He's not even a SL player. An excellent kicker from hand, when given the time, but offers absolutely nothing otherwise. A glance at the HB stats show it. A poor passer, can't take on the line, poor tackler, no pace to support a break, a cowardly, nasty side. I know what you mean about Deacon, but I think he's a poor version of Matty Smith, and he was gash. Wigan are lost without French in attack and diverting defenders. Anybody would think an ex-Wigan player and coach picked the team.
And I thought the same about Frawley.

We don't have that many players that are not SL standard, but we do have a terrible lack of balance within the squad and in specific areas of it. These two things can both be true at the same time. It's well documented that our pack is underpowered, particularly the Front Row, but also in the variety of options we have in the back row positions. We have too many players that are "the same" and not enough size or variety of skill set.

If we look at the backs, there have been a number of gambles taken, Miller, Fusitua, Momirovski all signed at great expense, and all have so far flatterer to deceive. Miller looks the most likely to come good, but at 30 this week, time is not exactly on his side given his lack of experience. Fusitua will leave at the end of the season and the jury is still out on Momirovski.

We need to change the balance of the squad, with more grunt and size in the forwards, and more speed in the backs. The halves will feed off the platform that the forwards can maintain, so they will both look better with a better pack and more structure in the approach. As an example, because of playing structure, Luke Gale looked like a Golden Boot candidate in 2017 at Cas, and was barely adequate at Leeds only 3 years later.

We don't need to rip up the squad and start again, but we shouldn't be extending anyone coming out of contract, and also looking to move a few others on who are just not what we need.

I'm not an expert by any means but from what i know just because newman is marquee doesn't make him highly paid. he is club trained so it's just manipulating the salary cap. if I'm mistaken someone will put me right

I think using words like great to describe Frawley’s performances under Arthur is a bit over the top. We’ve won 2 out of five and Frawley has improved for sure….but great ? As for Momorovski, I don’t think a full pre season will make him any faster or suddenly see him busting through defenders, and if he’s making poor attempts at tackles when he’s 28 I don’t see him suddenly improving at 29. He’s been the most disappointing signing for me, on the basis I wasn’t expecting anything from Frawley anyway. Like everyone else I’m hoping they continue to improve under Arthur , but I think we will need more stardust alongside them because for me they’re both pretty average at best. Frawley’s kicking game has improved but don’t expect to see a 40/20 from him before he retires, and he’s still kicking the ball straight down defenders throats most times. Roll on The Wire and let’s hope these two put back to back decent performances together.

Agree re the balance not being right. A huge wedge of cap space (and quota spots) has been used on the backs, but while our front row is weak we don't look particularly great in the backs as a set either. We do have some kids with potential though, who ought to get a chance if the bigger names don't perform, and hopefully with a more structured gameplan and pack that holds its own our backs will look better as well.

If we can get a couple of quality props, then our pack will depend on how well the likes of Holroyd, Gannon and Littlewood perform. Maybe Hudson, Warren and Ruan too. In the case of both Gannon and Holroyd it seems like next season will be make or break - will either avoid concussions, and if they do, will they kick on? We cannot wait around forever for either of them.

We should have a lot of young forwards trying to force their way into the 17 every week. We need to be in a position where the likes of Sangare, Goudemand and Donaldson are way down the pecking order. Those three for a start should not be renewed.

Rohan Smith was an abject failure, how have I arrived at this remarkable conclusion. By simply looking at the facts, we are out of the playoffs unlikely to participate in the playoffs (big loss of revenue) Dumped out of the challenge cup, (big loss of revenue). Several players not fit for purpose, several players mid table quality, which is what the team is at the moment. Arthur’s appointment was smart, the wonderful win against Wigan had his fingerprints all over it. Let’s face it this coaching scenario is far from ideal, at the moment we can’t undertake any planning for next season because we won’t know if he will be the coach. If Arthur chooses to return home we will be scrambling to appoint a new coach, not many decent coaches available. Mainly because if they are any good they are working.