Quote Lprhino="Lprhino"If he was prepared to come over then I think he would be a great signing. Replacement for Cuthbo and gives mik, Ava, Tommy H and Taupau in the front row with prior and Smith at 13.'"
It's that x4 prop lineup of Mik, Ava, Tommy plus another proper thing like Taupau that I think we have been missing for quite some time now. We need a front row at Leeds that demands respect, and we haven't had that since McDermott, Kylie and Peacock were running around.
Props are the foundation of your side.
Someone like Taupau would fit the bill, but it doesn't even have to be him, there are plenty of good prospects particularly in the NRL. I do think we need one more first grade quality player in this position. Mik has been carrying the pack this year and frankly that's a bit embarrassing, shouldn't be happening and if we get some real support around him, we are going to cause other teams all sorts of problems. If we want to be the best team in the country again, we would do worse than building the best pack.
Our back row I'm less concerned about, Martin, Donaldson, Mellor, Smith, Prior, O'Connor, Edwards, Muizz, Walters - and there are others too - even Ward might yet come back in who knows. But we have tons of talent coming through here, so I wouldn't bother signing anyone else unless they were world-class. I honestly can see Walters and Edwards being the England second row within 3-4 years - that is a cracking combination in prospect with those two alone. People who haven't seen Edwards yet will be surprised at how good he is at his age IMO. Rare to see such an all-round game in someone his age.
We need another half or two over the next few years, but again not urgent unless the right player became available and we were willing/able to swap out Lui (who has been alright for me).
With Tindall showing some ability, and Handley going so well, again I'm not fussed about wing. Centres are fine as long as Konnie stays and Harry recovers - I'm still having fingers tightly crossed that Broadbent will make the cut but he does need to improve physically.
I honestly think we will be back there or thereabouts within another 1-2 years, the squad is coming together very nicely all of a sudden. We just need some magic dust to inspire the young lads and set some standards and we're golden.