Andy Wilson (Grauniad) reckons Leeds have little room for manouvre under the cap thanks to Lee Smith coming back. I reckon they'll bring in someone but they also have Jones Bishop back too anyway.

chev walker rumour has surfaced again on t'other forum. he makes his comeback in hull krs u20 game this weekend. be interesting to see how he gets on.

So he won't be at Odsal then to be unveiled



Keep your phone on, I'll get my spy at Craven Park to give me a report on how he goes.

He has signed on for Wigan already hasn't he.

Elima ? Another forward! haha..

To be honest i don't know much about him. He's never been one to stand out when i've watched games he is in. What will he add?

He'll be able to tell Halibut what he thinks of his decisions so Halibut understands, if nothing else...

I think we need 'another forward' because we lack quality in our forwards.

Each time i have seen Catalans play, Elima has been the stand out forward for the team. He is a solid backrower with a good defence, and offers strength and ability in attack. More ability than what Worrincy and Hall offer anyway. If he was on offer to come to the Bulls, without demanding a huge salary, he would be a handy player to own.

What is happening with Craig Hall anyone? Heard he is Hull KR bound? It is to bad if true think he's a great young English prospect.

potter needs to bring some good backs from saints
forwards we are fine with the junior development but our backs over the years have been poor

My comment was a bit cheeky. Just after the rubbish we've had this season, i'd just like to hear us linked to some backs rather than constantly with forwards ( whilst we need some, it is a lot stronger area than backs ATM).


Craig Hall is meant to be a HKR player next year. He's real hit and miss, sometimes class, sometimes s**t. My Hull FC friend reckon he's had enough chances to secure a first team spot there but never cemented it.

I've heard several backs links, to be honest. 'appen as well, like, cos we sure need some.

I must agree the backs need great improvement, but its going to be hard to attract any decent back with the position we have finished this year.

I just thought somebody like Hall although his hit/miss fault, would be a great prospect, especially if taught how to play consistantly. Perhaps his consistancy is fault of Hull FC for playing him one week then leaving him out for the next 4 games.

What backs in SuperLeague are out of contract at the end of the year if anybody has an idea?

Remember they don't have to be out of contract when the salary cap looms large...

You have definitely signed (quote me on this) Shaun Ainscough for next season from Wigan. Announcement next week.

OK. I was told this a few days ago from over your way, but said I would say nowt.

Your take on it, if you don't mind passing on your thoughts? On the face of it, to me it would make sense for both player and club. We are desperate out wide, and he'd have the chance to shine.

Personally I think he is a decent move, as long he gains confidence under the high ball, hes quick and a good finisher, not too sure on his defence as i dont think it has been tested as of yet.

Even better he is still young and can only improve.

Any guesses who? I mean i've heard about Meli. Maybe my expectations are too high. My source told me about Potter and Elima but no backs.

I was told Ainscough has a bad attitude and doesn't train well. I mean he did well for Wigan and Cas but isn't a regular. It would be wrong to sign for bradford and be good in defence! He must be s**t there!

Shaun Ainscough? OMG, It couldnt be any worse, Kevin Penny MK2.

The guy has can finish but some of his weaknesses were exposed and I think he lost some confidence. He'd be a bit of a gamble type signing but probably a fairly low cost one right now.

I thought he had some potential when he broke onto the scene, not seen a lot of him since. Has he managed to improve the areas which he struggled with?

He is class in attack and a great finisher, a new start is what he really needs and i think he will do well for you, all you need is to put a big centre next to him who can defend well and he score plenty

Pretty good summary to be honest.

No, he hasn't really had the opportunity to show that he's improved in those areas due to injury and with Goulding and Richards playing well.

And this is the key point. To be honest none of us really know much about the guy but for that brief spell when he was in the Wigan team last year he seemed to be scoring tries for fun. Ultimately you can coach someone to defend from scratch but you need a bit of spark naturally from players in attack, so if he's got that then there's something to work with. And if he doesn't make it then we've not lost much trying.

We do still need a marquee three quarter / stand off though. I know that he's contracted but I reckon we should move heaven and earth for someone like Vatuvei - world class (obviously) but also someone that could be marketed heavily as the new Lesley and get a bit of the rampaging Bulls idea going again, which is surely the best way to attract lapsed supporters? Loads you could do with The Beast.

A Walker/Ainscough combo?

tbh we went down that route with tupou and it was a disaster. big mistake imo signing anyone and then comparing them to a club legend. raises peoples expectations too much and they very quickly turn on player if they arent an instant success ( not that that was the problem in tupou's case, he was just a lazy sod).

Do think we need one key signing, not necessarily a marquee/big name one but someone we can build around. if it was a choice between a and a standoff I'd say go for the standoff every time. The lack of a proper standoff this year, combined with orford injury, has been our biggest problem this year. We need to have 2 dedicated halves before we start thinking about playing the likes of sykes,kearney etc out of position. either of them can do a job alongside a proper halve but they need to play alongside someon creative. in an ideal world we have orford and a.n.other as our starting halves and only play sykes/kearney in halves if we suffered an injury to one of our regular halves.

I really hope thats the reason we need menzies quota spot.

Vatuvei would score tries for fun over here! Bit unfair to compare him to Tame Tupou Mat!!

Unfortunately I think NZ Warriors would probably take a fair bit of convincing to let him leave! He's still fairly young though... so we can live in hope for the future!

I wasnt comparing him to tupou. I was making a more general point that i feel its a mistake to bring in a player and hype him up as the next (insert club legends name here) as it puts unfair pressure on the incoming player. We went down this route with tupou and imo it played a part in his fall from grace.