I assume you haven't seen his performances? You saw the game against Hull, he knocked on three times, possibly out of 5 he's knocked on all season but hey other than the three knock ons he was one of our top performers in that game.

Why wont those three want to sign for HKR? A SL team with ambitions, as a fan your expected to look no further than the end of your nose but as long as Rovers are in the SL these players will be looking at their bank balances and not a lot else. Imagine the convo with Justin when he tells these players that they'll be playing alongside two GB centres and an Aussie international second row coupled with the likes of Vella, Cooke and Gene. With that kind of a squad these players would be mad not to want to play in it!!!

Oh and since when has Wellens and Withers had pace? Yet they are regarded as two of the best full backs to have ever played in the SL over the past 10yrs.

Wellens is faster than people give him credit for.

???

Why no Ryan Tandy???

To mount a serious challenge on a top 6 spot we should keep the following as first 17 players
Steels
Goddard
Cooke
Webbo
Vella
Morrison

Squad players

Cockayne
Murrell
Fisher
Chester
Netherton

Plus at least another 16 additions.

This is based onn the fact that it will take at least 3 to 5 yrs to achieve this and the majority of the rest will be to old and the likes of Tangles, Gallagher, Dyer, Ford, Ward are not good enough for the higher levels of SL.

Very realistic and if you stay in SL this year, could be a possibilty. Think you've been a little harsh on Dyer though.

Problem is that Dyer and Goddard are good in defence, but neither has shown the ability to capitalise on any breaks that our forwards have made. I have said all season we need a couple of fast, strong backs to take on the opposition more affectively, especially when you consider the amount of sets we tend to get camped out inside the oppositions 20 metre (Salford, Hudds and FC) without crossing the whitewash.

Wigan

Are we back in 2002 or something

Or a video ref against Salford and an inside pass from Bauer in the first derby...

Anyway...

Fullbacks

Cockayne
Hardman

Wingers

Hodgeson
Raynor
Steel
[uFord[/u

Centres

Yeaman
Bauer/Goddard
Hall

Half-backs

Webster
Cooke
Murrell

Hookers

Fisher
Lennon

Props

[uVella[/u
Aizue
Ward
Gannon (on a 2 year deal)
Tandy/[uTangata-toa[/u

Second Rowers

[uSamoan type line breaker
Fitzgibon/Hindmarsh
O'Neil[/u
Netherton

Loose Forwards

Chester
Gene

26 man squad, non GB players underlined...

not Fitzgibbon please! He is my most overated NRL player of all time! Never makes a break, never offloads and always 2nd or 3rd in a tackle which makes his stats look good. He can kick and is a workhorse, leave him be!

Two big props, a big winger, a fast centre and an offloading 2nd row and we will be up there.

Remember a few people chuckling at the Cooke rumours!







Now the King is home, you've gotta believe that anything is possible for the club over the next few years.





Just wish the shop wasn't always sold out of the letters C, O, K and E though - dying to get the messiah's name on my shirt!







Hope that helps!

How long has Azuie & Gene been GB eligible,

no wonder we lost the tri nations missing them out

Full Backs

Ben Cockayne
[iA.N. Other (Hardman or Hodgson if he becomes available)[/i

Wingers

Jon Steel
Andreas Bauer or Byron Ford
[i+ 1 big and fast winger[/i

Centres

Jon Goddard
Luke Dyer
[i2 new centres (Ryan Atkins if he becomes available via Wakefield relegation and Yeaman, dependant on contract situation)[/i

Halves

Paul Cooke
James Webster
Scott Murrell

Hookers

Ben Fisher
Mark Lennon

Props

Michael Vella
David Tangata-Toa
Makali Aizue
[i2 big props (Korkidas would be one if Salford relegated imo)[/i

2nd row

Jason Netherton
Mark O'Neill
[i2 second rows (a line breaker in the mould of Manu of Hull and maybe an aussie similar in style to Glenn Morrison from Bradford)[/i

Loose

Chris Chester
Stanley Gene

+ Dave Wilson. If Tandy goes well he could well be retained instead of macca or tangles who are both off contract. Unfortunate to be released would be Gannon, Ward and Morrison inparticular but to move on you may have to upset some people. Personally id keep o'neill but i think he could be released to free up a quota spot.

Giving a shopping list of 8 players.

Fitzgibbon




You need a running halfback to play alongside Cooke.

Much more pace in the backs, the likes of Ford and Bauer are not top six players.

A blockbusting prop and a blockbusting backrower.

People say we need blockbusting this, blockbusting that but to be honest, we don't!

Our forwards may not have broken the line but they always make yards over the advantage line.
They have set the platform so far this season to notch the points but our finishing has been under par.

