Gannon is still very young (especially for a forward) and has had more than his share of knocks this year. Having the ability to rotate him will be valuable, tho we do seem well stocked in the back row I agree.

I also understand the need for a bit more punch there. I know he’s been out of position this year but I do think Martin offers that when in the back row. He has a nice offload too.

Donaldson is usually in the middles rotation and I imagine Goudemand will be too

Neither are props though and neither gives us what we need from a prop.

Going into next season with only Holroyd, Oledski (out of form), Lisone (bang in form), Sangare (injury cloud) for heavy artillery is crazy, especially when we have just lost one of the best young forwards in the country to a major rival. You are very likely to have at least one of your big bodies injured at a given time with the punishment they take, and as soon as you drop someone like Donaldson in there you lose punch immediately. We are struggling to make yardage and maintain pressure on the opposition down the middle.

I just don't understand the loading in the second row at Leeds. Maybe they feel one or two lads in the academy will progress but at prop I'm not sure who. And while Martin is decent cover at centre, his best position is as a fairly rapid back rower rather than a fairly slow outside back.

Agreed. I'm sure Smith has mentioned last offseason he wanted to increase the sizer of the team, our backrow recruitment says otherwise..

Smith Did increase the size of the team last off season with Lisone and Sangare.

I think we'll see another prop come in before next year

Yep, he's on the record as being a fan of big middles. Think he likes his second rows to be more workman like.

Oh what we'd give for another Ali Lauatiti...

It's OK having work men backrowers if you have a smart hooker to pinch metres when markers aren't square and powerful props/ centres.
Atm we don't, therein lies the problem

I don't mind having fairly mobile workers in the second row, but the lighter your back row is the more emphasis that puts on the really big boys to make yardage and provide some whack.

To be fair Smith almost plays like a ball handling prop and he is pretty good in centre field; for whatever reason our pack has not been dominant this season despite Lisone/Sangare addtions, and we're losing Walters who could have added something there (albeit more running in the second row channels currently).

Right now all four props are automatic picks when fit; I think another prop must be a priority for competition and so we have proper props on rotation and some cover for knocks before we're into Donaldson or academy lads.

Yep, I think we'll definitely get another. When we had that mid season run when most were fit he tended to go with five.

Hopefully there is another under-the-radar player out there we can unearth… I don’t actually know whether for me a new prop is more important than the centre; we do have Martin and Simpson already in the squad. Suppose it depends who’s available basically.

Prop imo. a team can't challenge for playoffs and trophies without a good pack and halves first and foremost.

Nice balanced Matt Shaw article on Frawley on Leeds Live. Points out the improvements he's made since his first SL stint and gives a bit of focus on what he's done in the NSW Cup (alongside NRL) this year. I think we've got a player who will do a good job for us and surprise a good few. Just need to pair him with a more dynamic half.

Will give it a read.

I doubt he's at bad as people are saying but just the disappointment that it wasn't a more highly rated player given how big our Spine issues are.

I can't remember much of his time at Huddersfield, as others have mentioned that's probably because he didn't do much and i don't see much NRL. But if his strengths are organising the team and getting other players running good lines he could be just what we need. We need another halfback to compliment him but if he has those attributes alone we should look more cohesive than this season.

I know RS has had stick from us (self included) about lack of structure, but he needs players who can play what they see, make good decisions under pressure and put other players in the right areas.

As Cluesy says Frawley will have a much better chance if we invest in a genuine 7.

Played well today for Canberra

Oledzki is not alone in that regard. Some people talk about Lisone like he’s the benchmark, but I watched him consecutively for three of our attacking sets yesterday and he spent more time in the Wigan defensive line offside, hiding behind other players rather than going for a carry, or generally not being anywhere near the action. I know there’s a few of our supporters looking for a cult hero and they’ve tried getting a Sam Lisone song going, but sorry lads, he’s a fake. Whereas Brett Delaney had a heart the size of a lion this fella has one the size of an apple pip when you’re gonna really need him. He has too many games where you don’t even know he’s been on the pitch, and that’s symptomatic of this current team’s issues.

Supporters at the lower end of the understanding of the game will always laud the players who make a couple of eye catching plays at the ignorance of their overall game. Its called 'the Dwyer effect'.

I wasn’t impressed with Lisones performance yesterday or many of the other forwards but if you’re referring to getting back in the like after a Wigan kick, this is a common energy saving tactic used by most teams at all levels.

Opposite team kick over, backs take the first 3/4 carries while the pack walks back to get air in the lungs.

Frawley and whoever else we bring in will need our pack to do a much better job if they are to stand much chance next year. We started with the passive defence thing and its crept back at times in too many games. I don't think its a deliberate tactic any more but there's a soft attitude about some of our forward play. I'd hope this off-season we aim to bring as much aggression as possible up the middle. Its so hard for a halfback to make much happen if we're constantly getting slow PTBs and poor yardage up front.

Just don't have the pack to do that atm.

In the past we have strong kick returns from a strong fullback and big wingers to help the pack.
On top of that we then had a good mix of grafters,hard hitters,offloaders and linebreakers in the pack.

Atm the all but lisone and sangare are grafters abd the above two haven't really offered enough of anything else we need.

We really need a pack leading prop that can hit hard and lead by example like peacock, Kylie etc used to.

Goudemand is a middle, as is Donaldson. That takes you down to 4 back rowers, of which 1 will also play some centre and 1 that is 19 years old.

Yeah but he won’t listen, it’s like banging you head against a wall

I am listening I just disagree with you.