One downside of Rovers current good form is that we seem to be struggling for baseless transfer/recruitment speculation. If you were the coach, which players from other clubs would you be looking at? Being realistic, I think the following could be worth considering (depending to an extent on who gets promoted from the U21):

Kirk Netherton. Still counts as club-trained, I assume, has another year of SL experience under his belt and would provide natural cover/competition for Fisher.
Craig Hall. Out of favour at Hull. Bit of a gamble, but if Walker moves into the back row, another centre would come in handy.
Sam Obst/Brad Drew. Both Australian (and Drew is definately at the veteran stage) and we'll be looking to cut our overseas contingent I assume. However, their ability to play at hooker or halfback, could be really useful.
Matty Smith. A young British alternative to the Wakefield duo. Being behind Dobson might not seem like the best career option for him though.

Just ripped this of the Wire forum, all the out of contract at the end of 2009 players.
Paul Sykes
Semi Tadulala
Ben Jeffries
Terry Newton
Andy Lynch
Steve Menzies
Glenn Morrison
Matt Cook
Dave Halley
Matt James
David Solomona
James Donaldson
Duane Straugheir
Danny Orr
Gareth Haggerty
Daniel Heckenberg
Danny Ward
Motu Tony
Chris Thorman
Peter Cusack
Richard Whiting
Graeme Horne
Jamie Thackray
Thomas Lee
Sam Moa
Paul Johnson
Paul Rauhihi
Lee Briers
Vinnie Anderson
Steve Pickersgill
Mike Cooper
Chris Bridge
Jason Cayless
Matt Gidley
Lee Gilmour
Keiron Cunningham
Sean Long
shaun Ainscough
George Carmont
Phill Bailey
Mark Flanagan
Cameron Phelps
Tim Smith
Andy Coley
Karl Pryce

Our OOC players; Daniel Fitzhenry, Chaz I'Anson, Makali Aizue, Jason Netherton, Rhys Lovegrove, Ryan Esders, Stanley Gene

if cunningham stays at saints, i doubt theyll keep scott moore, a better option than kirk netherton id say, maybe a long term replacment for fisher?

I would only take the highlighted players

You little minx!!!

So you wouldn't re-sign any of Rovers ooc players then

Full back - tick
Wingers - tick
Centres - tick
Stand off - tick
Scrum half - tick
Props - Possibly one big guy (Fa'asavalu/Paliasina types)
Hooker - I think we need a top class hooker, Fish and Fitzy are very good but just think this is where we need to improve to the next level.
Second row - tick
Loose man - tick

From that list I dont see many candidates that would improve what we already have. Sure Cunningham would but we need a future player not someone that would last one season at best.

I trust in Justin to bring in the correct players in and feel if he thinks Fish, Fitzy and our props are good enough currently then thats fine by me too!

Dont get me wrong Ainscough would be good but he's staying at Wigan for sure, Gidley well who wouldnt want him! Cayless would improve our pack but at the expense of who?

I wouldn't mind Terry Newton at Rovers and maybe he'd be tempted with the Bulls having turned to poop.

His thug days seem to be behind him and he's a real competitor who would add something to our team.

Not gonna happen though I don't think...

didnt realise the 2 player been talked about arnt on that list.... Houghton and Crabtree, does anyone know how long they contracts are?

I have it on good authority that one of the highlighted players above will sign for 2 years.
The authority being a player that i was doing a gas safety check for, I beleive this person as it was mentioned just in a general conversation.

Can't see us going after Houghton, another overhyped FC youngster with not much else to his game than being a good scooter from dummy-half (even though I think he'll be a decent SL player in the future).

Crabtree would offer us an off-loading threat we don't really have at the moment - would be a good signing I reckon.

If I remember correctly Crabtree signed a contract extension wit5h Hudds last year and is contracted for next season to them.

If Kirk Netherton spent 3 full seasons with Rovers whilst he was aged under 21 then he would still be classed as home grown if he came back. Less than this and he wouldn't.

Don't know if he was with us for 3 years or not to be honest.

As for Craig Hall - tremendous talent. His Dad was a decent player nothing more at full back. Then he was given free reign to express himself and show what he could do at loose forward. Then the Gt Britain caps followed.

Craig Hall can blossom like his Dad but he needs to get away from Hull FC. With his ability he could play in several positions so don't think of him as a centre. I'd sign him like a shot.

Agree 100% about Craig Hall, but he very clearly stated he had no wish to leave FC.

No Leeds players OOC? I thought Iain Kirke was?

In my opinion we need a top class centre, the same at hooker and a massive impact prop. Out of that list, we should check out:



Andy Lynch
Matt Gidley
Keiron Cunningham
George Carmont

i thought ian kirke signed a new contract, but if he hasnt would he count as home grown?

lee smith, ablett, gibson and leului all ooc iirc at leeds this season, not sure if donald signed an extension did he? think thats all of leeds. seem to be a few teams missing from that list

add Gibson, Ablett and Leuleai to my list in that case.

Big falling out behind the scenes aparently....

Crabtree would be perfect! he's caused us so many problems in the past

i never thought he'd be big enough until i saw him this season, he has bulked up a hell of alot, i agree would be good if we can grab him!

and notice i put big enough - didnt mean height wise

Id like to see us strengthen at hooker and prop.

Mark O Meley would be good, and maybe Terry Newton.

i was thinking Newton but didnt know how old he was...

I had reservations about the signing of Fozzard and hes proved me to be wrong. Plus Stanley proves age doesnt matter anyways...