Not sure whether we will fill this need Especially one circa age 25 - 27, yes I suppose we will get a has been aged 32 - 35
one who will be injured or part clapped out !
We desperately need this position filled Also, a pack leader, what do you think of whitbred, he spends extra time after training - with all
the young forwards, he has desire so it should be harnessed.
Maybe you all see things differently ?

You mean a has been like Finn or Sykes or many more. Do we never learn?

The great Toppo left us at the so called passed it end of his career and went on to to do rather well at Hull.

Can we stop this. A player is a good player regardless of age and if we need a certain player and he’s over thirty so what.

Enlighten me why 25 - 27 is so special? There is no evidence of this whatsoever.

Toppo left us at 32 and played got great Britain and won the challenge cup a year later.

The point about Whitbread looking after the young forwards......he's younger than Crowther.

When Topo went to Hull he had a three-quarter line of N Z to back him up and other very good players around him .Same with Finn he had one of the best I to 6 we have ever had at Wakefield, and some more decent players in the team plus Dave and Arona . Think we come up a bit short of that at present .

I'm not saying he's right but there is a benefit to bringing in a player nearer to the 25-27 mark and that is longevity. Both Finn and Sykes whilst great signings could only offer us a year or two on the field, Jacob Miller however gave 7 years to the club and enabled a bond to be created within the team.

I'm really not bothered who it is we sign, as long as we do indeed sign someone and they play for the shirt. Something all three players above did regardless of their age.

But it only works like that in theory. I get the theory but it rarely works.

I wouldn’t mind but we’ve just had Miller for those peak years and people have done nothing but moan about him. Yet Cas seem happy to pay him more money in his older years.

It’s all about team balance and if that’s right age matters not so long as the coach knows when the older player has finally gone over the edge.

I don’t get your point. Of course we are short as we have at least five signings to come.

Sorry but I thought this would happen with Arona and Fifita, incredible the selective memory of Trinity fans.

At the start of the season Arona was past it according everyone on here! Fifita was also past his best et etc. Now they are gone the martyrdom begins.

I don’t get Trinity fans. They want the dead wood as they call it removing and when it is they cry foul.

The CC team is gone, age did weary them, we needed to rebuild and we have. There is no easy way, transitions are painfull and risky but we couldn’t go on. That team would not have improved a jot.

The future is players like Whitbread, Jowitt and Crowther and up and comers like Murphy, Hall, Eseh and stalwarts like Kershaw.
They need to be supplemented by the new Fifitas and Arona’s.

Teams evolve and they do so in the hope that they eventually find that magic formula.

Vastman just saying when Finn came here and Toppo was at Hull, what kind of team they had around them .Do not think it is fair to switch to last season to make your point about Arona and Dave .Think you should have put ,,some fans on here wanted rid of them ,,.I was not one of them ,and think there would be 95% of Wakefield fans who would feel the same. Did you not go to the last HKR match at home and the last game against Huddersfield to see what the fans though about Dave and Arona .Best send of i have seen for two players leaving Wakefield ever ,and I have watched Wakefield for 65 plus years

The other thing to consider is that they both had a year at the lower league at the time to build their experience and confidence.

After listening to Minnards I'm a lot more confident we went about things in the right way.
If Mark is the best option as they saw it, then let's get behind him. He's not the cheap option, he's the chosen option.
So when we lose away to Sts, with an injury hit side, let's not get on his back. He'll need our support this season.

In case you'd forgotten Arona's first name is Tinirau, or Tinni to his special mates like Barnsley Gull

Sorry, I just realised this isn't the MA thread.

In terms of Stand off, we absolutely do need a strong player in this position. I don't mind so much that Miller has gone but his position in the team needs to be appreciated when replacing.

That's very true to be fair, we've a very fickle fan base at times.

Correct I was not especially aiming it at you, it’s a general thing that happens at Trinity. Players only become truly appreciated when they leave.

I’m dreading the backlash on Miller as I reckon Cas have scored a real coup. They will ignore that MC stated his intent to keep him and his frustration at missing out. They will definitely ignore the fact that they all said how inconsistent he was blah blah. It will have to be someone’s fault.

Quite right.

