I think in an ideal World we would have sent Hughes out on a season long loan to another SL club this year to develop his game.

An experienced backrow on a 2 year deal would have been an ideal replacement for HH, I still think Costigan would have been a great signing for us.

Brett ferres is a fantastic second rower and would absolutely fit the bill!

What is the situation with Sam Hopkins, he signed from Leigh with a very good reputation and since then I think he appeared in a couple of preseason matches and hasn't been seen since.
He is 23 years old, is a big lad and can play all across the pack, the club have gone in a couple of months from seeming to have an embarrassment of riches in the forwards to scratching about by including recently retired journey men.

According to yesterday's League Express or League Weekly he and Tierney turned up late for training and were made to walk into Wigan in full kit (including gumshields) as their "fine.

I can see a lot of potential in Hughes and as I said I don't think giving him the no 4 shirt was a wise move and it set him back.

However, like Bateman he is one for the future and at the moment we lack the experience and the particular set of skills H brought to the team on that side. It stands out like a sore thumb. As someone else said the squad management has gone wrong here.

As much as Hughes was given the 4 shirt last year, he only played a handful of games at centre and still featured mostly at SR, so I really don't see how it could have set him back.

He was used mainly at centre right up until April though, which presumably means his training was geared towards centre throughout pre-season and the first 2/3 months of the season. He looked like he lost weight in that time to me

This indeed did happen ha. Saw the video on George Williams' Instagram. Quality punishment ha

He looked comfortable in the back row and like a duck out of water in the centre. However few games he played there seemed to affect him.