Really thought he was poor against Wigan and was blowing out of his backside.

I dont think we need to renew his deal this season. Let O'Brien take over under Heath and spend his large salary elsewhere as he is surely one of the higher earners.

I also think Sundays game highlighted how well our props have done so far this season. But against Wigan they didnt seem to do as well. We need another couple of big quailty front rowers to help the currnt ones out. Langley was very poor.

Its a shame we didnt get to Sign Alex Walsmley when we had the chance when Franny was watching him play for Dewsbury Celtic last season in the summer. He is going great at St Helens and looks to be developing into a bit of a monster. Does anyone have any ideas who is off contract at the end of the season that is British and we can look to sign. Rumour has it Sam, George & Tom Burgess have steered Roy Asotasi our way from South sydney accoriding to the Rabbitohs forum but. We cant bring in Roy Asotasi unless we offload one of our quota players.

TBF none of our props really got a roll on and nobody in the forwards played well versus Wigan so it's a bit unfair to single out Langley.

I wouldn't be surprised to see O'Brien take Diskin's place next year but we need to make sure the blend of youth and experience is still right. If we let Diskin go we need to keep Langley IMO.

I'd be surprised if there were any big names from Oz coming over as they can earn much more down under. I'd say it was more likely that any cash we have is used to keep others at the club and to bring through some more young players.

I agree with that. I would keep Langers over Diskin the way he is playing at the moment. Heath is playing far better.

Roy Asotasi rumour again, think you need to make up a new one, think this is in it's 5th season now

Heath playing better that Diskin. Shows you know nothing. Take Matt every time as he really controls how the side go.

I'd agree with the last comment. Think Disko is our No.1 hooker at the moment by the way he controls the game from the ruck.

If you take Sundays game for instance, the first 25mins we were under the cosh and managed to be still within 12pts, yet we bring on Heath (who has a more attacking mentality) and suddenly we were 30pts down.

I personally think we have players we need to keep hold of rather than bringing in expensive imports. There are also others that I would imagine cost us quite a bit, yet don't add full value for 80minutes.

Not sure what anyone else thinks, but apart from being in the right place at the right time in terms of scoring tries, Brett Kearney offers little else. He's particularly poor when dealing with kicks and doesn't seem to be that great defensively either.

Just my opinion but I'm sure we could spend his wages much more wisely.

Diskin is our weak link (Heath is a different class) and Brett is our best player

Well on current form I wouldn't be throwing silly money at Lulia. Need to make a decision on him very soon, perhaps he is just a little out of form but he isn't the same player as last year IMO.

Hopefully he's just had a bit of a slow start to the year.

I'm not sure I agree with you on Kearney. At the moment I'd say he's having his best ever year with us and has scored and made a lot of tries. While Gale was out he ran his blood to water trying to organise and be on the end of things. Without being on the field it's hard to tell how much leadership he provides but he's one of our most influential senior players if tries and assists are anything to go by.

On the downside his positional play isn't top class and he's not exactly Mumby-esque in defence (who is?). But to me these are fairly minor quibbles.

If we did allow him to leave who would take his place? I like the look of Naughton but he's a way off SL yet I think. I certainly wouldn't be putting Platt there. Kear is sound under the kick and is quite quick but lacks the ability to chime into the line and make play for others from what I've seen.

On the hooker debate I thought Diskin was excellent at Leeds so I'd be reluctant to write him off yet.

I don't look at Diskin as writing him off, he's still a very capable SL hooker. Question is does he offer enough to the team as one if the highest paid players? If the budget is tight, I wonder if his wage would be better spent at Prop or Centre.

That's fair enough.

Like you I hope Lulia finds some form soon as he's having a quiet season compared with 2012. I blame the haircut.

Think both Lulia and Disko have been disappointing this year, especially Matt. Without the background [injuries, carrying knocks etc it's impossible to be totally objective about their input into the team's performance - other than the obvious ie. not at the same level as last year.

For me Diskin offers control, patience and a little more composure than heath. Defensively against London disko went off and all of a sudden breaks up the middle were being made, I am not saying diskin is better than heath in defence but maybe the composure and communication is better. Heath likes to take the line on more and throw no look passes that can sometimes go to ground. If we are not writing players off I would imagine Heath's wage is more than diskins. I would keep diskin as long as he wants to play but I feel he will retire soon anyway.
Asotasi - who cares not interested in him anymore than i was 5 years ago. Do not think he is the sort of prop franny likes look of anyway, not a massive offloader.
Langers has to be kept due to his loyalty and experience/leadership.

Kearney has had a few games with some uncharacteristic errors but maybe he is playing with a knock struggled against wigan, and london had to be moved to wing late on.

Diskin is becoming relatively successful away from the game with other business interests. Perhaps he is not as desperate for success as he once was? That CSE grade B in French was my undoing as a player.

Brett Kearney has been our no1 player so far and is by far our player of the season so far.

He ran his blood to water in most games and created alongside Sammut when playing at 6. He deserves a another 2 years. We wouldnt get anyone better.

For me I have never really seen Purtell or Lulia on top form. Keith I would say played better than Purtell but even beore his heart attack he didnt set the world on fire. I think we could do with those 2 quota spots and use them a bit wiser.
If Lulia wants an extension he needs to pull his finger out.

We need a replacement for Matty Blyth too at the moment. at the min the kid can hardly walk and there is no timescale on him returning from his back injury. Not even the Dr's know what is wrong with him.

Think the criticism of Lulia Is harsh. Defensively Lulia is superb, he also puts winger into space.

Ok he's not a fast powerful centre, but he is a skilful, strong centre which I think goes unnoticed.

A lot of our tries have come from Lulia putting Foster a way.

