The whole pack will look completely different with a very different attitude/gameplan. The passive defence made all our forwards look soft. I don't know why people keep trying to deny it was a thing - the Leigh game, when the whole team was pumped, our defence was stood still in a line waiting for attackers the whole game through. It was also partly why when Arthur tried to change it up they couldn't sustain a more aggressive style for long, because they just weren't fit enough.

An off season focused on increased fitness and a completely different mindset among the forwards will show us which of the forwards are up to it and who isn't. I'm not entirely convinced on Oledzki, Holroyd or Lisone, but would be more than happy if they all take a big leap forward next year.

Given the look of our backline, we're also likely to have far more structure next year as well. Hall and Sivo could score a lot of tries if we can create openings, but that requires field position, as neither will score from a distance, and moves intended to create overlaps.

Mik's a genuinely lovely lad. Lives near me so bump into him a bit, and my brother-in-law was, according to Mik, one of his favourite teachers. And he has nothing but nice things to say about him. But that might have held him back a bit. Didn't McDermott say about him needing to realise that he's a prop and what that means? He seems to lack that aggression about his play. Not foul play, but the extra punch in his runs and tackles.

I think it could come down to a number of factors because he has all the physical attributes to dominate. But he came through at a time when our pack was getting weaker. And at a young age became our pack leader expected to do big minutes. Throwing yourself into collisions doesn't lend itself to doing big minutes.

It's also a really tight line to walk now disciplinary wise. Anything mistimed and you're looking at a ban. When he's carrying so much responsibility, I wonder how that affects his game.

And, as a club, we seem to have fallen so far off transitioning young players into the 1st team. It's hard to think back to the last academy player to come through and be top class. They all seem to plateau and never quite reach the heights we'd hoped they would.

Hopefully, with a better coaching team and more support up front, we'll see Mik kick on. He's still got age on his side. I think the reason he gets more of a free ride than others is because he's given so much to the team when we've been e. And we'd all love to see him be able to share some of that burden and start to go up through the levels.

Are there better props in SL than Mik? Yes.
Would our pack be improved if we had 3 other props of his calibre? Yes. For me, putting him first in line for criticism simply doesn't stack up.

Interesting comment by Arthur regarding Littlewood a player who he seems to rate highly."Ben is my sort of build for a back-rower.He his tall,rangy and once they start to fill out they are hard to tackle especially when they can off load the ball too.
"Bens nearly two metres tall and when he puts on some size he'll be better for it.Certainly he's a player with potential for the club going forward.
With Bentley off contract this year he hardly fits that bill.

For me we should be looking at getting Mik signed up long term before the start of the next season.

Excellent player and pro. Hes only just turned 26 and some seem to forget he was our POTY back to back in 21 & 22.

Mik is not crap.
Nonsense to suggest he is.
Granted, he's had a couple of below par seasons.
But he's struggled with injuries as a result of being flogged to death carrying the pack for the previous 3 years.
A stronger pack and more rotation in the front row will help him get back to the Mik of 2021-2022.
Not totally convinced we have that yet though....

Arthur's comments on Littlewood are interesting. I assume Gannon fits the bill as a big second row as well.

I think we saw last season what role he may have in mind for Bentley - a Victor Radley/Brandon Smith type up the middle. Or it could be that he's more in competition with O'Connor/Ackers. If Arthur thinks we need size its hard to see two of those three on the bench. We might see some very interesting reshuffling including Bentley, and I wouldn't be surprised if Cameron Smith is asked to play very differently as well, even if he keeps the 13 shirt.

I can't see Smith losing the 13 shirt, but I can see him playing less minutes at greater intensity. I may be reading too much into the co-captains thing, but perhaps that's in anticipation of having Smith on the field less.

I've said it before, but I think a big problem with Cam last season was he was in great cardio shape, but he lacks explosive power to really punch through the line or put big shots on in D. I'm hoping they'll change his conditioning to allow more impact.

Tall rangy back rower, didn’t we have one of those !
Mik is a decent prop but has played and carried an underweight pack for the last five years, with the look of this pack he can play 20 mins hard and get off for a rest.

Time to get over this, he's gone for over a year now and if you look on the Wigan chat, they wouldnt be bothered if we took him back. He is not the messiah!

Bizarre how much Walters was revered by some, he's gone and hasn't exactly stood out at Wigan

I would have him back tomorrow, not the messiah but entertaining and always tried and was basically the only brightness of a bloody awful season of 2023.

I'd rather have Dupree back, or Mulhearn