Wow. Good work Willzay. Thank you.

Sid Domic

..... Point Proven retract my previous statement lol.

After the interview today I think he might possibly stay - he said working towards that contract or something along them lines so who knows??

In that case, if he were to be retained I wonder if Agar sees him playing in the front row in future (he comments about his spell at prop against Salford in the piece on the official website). He certainly has the size for it.

I guess he could cover it but Im more curious to see if Ali will retire I know he has a year left on his contract but he said in a article I read a few months ago from YEP saying basically that he was 50/50 to carry on next season it depends on how hes performing on this season. Don't get me wrong Ali is a great player and is one of my favourites however he hasn't really hit any form this season and he hasn't been playing as consistant as he was last year. So IMO he could be the one going and not Mariano..?

Kirmond is a major priority for me,prob stating the obvious.Not sure how old but depending on age another 2 yr min extension would make me happy.Worried by rumours of bigger clubs interest.

I don't really think we should have re-signed Raleigh. I fear his better days are gone. Wouldn't have been bad to maybe let him and Ali go (if Ali retires) and get 2 new props in. Not sure about Wilkes. Lee Smith is replaceable and Sykes is also replaceable. I'd maybe keep smith and try and find another stand off. I like Paul but would prefer someone with a bit more flair in the 6 shirt. Obviously, that's in an ideal world but I realise we have a budget to work within.

Have you not noticed how poor the side are without Paul Sykes at stand off??

Also he mentions budget. Getting a player that can play stand off at same or better level will cost twice as much as what I think Sykes is on. Think we were very lucky for him to have played so many games at the level he has. Smith and Sykes partnership works well.

A fair point, but considering he is only competent SO at the club then it's no surprise. If we could attract a real quality SO, then we'd be better off. Finances allowing, obviously.

Yeah, I didn't say he wasn't better than our other alternatives at stand off. It doesn't particularly mean he is brilliant. It means our strength in depth in the halves is appalling. But, I'll refer you back to my budget comment.

raleigh had agreat season last year but i agree with adam he looks completly blown this time round,12 months should have been the lengh of contract offered but somehow we seem clue less in what to offer players ,collis excluded

It was a year contract? Andy hasn't been matchfit this season...

I can't believe what's being said about Raleigh who was one of our best forwards last year. He's been injured and appears to be struggling to recover fully from it. The best placed to make a decision as to whether he's worth another contract and whether he's likely to regain full match fitness to play to the standards he met last year is the WTW Coaching staff/management. Raleigh has been applauded for how he looks after himself off the pitch and his extremely professional attitude so lets not have short memories and give the guy a break....

I'd agree that I actually thought Raleigh was not worth a contract on this years form. Has struggled to get back from injury but had a good month and looked little better.

I hope he comes back into some form as he was getting pretty well dominated in his last few games...

I'm sure he will work back to it and don't think anybody doubts his professionalism at all

I think the people closer to Andy have shown faith and have more idea where he's at, so i'll back them on this one.

Sums up my thoughts pretty much exactly. Nothing against the bloke, just think next season could be one season too many.

The difference between this year and last year, is that, Collis has been mostly fit this year and shown what a top centre he is. Didn't see the best of him last year. If he were wearing amber and blue, Eddie and Stevo would have found a new hero to drool over! Tim Smith's season has been disrupted by niggling injuries as has Raleigh's, so it's a little unfair in my opinion to be writing Raleigh off.

Don't think anybody is writing Raleigh off tbh and that's a little bit of making up your own story in that regard.

Again nobody is doubting Raleigh has the professionalism in training and as a person in general but contracts shouldn't be handed out purely on that front.

Fact is Raleigh especially compared to last year has had a poor season so far on the pitch in terms of performances. He is pretty much as his performances have demanded the last choice prop at present at the club on his recent displays.

Handing out a contract to a prop who has been dominated in the collision and hasn't looked fit for months or shown anything like the form of last year seemed a strange one to me regardless of how professional he is.

But we are where we are and he's here and I like many others will back him. He's capable of finding the form and hope he does. Nobody is writing him off but just been expressing concern over his lack of form and fitness.

I don't think for a minute that AR's contract was handed out purely for those reasons. He's a SL prop with potentially a couple more years in him. OK he's lost a bit of form but that will come back. I'm pleased to have him on board!

Send him to the Dons for a couple week!
Do him good to find his form and fitness!
Sure there welcome him with open arms!

great news!

He's been dogged with injuries for most of this season, so rather than a drop in form, I think it's more likely a result of those injuries.

With a good recovery and an off-season behind him, I expect he'll deliver another season of 2012-esque performances.

Don't like to think i make up stories, just seemed to be the vibe on previous posts about Raleigh's form. Everyone has a dip in form, more so when not fully fit and pressed into action. As bren2k pointed out, give him recovery time and a good off season and we will be glad that we re signed him for another year or two. It was only a few weeks ago people were moaning about Tim Smith's form. We have had a couple of good performances, hopefully a good one on Sunday, but for me the mark of how good we are playing will come at Hull.

Agree, I personally don't think it's fair to say he doesn't deserve a contract simply because his forms dipped due to injuries. Also without a reserve team to play in, SL matches are the only time he can get that match fitness they need. All players struggle for form when they've been hit with one injury after another, Raleigh is no different. Hopefully as he gets more games under his belt he'll continue to improve this season and like Bren says with a full off season under his belt, I reckon he'll be back to his best.