Alright everyone. So I had a catch up with my mate. The Thompson deal was very close but the Bulldogs were being difficult, he wanted the move with the possibility of a permanent one, still could happen for 2023 onwards. McDonnell is very highly thought of by Smith hence the signing. We tried for Mulhern but the Wire were being greedy so we backed out. No news on Sutcliffe leaving but we are definitely in for Leutele. Hardaker new deal being announced imminently.

Cheers Sharky.
Shows two things:
1. Decent ambition
2. Recognition that we need another prop

Oh, and he's not convinced with Sutcliffe.
I'd be happy with swapping Sutcliffe and B.Thompson for Leutele and L.Thompson.

I know I’m probably the leading champion of us having a fair chunk of salary cap available for next season, but even I don’t see how it would stretch that far.

Would need to lose one of Prior/Tet and probably Another

I don't quite get the obsession with Thompson myself. He's OK going forward but his defence is not that good. He's also not that big, which I know I bang on about but when it comes to props sometimes bigger is better.

So I'd imagine that some may be dependant on Walker leaving. He's on a decent wedge.

We're shedding or looking to move on
Mellor
Broadbent
Dwyer
Thompson
Walker
Briscoe

Lots of cap available there

If we haven't got enough spare cap there for Thompson, then we really need to be looking to bring Warrington's accountant in asap....

Agree we must surely have enough room already and if not there’s been some gross mismanagement of the cap under agar

The comment was about Thompson and Leutele. When Leutele signed for Toronto there was a big fanfare about him getting an increase on his NRL salary, so he was the highest paid player in SL. I’m sure that went down at Giants, but he will still be on a wedge.

Agree. There will be a bit of cap IF both Walker and Briscoe leave. I expect Briscoe will but Walker is still under contract for 2023, so we can’t sign anyone yet using his salary until /IF he goes.

However, We have already signed Sangerre and McDonnell with Hardaker highly likely to sign who we did not have at start of 2022. I would guess Levi Edwards will also come back. O’Connor has likely had a raise.

It’s all guesswork for us re the cap but once you add those bits back in I don’t think there won’t be loads to play with, hence why he is trying to move some others out to free up more cap.
Wigan will also be in for Leutele and Thompson , so neither will be cheap.

Mulhern is out of contract at Wire and set to leave, not sure I’d go for him but would be a much cheaper option.

If prior and Tet stay Maybe Smith will run with Walters as prop 6 and mUizz as 7, he certainly enjoyed his try.