I think the main problem with signing players over 30 is, it's seen as short termism. However, if we had 13 38 year olds and we got in the top 4 and won the cup then who cares if the next season they all retire and we are crap again?! What's the point of signing 'experience' in any position if we finish 10th all the time?! I'd rather watch an 18 year old and finish 10th than a has-been. It nearly worked with Finn, it just all clicked for 2 seasons along with the likes of England, BJB, Grix etc. It's gonna be very interesting over the coming weeks as regards signings......

Depends on the balance. In our case we are predominantly a young team. Relatively few players who are well into they’re thirties.

We have plenty of players in the early to mid 20’s group.

We have a SH whose exactly that. Do we need another similar to Lino or do we need an older more seasoned partner for him.. what Lino needs is a Finn not another Lino.

Like it or not you have to have older players, they act as the cement.

I think Mash will go with youth but don’t expect him to be totally biased. He will sign older players, possibly ones nearly as old as him! He knows that and he will do it.

He will also have to have an eye on the season after this as Lino’s contract is up after this season. Does he go for an established player for a year to play with lino and see how they go? Or Does he want to keep him or look for a whole new long term half back pairing?

Miller going is a big blow .I would place him in the top four stand-off in S L and number one in tackling .All ways gave100% .and if off form with the ball,is tackling made up for that .Going to be a hard to find some one on par .And hope the club are willing to spend some good cash to replace him ,and not go for a cheep option .Would go as far to say if we had kept him think we could have got through the season with what we got now

Not sure about that. But he’s easily the hardest to replace and the one that gave us continuity.

Arona is a hard act to follow but his kind of player are around.

As a player Dave can be replaced, he’s not the best overseas player we’ve ever had. As a bloke and a terrace icon there will never be another like the big bopper.

Batch and Aydin are blows but there is similar coming through.

But Milky is in pure RL terms the only really big loss.

Early on in the season Millers defence was lacking, remember that match winning tackle Murphy made against Wire? He really saved his captains bacon that day.

He turned it around though and the second part of the season came good.

Why he was so poor for large parts of the year who knows? He's always been a bit of an engima, not unlike Ben Jeffries. When hes on fire he is class, doesn't happen for a sustained period of time though.

I think it's the right time to move on for both parties, if he doesn't hit the ground running at Cas the support base will quickly turn on him.

Well we all see it differently but I’ve never seen Millers defensive game ever being off. He’s missed plenty but let’s be right so will Murphy through his career.

Miller is a slight man, he’s always at risk of being out muscled and sometimes is. The real question is why he was the one having to make at least some of those tackles because he makes way more tackles than some. I’ll go further Miller gets knocked off far less times than the man mountain Tanginoa does.

Millers best games were when our forwards were dominant, though I feel when we were being dominated or on the back foot he struggled to turn the momentum, though how many in SL can do that? For me, there’s so many different factors to how a 6/7 performs, with the starting point being how the players around them are performing, particularly the forwards. The Miller/ Lino combo for large parts were below par, as neither are the game controlling players, it’s not their faults, but we went with what we had.
To find a player who will control the game and be dominant, even when we’re under the pump will be difficult. I rated Miller, I thought his defence was strong and put himself about, he obviously had flaws in his game, but most who join us have. I feel we’ll have to drop on lucky to get the player we all want to replace Miller, as for every Jackson Hastings coming over from the NRL there’s a Josh Reynolds, Jack Cogger or Matt Frawley.

I’d never suggest that Miller had it all and I suppose that’s why we had him. Pound for pound though he is right up there in SL terms.

It will be interesting to see him at Cas, a team who’s style may suit him. I’ve always felt his biggest weakness was his decision making but with age that has improved. My fear is that he hasn’t peaked but is about to.

I’m in two minds, any other club and I’d wish him all the best but with Cas I’d be really happy if it doesn’t quite click.

Topliss what a player…. A true legend. Be great if we could sign a player of his calibre.

To me it's not so much as Miller going, its more the calibre of the player we're going to get, to replace him. With the words said by MC a couple of weeks back, it doesn't look like too many major signings will be made.

On the whole, he's been good for us, but the best part if his play has always been running at the oppositions defensive line. However, is doesn't do this as often these days