Last year I would of have been desperate to hold onto Lulia. So far this year I would probably lean towards trying to hold onto him but I wouldn't be completely devastated if he went elsewhere.
I guess it's the same old gamble on who else is available, what quality and will they settle in SL. His skills don't go unnoticed but for me he hasn't looked quite as solid defensively and the excellent centre play from last year hasn't quite hit the same heights. Tough call perhaps for Cummins, hopefully his judgement will be spot on.

I am in no doubt that Kearney is having his best year by far with us, but I think my issue is that when he makes mistakes (which is quite often if you look at the stats) he tends to make very costly errors, which ends up costing us points. (See Leeds and Wigan for instance)

I appreciate his willingness to run his blood to water and ability to get on the end of a pass to score, but so does Danny McGuire but I wouldn't have him in my team.

Maybe i've been spoiled by the quality of the fullbacks we've had over the years (Keith Mumby, Sprogger Spruce, Michael Withers, Nathan Graham etc) that I don't give him enough merit. Had we the ability to splash a bit of cash around, I'd say he was worth keeping, but ateotd we don't so i'm probably taking a little bit of an over-progmatic approach when than thinking about him and his worth to the team.

With regards to Disko, write him off at your peril. Whilst his body might be struggling a little, his mind looks as sharp as ever. My own personal opinion is that we have the best of both in Disko and Heath and would want to see them both in RAB next year at least, with O Brien completing his apprenticeship with a view to stepping in to the void in 2015.

Lulia is a funny one. I cannot personally remember him putting Foster in too many times and the defence seems to have the measure of him and his hand-off following last seasons exploits. Maybe the Leeds offer doesn't look too bad now. That said, I'd rather have him in our shirt than a Rhinos one.

Blythe when fit has been solid and i'd like to try and get him perminently (if possible), Foster well worth another year or two as is Sidlow. Langley offers a reminder back to the days of glory and for me it would be sad to lose that last remaining link.

Purtell is the one that doesnt sit well with me. Part of me says that the guy has done really well coming back from what he did and that he needs time to settle back in. Another side says that he wasn't exactly setting the world alight before magic weekend and that he was probably a good Mr Reliable in a team that desperately needed some stability. My heart says keep him, my head says cut him lose

Purtell still has a further season on his contract so I doubt he'll going anywhere unless he feels he isn't up to it anymore. Personally I think he is gradually improving each week and hopefully that will continue.

Where is O'Brien going to continue his apprenticeship? He's ready for SL from what I've seen and hopefully he will continue to get some games in this year in preparation for being our 2nd choice hooker in 2014.

Sidlow is also contracted to 2014 so going nowhere without mutual consent.

Kearney is OOC 2013 with "an option for 2014" whatever that means to club and player

O'Brien will be ready in 2014. He's also a great passer of the ball for speed, length and accuracy

I tend to prefer way we play when l'estrange/ obrien are on the pitch.we just look to lack ideas a little when diskin is on. Unless diskin is prepared to take a significant pay cut then I would offer him another deal as think his wage would be better spent on other areas of squad, especially if we're going to be operating significantly below the salary cap again next year. Also worry a little that if block obriens progress too long he will look elsewhere. I know he's on a long deal but we all know contracts aren't worth the paper there written on these days.
On lulia, he formed a good partnership with Bateman last year. Batemans been missing for bulk of season so far and he's been working with Olbison. Would like to see if he gets back to last years form once Bateman is back in squad for a decent run. Thing to remember is we know what lulia is capable of when on form. So we know that's its possible for him to get that form back. Anyone we bring over from oz would be a gamble, like lulia was when we got him, although with new NRL salary cap it's likely that anyone new coming over would be of a lower standard. On that basis is stick with lulia.
Don't see problem with Kearney personally. His positioning can be suspect in defence but IMO he makes up for that in attack. Like all fullbacks when he makes a mistake it tends to lead to an opposition score. That's the nature of being last line of defence though.

Interesting to see how other fans view the abilities of our players.

Kearney has his weaknesses but we're a far more dangerous side with him in our 17. Being in the right place at the right time isn't a fluke. He is also safe under the high ball and supports well like any good fullback should. Been a great form so far this year and hopefully he will be even more effective now Gale is back in the side.

Expect the club, OOC players & agents are hotly involved in discussions. Just 14 days to go before we know who has been retained, who is not retained & who has decided to go anyway.

The club was required to retain players in contract before the OKE (Omar Khan Era) and pay the salaries that the previous administration agreed. That they did this in 2013 without 50% of Sky funding, estimated at £625,000, is a quite extraordinary feat.

For 2014 The Bulls will have a fresh look at the level of salaries of the OOC players they wish to retain as the Sky money restriction will still be in place.
The length of any contract offered will be a salient issue to both club and player. For example offering Platt or Langley a one year extension may not meet their expectations

It isn't a fixed cutoff date though. Just the date at which other clubs can start negotiating ( although we all know they talk to players before then anyway). Hopefully we'll be able to announce new deals for some of more important ooc players before then to stop inevitable speculation, but it doesn't necessarily mean a player who doesn't have a deal announced by then is definitely going.

Regarding Lulia,last year we had Gale and Jeffries for most of the season getting good early ball out wide for Lulia,and has been said on her, Bateman, for them to have best opportunity to show what they can do. Lost count on Sunday how many times the ball gets dropped off back inside where the leagues best defence were waiting,very poor play.

Lulia is a class player but needs a decent supply of ball in a bit of space and he will show what a class player he is,no doubt about that at all

Also can't believe people are questioning Kearneys ability,yes he had a poor game on Sunday,but come on get real, I think he is a quality player