You are probably right.
Also depends on how much we are paying Hall.
I guess we have something in the deal that he gets a fair wage when he moves into a non playing role once he packs in playing.

Probably a fair amount and a job offer after it ends but not a big wad of cash

Must-haves for me would be:

>new starting prop to partner Oledski, similar quality (close to international)
>new back rower to replace Martin. Different body type with more whack and aggression.

Quality, not quantity, is what we are crying out for now our youth system is on the verge of producing again.

This would give us a pecking order at prop of:

NEW SIGNING > Oledski > Holroyd > Lisone > Sangare > TNW > Hudson

And in the back row:

NEW SIGNING > McDonnell > Gannon > Bentley > O'Connor > Goudemand > Littlewood

Nice-to haves:
>another prop in the Eseh mould to put pressure on the rotation props and cover injury/form
>a replacement 7 for Frawley (this is difficult now we might be blocking Sinfield another year into his development)

If Blease means what he says about winning, he'll have to make some hard choices this year once he's had a good look at the squad. We shouldn't sign anyone else, possible exception of another prop like Eseh, unless they pass the "could you help us win Super League?" test.

Fusitua and mom?

Not had much of an update since my last one a month or so ago obviously everyone has been rocked by the news of Rob since then and are still healing from the devastating news.

Brad Arthur is leading the race to be new head coach but the club is just holding off at the moment just incase anyone else shows an interest or becomes available.

Not heard anything on in regards to the enforcer we are looking at to add to our pack for next season Josh Papali'i and Jarred Wallace we're both offered deals, Tom Amone has obviously got a deal with Canterbury back in NRL.

Ian Blease has made made his first resigning at the club he's extended Leon Ruan's contract til the end of the 2026 season which I'm pleased about Ruan needs to be given a consistent chance in team because he has the potential to be a handy player for us.

thanks for the update mate. I suspect it's paused with the change of head coach plus Blease coming in.. we will want to make sure we're getting it right.

Good news on Ruan

Can't disagree with any of that.

Thanks for the update, JR. I'm glad Ruan's got a new contract. I believe he was the "quickest" player at the club last season (as per GPS results). The club just need to decide if he's going to be used as a prop or bit of a strike second row.

I'm surprised Demetriou's name hasn't been mentioned more. I think he'd be great, and has history around the area. He might be a bit too similar to Rohan in his zen approach, but he can't be too bad if Wayne Bennett didn't mind having him around.

different being head coach and assistant

Clueso re props I think it will depend on who is available. If we can find two, maybe. But we look light in the back row unless we successfully convert Hudson, Ryan, Littlewood to first grade and/or Gannon comes back and stays back.

McDonnell I can just about live with for size but O’Connor, Goudemand, Bentley are all too small frankly. I expect Martin to leave, we’ll see.

We have great strength in back rowers coming through the system but for me we need to plug a gap.

Jim - I'd argue that you always need more props than 2nd rows, just because good sides tend to play 4, sometimes 5, every week. Contrast that with 2nd rows where you might go with 2, perhaps 3. Like you I think we'd benefit from a big second row, but I still think the priority has to be a couple of props.

The order of priority 'for mine' is 2 props that fit position s 1/2 and 3 in the front row rotation, a 7 to replace frawley and then a second row with a point of difference. If we can't get the latter that we can always use that as a reason to explain why 'the project it's still ongoing hence why we finished 8th.