Holding would be a waste of time (and space) we have Mackintosh and Rankin able to play FB, and senior too. Not to mention grix. We don’t need another FB which is why we got rid of Mamo!

Leeds have signed Trent Merrin.

Still need a prop Merrin will surely play 13. They have a quota spot too wouldn't be surprised if it cam to fruition. Does seem to be not much coming out of the club at the minute you guys worried or think you can't move forward until Woolford knows who is and isnt staying?

All these players leaving, any chance we are trying to make a play for drinkwater?

You must be joking?

Frawley, Gaskell, Holmes, Russell, Rankin, Turner

Rankin rumoured to be leaving, Turner isn't a top 4 half back but can cover if desperate, Russell will be OK for a couple of games this year but certainly not a starter, Holmes unproven in SL and currently injured. Gaskell yes, but is also equally effective at full back, an area we are short in...

Indeed.

Drinkwater and Frawley as a half back partnership would be tasty.

If that happened I might even renew my season ticket!

full backs... mcintosh, grix, gaskell, rankin (still here!), senior, not that short

frawley and uate not enough to renew?

seeing and mcgillvary and uate on the wings be great!

Edited for accuracy !

And yet.....
Nathan Brown, Paul Anderson, Simon Woolford, John kear, Chris Chester all don’t agree with you. Rick stone mustn’t have thought much of him- but then Stone doesn’t appear to be that great a judge given his signings have mostly either been moved on or haven’t played much.

Out of our current options I think he'd be our best. Darnell and Senior further down the line, but for the here and now, he'd be a better option for me

Simon Woolford is stuck with him, he's on a huge contract and noone is prepared to pay him out of it. Do you really think he would have signed Gaskell himself? He is trying to make the best of a very bad business decision made prior to his arrival, that is all.

If you are referring to Gaskell, then I think he is one of those players who matures a bit later. He's no Brough, but he has done okay and will improve.

I reckon with brough gone he will flourish.
He struggled with anxiety early on- brough screaming at him won’t have helped.

gaskell was one of the big improvers under woolford last season

A rugby league player who suffers from anxiety seems to be in the wrong job to me, we need people who thrive on pressure and challenge , not the opposite. In anycase, i doubt he is going anywhere because no other club is stupid enough to pay the wages he is on. I only saw that he played well once we had turned the corner and was not instrumental in making that change, but we will see how he goes at the start of the season this year. I will say what i have always said about Gaskell, if we were paying him the wages of a utility player capable of covering a number of areas i would be happy with his contributions. However, we are paying him to be a key halfback, and in that respect he is very bad value for money.

Absolutely understand your comment in relation to wages as I will always have a bee in my bonnet about gaskell and rankin replacing Connor, where we basically paid 4 times the salary for 2 players who werent quite at the same level.

However, with the current squad, I genuinely think gaskell is the best FB and half we have, and I agree with Jools that without the DB shackells he has the opportunity to flourish

so the pack is it good enough for 2019? can it stand up to the opposition..

ikahihifo
matagi
clough
english


other options are taai, lawrence, smith and walne (whatever is going on with him)

matagi should improve with a full pre season and hopefully ikahihifo can be the blockbuster we know he can be if wooldford hasnt upset him, clough will do what he always does and be solid, english should improve again too...might even have taai ahead of him... those 3 would take some handling!

interchanges are to go from 10 down to 8 next season so will have to be fitter, may not suit ikahihifo

Where's thorman

just having a break , still with the club

Good for him. Glad to hear he’s coming back to us soon.
He was a brand new Dad and instead of taking off time to be with his little boy and missus he worked his knackers off trying to turn us round. He now deserves some time with his family.

Is that the line the club is going with at the moment

It's not a 'line'. He lost a member of his family. I'm sure the last thing he wants to deal with is rumours

Well Kevin Naiqama arrived yesterday for St Helens while Uate, Frawley & Matagi are still over there.

The club mentioned last year that Matagi had come early and his family were joining him over here at the start of November so he could hit the ground running in pre season and have a huge 2019. Yet i've no doubt by the time he gets over here that he will have missed 2 months of pre season. It ok saying they are doing a programme over there but is it really the same as training with your club? fair play to Seb, Taai and Rankin for this because they have all been here since day 1 of pre season.

Again, Uate was due to arrive on the 18th and hasn't. Examiner stated on Monday that both Uate and Frawley should both be here yesterday and again doesn't look like they are.