough for him to make our 17 (although I don’t think it’s that great for a 20 year old prop to play week in week out), would also explain why we currently seem to have too many props.

Its the coach who has driven this massive overhaul in the squad, its been needed for years

He’s had the backing, so now the pressure is firmly on. I just think he tries to be a bit ‘different’ for the sake of it but now he’s got his own squad maybe that will work.

I guess it's all the sum of the parts coming together. From what I've read and seen with Frawley, he's a Phil Bailey type character. Not the world's greatest player, but a very honest type of guy who'll put the teams needs before his. Leeds need characters like that imo. Let Croft be the big game and Frawley will simply do his job.

I'm sure Wire will be stronger next year and whilst Catalan's will probably drop off (they've lost too many key players for me) it's shaping up to be a good season.

Some of our Fans (like all fans ) are too reactionary, Frawley is a steady organising half with a good Rugby brain, it was the exact type of signing we needed, people were judging him on his one year at Huddersfield.

Momirosvki is a step up from Macdonald IMO, Macdonald had a terrible attitude and whilst he was a good player he was also not an intelligent one, Mom is the opposite, we've been a dumb team for a few years, Mm is an intelligent player.

Miller is a gamble but his stats in his limited NRL appearances are very impressive but he is adding one thing we totally lack - pace, and you guys know more than anything that that is something every side needs.

You guys have been very impressive on the recruitment front I think 2024 is shaping up to be a great season, I think Saints are behind the eight ball though, they don't seem to be replacing their aging side

I think he tried to be different last year due to the imbalance in the squad, I think we'll be a bit more settled next year

Hope so. No need for not having captains/leadership groups and doing things like kicking short from kicks offs and drop outs. All felt like a bloke trying to be a bit too clever for his own good. Leeds have a good squad for next year, so if they get a good game plan in place and pick out some leaders, I see no reason why you can't kick on a few levels.

There were three standout players in that age group, Dodd, Hanley and Thewlis.


I saw Hanley destroy Saints at Langtree Park in an academy/scholarship game. Sadly he never really grew enough physically and to make matters worse for Wigan meant that they took their eye off the ball with Welsby.
I believe Hanley has acl injury now whilst at Leigh, very sad really.
Back to Dodd, he'll probably have to change his game style if he is to get anywhere near back to fulfilling his potential, it's strange that Thewlis now looks best positioned to progress further?

Sounds like Salford are in deep trouble, this won't do anything for season ticket sales, just hope they've got enough money to see them through the winter.
Professional RU has shown over the last couple of months how precarious it is for clubs.

I have been talking to a colleague at work and he has been to some of the meetings with the Salford fans/ board. They have been losing money, not has much as some of the other SL teams but they have no benefactor to cover the losses, the ongoing fire sale is really upsetting some of the supporters and as you say its not going to increase ticket sales. There are plans in place to take advantage of the increased TV coverage.

I have been talking to a colleague at work and he has been to some of the meetings with the Salford fans/ board. They have been losing money, not has much as some of the other SL teams but they have no benefactor to cover the losses, the ongoing fire sale is really upsetting some of the supporters and as you say its not going to increase ticket sales. There are plans in place to take advantage of the increased TV coverage.