Depends. A player of lesser ability who actually produces his best form week in and week out would be a better player than one of higher ability who plays well once in a blue moon IMO.

Me too pal but I asked him at the fans forum at begining of seasom and he wasnt 100% certain to go then , I think hull have give him the chance to speak to nrl teams from the start of the season and ive not heard of any team thats intrested in him yet so he may stay another year (we live in hope)

agreed, however manu and moa certainly perform to a high level more frequently than "once in a blue moon"

I think it's good that we are bringing in younger player with a better attitude (other than watts, obviously) but it's not going to see us winning things unless we also bring in some top class experienced players too. A front row of elima, lynch, o'carrol and watts isn't in the top 6 in SL no matter how good their attitude

It would be great if we could strike up a partnership with West Tigers due to the Gentle link. I'm pretty sure Leeds have one with Souths.

I think Manu and Moa are the two where it's going to be hardest to justify a 'better replacement' line, certainly. Unless we somehow pull a rabbit or two out of the hat. With quite a few others I think we could fairly easily end up with replacements who contribute more and are therefore better players.

As I've said elsewhere, the names currently being rumoured don't inspire me much. But then they are just rumours ATM. I'll reserve my criticism/praise until we confirm at least the bulk of our squad for next season.

To me Arundel, Crookes, Pitts & Watts are all designed to plug gaps while our youth development kicks in.

They will all be on modest contracts - expect some to come on in leaps & bounds, some will fall by the wayside. They will reap their own rewards.

Sure in PG he is looking for attitude, commitment etc as well as talent. For the first time in years we have a coach who can improve payers.

In PG, AP we trust.

Do like the idea of SOME better players coming in though. Just watched Matty BOWEN have an OUTSTANDING game - one player like him in the backs would really transform our attacking threat.

& if nothing was said people would be complaining assuming that our recruitment for next year is going to be garbage. They really can't win

all depends how you look at it imo you have to buy success but it does not last look at bradford. wigan is a great example of young british talent and a couple of quality overseas players thats the mix we need and i feel gentle will get. moa and manu are the only players i dont want to lose the rest for me if true are easy replaceable.
but i dont think any player in the rl world can replace manu like for like he is a unique player and has his own style. were as moa is a quality powerful forward which i think we can replace with like for like if we go overseas and get a big islander maybe another "prospect" as agar labelled him lol

Agree with this. We have to wait and see - no other choice really and it was never going to be done overnight. But we need some proven quality across the team as well as the up and coming 'coachables'. It really isn't easy against the backdrop of fewer quality players being available which is why the retention of our best players is/was so important.

If we're going to be bringing in better players then I hope the rumours about Watts and Elima signing are just rumours.

I always thought it would take two years for us to be able to challenge. It can't all be done overnight and I'm glad Gentle sees it that way too. There are no quick fixes so a mixture of youth players combined with young English talent and a few experienced bodies sounds ideal to me.

I think we need to be patient and trust PG and AP to get it right.

cant think of many better young english props than watts to be honest,as for crookes havnt seen much of him apart from the friendly against hull and the hatrick he got against rovers, one thing he has got is out and out pace,arundel looks to be a good young centre,yes think we need a bit of umph in the pack but who knows who we got lined up,

The level of speculation of who is leaving and joining has been ridiculous this season. I hope the fans listen to Gentle and just wait and see what happens.

I would also add that I don't understand the uproar about a lot of the players leaving. We have a lot of players who have been with the club for about 5 years, in this time we have won absolutely nothing, and at times have looked a long, long way from winning anything. A lot of that can be blamed on Agar, but also that the players weren't good enough in the first place.

I also think some fans live in a 'fantasy RL' world where the entire Aussie and Kiwi line-ups are desperate to join a mid-table SL club who haven't done anything of note since 2006, and play in a city that has a dubious repuation in the media. Signings like Crookes, Watts and Elima may not be exciting signings...but they are realistic signings and are all either young, or in the case of Elima proven, consistent SL performers.

Thats right, we need players that are going to be consistently good, that is the only way that we will be able to challenge.

Good post, spot on.

Nail,head.

The game agaist wakey really hammered the nail into the coffin of some players gentle was unsure whether to keep or not.he feels there is no one in the squad who can play off the cuff if needs be or smart rugby players(whiting apart).expect plenty of players to leave this off season,and a fair few to come in

Bravo

Another thought I have had on recruitment is that we are following the 'model' McRae used back in 2003/2004, where he added unknown signings from the SL reserves and the Championship to existing quality players like Jason Smith and Ritchie Barnett and young talent such as Cooke, Horne and Yeaman.

players like Raynor, Carvell, Dowes, Whiting and McMenemy were all signed with little fanfare, but turned out to be some of the best players we have had at the club in years.

That side was very unlucky with injuries in 2004, and obviously went on to win the CC and appear in a Grand Final in 2005/2006.

The years that followed we seem to abandon that way of building the squad, and instead seemed to pick anyone who was a 'name' in the game, such as Berrigan, Dykes and Long...and we know how that ended up.

A team next season built around the quality of G Ellis, Briscoe and Yeaman, the homegrown stars like Houghton, Bowden and Crooks and lesser known players such as Elima, Crookes and Arundel could have a similar impact to what we were doing in 2004.

Gentle seems to be favouring bringing in most of the new signings who are already in this country as they know the game,the country and the weather!!he doesn't want another mckinnon scenario happening.we will bring in a couple of players from over seas though

anynames?

Of the signings from the nrl?no,I aren't getting names,just been told a front line nrl prop and a halfback.
We've been speaking to watts for a while,crookes,mcdonnel was definately given an offer.there will be a few 'suprise' signings I think,we tend to announce players that no one has mentioned at all.

Comments in the HDM are merely there to give the fans some hope.
When IMO it would seem more like rats deserting a sinking ship.
Is Liam Watts a better replacement than Manu ?

A very dreary troll. At least try for God's sake.

You're spot on with your comment about rats deserting a sinking ship. I assume you mean Watts leaving the Dobbins.