We’ll be linked with everyone in the coming weeks and months as teams and players jockey to get their players /contracts sorted ,then we have Hull who look to be trying to sign anything with a pulse and throwing big bucks at them in the process . Interesting watching on how the Leigh team are being picked apart following their meteoric rise onto the super league scene ,and imo will have a job on their hands to keep hold of the Lams when the money men come knocking, loyalty seems to go out of the window ,unless of course your surname is Rowley .Exciting times ahead for the club ,and a great position that we find ourselves in ,that we can identify and compete on a level with clubs for said player’s signature .

Its a gradual process. Hull KR didnt get to where they are now overnight.

You only have to look how tight it is with the top 8. To be anywhere near that group will.be an chievement

Good news is apparently we pretty much have the players we want secured already. I think the emergence of Hull now throwing silly money around just adds another club to the mix that will do that and that will no doubt have an impact on the rest of SL teams recruitment, not only in terms of replacing players but paying more for them. I`m glad we seem to have planned really well, I`d hate to be a club like Cas in this market, I think they may struggle as we have in the past to attract any real quality.

Just on rumours, I am told Mckmeekan has not taken a marquee spot but I am told that we have used one, and it`s not for Johnstone either.

Assumed Johnstone taking a club trained marquee spot would be a no brainer.

Johnstone will 100% be a club-trained marquee. There's not another possible signing who would deliver the same dispensation on the salary cap for the club.

And if the figures bandied about by current players are true, then McMeeken is another marquee spot too.

That of course leaves 1 more spot available, however I personally think we'd need to see someone special come onto the market unexpectedly for us to fill all marquee spots in 2025. We're coming from an advantaged position of having a lot of flexibility in the cap for next year, however I suspect we'll be paying overs to secure certain players due to the uncertainty around IMG. Steve Mills will probably have his sights on 2026 targets which could be a very different market should all go to plan for us next year.

When we talk marquee signings, it only really applies if you are up at the salary cap limit.
We've a long way to go before we are there.

Hewitt has resigned for Huddersfield on a three year deal

Both MM and TJ are on marquee money.

Marquee signing isn't just big money.

This is what I was trying to get at PT, apparently the club haven't used the marquee dispensation for MM, I wasn't saying he wasn't on big money, but they do plan on using for a player. It maybe that later down the line they put his salary against one of the marquee spots, or maybe they are holding out to see where we are at against the cap and who is available, I'm not too sure how it works from that side.

Not Hardaker anyway. He's off to Hull

How much is the cap nowadays. I don't know because it never affected us.

Hardaker to Hull really glad we didn't get him at BV

I may be wrong but I thought if you declare a player to be marquee then whatever their salary they only impact £100,000 against the overall cap.

Agree RWB don’t know what Hull are thinking

I'd hate to be a Hull fan right now. Looks like it's open season - not much thought into strength of character or team dynamics. I suppose you could argue it'll be better than winning two or three games all season though.

Submitting this updated list here again as hopefully it's useful. British or French off-contract established SL players, as Matt Ellis mentioned. McMeeken over the line, Russell and Johnstone obviously very close. Storton and Scott rumoured. So who are the other three we've tabled offers for?

Since I last posted Gaz O'Brien, Charnley, Hardaker, Sneyd, Dodd, Bennison, Hewitt, Holmes, Brown, Aydin and Partington had all signed elsewhere. So that leaves:

Full backs: Ryan Hampshire
Wingers: Fouad Yaha, Matty Russell
Centres: Mathieu Laguerre, Cameron Scott, Ben Hellewell, Ben Davies
Halves: Danny Richardson, Jordan Abdull
Hookers: Adam Milner, Amir Borouh
Back rowers: Alex Mellor, James Donaldson, Jack Hughes, Matty Storton
Middles: Joe Cator, Matt Davis, Adam Sidlow, Andrew Dixon, Gil Dudson, Mike Cooper

I'd sooner keep our middle as-is than bring in anyone from that list for next season. Still think Mellor could add something. We obviously need a winger to provide cover - but is Matty Russell the answer? The one I'm most keen on is Abdull, obviously. If we could get him paired and firing with Lino/Lawford we'd trouble most SL teams.

I've always liked Hughes, he might be an option to look at considering Ashurst and Griffin are not likely to be here next year

Think griffen got another year in him ashurst not,for me centre and another back rower are needed

Abdul would make us some team.
Also Hughes would be good
Like Cator but he seem to get injured a lot
Laguerre probably better of the

Discounted possible already signed but would really push for Abdul

I'd definitely keep Griffin, he's been great this season.

Not so sure. He’ll be 35 and while he’s been great at championship level I’m not sure. I’m not sure if any of our second rowers will be stepping back up to SL. The list other than Storton doesn’t look inspiring though.

Abdull out of that lot would be a cracking addition to the squad and it’s the one position that is looming large with Gale looking like it’s his last hurrah, and young Lawford some way off in his development imo ,it’s a must we have a quality established half playing behind our pack

Don't understand peoples obsession with age. Josh Griffin is the best backrower we've had at the club in a long time and was the best backrower at FC before he came to us. He looks in great condition, arguably one of the best at this club right now. He has atleast another 2 seasons in the top flight which will help us tick over for some replacements.
I understand were championship right now but you can see his quality just by how much he reads the game, scoring trys and making breaks - he makes it look easy.
Ashurst has been a great servant but doesn't offer us what he used to and I would be looking to replace.
Imagine if we could bring both Batchelors to the club. That would be nice...