Ward is out of contract this year so it is down to the club if they keep him on, Stevie's body doesn't look like it can cope at all for his own health he surely must be thinking of early retirement which is a real shame as he can be class when fit.

Even with all his injuries, id be reluctant to get rid of Ward, brilliant player when fit and its sods law he'd be always fit the second we released him. Should we renew though, id hope there would be an acceptance on his part that his injury record would be reflected to some extent in his salary.

Agreed.

If Ward is to retire I'm confident he would become a very good coach, he's very intelligent.

His hamstrings would go putting the cones out tho!

Id go for Ward on a 1 year deal

His injury record would tell you different

it would have to be reflected in his salary. a fit Stevie Ward is worth marquee money no doubt but we can't carry him on big money on a long term deal again that would be crazy.

something like a one year deal on less money with a view to renegotiate at the end of the season if he hits a target of say 20 games. something like that could work. if he is looking for a long term big money deal i'm not sure we should be retaining him.

Ward will count on the cap regardless what happens now. Crosby and Briscoe haven’t been registered with the RFL just yet so isn’t on our salary cap until they plays their first game this season. Merrins 175k cap space hasn’t been used fully yet.

Anthony Mullally, Brad Singleton (Toronto Wolfpack), Joshua Walters, Jack Ormondroyd, Brett Ferres (Featherstone Rovers), Kallum Watkins (Gold Coast Titans), Matt Parcell (Hull Kingston Rovers), Tuimoala Lolohea (Salford Red Devils), Ashton Golding, Owen Trout (Huddersfield Giants), Trent Merrin (St George Illawarra Dragons), Shaun Lunt (Batley Bulldogs), Daniel Waite-Pullan (Bradford Bulls), Nathaniel Peteru (Released), Jamie Jones-Buchanan (Retirement), Carl Ablett (Retirement), Wellington Albert (Featherstone Rovers - Season Loan)

Rob Lui, Luke Gale, Ava Seumanufagai, Kruise Leeming, Matt Prior, Alex Mellor, Rhyse Martin, Rhys Evans, Joe Greenwood, Sam Walters, Jarrod O’Connor all coming in. Comparisons differ but I reckon we’ve got about 100k left on the cap at least (Rhys Evans and Joe Greenwood came in after Trent Merrin left)

Has Nathaniel Peteru found another club?

We signed Sam Walters and Jarrod O'conner around this time last year, ages before Trent left

For some reason I thought it was this off season, god knows why!

If Ward could keep injury free and back to full fitness he would be a great asset to any team. When he plays Leeds look a different team. Unfortunately you cannot pay top dollar for a chap who plays less than a dozen games per year. What would any team pay for a player who is 27 spend more time on the treatment table than on the pitch. I remember Sinfield saying when he first came to the club there is a lot of money sat in the stands, out injured. How many games has Ward played since Sinfield returned. No more than half a dozen, possibly one or two more. There is a big decision to be made. On the one hand he will have a value to what he thinks he is worth, the club will have a different value, hopefully not but it would be hard to see Ward agreeing to less money than he is on now. Maybe the club should be discussing this with him now, possible oaching role and plays when fit, so much per game etc.

For the younger ones on here, a dozen is 12,

He’s just signed for Hull kr

Where else could it be ?