Good spot, that was Jan 22 and we had Mik, Prior and Tetevano so better quality back then. Albeit, Prior did hit the wall that year but he had to do too much work , similar to Mik now.

Only upside is I’m sure Blease and Arthur are as intelligent as us lot on here

Apparently Liam Byrne is being shopped around by Wigan. Would he be a good option as a solid, but not spectacular type front rower? Could replace Sangare and Goudemand in the pecking order.

Not seen that, but if true it's a no brainer. In order to fill the gaps in the squad we are going to need to recruit a quality SL player. He fits that bill, and in the right position.

I quite like Liam Byrne tough no nonsense prop, not sure Wigan fans will be that bothered to see him go though seems to get a bit of stick on their forum

For all signings the question for us has fundamentally changed. Being better than what we have just isn't enough, and tbh not that difficult in many positions. Signings need to materially improve us, from day one. Not saying Byrne doesn't fit this bill, just that we need to significantly raise the bar in terms of quality we're looking for.

Agree, but we can't fix the holes in the squad just from the NRL. That means an English player, and likely a prop or a second rower. There's not a lot to pick from, as everybody is desperate to keep their talent. If we signed a Byrne and then added extra quality in the quota spots we could improve significantly.

Don't disagree at all. For me, every signing we make needs to give us that step change in quality. We have a good crop of juniors coming through so we don't need to make the sort of project type signing we've made in the very recent past.

Can't afford anymore projects. I know Eseh had his fans on here, but I just don't see a quality prop there. Byrne on the other hand, is a good player. Wigan have loads of props, and they'll need to look at upping Nsemba's deal in order to fend off NRL interest. There could be something in it.

Byrne should be playing more regularly and would be a good signing for any of the mid-table teams.
Depends if he wants the daily nightmare of the M62 or would rather avoid and stay closer to home at Leigh or Salford.
He would be a good addition for us, as long as we get a big NRL prop as well.
Goudemand and Sangare should be offloaded.

If he's not enough for Wigan he's not good enough for us the guy is tough for sure but he's a penalty machine with it.

We're not talking about signing a bunch of cast offs. Just maybe one prop who is better than at least two of our current options, possibly three as I think we need to upgrade Lisone as soon as practical as well. We've also got Holroyd, who may or may not ever play a full season at a decent standard. I have no problem with signing an experienced SL prop as a squad player - far better than another Hudson or Warren.

Obviously its important that we seriously upgrade where we can. That has to be the quota players. Get them right and we'll improve a lot, get it wrong and we'll be mid table for a while yet. But we need better squad options as well.

Correct , we need to be matching Wigan not buying their 6th best prop

So which other English ( and available) props would you get? It's about building a squad that will compete with Wigan again. You do that by achieving a balance in your recruitment, a good solid pro here, two or three very good players there. Limiting ourselves to signing only the best players from the best sides in the comp is a science fiction scenario.
And BTW - who said he's their 6th best - he comes off the bench most every week.

Nsemba signed a new 6 year contract presumably a significant upgrade so Wigan may need to sell to ease cap pressure. Agree with Arthur in that a squad is the sum of its parts. Byrne may be down the pecking order at Wigan but on this year's form he's better than any of our props bar Oledski! Could do a job at Leeds in the way Harrison who we passed on has done at Wire

I'm not saying Byrne isn't what we need - he may very well be - but we really need to move away from signing someone simply because he's better than what we currently have. Every signing must be either a starting game changer or a very high quality squad player. We have a good crop of juniors coming through so projects and cheap as chips squad fillers must become a thing of the past.

I think we're all agreed on that, but we do need numbers as well as quality in the front row. We've got four out and out props, which is probably two shy of what's needed even if all four were good enough. But they're not good enough, and as all four should be picked every week in the 17, one injury and we're down to the even worse option of 'middles.'

