this is a great scoop for us!! some of us have had our eye on him for a while as the man who could solve the hooking problem we have but its not been rectified!

hats off to stone as he has tried to sort out all the problems we as fans could see from the outside, like fitness and areas we need to improve

obrien at hooker may now allow hinchcliffe to play at loose forward!

great that he doesnt count on the salary cap too

Great signing well done to the club

Not sure it's a complete exemption- the statement says clubs have special "dispensation"
on the cap but it's not been made clear what that means exactly!

Adam has played a fair bit of super league, and he is far better than kruise leeming. Gutted he has gone but cant blame him as he is one of the ones to have been through the mill more than once. Good luck OB

O'Brien is not represented by Shuttleworth.

As the Bulls fan above notes, O'Brien is far from untested at Super League level, he debuted in 2011 (against us!) and played virtually the whole 2014 season. He was highly thought of at Bradford and has played three times as many first grade games as Leeming.

This signing strengthens a position we are short of cover in and quite possibly improves our starting 17. A shrewd piece of business by Thewlis/Stone, especially if, as you suggest, we've got him for peanuts. Do you not agree?

Is it right that your being re branded as the Huddy Bulls?

The Hudderford Giants. All those with Bulls tickets can use them at the JSS- it will be like they are watching their old team- just better and not in a rubbish tip

Happy with this signing, lots of potential and more of a running hooker than Kruise. Should compliment each other nicely and Hinchy can deputise if injuries occur.

I knew Bradford were looking to reform, I just didn't know it would be as us.

He is well versed in fighting a relegation battle.

Very appropriate name!

think we could surprise a few people this season

we have always gone under the radar anyway so it suits us

top 8 has to be the aim and build again from that, been used to top 4 battles recently!!

This.

Which AVERAGE players have you allowed to move on julie love?
Oh and fwiw if those average players' you have signed from the Bulls fail, you will still have to pay their wages for the length of their contracts before allowing them to move on as you put it.

You will notice that the term average I put in quotes- that means it's a quote from someone else-
And I do realise we will have to pay their wages...

Scott Grix, Kyle Wood, Craig Huby all average players who will probably not improve as in late 30s or over 30 years of age.
Huby was better than average at Cas but has been average for us.
Eorl Crabtree - Right time to retire, was once great but now average but plays the odd good game.
Josh Johnson - average, young yes but very small for a prop. (Heard he was to sign for Bradford but obviously now wont be)
Jake Connor - Great prospect and skill levels but very very slow - would have liked him to stay.
Joe Wardle - Wasnt great last season but big loss.
Jamie Ellis - For me not a loss (some would disagree) will go well in Championship but not top 6 super league standard.


Replacements:

Alex Mellor - 2nd row/centre raving reviews in championship only 22, could turn out to be excellent, could turn out to be average - already one of better championship players.
Adam O Brien - Hooker only 23, again could turn out to be excellent, could turn out to be average - one of better championship players.
Jake Mamo - Full Back blistering pace, skill and coming from NRL.
Lee Gaskell - If fit could turn out to be good signing, if not fit wont be.
Paul Clough - Average.
Dale Ferguson - Average half of time but can be good games and gives 100% effort.
Shannon Wakeman - Young hungry prop with plenty to prove, rated highly.

Clough and Gaskell could turn out to be wasted signings but Gaskell if fit could be an excellent centre for us. Clough has been signed to be a squad man.
Ferguson you know you will give 100%.
Mamo and Wakeman - priority signings, expecting big things.
O Brien and Mellor - Prospects that are worth a punt.

I think our recruitment is much better than what we have lost with probably still another prop squad man to come in to complete the squad.

For me we are better taking risks on young players that could be good rather than sticking with players like Grix, Wood etc that you know will not improve much or even start declining.

Yeah good signing, well done Huddersfield? Glad to see your youth policy has come up trumps again!

I like the way Clough is dismissed as average. He might not be a world beater but he has played in four grand finals and two challenge cup finals. That is a massive amount of experience and he is not too old either.

I think it's a case of playing down our recruitment and not over expecting of them which is good really

But I think the recruitment is equal to what we lost short term and much better long term

Nowt wrong with our youth policy but like any club if good young players come up we will take them it's smart business !!

55 posts eh? Well done Lockers! Youve come up trumps!

(If theyre all of ths calibre its a waste of a good keyboard!)

I'm not criticising your recruitment only time will tell if it's been successful, just merely questioning jools's choice of words when he said the club had let average players' go. from my understanding average or not depending on opinions, your club were powerless to stop them going with the exception of Ellis and Crabtree who was retiring anyway.

this

crabtree actually wanted another year but stone had other ideas for him.

O'Brien was tremendous for the Bulls against Leigh in 2015. We struggled to contain him. He appeared less effective in 2016, but seemed to be being used differently (off the bench if I remember correctly?) He also seemed a bit jaded - probably because he seemed to be doing 80 minutes more often than not, in other games. Of all the Bulls players, I would suggest he had most potential to take the next step up. I reckon you have probably got a good one there - I just hope we can contain him in 2017!!