Stop it dave , your killing me haha I hope other posters got the wronger

, you obviously did not ha . You cant slate me for something I was slating myself about haha you have made me chuckle though , thank you

I've been shovelling concrete all day but looks like some have been sat in their gardens on the wasp juice.

Not surprised but dissapointed regarding Talanoa. Glad for Thompson who most clearly under-rate. Washbrook has stepped up from last season and is deserving of another deal but this now leaves with the dilemma of what happens with Hadley and indeed Litten as Washbrook has being used as the dummy half role when Houghton injured/rested so if that is the case where now for Litten, loaned out elsewhere to develop him?

If we are losing Michaels, Fonua and Ellis but have uprated Kelly a huge amount for next season what does that leave us cap wise to bring someone in?
If we bring another player in of any note then that means no Hadley and no JA.

Have we uprated Kelly, or is that an assumption?

"Shovelling concrete ALL day" come now Graham.

The cap has increased also

Talanoa is a must to lose him and Fonua would be a disaster.

Think people forgot that litten has just turned 18, he can still play (and has) for the COHA. Isn't ready to play regularly, think it will be the 2019 season before we see him make an impact, think he will be at Doncaster next year.

If Hadley, Abdul and Thompson signing I don't see us replacing Ellis, all the talk has been of a winger to replace Fonua.

Really need an impact forward and this is my concern with the resigning of Thompson.

I'd have thought we'd replace Ellis just for his leadership alone . It's shown in a few games when he doesn't play , we're not the same team so I think we need someone similar if possible.

Sooo....Hakim Moloudi on trial. Has it been announced officially that it is him? Looks ok from that video site, but attitude issues apparently.

If Thompson plays like he has the last few matches its a good signing. If he plays like he has the 18 months previous he isn't.

Radders confirmed it his him in his press conference this morning

from the video online, he looks more like a full back. Very strong with decent feet, but not very quick, and the tackling is very poor. Will see how he goes

That video is from a few years ago and I think is mostly junior highlights which explains the poor tackling. You can see a few clips of him tormenting the Aussies in there, he was the best prospect in the France U18s team that beat Australia and England in 2011 and was top try scorer in the French league as a 20 year old for Catalans reserves before attitude problems led him astray. He then spent a few years floating around, playing for his local village team and some time in RU before he resurfaced at Carcassonne last year and scored 21 tries in 17 matches to finish as top try scorer in the French league again. I always thought it was a matter of time until he ended up in Super League, hopefully his off-field problems are behind him and he can make the most of this chance as he's very talented.

Let's hope he's more entat than solal

Not a surprise but won't see Hadley again this year as we are letting him play tonight.

disappointing, even more so if radders lets him play against us next week, we all remember how loan signings played against us before v bradford! bit us on the 'arris

we resigned him already and will have paid handsomely to retain his services, or do you think we could offer him a low ball lifeline deal to escape the championship for this year, especially as his stock has risen massively due to his performances before the new deal was penned?

Depends what we agreed with him, which we have no idea about.

I'm happy with the Washbrook & Talanoa re-signings. Washy has been valuable in his utility role since he joined us, and there's a noticeable difference when Talanoa is out there. I'm a little worried about the concussions he's had though.

Tommo is a funny one. At times he can be our best player with ball in hand & has excellent footwork and acceleration for a forward. Other times he can be completely ineffective. His defence still needs a lot of work, he seems to get caught out of position quite a lot, mainly at A defender close to the ruck. He is though still only 25, so has a lot of improvement still in him. If he can churn out performances like he has recently more regularly, happy days.

We can only speculate as to how much cap space we have for next year:

2018 we'll have; Abdull & Hadley potentially back from loans back on the cap, it's fair to assume Kelly's deal has been upgraded, new winger, new forward, any other contract upgrades.

vs: A raise in the overall cap, Ellis leaving(?), Fonua leaving, any contract downgrades (perhaps a couple of the older ones).

Well, a bit of shovelling but mainly looking at the talent in the office block.

Could we afford to lose all 3 of Fonua, Michaels, and Naughton? That would leave us with just Talanoa (missed a lot through injury over the last 2 years) and Rawsthorne (inexperienced). Even with a new signing (who we don't yet know the quality of) that still looks a bit light. I suppose Griffin could also do a job if injuries necessitate it but he is also the back-up centre.

Don't forget there is also Logan to add in to the backline mix, he is making his injury return for the reserves this weekend.

HDM says we're having talks with Michaels about a one year extension. I'd be happy to keep him for cover for another year, does need to work on his contesting of high balls though! Not been impressed with Griffin though, would be looking to move him on if we could.

Would be disappointed if this was in place of a replacement for Fonua. Would leave us with backs next year of:

Shaul
Talanoa
Michaels
Griffin
Tuimavave
Connor
Rawsthorne
Logan
Bower?

That look about right?

if we are re-signing Michaels I`m assuming we have failed in bringing anybody in from overseas to replace Fonua