Aside from maybe Ruan, who is currently a second row but is big enough to move up to prop, and TNW, who is on the small side and more like an NRL 13, do we have any junior props coming through who will be ready next season? I'm happy for them to be backing up a rotation of four props if the four are quality.

What most fans forget (including many Wigan fans) is that Byrne played virtually all last season and carried the pack by himself due to injuries, whilst carrying an injury himself

this season he hasnt been as good, but i think thats because 1. change in tackle laws, and he hasnt quite adjusted hence the harsh 5 game ban he got for the tackle v Saints and 2. he missed a good part of this season, and has fallen to bench prop, but struggled to make a big impact when he's come on, playing in short bursts (thats for Mago). What we have seen in the last couple of games is more game time, and far better performances from him

At Wigan he is the prop we feel is most likely to move on as he needs to be playing (starting) more regularly. He's not a world beater, but equally he is too good to be bench warming each week. He can play good minutes but he's not going to displace Thompson / Havard as our starting prop

so for Byrne, he's probably got a decision to make. Does he want to stay at Wigan, be a good solid squad player or move on, more regular starter, and possibly earn a bit more but perhaps not the same success

i think he would add to / improve most squads in SL, and is just timing that he's not 1st choice at Wigan

Hard to disagree with that assessment. From a Leeds point of view beggars cannot be chosers at present.

IMO he could be a starting prop at most SL clubs and wouldnt let you down. He is better when starting as he can get into the pace of the game more easily. He would go well with Oledski for the 1st 20-30 minutes, but as other posters have commented, you would need further additions at prop to make it a proper rotation

however i have a hunch that he will stay at Wigan (no information) unless the club are happy to offload as we have Hill ready to make his claim for a1st team spot, and may need to release someone with the recent contract extensions announced this week

Very quite on here for a rumours thread.
Other than those stating the obvious in that we need props, the club are rubbish and do everything wrong comments there is very little in the way of actual rumours. The odd NRL name popping up now and then, mostly wishfull thinking like RCG. Nothing to even get us salivatiing like we had with Croft last year. The best I have seen elswhere is Cleary coming to SL to be with his GF who apparently is coming to play football. Now that is a proper rumour

I like the idea of Byrne coming in. I can see a scenario of him and Mik starting and going reasonably well for an initial 25-30 min spell.

I would be focusing more on moving players out, with that in mind I would let Goudemand and Sangare go, I imagine both would consider other options if told they won’t be in the first team squad next season. I would also move on Lisone, he was a smith choice, his partner is back in the nrl and again I can’t imagine he will stick around if told he won’t be involved. I appreciate that is a lot of possible and things need to align for it come off.

With that cleared out you gain an extra quota spot, I’d go after two NRL props, potentially mat Croker at the knights, Ogden from the eels or Taupau for a year.

That gives you mik, Byrne, Croker, Ogden/taupau and Holroyd with TNW as sixth prop. I’d use the other quota spot in the second row on somebody like Chee-kam from south’s or alick-wiencke from Gold Coast. Basically a much bigger body than Martin.

Last move is mom to leave and replace with a bigger body more rugged centre from NRL who is also a kicker to replace Martin.

Fair few moves to sort there but that’s the kind of thing we should be aiming for in my opinion

Some online chatter about BA in the running for Broncos job.

He wouldn't leave us high and dry......would he?

Of course he would if the opportunity existed chance to manage one of the big 4 teams in the Nrl after a year when they have underperformed. The way walters has gone I would suspect the next man is already lined up!

Its also ridiculously high pressure. Walters got the gig thanks to very public agitation against the previous coach (Seibold) by a bunch of former players who wanted 'Kevvie' to get the job. I reckon they will be waiting to do the same to whoever takes over if its not one of their mates.

Looking on the positive, if I was Arthur I'd prefer the Perth gig. Money to spend, and a good 2-3 years before he's likely to face real pressure on results. Not to mention a place in history if he makes it a success on the field.

Byrne replacing Goudemand and/or Sangare isn't a bad option but we badly need that big nasty prop