I'll defend radford a little here
name a top level centre and hooker likely to come here. Centre especially. And a hooker given we have a frontline hooker so really only need a boudebza type?
I watch tons of rugby n I cant think of any. Also given the nrl cap may raise to 5mil

So you keep telling us every post. We know but repeating it every 2 min isn't gonna change it . agree with above poster on this

Its a good point but will any other SL teams be going into next season with just one specialist hooker in their squad? Other teams have solved the problem; we don't seem to have tried. In fact we don't seem to think it is a problem only having one hooker.

i've being defending Micheals all season and yet the vast majority of posters seem to have being watching someone else, probably the most consistant performer in the backline and certainly one of if not the best defender stats wise.
Not a world beater but adds solidity on the wing though if Lancaster can push on/get a chance next season it'll be interesting to see who gets the nod in that spot.

He's a very likeable character and done a great job this season, would he be a starting back for any of the 7 teams above us? I doubt it, just lacks the strike, not sure him resigning is a great move going forward, not for a team wanting to finish in the 8 every season anyway.

My issue with him until recently was that he didn't score enough tries (not all his fault, nor Yeaman's

). I think at one point he'd scored twice in nineteen games.

Five in five now though.

Matty Dawson? Kevin Penny? Ashley Gibson? I'd even prefer him to Aaron Murphy tbh.

I don't think it's "all he knows". Most squads have utility players. We've got specialists in the spine, 5 out and out props if Feka stays and 3 fine back rowers. Houghton's not a utility player. Not that unusual to have three quarters that cover wing and centre. I completely agree we should have signed a centre but neither Agar nor Gentle bothered, so it's not an exclusively Radford issue.

Every team above us have a centre that has been converted from another position. Moon at Leeds was a stand off. Sarginson at Wigan was a stand off, and they're playing Bateman in the centres right now. Just about every player that plays centre for Saints started in a different position. Tony Gigot is utility. Joe Wardle is swapped between centre and 2nd row regularly.

We sign a stand off that has played centre with the intention of playing him in the centres, and Radford is the biggest idiot of all time. Some of our fans are the biggest cretins in the entire league!

I'd say it is a Radford issue, Agar had his hands tied behind his back & Gentle had a dream team centre playing a very high standard never mind for a rookie! Admittedly we'll never know how Arundel would have got on but Yeaman was contracted to the club anyway and Arundal wouldn't have being any worse than Yeaman this last two seasons.
Radford however managed to dispose the dream team centre and turn him into a scapegoat for his failings as a coach and continued to play Yeaman at centre despite being utterly gash and indeed giving him yet another another contract extension.
Radford also signed the crock that is Sa, played him in the centre and aside from a few good minutes has also being rubbish.

And yet you think Agar & Gentle should be afforded the same level of criticism, sorry but that's not how it looks on plain facts alone.

Yes. Crooks and Arundel have gone on to be World beaters since they left us. Biggest mistakes since Danny Brough! lol

Its not our job to identify and sign players for the club.
We have been short of a top centre now for several seasons yet the club would rather sign utility players.
We had a decent young hooker in Cunningham but Radford in his wisdom didn't give him game time in that position.We need an additional hooker.For me a Boudebza type would be good.Surely cant be that difficult to find.
Danny Houghton is a great Pro and works so hard for the team but he takes the wrong option so many times like last night when he fed Paea nr the line with 5 men waiting to tackle him when we had a 3 man overlap if he had fed the ball to the left.

pity we cant find someone like james segeyaro,great interchange hooker who really peps a flagging team up when he comes on.we lack someone like that.washbrook will add nothing ,if hes the man Radford is thinking of as bench hooker.

You don't get it do you! At the time Crooks WAS the solution to the right centre spot and had skills beyond his years/experience, ergo Gentle didn't need to sign a centre with ball handling skills. On the other side we had Yeaman and he signed Arundel as the suitor (an England Knights rep if you forget), Arundel had a fair lay off I recall but played 14 games and scored 7 tries, a better return than Yeaman though obviously needed some work on his D but was what just 21 when he started at the club.
I presume you wanted Yeaman & Sa as our strikeforce centre partnership right because that was what Radford has given us, he got reasonably lucky with switching Talanoa to centre and he's performed quite well there but that was out of desperation, Micheals got a chance at centre due to yeaman being utterly .

Radford made the whole team a laughing stock last year, his micturate poor coaching and some bitterness from the owner soon had any chance of our younger players being cast out and being scapegoated for our failings. Arundel never played a game under Radford, Miller & Crooks were treated like shat but yeah our centres have being white hot the last 2 years, all under the supremo that is Radford and he still hasn't sorted out a ball handling talented centre in the Crooks mould but it would seem we are okay for back row forwards



So yes, the centre issue is a Radford failing on a worse scale than it was under the previous coaches stewardship but you're so blind and another Radford lover that you can't see straight logic!

Absolutely.

Sounds like bumpy doesn't quite agree, but he know best I suppose.

Not sure the problem is entirely LR fault, but he hasn't addressed the issue yet... I am hopeful though that one of the new signings can play centre well next year, they may not be 'specialist' centres by trade but one of them may well turn out to be very good there. LR will have to take the blame though if we are found wanting though.

Would love to understand more about Crooks, it quite a fall from grace really? Admittedly there was room for improvement in his game, but for one season he looked to have a very bright future.

Wasting your time pointing out the freaking obvious in previous regimes' deficiencies. One-dimensional battering of Radford The way forward.

Adds enthusiasm ,knows the game,can pass either side experienced at LF iirc amongst top tackles in SL, offers further options i/c injuries, not on massive contract and from Hull

washbrooke is still a poor signing,if we are using him as interchange hooker.

we'll see how he goes under powell next year

...the fact we are lauding Michaels.....

Can't think of too many 22yr old `world beaters' tbh.
Crooks could have spent this season on the `Naughty step' sat in the stands with Shaul, but chose to spend a season living in one of the worlds most iconic cities, -
improving his game, (no matter who the coaches were) & landing a 3 year deal under arguably the best coach in super league.
Looks like he's done alright to me - given the alternative of stagnating under Radford.

Kenny Penny is an interesting one because he will divide you depending on how you like to see the game played, I see him as a match winner, an althlete and an entertaining player. Radford would see a player like Penny as his worst nightmare. If I'm honest I'd much prefer to see him on the wing over Micheals, like I say the lads a smart player, solid but just lacks an 'X factor' for me. As a bit of counter though ball in hand he's certainly looked more dangerous in recent weeks so maybe more to come from him, and his try ratio has improved a lot. If we had a team full of mavericks and backs like Penny he'd add a lot of balance, but my gripe is that Radofrd would prefer the whole backline like this.

As for the centre debate as long as he knows the score I can't see anything wrong with having Tuimavave as our starting centre, maybe a gamble but seems to have the talent and pedigree, that's certainly not a stick to beat Radford with and personally am excited to see how he goes. My concern is that because he's played there so little he's bound to have a few poor defensive reads and positioning issues at first, and is also a naturally creative player so may also turn over a fair bit of ball and let's not forget only 22, so will he get long enough in the side before he's placed on the naughty step and his attitude brought into question? Going on what we've seen, I'm not sure Radford has the patience or know how to get the best out of such a player, not to mention the temptation to play Yeaman there too.

I still hope that Micheals us back up next year, he is a solid player, but doesn't have the pace or the X factor that Naughton and Lancaster have (or at least the potential).