They got told the day of the open top bus parade mate

That wasn't the info I recieved and that was from a players father.
Look at Barkers face on the SKY footage that isn't the picture of a player happy about winning a GF and looking forward to SL.

Dwayne Barker deffo knew before the game because he gave a speech in the dressing room at half-time telling the rest of the players it was his last half of rugby for Rovers.
Not sure about Ellis and Garmston but if i recall correctly James told Rovers to stuff it because they wanted him to sign a contract but go out on loan for a year. He told them that if he left then he left for good.

Maybe he should of listened

Without a doubt.

The likeihood is that they already knew but they got told officially on the day Rovers had the civic reception.
Look at the footage of that day and you see the exact same body language

Maybe so but I know for a fact that they already knew and had it confirmed before the GF.

Well if thats what you happy to believe im not getting into a disagreement with you.
I was on the open top bus that day and know what i saw and heard from insiders at the club so we will have to beg to differ.
I hardly think they were told before the grand final however as if Rovers had lost that game they may well have been retained.

They were told, there was an article in the paper with Dwayne and he even stated as much. Plus Dwayne wasn't even on the bus and certainly didn't appear at city hall on the balcony

Im sure he was, will have to dig the DVD out.
Phil Joseph wasnt there but i think Dwayne was.
And i know that Ellis and co were taken aside at Craven Park before the bus set off and told they would not be offered a SL contract.
Had we lost against Widnes however i reckon Barker and Ellis would have got a deal to play in NL1.

Not a big fan of stats taken in isolation as they can be very misleading, but i thought [url=http://www.superleague.co.uk/statistics_player.php?hs1=2011&hp1=4870&hs2=2011&hp2=947&stat=tries&season=2011[uthese[/u[/url were quite interesting.

Looks like Frankie is really enjoying his role as right sided second row and i know for a fact that Johnny Queer thinks he has a massive future in the game.

Worked out brilliantly for him, glad he has gone with that attitude. Being loaned out was a great thing for Watts, he looks a certain international of the future.

Well done to him.

Nice to see Welham topping the tries as well and considering our position its nice to see two other Rovers players featuring in the top tries.

Played well against Leeds, doesnt look out of place at all so far

If Wakey go down we may put in a cheeky bid to bring him back parhaps.
Homegrown squad player with SL experience.

I don't know why Morgan let Frankie go, sure Mason, Galea, Newton, Cook and Taylor were always going to be tough to break in front of but would John Kear put any of those in front of Frankie now he's cemented his spot in the side?

With Galea set to leave at the end of the year and the fact both Newton and Mason are the wrong side of 30 come the end of June we should be looking at having Taylor and Mariano as our back row with Watts and Lovegrove as our future starting props. We could have loaned Mariano out for a season, his wages were hardly a strain on our club considering he could have earnt more being a joiner!!

If Watts has any sense he'll leave Rovers at the end of his current contract for the NRL, its a no brainer. Also just out of interest what does Lovegrove bring to the table as starting prop??

Honest answer - yes... at least some of them. That said, it is good to see him doing well and I wouldn't be at all averse to seeing him come back. For his own sake though he should go where he'll continue getting a decent amount of game time.

At the minute he is bringing more intertest and physicality (SP) then most and he actually looks to make meters post contact.
Something we are seriously lacking by others in the side.

Don't disagree with that.

I know he's a fans favourite and i am not criticising him, but my point is where best to utilise him. In terms of technical ability he doesn't strike me as a starting prop. For me his play the balls are too slow and more often than not gets controlled in the collision, not really what you want early in the game. He makes the eyecatching yards and indeed averages at least 1 metre per carry more that any of the other props. But in terms of technique Vella, Watts, Wheeldon and Netherton who all find their front pretty well, generally get the team in a position to go forward more effectively. I suppose it all boils down to what you want as a coach, an extra metre per carry? or quicker PTB's. I know which i prefer though i appreciate it is all down to individual opinion.

Either way Rhys has his best years ahead of him and if used effectively he could carve out quite a career for himself.

I would agree with a lot of that TBH.
As you say it all depends when you want the extra meterage.
TBH JM gets a lot of stick about playing players out of position but with Rhys playing at prop he has got it totally correct.

I agree with Gordon aswell and how wheeldon wasnt in the squad on saturday to face hudds is totally baffling to me

I'm sure Gekko will know better than me but Scott looked to have picked up a facial injury to me against Salford (nose i think). Maybe Morgan was giving him a week off to recover?

spoke to scott before the game, fully fit, did'nt know why he was left out.

If that is the case then i would want to know why our Head Coach isnt giving players a reason for their non-selection.
On the other hand there is a possiblility that the player was informed of the coaches reasons but didnt want to share them with fans/friends. Only speculating.