I also thought that if we are to add O/S players now, that Smith would be unearthing some unpolished diamonds from the second tier in Oz. Almost hope that (as good as he has been over the last few years) that Prior decides to go home, so we two quota spaces (with Thompson also going) to go shopping with. Couple of big heavy duty props could be the difference maker for us.

Prior needs to call it a day, i dread to think how much further backwards he can go next year.

Yeh, as much as Prior was excellent in his first couple of years, he really has deteriorated this season.
Can't see him walking away from his final year though tbh.

could he end up with minus yardage

He really does. Not sure I've ever seen a good player just drop off a cliff like he has done over the last 12 months. He must know it, just a case as to whether he acts on it. Merrin packed it in for St George at the start of the year and said that he realised the game had passed him by. Maybe not totally out of the question that Prior would do the same.

I wonder whether we will announce the signing of Olpherts before the game on Saturday

Nah, don’t announce bad news after a defeat and before a big game…

Well the Catalans game showed again that there's a limit to how far you can go when you get hammered up the middle of the park. If you want to be able to hold your ground against a big pack you need size and aggression. A makeweight like Mulhern would make little difference.

Unless Prior gets back to last years form I would like him to go , but I wouldn’t walk away from my last big pay cheque.
Calling Mulhern a makeweight is harsh and would gladly have him return.
I think Walters will turn out to be a big prop in a couple of years , he is only 21 and most props aren’t ready till 25 ish .

Why would you have Mulhern? What difference would he make against Cats or St Helens? If we can't sign a ready-made prop who can make a difference then we need to work on getting Holroyd, Walters and maybe Ruan to step up. Mulhern is at the peak of his career and simply isn't the answer to our problems.

I'm not sure I'm following the recruitment process this year. We seem to be/have offloaded players obviously that Ronan Smith doesn't see a future with and recruited Hardaker for this term. It must have been necessary to reduce the wage bill before end of year. This must mean we were absolutely on the limit. I wonder what percentage of the cap the overseas players take up, because apart from Martin, I don't think we've had any value at all and its like a continuing weight around our necks which we are forced to try to improve the squad signing championship players,