Correct. I can't think of very many 2nd choice hookers that I'd swap MM for. Scott Moore, possibly, though I'm not convinced.

I like him , he does a job under the salary cap we have .And like ive said before did he not out class every hooker on the pitch in the grand final erm yes , no team in superleague can afford 2 world beating hookers .

Read that and the first thought that sprung into my head was "the blind leading the blind".

A quote to offend not contribute. Well done.

Not intended to offend at all so apologies if it did. If I was as sensitive as that I'd have packed up long ago.

It was genuinely what I thought because I can't fathom the downer you have on Mcillorum and we have had this debate before so didn't think I needed to expand further. Given you are agreeing with a Wire fan who if you read the threads on here is pretty keen to pick fault wherever he can I reckon I might not be alone in thinking you are way off beam here.

strange thread, move him to second row? what the f*ck?

Hooker is arguably the most important player on the pitch as they have their hands on the ball more than any other player. It is no coincidence that we really struggle when he comes on the field.

I am a little surprised to see people who could appreciate Piggy and all he brought championing McIllorum. He is as one dimensional as Higham, his dimension is simply that he works hard he cannot lead his team round the field which is the number 1 job of a hooker.

What's wrong with Logan? I've only seen him a few times for Widnes, but he's been one of the best players on the park (along with his fellow dual registered players).

I think his delivery is erratic at best and he seems to lack the vision of a natural hooker.

Hope I am proven wrong though as England needs another Terry Newton badly.

I'd say the complete opposite, I think his vision is excellent and perhaps his best attribute. When I've seen him play for the under 20's and for Widnes he's always looking up and looking at the defence and picking the right way to go and the right man to pass to. I agree that his delivery can be erratic though, but it's not constantly bad. I've heard a lot of Widnes fans complimenting his distribution.

I'm in the minority with MM. I really like him and he reminds me of a young Terry Newton. As everybody says, his defence is awesome and I think there is nothing wrong with his distribution from acting half. He is aggressive and a really good support player when we make a break.
He's still young and still learning his trade yet has pushed onto international recognition.
I'd rather have him with us in support of Tommy than against us!

+1

He is a great defender and big hitter but that is all he ever will be.

His distribution is totally awful. He cannot change the speed of play, he is not dangerous in attack, he never gets us on the front foot.

For now I am happy with him being our hooker on the bench to come on when we are on the back foot, but on saturday he came on and we started to get on the back foot, we were making less meters. Tommy gets us rolling and is just as good as MM when he is playing like that. Tommy must start at hooker from now on.

release him and bring the 3rd Tomkins brother in on the bench for a few games next season, i'm sure Lulu can manage the odd 80 monute game here and there

I thinks hes come on leaps and bounds. Hes started to link up well as the first pivot. His defence is quality.

Going off other people s verdicts on next hooker it wouldn't be Logan , heard many of times. There s people in the academy better than Logan such as Liam carberry , but I don't know just going off what I ve read . And I still think Micky mc is a decent player after all it was madge who give him the 9 shirt so he must see some thing that most of you who think he s no good docent .

You're still comparing him to Piggy and other first choice hookers, though. Tommy is, rightly IMO, our first choice hooker - name some 2nd choice hookers that are better than MM. Plus, he's still only 23, and has a lot of improvement still to come.

See I wouldn't release McIlorum, but I would like to see Logan given a spell on the bench for the rest of the season.

That's what I was thinking , it's like no 1 has 2 James roby s in the same team . Tommy defo 1st choice and Micky defo my number 2 . Every 1 banging on about Logan when most people who go watching U20 s say there's better

Personally I would take off the top of my head

L'Estrange or Diskin from Bradford
Burrow
Scott Moore
Adam Milner
Robinson or Lundt
Sam Obst

all over McIllorum.

Jon Clarke looks like he'll be available at the end of the season, not many internationals like him become available these days. I wouldn't hang around tho, maybe if you offered Sam Tomkins in part ex we might listen.

Well, you're entitled to your opinion, of course, but I wouldn't. IMO, Diskin is perhaps better, but is nearly 30, Burrow isn't a hooker (Leeds can get away with him for short spells only because they have Buderus), Moore possibly, Milner or Lunt nope, and Obst is too much of a defensive weakness.

Someone like Danny Houghton would do a better job

If we were to take a hooker from somewhere else, I'd definitely look at Houghton.

Apart from Roby the only other Superleague hooker I would consider would be Daryl Clarke from Cas.

I mean we could always bring back the badge kisser with 0 carries and 0 metres.