That's not what I'm saying.

Morgan has spent 5 years building a well-drilled side of non-marquee players and a great reputation off the back of it. Mason is a marquee signing. In my opinion, which I am entitled to, Mason and the cash he requires, would not have been a recruitment priority of Morgan when you already have Newton, Galea, Murrell, Cook, Watts and Taylor to play in the back 3 but, for example, your hooking options are Fisher and Hodgson. Club representatives have spoken a lot about Mason in the context of box office and merchandise. It's not an outrageous suggestion that, given the squad composition before Mason signed, Mason would not have been Morgan's dream signing.

Fair enough,I wasn`t having a pop.

Think most fans if they are honest wouldn`t mind Mason playing for their club.
Not saying it is going to happen,but even the biggest names don`t always gel at a certain club.
Different game I know,but I remember Garry Birtles scoring for fun at Forest,went to Man U and couldn`t score in a brothel.
Mason is a talking point with fans,which can only be a plus for Rovers.
As for the derby,"The answer my friend,is blowing in the wind."

Hopefully Mason will come good, but whilst we perform like this, the question of whether he was signed at the expense of 2, maybe 3 less 'glamorous' players that might have provided some valuable squad depth, will always crop up.

Have to admit it seems strange we pay the likes of Mason and Clinton so much, yet we haven't got a single player who can even 'do a job' if our number 7 gets injured.

That's fair enough, but I think the signings we made were logical from a purely rugby perspective. We were well drilled, but also predictable and a bit one-paced. Green's arrival would give us new options alongside Dobson, while Mason would add size, energy and aggression to the (sometimes lightweight) efficiency of our existing pack. Hall would create more options in the back 5.

Unfortunately Green only played twice alongside Dobson - when things looked okay-ish. Turns out that we can't cope very well without arguably our best and certainly most pivotal player. That reliance on one player is a weakness and one Rovers are clearly suffering from now.
I'm not quite sure why the pack no longer looks well drilled. But you need to be doing the basics right before you can add the spectacular, so I don't think Mason's muted performances are a major concern in isolation. The slow/stationary defensive line and lack of basic go-forward could/will be a major problem even when Dobson returns.

It hasn't really been an option for Rovers to do that. The 8 club-trained players rule means buying in that extra depth (and presumably pushing another youngster or two out of the top 25 earners) isn't an option. Clubs of longer SL standing tend to have more quality-experienced-expensive club-trained players, so have more of a choice in structuring their squad.

Agree with that. Mason will come very good IMO. Rovers biggest concern ATM aside from Dobson (who will be back shortly anyway) is that the only miss in the front row is Vella and this is where you're getting caught short. What happened to Wheeldon - is he injured? By all accounts he was very good in the games he played in. Are the 4 selected in front of him better?

If all of our forwards played with the vigour of Scott Taylor then our problems would disappear overnight. In fairness though i thought Joel Clinton was good last night.

Wheeldon has looked quite good from what I've seen this season - but not to the point that his replacement of Clinton, Netherton, Watts or Lovegrove would turn the tide. The pack has, in the past, won contests up front as a unit, they are now getting beat as a group. I think it is more strutctural than swapping bodies can solve.

=#FF0000As you said yourself this is thread drift so we won't go there-RW

Not that old chestnut.


Rovers by choice chose not to invest in thier youth structure when in NL1 so it's no good bleating about the club trained rules now. Clubs such a Cas,Huddersfield,Salford and newly promoted Widnes made sure their YD program was every bit as much thought of in NL1 as it was in SL.

Rovers club trained problems are self inflicted.


Rovers club trained problem is self inflicted.

Rovers are missing their key play maker and their best attacking forward. This hasn't happened before while those two players have been at the club. The drop in form is inevitable and it illustrates how a coach is only as good as the players he has at his disposal at any given time. Confidence comes from winning and winning comes from having your best players out on the pitch playing. It's not rocket science despite all the nuances and ulterior motives some fans spend their lives dreaming up.

1. Rovers got [ipromoted[/i because they invested in their first team. Without that promotion, investment in youth would not have served Rovers interest in a significant way. Widnes got [iawarded a licence[/i in part because of their investment in developing players. They responded successfully to the incentives that exist now, just as Rovers did back then. None of the Tigers, Giants and Reds spent more than a season in the second tier after their relegations from SL, iirc.

2. It wasn't a complaint - it was simply pointing out the reality of the situation.

What you say is true but is also pretty harsh. Cas, Huddersfield and Salford only had brief stints in the National League so their youth programmes were not really disrupted. Widnes by their admission have invested heavily in their youth because the RFL told them to as a key criteria to Super League admission. I bet they wouldnt have if it was straight promotion/relegation. They would have invested in their first team just as Rovers did.
It is also worth noting that 3 of the players from Rovers inaugural Academy side in 2008 played last night (Watts, Taylor and Latus) so we are clearly showing a commitment and ability to bring kids through the ranks.
As an aside, how many Hull FC Academy players of the year have Rovers taken off their hands in the past 4 years? If we miss out on them at 15/16 we are trying to get them here at 18/19/20/21. Surely this shows a desire to bring quality youngsters into the club.

Fact is mate no matter how you dress things up Rovers problems are of their own making and unless there is a big change of direction they will get worse.

I'd rather have these 'challenges' than the problems that would have been risked by taking a SL standard budget for youth development from a NL first team budget.

I don't know how good the structures are, but given Rovers' starting point on this, I'd be surprised if things didn't get [ibetter[/i... relative to the rest of SL at least.

Disagree mate.
Im sure he hates losing as much if not more then the fans.
But if he walks around with his chin on his knees how would he be able to lift his team.
The defeats to Cats,Cas and Salford have been the disapointing games.
Wins at Saints are rare and if you but the disapointment to one side Rovers showed big improvement at stages last night

I didnt take your comment in that manner mate.
Must be hard for coaches on a losing run not to just churn out the same old lines

well said, I agree. The disappointing thing is when we do put it together we do look half decent, I don't buy this idea that we have no flair without dobbo, welham's 1st try last night was as good as anything that will be scored in the league this week for me. The trouble is when we are having our bad spells in games we look positively amatuerish and are leaking lots of points.

You are alright then, as Dobson will be fit for the Leeds game, certainly Wigan. I wonder if he will play though?

Probably, if he is registered in time.

dont know where you've got this from, dobson will not be fit for leeds for sure and I'd think it's unlikely he'd be fit for the wigan game

Only if Berrigan's Bitch releases Mason's passport from her knicker drawer...

Do you really think that?
Fitzy - top try scorer in the NRL before coming over to us just pops into my head for a start.
Im not saying hes in the same light as Mason but hes already got the great reputation before he arrived here.
We also have afew NRL winners with great reps before coming here - again maybe not in the same limelight as Mason but how many clubs have. My answer is NONE in the last 5 years at least.

Got to say the thought has crossed my mind.

If anything, because of the desperation to get him here at [iany[/i cost and the unfettered glee when it happened took me straight back to Cookiegate and Hudge's behaviour then.