Thompson was incredible. A ridiculous performance from such a young kid against such a physical team in such a big occasion.

Both him and Richards for me have taken the starting shirts and should keep them.

I wouldn't start them both. At the moment Thompson is the better player but I can see Richards developing into a very good starting prop forward. For Thompson, I think he ups the pace and brings energy in the forwards when he comes on from the bench which is how i'd see him used at the start of next season.

As a second row?

I'd run Thompson as a second row personally unless we have injuries. We're covered at prop with Walmsley, Amor, Masoe, Richards in our match day squad then probably have Thompson, LMS and Vea as second rows in the squad. Still got others to cover then haven't we. All my opinion obviously and how I see fit, but others would have different ideas to how I view it.

I didn't actually mean the 8 and 10 shirts. I mean they've earned first dibs on a place in the 17 every week. If they keep up the performance levels of recent weeks, they should remain there.

No he is going to be a superb second rower. He has strength, pace and no fear.

Thompson was outstanding with and without the ball, Richards was solid.

Hasn't Thompson got a good offloading game? I am sure someone on here said they could see him as a 13 down the line.

personally thought Thompson was our best player. Certainly the best forward in the red vee.

If he keeps progressing and doesn't lose focus he could become a top top player.

We're losing Boof, Sia and Manu for next year - I don't think we need to recruit any more replacements. We have them in the youngsters.

Tommo has impressed since his debut last season, and he's been managed well. He has only played a handful of games, he hasn't been thrown straight into the deep end. He's been slowly blooded in, and we'll see the benefits of that next season onwards.

Ffs a positive post from the sad person.

Disagree, I feel we need 1 more forward to finish us off. We have the cap so we should use it - why waste the advantage?

Ideally I'd like someone like fozzard in 2005, experienced, dependable but not a world beater whose there to make the kids take the shirt off him - who that could be though I'm not sure...

Strongly disagree with that mate. We need a extra forward. We need to build year on year with a blend of old, young and new blood. Sia and Manu are big losses and it's to much of a risk and a risk we tried before and failed.

I like to bring new blood in each year as it keeps the squad fresh and we should never need a massive rebuild like we've had to do the last 3 years.

Like Brown said post match, he was brought in to rebuild and structure the squad with youth and new blood. The likes of Walsh, Amor, walmsley and Manu have been great signings and the is also Turner and Mose who on their day can be very good. Add the kids like swift, Percy, Thompson, Richards, greenwood, Saveilo etc and we have a nice blend of old, new and young.

I'd like to bring a good experienced prop in who is a leader type, IMO we need a leader in the pack.

Completely agree, can't help but feel we missed out big time on Ashton Sims. Bryce Gibbs would probably top my target list of those out of contract for next year.

Simms would have been great but not so sure on his leadership qualities. Bryce Gibbs is a player I've always liked but again is he a leader ?

Someone in the Peacock, mozza, Hill mould is what we need.

I think Gibbs is from what I have seen. Below is a quote from Keith Galloway during his time at the Tigers with Gibbs:

“I learnt so much from Bryce in terms of coming off the line in defence. He used to always shout at you if you were not pulling your weight"

Another quote from Ben Ross:

"The glue to any team he’ll be in. He gets the boys together and we have a lot of fun around him and he makes us more of a team than people would really see."

Maybe he'd fit the bill then. I only watch him and no idea what he's like off the pitch but I've always liked him. Good tough prop.

We have Vea coming in from Broncos, and surely surely Richie Beaumont will be up to fitness next season?

I don't think we can depend on Beaumont with his injury record

Thompson is a direct replacement for Laffranchi - their stats are almost identical this year and the kids only going to get better.

Vea will be a good signing and a good replacement for Manu (though I know it's not necessarily a common held belief) - he is more reliant on other players putting him in positions to cause damage than Manu is from what I've seen, but the flip side is we have more invested in the halves.

LMS is Soliolas direct replacement imo, but that leaves us another prop short. I wouldn't rely on starting Richards and Thompson together yet, which is why another prop on top of what we already have would be great. As much as I'd like to think ghostmont could be that man, I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. Even including him, at the moment we have 5 props - that's not enough.

I think Amor can be our pack leader (in response to Pete) and as great as having a peacock/ hill/ Graham would be, I find it unlikely we'll find one for 2015.

Thompson and Richards will have another years experience and of course we have Savellio who is definitely ready for the first team squad

I still think one more prop is needed. Not the end of the world if we don't get one but I think another signing would complete a good looking squad for next year.

I'm not sure Amor has recovered from that knee yet. He's not been great since he came back and he's not playing the mins he was before so I think he's still carrying that knee.

Props of Amor, Walmesley, Mose, Beaumont, Thompson, Richards, Walker

2nd row of LMS, Vea, wilkin, Savellio, Forster and probably Wello as well

Jones can also cover backrow if needed, i think we've got forwards covered but if there's a 25yr old Lee Gilmour out there id snap them up too

And it should recover fine in the offseason to fulfil that role next year



Of course if jammer actually wanted to win a grand final I wouldn't say no