Agree, but surely that was one of the key strengths of the squad. Now we are no better (depth wise) than anybody else. I do share Marty's concerns. We are at least another year from having a young half come through. Bottom line is Gale's departure has made us weaker, not stronger, and we can't pretend otherwise.

Hopefully they arent needed at all but if Sezer goes down in week 1 what the option? We have no back up.

Myler is best 1 at the club and needs to stay there, hes no half back. Austin has played on the wing internationally it doesnt make him a winger.

We need a 3rd half back in the squad.

Exactly.

There isn't a SL club that has three high quality halves - how are you going to get a half of the quality you want who isn't going to be guaranteed a starting place?

I cannot understand the obsession on here with props - it has always been the case since the days it was on rivals. If Leeds had 8 props there would be some on here asking for more.

We do have back up, Fuzzy and Walker can play Full Back Myler can fo into the halves.

You may not like thr option but to say we don’t have backup is wrong, we have s an ex international who has played 90% of his career at 7 as backup.

Im not saying Gale leaving doesn’t make the squad poorer what i am saying is it isn’t some kind of big disaster that will totally derail the season that you are making it out to be.

It has made us weaker, on paper, we don’t have a clue whats gone on!

If there was dissent within the ranks it could make us stronger as a team.

Thats your opinion Chris. I believe it will.

We was building a strong squad with depth and options. Now we are weaker unless we add to it.

Weve seen Myler isnt good in the halves many a time. Hes poor there but we may need to rely on him there. International half back my eye

Sutcliffe is no half back, we dont want him there either but didnt he get selected for England Knights? Another international half back no doubt

He was an international halfback wether you agree or not.

To say we have no backup is not opinion its flat out incorrect.

Wether you think that backup is good enough is your opinion, and of course you’re entitled to it, we’ll just have to wait and see who’s opinion turns out to be correct

Hopefully we wont find out cos i would like Myler at 1, Leeming at 9 and Sezer and Austin to play every week now.

We need to add another half to replace McLelland in the squad tho. Sezer and Austin are replacing Lui and Gale.

On the bright side, let's hope both Austin and Sezer steer clear of long term injury and young Johnson can force his way into the seventeen. Hopefully the new conditioning guru can get the key troops out on the park with far greater frequency than last year.

This is key. I've gone from being very, very optimistic about next year back to just hopeful. We had such depth with Gale there, in addition to the rest of the squad, that we could have ridden out even an injury crisis like we had this year. Now it's not looking anything like as rosy and we're back to being reliant on key people staying fit - something the squad was designed to avoid happening.

Well said. My feelings in a nutshell.

Yep. Pre Gales departure the squad building had a strategic feel to it, post it - seems like we are rolling the dice. Let's hope GH and Agar have something else in mind.

Agree re. the lack of a McLelland. I’m also no fan of Myler or Sutcliffe at HB.

However Leeming did Ok there for a while and with Johnson an option at 9, we’re not straight into “crisp packet” territory if Leeming gets drafted.

Is it ideal that Gale has gone? No. Is it catastrophe? No.

Arguably the salary is better spread across the team than having three big earners fighting for 2 places.

I don’t know what’s gone on behind the scenes but Gale has had 6-7 clubs in his career and he can be a controversial character.

By there’s some doom mongers on here of late. I trust the club here. They were happy to let Gale go. They’re not stupid. Something has changed and we don’t know what but I trust them to get this right. Don’t get me wrong they need to deliver. I definitely think there’s another incoming here..

The way I see it there remained a massive gap between us and the winners last year. For it to be bridged we need a load of coins to land heads up. We need youngsters to turn potential into delivery, we need prior to finish the season as strongly as he starts, we need Tet to be better, 2 new halves to gel, Bentley to perform post injury...
with so many unknowns we'd be pretty unlucky if it was the loss of Gale that made the difference between success and failure

agrree he's 30 odd did a job but started picking up injuries and petulance on and off field , mclelland wasn't the answer either

good riddance. only downside is losing a spare playmaker

If we are going to replace Gale for cover/backup it ideally should be either a veteran solid pro who is happy for a 1-2 year deal as a backup but experienced enough to pass on knowledge to younger players but still hungry enough to get stuck in when required, in the 32-35 range, Or a championship up and coming half with ambition to step up to super league 21-24 range. Cannot think of names of top of my head but must be someone that fits that ilk.

Myler at Leeds has nearly always been in good own when he's been halfback. He's really found his niche at fullback, but too suggest that we have no cover at half is daft. What do other teams have as backup?

Someone like Richie Myler then?

Is your “top source’ still saying we are after signing Will Pryce???

I reckon he would cost a fortune dont you?

My top source is often wrong but has occasionally been right, I’m taking it with a pinch of salt to be honest, broken clock is right twice a day and all that.

We have been known to splash out on something special, either way Pryce won’t be at Huddersfield in 3 years time if he is “that good”