Tom Johnstone, Tommy Makinson, Regan Grace, Dom Manfredi, Tom Davies all say Hi.

I'm also a big Lineham fan, as you rightly point out he does have a knack of scoring on the big occasion and also in poor weather conditions that the grand final is often played in.

He does need to grow up a bit now, he's not a young kid anymore and he needs to take his responsibilities to the team a bit more seriously.

That Madame Boyd on Twitter who’s reliable is saying Trueman is a done deal 270k. Clark and Austin both to Titans they reckon.

Cas fans have mixed views about Trueman. His performance yesterday did little to suggest he is worth spending a fortune on. Always been a Toby fan but he does lack the handling ability of a class centre.

The pass to Daryl Clark for the first try on Friday looked like one of real quality to me. Just can't see us allowing Toby to leave despite the SC restrictions.

I would happily not sign a marquee halfback if it meant keeping Clark. I’d let go of Austin. Give Clark a marquee deal. Keep Widdop and play Ratchford/Dean in the halves with Thewlis/Ashton at fullback.

Karl Fitzpatrick, the quietness is deafening.

Rather have that than the voice of Karl Fitzpatrick in my head - take it as a positive.

Maybe Daryl powell has not made any decisions. So karl Fitzpatrick has nothing to communicate yet.

I match you and raise with “silence is golden”.

Oliver Holmes https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... d-20574311

Oliver Holmes https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... d-20574311

Quote ="Lord Tony Smith"Oliver Holmes https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... d-20574311'" Started this year in top form for us. Always reliable and scores a fair bit for a second rower. Quite fast too when he gets going. Id not be happy if he does go but seems like he will be.

Quote ="Lord Tony Smith"Oliver Holmes https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... d-20574311'" Started this year in top form for us. Always reliable and scores a fair bit for a second rower. Quite fast too when he gets going. Id not be happy if he does go but seems like he will be.

Quote ="Lord Tony Smith"Oliver Holmes https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... d-20574311'" Seriously not happy about this on Casforum, Powell is going to get some hammer whatever the results are in rest of the season.

Quote ="Lord Tony Smith"Oliver Holmes https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... d-20574311'" Seriously not happy about this on Casforum, Powell is going to get some hammer whatever the results are in rest of the season.

I'd be happy with Holmes.....except he's a left edge second rower. So we would have to move him over to the right, i'd be happy with that though as we would finally have some attack and aggression on the right rather than Hughes getting the ball and the attack stopping dead every time.

He’s a workhorse thats for sure. 54 tackles the other night.

Seriously?

It certainly looks like Powell was holding all the aces when he was in negotiations for his job - if all the rumours of Trueman, Matuatia and now Holmes are true, then it's obvious he's been given strong control of recruitment & not being left open to any interference from Fitzpatrick.

It's a good thing that Powell gets to coach HIS squad and not have players lumped on him that he doesn't want (a problem Price has had). The only slight worry I would have, is that too much of a squad overhaul means we have a side needing a period in which players need to get used to each other and new surroundings and we end up with a situation like in the horrific Steve Anderson era, when players looked absolutely lost and performances and results suffer.

Obviously, the quality of players we will bring in will be higher than back then, but it can still lead to uncertainty among a squad - it will certainly be a good test of both Powell's coaching AND man management skills.

Is true but at least he won’t need to bed the players he is bringing from Cas with him

If he brings in Holmes I guess that is the end of Hughes then.

Yup, underwhelming.

If the current regime were linked with this signing, the pitchforks would be out by the usual suspects

I’m pretty sure it will be Fitzpatrick’s fault if things don’t go well.

Not really. You only have to look at the Cas forum to see how they rate him. He’s a good player, 28, battering ram workhorse type forward which we lack. I’d have him anyday over a Latu, Akauola, Jason Clark.

He’s an edge back rower, but not a particularly skilful and hasn’t really stood out from a distance as a destructive ball carrier. He’s a bit of an average Joe, jack of all trades, good pro. He is essentially Jack Hughes, re-badged.

Did you look at the souths forum when jason clark was let go? They all rated him as well.

Dita

Can you seriously put Steve Anderson and Daryl 'Cosy' Powell in the same sentence??

The former was arguably the worst coach I've ever seen at Wire (although to give some balance, he was quite possibly under cash constraints. Matt Sturm came in on a 3 year deal and Lee Briers played fullback.....)