IMO with two big three-quarters like Yeaman and Senior we would finish out wide more often. If you actually watch our games, notice how often we take the ball on our 20 metre line and make their 20 by tackle 4!
We play a territorial game rather than chance our arm like Leeds or St Helens. The only thing we lack is power in the centres.

And in comment about Fitzgibbon, he's continually performed in the NRL and at International level. Overrated??? Well tell that to the Aussie coaches who continued to pick him time after time. Don't tell me it was for his kicking when Andrew Johns was on the park.

Netherton or Fitzgibbon??? I know which one i'd pick and it's not because i think Netherton is poor, it's because of the talent Fitzgibbon has.

It's like saying Iestyn Harris is rubbish, well, he's not! Look at him play, he's in Super League and at the top end. Iestyn may not have performed for GB but he's far from rubbish or overrated.

Fitzgibbon was a super player, however he is nowhere near the player he used to be. 3 years past his best.

Rather than it being just about new players, I think working to reclaim and increase the fanbase must be the priority. We have the advantage of being where we are, but we have to prove that having two hull sides in the league is good for the sport. If I was NH, I'd be doing everything I can to raise the clubs profile again and get it more on an even level with hull. Get the players visiting local schools, get the kids wearing the shirt again, get a better club store and a propper credit card ticket line. Even re-considering the locaion of the stadium. As daft as it sounds, the location of the KC, surrounded by pubs, as well as its facilities, is a big reason crowds went up for city and hull when they moved there. We don't have that, so maybe the location of CP, and certainly its facilities, limits its pull to mainly 'die-hards'. Theres loads of teams that the rfl would love to have in superleague - quins, salford, catalans, a welsh side stc, but no matter who they sign, they'll always be going sideways whilst their support is small, thats one big advantage we can have over alot of clubs, if the club makes the right moves to exploit it.

all of which cannot be achieved without a succesful team (in relative terms)

I theory yes, but it also works the other way. Players will want to play for a well-supported club, and selling lots of shirts and tickets, can help buy better players. I'm not saying don't bother signing anyone, just make sure all the work off the pitch is done as well as possible.

We are in the early stages of building Hull KR into being a team challenging at the top of the SL.
Lets just enjoy it.
We waited long enough.

Finally - someone else who feels this way!!! NH is working as hard as possible and looking at the state we were in when he took over he has worked wonders. We need to keep the faith, back the team on the pitch AND ENJOY IT!!!

Agree.

It's going to take 4/5 years to build a team capable of consistantly challenging for the top 6/4.
Our main priority is to get to a level were we can have the full salary cap, it's essential! To get to this level and challenge for honours at the same time needs a bigger fan base than what we currently have. The number of fans that have been to home games this season has been well above the level expected pre-season. But it's like the team, we need to keep pulling the extra fans in. Hopefully in a few years time we can attract a 9/10k average.

But attracting fans to come we need a winning team!
It is going to be sad to lose some of the players that have got us into SL, but it is essential that we move forward. So, some of these players will have to leave the club in order for us to progress, eventually. Morgan needs to bring in better players than what we already have.

I think we have two very talented FB's at the club in Cockayne and Goddard, who I believe will both progress given the chance. I am happy to see any of them playing at FB, even though Charlie has just had a bad patch.

I like Steel, pacey, good defender and runs hard and straight. An addition of a big strong winger is possibly needed, even though I would be very happy if Hodgson (Salford) became available.

IMO we do need 2 quality centre's if we want to be challenging for top honours. Dyer is doing a good job at the moment, as is Goddard even though he has not got that many try's. I would love to see Craig Hall as it looks as he has bags of potential, hopefully his Dad wants him at the Robins aswell.

I am happy with our H/B's Webster, Cooke and Murrell as support. But possibly in the future, a running O/H with Cooke going to L/M.

We do need some big powerfull forwards in the mould of a Ruben Wiki type player. Vella is a star, plus Macca needs an extended contract, he will keep on improving.

I like Fish, he is developing into a good SL hooker, not sure though yet if Lennon is the quality we need.

Agree with alot of you, we do need a bruising, big, strong and physical S/R, to complement a hardworker. I dont think Fitzgibbon is the answer, yes he has lots of rep honours and bags of experience, but I just believe his best years have past. He would make a decent prop though.

This is all for the future and what I think we will need to become a to4/6 club.

I am very happy at the moment with the way our team is progressing under Morgan. SL status is a must, I would dread to think what would happen if we failed to stay up this season!

thing is, signing a class act like vella will help when it comes to future overseas signings. i hear what you say about fitzgibbon, and thats probably true, i think youve got to look at players like shane tronc at the cowboys, he ticks all the right boxes and his best years are still ahead of him.

Our current league position and points for say's different.