Think it was reported earlier in the year that he has told them he intends to leave. Wakey apparently have the cash and could also use the marquee academy allowance, so they have a clear financial edge. However, I think we'd be foolish not to enquire. I also really rate Tom Davies but not sure of his contractual situation.

I hope Derrell goes well at Wakey. Even though his performances weren't up to scratch for Leeds, its never nice to see a player suffer the way he was. I wish him all the best.

Can't argue with either winger at Cats, although I thought NRL clubs were taking a look at Johnstone. I think it's too early in the year to call this - we have Roberts (just nearly 22, people forget how young he is), Frater, Simpson, maybe Lumb and maybe Smith all capable of playing wing and looking for a chance. Fus may yet come back and stay fit too, earn another +1 year... a fit Fus is as good as we're likely to get anyway, while the younger lads develop.

I am glad Olpherts is gone, no hard feelings but he just wasn't good enough for Leeds at the end of the day.

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HKR and I think Saints interested in Davies.

Would have to disagree with you on this one. When it comes to recruiting off contract British players speed is of the essence, that's why we moved so quickly to secure Newman and McDonnell. I'm a big fan of Fusitua when he plays, but by any measure he just doesn't play enough. When you add in the fact that he's a quota player, it's a simple decision. Don't think any of the lads that you mention are anywhere near ready to be a 1st choice winger at Leeds. It's such a vital position nowadays (particularly with our style) that you can't afford to be making do or cutting corners.

If Fus goes though won't we just get another NRL winger in reality?

Johnstone is from Leeds ish originally I believe, not had the impression he's ever wanted to play for Leeds though. Don't know, we'll see - don't forget we are winning tough games with young Roberts on the wing and Simpson is highly rated (albeit at centre)... Ned McCormack can also play wing and he's already in the squad. Don't get me wrong I'd be delighted if we signed either Cats winger, I'm just not sure it's a burning priority myself.

Here's another one for you: Momirovski to wing and allow McCormack, Simpson, Smith or someone else to come through at centre?

I think we're currently getting away with it playing Roberts (who is a centre) but that won't last. Simpson is stll a teenager, hasn't played a game in 18 months, and is a centre. McCormack is a centre - let him be a centre. They're just far too young to be playing against mature players on a regular basis at this stage, in fact the rules around the amount of minutes played actively forbids it. We could go for an NRL winger, but I'd rather go British if we have the option.

If we could get Johnstone it would be great, what a backline that would be. Although isn't he left wing?

Losing Johnson, Donno, Olpherts and maybe Fus should give us a fair amount of cap if we are thinking about it.

When you look at our junior outside backs over here in SL, in general they seem very under developed physically compared to the juniors coming through in the NRL, they look a mile behind them.

Quite a few NRL outside backs seem to burn out quickly too though (Fus being a good case in point).

We have had the likes of Senior, Watkins and Hall who can handle the physicality at NRL level. We don't have as many but there are some - and the crop we have at Leeds currently include some tall athletic lads who will fill out in time.

As for the rest I don't know if the difference is genetic (probably a fair amount of this), steroids, better training or what.

The islander kids are a huge source or big athletes, both forwards and backs.

Another thing is that players don't generally start in the NRL until they are older. You just don't see many teenagers, and a lot don't debut until their early 20s - even players who become stars. One reason for this is that the development pathways include serious lower grade rugby - NSW Cup, Queensland Cup etc - where young players learn to play open age at a pretty decent standard for several years before most get a sniff of the NRL, as well as working on physical developemnt.

But fundamentally its a supply issue - RL is a huge sport in NSW and Queensland, and draws on the very best athletes, many of whom dream of playing NRL.

There are lots of bigger lads in the north of England who could make really good RL players, but aren't interested as they all want to be footballers or nothing at all. Odd how Wales seems to find big, fast lads to play rugby, but in RL heartlands its a real struggle - so many of our threequarters are just lightweight and not even that quick. How we tap into that resource is beyond me though....

Simpson, Smith and one or two others are a good size. There is enough talent for the top clubs but game wide not so much in the UK.

Herbie Farnworth is 6’3” and Dom Young 6’7” according to Wiki.

Also there is still room in RL for the slightly smaller player like Miller. He is a right chunkster though and has obviously worked really hard at his strength.

Also Hall is massive and Adonis-like.

Trouble is most of the schools in the RL heartlands play union.. that most definitely has an impact on quality coming through in RL