there was also a marketing value to Rocky that's not been taken into account a local lad plays for his local team, had he managed to maintain a half back position and steered them to success it would of bought in the much need new support in the fan base and a return of many of the ones that have left.
my thoughts was he was wasted at both wing and full back and was never tried long enough in the halves his speed and agility was far better in the middle of the field than at the back or the wing,
its also a shame for Reynolds too who I thought could of made a decent pairing but that was my opinion.
to be truthful I'm not looking forward to next year after this season its going to take a lot of proving that we could end up with a squad capable of a top table finish

Regarding Rocky's tweet - more to this than meets the eye surely. The club wouldn't just let a player find out his future via an internet/social media. If he's been offered a deal months ago, deal wasn't accepted, maybe another slightly improved deal was drawn up again not accepted. Then what's the club meant to do, just let this linger on for ages while he sits waiting for another deal that the club can't/won't offer? Sounds more like a breakdown in communication between agent and player.

Really disappointed to see Rocky leave the club. Been a fantastic player all year and you could see what it meant to him to get the win the other Friday, a big loss for the fans after seeing him play so well in 2019.
I can remember coming away from a few matches this season thinking he was one of the only players that gave his all for the team.
Sad to see a local lad who clearly loves the club leaving. Good luck Ryan i'm sure he will be snapped up by another club pretty quick.

Snowie i agree with you but feel we have a reasonable squad at present to make next season a good one , providing we can stay clear of injuries. With regard to Rocky its a bit of a sad state of affairs. Most clubs promote local young players and make a good job of it. Our club for me is miles behind the likes of Cas, Leeds Wigan. and even Shuds.
Anyway i wish him all the best and still hold a little hope a deal could be done keeping a young, local,talented game breaker on the books. It will probably be a story that will run and run.

I still reckon the club and Ryan will sort something out.

I think I'll trust MC to look after the purse strings. It's history now anyway.

If we have signed Walker it would be good to announce him next.

Nah. That means one side losing face.

Yep, it's gone too far it would seem, can't see it myself sadly.

Sad to see Ryan go but tbh I had a feeling after last seasons will he won't he stay, then he ended up signing just a years contract that we'd go through this again. Unfortunate but as far as getting value for money these last few years, I can't argue with how MC's balanced the books.

He knew he didn't have a contract to stay at the club as he hadn't agreed it. So I would say he's the first to know.

Ryan was fortunate not to be one of the 22 players who suffered major injury this season and his versatility enabled him to be selected for every game. The problem is that his game management should have become good enough to push past Brough and claim the No7 for himself but despite Brough's poor season and injury, Ryan hasn't been able to do that.
He has been good enough to push Jowitt out but that must have been a fine call, balancing Max's safety at the back and better passing game against Ryan's fleet footedness and eye for a gap. Even then, we brought in Escare on loan and he pushed Ryan onto the wing. If Tom Johnstone hadn't picked up the long term injury, there wouldn't have been a vacancy to play him on the wing so he might not have made that many regular starts.
Overall he is replaceable within our squad but we are still crying out for the halfback to push past Brough and without him we are probably in for another rudderless season.

I can promise you that you couldn’t be more wrong on all counts.

Seen Ryan getting a bit of stick on social media for saying “we’re all bits of meat in this game”. Can anyone explain why this is offensive? Not about Wakefield at all just a comment about RL players in general which it would be hard to argue with.

This whole situation is depressing, feel Rocky was poorly advised to ignore the original offer, and the club probably did the right thing signing walker at that time. Although if the club really wanted to keep him I’m sure they would have had a sit down with him and his agent at that time, rather than issuing a contract offer that expires at the end of the month and that being the end of it. Also don’t see rocky as the bad guy for wanting a bit more money, he knows what everyone else is earning and can benchmark himself appropriately. It’s a short career and he’s coming into his prime so would be hoping for a decent contract.
I know we’re not meant to get into contracts on here but I’ve heard from a couple of reliable sources that Koppy is on £90k a year, also know that Rocky was not asking for that much so it’s not like he was asking to be the highest paid player.
Problem is now we’ve signed Walker he’s gonna be a utility back or cover for halfback, in which case it’s hard for the club to justify a high wage.

If you know you are not meant to talk contract money, why then do so?

The fact that you've herd those numbers doesn't make it true.

I rather doubt you can promise a single thing

recipe for disaster when salaries are branded about it only fetches unrest and disrupts the working environment, I've worked with others that have had bigger pay packages and was less skillful and had less responsibilities than me in the past and it hard to work in team when this happens

/This for me sums it all up

And i rather doubt you can prove your bs post to be true.

To be honest I'm not totally unhappy with this.

Clearly Hampshire is a gifted athlete and a good player. If the only choice was whether to keep him or not I'd have kept him.
However it isn't the only decision.

We have players already signed up for next year and we have positions we need to strengthen and most of all we have a limited budget.

He's perfectly entitled to ask for more but if it doesn't fit out budget we are correct to say no.

The club is not stronger for letting him go and the team is arguably weaker but the club IS stronger for sticking to its financial strategy and we're wise to act quickly to recruit a replacement.

Would've like him to stay, and I would play him in his preferred position. But alas things haven't worked out for one reason or another. He will find a club no problem. Trinity will move on. No need for hard feelings.

Pretty much everything on the psychology on teamwork suggests that what Hampshire was doing would have been a disruptive factor on the cohesion of the team.

As for being poorly managed, his team have obviously failed with both expectation management, and have failed to inform him of contract discussions. Remember, he was the one who didn't accept the contract offered, he should have been told by his team that this would mean he was out of a job

Personally I can't argue with any of that. Ateotd we'll know what kind of call it was when we line up next season and see what wheeling and dealing MC/CC can do in the off season.
Looking at Ryan's career so far, I worry a little that when he finds a new club, that will be his 5th by the age of 24. For one reason and another since making 1st team he's not settled for right long anywhere and imo that's what he potentially needs to do and really nail down his place and become less of a utility player if you like, which I think can hurt a player sometimes - I did think it was going to be at Trinity and was hoping last season we'd tie him down for 3 years but alas it isn't going to happen.

Slightly O/T We've got 2 overseas places left that I'd like get filled by a Prop and halfback.I'd have taken Green, as a bit of a like for like for England and I'd have signed Tangata if he'd have been British but imo he's not quite good enough for overseas spot but he'd did a good job while here.

Unless we are signing Walker and Escare, then I’d very much doubt it as we have also released Hooley.

Totally agree.

I wanted Hampshire to stay. He's very fast, versatile and a fan of the club. Having those attributes makes you wander why he didn't sign when offered the terms originally.
That makes me think there must be something that I am not privy to which stopped the deal being completed.
Those that matter know more about him, than what I see on the pitch, and therefore I bow to their knowledge, RH and the club move on.