Should we have a look to union for a new prop? With the lack of available props in league.

Again, there's a question of availability.

There's also the question of ability. It can take a while for a player to adjust to the different speeds the game is played at.

I think there is also a question of Union players having different roles and skill sets i.e. a union prop is more about the scrums and do not have as much stamina as their league counterparts. Maybe a lock or union second row would work but little guarentee they would be able to successfully adapt.

I would not rule out a union player converting and being a success but it is more likely to be a , wing, second row/flanker.
other issues are that there is more money where they are.

Is the right answer..

Union props that made it in RL? Can't think of any that really shone.

As has been said the role of a prop is hugely different between the two sports. A back row union player might be more suitable, but it still be a big ask for anyone.

Trying to find a unión player who would make the switch would be difficult in any position, but its not a bad idea, same could be said if we had the space for nfl players who cant get a team.

Could we not look at the European rl teams or is that out of the question?

But a bigger back rower might be an option (apart from the fact that they probably wouldn't be able to run and pass at the same time) - Scott Quinell for example (I know Wigan tried to start him as a second row, but he was such a big lump they soon moved him forward).

I think the man pictured above, Frank Whitcombe, is one of the few to make the transition very succesfully. He came to RL when they had contested scrums and unlimited tackles which made it a war of attrition. Of recent times Maurice Coulman at Salford made it and Northern signed a Stuart Gallacher who weren`t half bad, but the modern RU props game is completely alien to the SL game IMHO.

Big Jim Mills might want to discuss that with you...?

I'm sure he would, Adey!!

There were one or two union forwards, including props, as mentioned above, who came to league back 'in the old days', but both league and union are far different games than they were then. I'd agree with another post back in the thread which says that the best positions for a ready made union convert to come from would probably be the threequarters.

This is speaking about [isuccessful[/i union players of course, though we should never forget that there must be thousands of players coming from union areas who never make it to the top but are actually far better suited physically to the league game and would make brilliant recruits - it would depend on clubs taking a punt, of course, which might be the sticking point, but if the heart is there the 'skill set' is only a matter of training.

better props in lower leagues, union prop and league prop is a whole different animal

To be honest, in RL areas, the kids who go to lower division clubs, [itend[/i to be the ones the SL clubs haven't creamed off as juniors (or have discarded later), and yeah, there are definitely the late developers but they are very few and far between, so the props (and other positions) playing in the championship are there because, in general, it is their proper level and I'm not being disparaging in saying that as, in the great scheme of things, that is a pretty high level in itself.

RL, as a game, has a relatively small footprint in the country as a whole though, and to be fair it makes little sense to disregard the many people who have simply had the 'misfortune' to be born in the wrong place. The fact they may have gone to RU (as the only, or maybe just the major, option in their area) doesn't mean they can't, or won't, make it in RL, particularly as they have already gone for the rugby option. It is pretty difficult for clubs to target such people and I guess the onus is on them to make the first move by maybe coming for trials, but there is no reason for clubs not to be as proactive as they can be.

I'd definitely agree it would be better to have got them as juniors in the first place, but sometimes, I guess, geography gets in the way. The truth is that many kids who would have been far more suited to RL, go to RU for no other reason than that is their only option if they wish to play the oval ball game. For these people I'd say welcome, better late than never.

I saw all the sides in Championship 1 last season and there are a few props who might make it in SL. The best potential youngster was Walmsley at Batley and Saints have snapped him up . Szoctak at Sheffield plays second row but I think he could adapt to prop-- he's probably in his late 20's and the last I heard he had not signed a new contract. Of the rest our former player Steve Crossley is one of the best outside SL but he's signed for Fev.
No idea whether any current kick and clap players would make it as I waych very little of that game. However I believe that any possible recruits would take at least a season to adapt to the rigours of a league prop and I don't think we have the luxury of time to allow for development

Hugh Waddell
Harvey Howard (though I believe he was a winger in yawnion)

I agree there were far more David Youngs who tried & failed though.

Even the international props on show at the weekend despite contributing to what is said to be the greatest result in history would be too immobile (and old) to switch codes successfully. While some of the back row and flankers could do a job in league I fear the time when the game could afford them is now long gone