If we're looking for an experienced campaigner on a 1yr deal, then I'd prefer Ukuma Tai (34) who is a free agent. Casty will be too old at 36. Sam Moa has already joined Lezignan.

Lussick (31) free agent could be the best shout.

Casty would be a good addition - seems tough but also a genuine team player

Hi all - I'm a long time reader, first time poster.
Thought I'd join the in the off-season discussion/banter....

Agree with a lot of comments on here.
Clearly front row is our priority.
We need to replace Ava directly with an available NRL option - I reckon Kev is on this.
We also need a seasoned British prop to replace Cuthbo/Crosby - the likes of Dudson or even Flower would have been good, or maybe Kopszak?
Or T Burgess, L Thompson, Watts - we can dream....
Not sure about Casty, too old - we may as well have kept Cuthbo for another year.

6 can wait til next year - I think we can live with Lui for next season and hopefully Long can get the best out of him.
I like Connor - he's got something about him.
But agree - he has too many games where he goes missing, can't afford that at 6.
He's no Danny Mags!
But again, maybe if Long had his hands on him....

PS - I live in York, grew up watching York as a young lad with my Dad, before starting to follow Leeds in the 80's.
I'll be watching Cuthbo and the other new recruits next season in the new stadium and hoping for a push for Super League in the next 3-5 years....


Cheers,
Simmo.

Welcome to the asylum.

Good Post Simmo. I live near York too.
Would like to go to some games too. Maybe we can meet up there at some point.....

In all honestly Cuthbo could quite easily be the best shout for another year.
Can we get him back? Pack would then be stronger than last year as Tetevano for Ava is fine, Tommy the tank will be a force next year without doubt. I really like what I've seen of him....

The only problem with keeping Cuthbo for another year would have meant we would have all our overseas spots taken now. If we got Casty on a year deal for example we still have that quota spot and if can't find anyone to bring in before season starts then we have great opportunity to bring in a quality overseas player if they became available to us and it means we wouldn't have to re jig our playing roster by trying to offload one of our current overseas players before we bring another one in.

Personally I'd rather play Prior at prop and Cam Smith at loose rather than bring in another journeyman. Thompson could possibly do a stint up front as well - benefit of this would be giving Smith more game time, which he probably deserves. Will we win the title without another proper prop? Probably not.

Let's move past these short-term signings. I'd rather use that money to retain some young talent (or bring new in if we're having to compete more at junior level)... It does sometimes happen that a good player becomes available mid-season from NRL, I'd like us to be in a strong position for negotiations either then or for the beginning of 2021.

Tyler Dupree could have done as good a job for us as some of the journeyman names being mentioned IMO, and we let him go.

We are working under cap and quota, off the back of a truly horrendous year commercially, with more uncertainty ahead for 2021 (we are not out of the woods yet with COVID). I say keep powder dry, be patient and only sign if that player is better than what we have and improves the team. Another Tetevano type player and we could well be challenging again - Leeds should have a fearsome pack which is the best in the comp, and new signings need to meet that ambition for me.

Sign mid table players and become a mid table club.

Agree, I would rather play Prior at prop and cam smith at 13 than sign somebody just because it is a body. I do agree we need to sort the pack out, we have needed to sort it out since JP and Kylie retired. However if the player coming in isn’t one of the top props in the comp then rather we didn’t sign a filler and just put prior at prop and let Cam get more game time. Before he got injured he was looking great at 13.

If the people in the know are correct then we have the makings of a top pack in a couple of years.

8. Mik
9.
10. Tommy
11. Levi
12. Walters
13. C Smith

We also have Gannon, A Sutcliffe, Mellor if he is retained and improves and O’Connor. The aim I am sure will be to add in some real top quality players into that pack. Essentially it will be a couple of top quality props.

Bottom line is we aren’t going to challenge this year, or probably the next. Third year we could be looking really good with a very handy pack and a mainly young British squad with some touches of class from abroad.

Not signing a prop can't be an option. Most sides run with a minimum of six props and we now have four including Prior. It would be cruel (not to mention impossible) to ask four players to bare the brunt of a 30 game season. One solid Ava type prop and we can start to really rattle some cages this year, never mind next. Hands up who had heard of Ava before he was signed? There will be someone out there and I suspect Kev and Agar are talking to them.

Welcome Simmo. Good post that

Agree. Waiting until mid season is a big gamble and we could be up against it by then if injuries bite. Could be too late. We need to bring a good prop in over next month

Not a bad post Simmo apart from the Flower suggestion

If we bring someone in to fill the gap, it should be a loan or a 1 year deal. I agree that we need to stop with the short term signings. We had to make some short term signings 18 months ago to keep us afloat. Signings should to the most extent move the quality of the squad forward

What about an NRL loan?