Happy with the Oliver Holmes signing if true... As previously stated I would rather we focus on resigning King & Mamo - they would be my prefer centre partnership for next year as oppose to trying to sign Mata’utia.

Which Castleford player will we be linked with next? Can’t imagine the fans and the board would be happy about us pinching some of their better players.

Currently we only have Hughes, Currie, Robson who are out and out second rowers, Holmes plays that left channel very well for Cas and can cover at lose forward also. I would say he’s an improvement on JClark, who I suspect he will be replacing.

anychance someone who's using the term ''dynamic' please explain what they mean by this, unless it means "direct running, straightforward no frills backrower (who can play front row if needed)"

I just mean a little more than 1 dimensional, as in doesn't just carry it in, get tackled get a slow play the ball, be a bit pointless from an attacking point of view.

I mean a second row who gets the ball out to the centre when given the chance, a good carrier, good tackler, has an offload in them, runs (good) attacking lines and is just a little more difficult to play against, you know doesn't just blunt the attack at every given chance. Hope that helps, perhaps you have a different term that is more forum correct?

I hold my hands up as I used it when espousing the virtues of replacing Hughes at SR which was not unequivocally well received which is fine. What I meant and why I used it is the Google definition that dynamic is "positive in attitude full of energy and new ideas".

For all his qualities this is a charge that can not be levelled at Hughes, so I suppose it depends on what you want your backrowers to be?

Funnily enough, i would describe hughes moreso, as being 'dynamic' than holmes, good tackler, adapts to multiple positions including in the backs, and has seems to be super liked by most coaches.

Holmes (and massey as well) just seems to be a biff n barge 2nd rower that if Baz ne Tez didn't keep screaming 'underrated this man' at every player on tv, i wouldn't really notice.

That being said, i will hold my hands up and say, i have mentioned in the past about our backrow being uneven/passive in terms of punch and go forward, so he does address that, i just dont think he's a massive addition, and certainly isn't anywhere near as good as currie so shouldn't be replacing him..

i'm guessing they've given up on the SL site for club/player stats, this is atrocious https://www.superleague.co.uk/stats#

i'm guessing they've given up on the SL site for club/player stats, this is atrocious https://www.superleague.co.uk/stats#

FMC my reference was in regard to moving King for a game not the possible acquisition of Holmes.

I've not paid too much attention to Holmes to form a proper opinion TBH but he always struck as decent. As I said it depends on what you want your SR's to be, where they sit with the type of Centres the team has, I know he played elsewhere FB and SO but there aren't many Jonathan Davies types knocking about or classic ball handling 13's if the pack needed a "biff n barge" boost.

Interesting times

Interesting times indeed, it's gonna be very interesting, new coach plus potentially half a new squad, rather than a year of him sounding them out (or a month in Russell's case)

Trueman is clearly a good one to get from Cas. As it stands, I don't see many others from there that would add to our squad unless we do lose Clark, D in which case I'd take McShane. Most of their pack are below the level of ours.

If I wanted to be a Cas supporter I would be a regular at the Mend a Jungle stadium.

And, as I've mentioned before, most fans of most other clubs would say the same about the Wire squad, in comparison to their own squads.

Reality is, the league is full of mediocre, average types and there aren't a great deal of true, standout players any more, such as a Hanley or an Offiah, who fans would genuinely get excited about joining their club.

Interestingly, Johnny Davidson well respected and very reliable RL journo posted on Twitter that George Williams could be coming to us.

Signing players should be done to improve the team. He’s not better thank Hughes, certainly not better than Currie. He’s not young, or have untapped potential (or his current coach would have unlocked that by now, surely) and he’s not experienced enough to bring much to the table in that way i.e. big games/international/trophy winner.

I don’t ever recall seeing him make big carries to skittle defenders out of the way, nor has he the skill of a Currie/Grix style back rower who can create space for others by having an armoury of pass/kick/run option.

No offence to the guy, but he’s an “up and down” player. All the talk of the positives of Powell’s appointment was him playing enterprising rugby and giving youth a chance. This signing doesn’t tick either of those boxes. He’s at risk here of a) derailing a potentially successful Cas season by getting the fans backs up (not our problem, but would be a poor indicator of the guys integrity) b) creating a “jobs for the boys” environment at his new club and c) spending the budget on the squad fillers before the key components are in place. These types of players are a dime a dozen.

As a fan of a club who would like to see you make poor signings, I think Holmes would be top business. The lad has got better and better over the last few seasons. He’s 28, so is right in his prime and he looks ready to kick on a level to me. We obviously had Jack Hughes and if somebody said we could take Hughes back or sign Holmes, I would pick Holmes every day of the week. He’s a far better player IMO. He’s a real threat with the ball, bags his fair share of try’s and has a good engine on him. I don’t think it would be wise for Powell to just focus on bringing his Cas lads with him but Holmes would be right near the top of any I’d choose.

Exactly. Someone said Holmes isn’t better than Hughes, I still don’t know what Hughes does. There’s a reason Wigan got rid. Average player at absolute best.

Hughes is average, no argument here. But he’s also better than Holmes. He has been selected by GB, and was selected as captain of the same Knights squad that Holmes was a part of. He has experience of playing in big games, winning a GF, challenge cup and touring with GB.

Plus, he’s under contract. So we’re not replacing one “good pro” for another. We have got Hughes, and signing another similar player alongside.

Strange business if true, I just hope this isn’t a part of a wave of strange, average signings. I’ve said on other threads about Powell’s recruitment and the difficulty of working for a club with means as opposed to a plucky club that shops for bargains.

It's hard to criticise individual signings when it's likely that there will be significant turnover of the whole squad. Holmes, if he signs, might make perfect sense when the first 17 is named next season.

That was the same GB tour that Josh Jones was selected and Ben Currie wasn’t. Does that mean he’s a better player than Currie? Or Ash Handley is a better winger than Tom Johnstone/Regan Grace?

Who is under contract?

From what I have seen of Holmes (admittedly not a great deal) he seems to come with a better skill set in attack than Hughes. But another angle on his recruitment is that he will know exactly what Powell expects from him and the style of game. That should help the coach to hit the ground running when he moves over.

How's mitch clark getting on?

He’s not being picked and hasn’t looked very good when he has played. He wasn’t much cop for Cas though, unlike Holmes who is very good for them.

Whatever happens I’m not getting concerned over it. I’m gonna enjoy the ride this season with stars like Widdop Inglis and Clark, while we win the treble. It could be another 2 or 4 generations before we get to see a squad like this.
You can all debate about next season. I’ll don’t care too much.

It’s not big or clever to drink on a school night mate...

Duckie has predicted we will win a treble every year I think. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

The moment that Duckie admitted to putting money on Dec Patton to win the Man Of Steel award, was the moment that he gave up the right to be taken seriously on here....