So far so good

BJ, say no more

Tronc, looks good to me.

Morrison, looks good already but I reckon he has much more left in the locker and will be a key player.

Newton. looked OK on his first serious outing.

King, looks an adequate replacement for Stosic or Sculthorpe.

Millard, a different player to Atkins but as with Morrison he already looks good and again more to come IMO.

Best of all Johnson, the only one left to take a proper bow and I don't reckon he will disappoint.

So overall it would appear little damage was done with the close seasons in/outs and fingers crossed we may have improved on what was already a decent side.

Club take a bow.

I'd agree over all of those bar King. Not having a go at him, but on the basis of what we have seen so far it is doing Stosic a disservice to call him an adequate replacement yet.

They do seem to have settled in well. I have been particularly impressed with Morrsion’s work ethic. He’s all over the pitch. The club have benefited from recruiting experience so far and perhaps the Leeds match showed it. A younger side may have buckled under the late pressure Leeds applied.

Injuries, or the lack of them, remain key though. The older players may just take that little bit longer to recover, but if we get a full season out of them then it’s been a risk worth taking.

Is it true that Stosic would have fitted in our quota still?
If so, I agree that I would have preferred him to King.
Like all our new recruits, especially Morrison.
Would like to see Millard's defence a bit tighter.

No.

Spot on. (imho).

I'm not sure anyone has suggested that King is an adequate replacement for Stosic. He was, it appeared to me, a stop gap on the back of an unfortunate situation.

The one that I have drastically changed my view on (I agree with Vasty on them all) is Newton. I feared the worst here as I did not think his heart and soul would arrive at the club, even if his significant frame did. On Sunday (albeit during a brief period on the pitch) his distribution at dummy half amazed me and seeing him giving verbals to Sinfield when he was sin binned was something we haven't seen at Wakefield.

I know he hasn't had much of a mention but I now think he could be a big piece in this seasons jigsaw!

Apart from the guy who started the thread....

No it isn't at all. Stosic through his own ineptitude left us in the crap. In the time we had any fair minded person would consider him a "adequate". That's not to say he is as good or better though I think your looking at Stosic through rose tinted specs a bit. He is as I say adequate, and IMO in time will prove goodun given a chance.

I was initially unsure about the Newton signing. Certainly a few seasons back I would have been appalled because of his reputation for smacking folk. But, I think Newton has matured with age. He was always a good player, but tainted himself by having quite a nasty side. I think with age he has settled down a lot and concentrates more on his rugby. To me he's not a particularly flash player, just gets his head down and gets stuck in, so he should fit in nicely with the club.

As for BJ; wow! A new man. Hopefully, after a spell with a big club, under a quality coach, being in a good halves combo and being with familiar reliable faces like Korki and Morrison, and a solid squad of youngsters and skilled players he can really crack on this season and iron out former inconsistencies. Without wanting to gush too much its like the club and BJ's parting and realigning pathways were meant for each other. BJ went away, learned a lot, became more relaxed and confident, and returned a better player. The club restructured itself and not only became consistent, but has gotten stronger with every season and created a squad that compliments BJ's style of play. Perfect match for me at the moment, but lets see how things pan out.

As for Tronc, I have yet to see him play in the flesh, but I really cannot wait.

With these signings I reckon its going to be a good 2010 campaign.

No sooner have I posted this about Newton and what crops up!?

All the Newton comments in view of recent controversies seem a little tainted - just glad it happened prior to him starting with us.
If you haven't seen Stosic play yet, you're missing out. Gives us 7 tackles in each set with his offload.

unfortunately i think he was training with us



on sky 1 now

Think what you like; it isn't rose tinted specs from my point of view as I stated last year that I felt Stosic was therabouts the most important member of the pack. For me the nature of his departure is a side issue, I was talking about on-field. And on field, I am yet to see performance from King that merits calling him adequate as a replacement. I'm not on about 'in time' either, I was responding to your 'so far so good'.

Good to see you've appointed yourself keeper of the fair minded majority anyway.

Failed the test in November during pre-season!

Big surprise.

I'm actually baffled that the description of a player as "adequate" manages to cause any kind of offence or even discussion. Heaven forbid I get really over excited and have the audacity describe King as slightly above adequate. I can only assume some will be calling for your special lynching rope.



To Paul King..... you are an adequate player, don't let it go to your head.



Just as a matter of interest if "adequate" is too gushing what would you describe him as?

Oh come off it, I called him "adequate", is it really possible to call a player anything less bland than that. Where exactly is the "merit" in the title "adequate". For a normally good poster I'm baffled by your over reaction to the title "adequate". Sorry to keep repeating the word "adequate" I'm just trying to make sure you don't think I said Superstar!

It is not the word adequate. It is the use of it in the context of adequate replacement for Stosic.

King from what I've seen so far = adequate for 4th prop spot - I'd certainly agree with that
King from what I've seen so far = adeqaute as a replacement for our best prop of 2009 - no

for me tronc is the effective replacement for sausage and so far he is an adequate replacement. if king had been in place of sausage i agree he hasn't yet proved himself to be adequate. i'm not yet convinced king will ever be an adequate replacement for sausage but as long as he remains an adequate 4th prop replacement i'll be happy.

That was my thought too, but I didn't want to add to the confusion. Although potentially Tronc is a Sausage+ player.

indeed, i think he will give us a bit more going forward than sausage, although might not be quite as mobile defensively. i just hope he stays fit and drug free

looks like he'll be more of a big missing piece tbh

Vasty won't be happy

Tronc is far better than Stos. Completely different class of player.

That's no disrespect to James, he was an honest prop, a good grafter and I wish we still had him. But Shanes game is a class above, could anyone see James popping up the passes Shane does? Could you honestly see James getting the ratings in the NRL Shane got last year.

Shane is the best WT prop I've seen in my 23 years of watching the WT.

Jeez, these feeble attempts at point scoring make you look a touch needy.