Cross is a bona fida NRL prop, he's got safe(ish) hands, finds his front and has no self preservation instincts. With the speed of the defensive line in the NRL these are essential. Being a massive meter maker is rare in NRL props, and that's why the ones that do make big meters are seen as standouts - like Civeneciva etc.. unfortunately with the cumbersome line speed in super league, your average Joe NRL prop will never stand out. Hell, Ryan Tandy made himself a fairly successful NRL career by being able to catch, take a hit, land on his belly and then get up quick, and he really is gash.

Cross does OK – that’s it. He’s not ripping up trees or setting the world alight, he just does OK.

He’s your run of the mill, nowt special prop. Doesn’t really do much wrong (apart from the penalties) but average at best.

That's the thing our team is crying out for though. No nonsense players who don't make stupid errors on a regular basis. A pack of Bailey, Buderus, Peacock, Delaney, Ablett, Sinfield would deliver what we need right now IMO. Add any of Cross, Burgess, Leuluai and it's still pretty much no nonsense

Ateod fellas we are 11 games in the team has been low on confidence ,decimated by injuries and trying to get used to new coaches so at least give the 2 new signings a chance to settle in and see how they fair when we are near to full strength ,bang on form and playing with confidence.

Fair enough, but I'm not sure Hauraki gets near a shirt if everyone is fit. Even Cross could be struggling - is he in front of Bailey, Kylie or Biff? Add JP to that and all of a sudden we have a fairly strong looking set of front row options

Fair points Andy and well put and lets be honest IF we eventually get everyone fit then the desire for 1st team spots should bring out better in all of the squad.

We're a couple of centres short of being very competitive once everyone is fit as far as I'm concerned. I think I'd honestly rather see Ablett play there than Delaney. I know Watkins can do it but I think his best position might be on the wing as it suits him a lot more defensively.

Me too. I think he'll come good. I seem to remember plenty slagging Kylie in his first half season saying waste of this and waste of that and he eventually came good and even got his own song

Don't worry, there's still time for you lot to get a few more years out of them after we've finished with 'em ....

Compare Cross's efforts with the impact and effort we are still getting from Kylie. Not in the same league, and seems to be under pressure, a liability with his discipline (WTF was he doing "tackling" Diskin at the PTB right infront of our posts?).

Although he certainly isn't a world beater (but props never are), i'm happy with the way Cross is going, ill discipline aside.
He makes the hard yards, he's usually the first player to put his hand up to take the first drive up.
Technically he's good in that he find his knees and gets a quick play the ball.

I think having a fit Peacock and him in the front row will add some much needed size and steel to our pack.
Theres bound to be a bit of a settling in period while he adapts to our game, the NRL is alot more structured in terms of field position. You know generally where the ball will be in the next 2-3 tackles, SL isn't quite like that it's alot more off the cuff.
As much as we all want to believe that some of the young players are ready now, I don't think Amor or Ambler are anywhere near the level of Cross yet.

With regards to Wellar, he's already proved himself in SL so i've no doubt he'll come good.

At 33 he shouldn't be making schoolboy errors,but he is.What about the penalty under the posts he gave away and he needs to stop running out of the line looking for the big hits.It causes us allsorts of problems in defence.

Anybody still think Cross is a better option than having Ambler here getting the same game time he has had with the team he will be a cornerstone of in the future ?? Cross is a liability with his headstrong brain farts with none of the compensating niggling subtlety of Bailey.

Weller I can at least see potential in ....at least from an attacking/running perspective with some decent ball.

Cross is average, nothing flash but then again not a terrible player. My argument is that we could employ the services of any British prop and get the same player freeing up a quota spot.

Exactly. A terrible decision.