We need to clear the decks for next year and give Brown a chance to shape the squad how he wants. We need to start making the calls on players that we dont want to renew, if some of them are playing for a RL future they might even buck up!

For me

Wello - retire
Gardner - release
Meli - release
TP - release
Perry - release
Hiho - try desperately to sell to the NRL
Gaskell - release
Howarth - dont care
Laffranchi - release

We then need to sign up the clubs future by giving long term deals to Walmsley and Percival for starters - 2 outstanding talents who will be hunted by the NRL and other Superleague clubs in the near future. If we make the calls to let people go we will know exactly what we have to spend and we can start the recruitment process as early as possible. For all the doom and gloom (me being part of that) I feel we have some very talented players still but we need to recruit wisely to get back in the hunt for trophies.

I would release Gaskell, he was hardly given a chance this season. 3 games then out on his ear? Hohaia's had a season and a half, Perry's had 2 and a half seasons!
For me, get rid of Wellens, Gardner, Meli, Hohaia, Perry, Laffranchi, Clough, Howarth. Puletua will probably be leaving anyway, but I'd give him another year if he'd stay.

Laffranchi supposedly signing a new deal. Same for LMS and Flanagan.

Forgot Laffranchi but I'd agree he needs to go too , square peg and round hole. Hiho is terrible anywhere but fullback and we have Lomax with Makinson as cover so dont need his large wage holding us back.

Clough is cheap and a good squad player for me

I like Flanagan and LMS I suspect would be ok coming off the bench as an impact prop if we had some real muscle to back him up. Laffranchi signing a deal would be utterly terrible news, we could pick up a championship prop on 1/3 of his salary who would be at least as effective in the front row

If Laffranchi plays second row, I think he'll be a decent player. If he's going to continue playing prop, on the other hand, he has to go.

Could be thinking of playing Frankie in the back row. We will know if we sign some big props, which is the type of prop Brown likes (

and I do as well).

If Amor and Paea come in, is as rumoured, Laffranchi could make move to the back row.

Please don't tease me!!!!!!!!!!!!

1st May is when we can start talking to SL players, hopefully we'll crack on with the recruiting.

It's only fair we tell players who arnt getting deals asap.

sums up the total lack of ambition at the club these days.

id give tp a new deal but your probably right he will leave anyway. you need to get harry houdini in to shift hohaia though.

Can't believe Hohaia's got another 2 years after this. Those idea was it to give him a 4 year deal!?

I would hope we don't do this. Telling players they can go is exactly what put us over a barrel with Eastmond. If we tell all those players they are gone and advertise this, then when we go shopping for replacements, we will have to pay over the odds leaving us short of cap space for a proper squad.

It's fine for us as fans to advertise who we want and do not want. But the club and the coach need to play their cards closer to their chests. Sign the best player you can for next year on the least money you can and then tell others they are surplus to requirements.

If we say that we are losing 3 of our starting props to the whole of SL. Any prop getting an offer from us is immediately going to think I can get some more money out of these guys as they are so short for next year, they need to take me.



Any scrum half we approach already knows this, so we don't need the props doing the same, otherwise we will end up with far too much money in far too few positions.

Amor and Paea? Don't know where them names have come from, but those type of players are needed.

Laffranchi could be useful in the back-row, maybe that is the plan, but even so another year seems questionable.

Clough is a good player who we should keep. Let's not go too far.

Someone mentioned Amor on here yesterday/this morning. Paea has been mentioned on both Hull boards.

#WTF

Have any of those done anything on the field this year to make you rush out (pardon the pun)
and sign them?

Little harsh on Flanagan with not as much game time , but even so.

Same old Same old.

I totally agree with all of this to the latter. Our recruitment of new players has been dire over the last few years with only Walmsley being the possible only highlight. We have a dire Front Row at present, Makeshift Half Backs, a Three Quarter line that has no pace whatsoever and we have never replaced Paul Sculthorpe at Loose Forward since the day he retired. Im sick of hearing that we are rebuilding and its not good enough anymore. Our recruitment has been totally dreadful since maybe 2007/2008. If we had of started rebuilding the team when Long, Cunningham and Sculthorpe left we wouldnt be anywhere near this fine mess we currently find ourselves in. Its totally embrassing that a club of our size in Super League has to field halves such as Wilkin, Howarth and Wellens. Wilkin is doing the best he can but surely the club should have seen this coming??? It was allways going to come sooner rather than later that Lomax would replace Wellens at Full Back leaving us a 7 short. Our wingers and centre threequarters havent had any pace since Albert, Sullivan and Newlove and thats going back nearly 10 years and dont even get me started on the pack.

Team for 2014

Lomax
New Winger
Turner (who really hasnt convinced me at all and looks another poor recruitment addition)
Percival
New Winger
New Stand Off
New Scrum Half
New Prop
Roby (c)
New Prop
Manu (When this guy fires he can be frightening but at 32 years of age should never have been signed and has been poor this season when he has played)
Soliola
Wilkin

wouldnt you put makinson in one of those wing spots? if we give tp another year id have him and soliola at sr and wilkin 13.

My god there's some rubbish on this thread. We're a couple shrewd signings away from competing.

Totally disagree with this for reasons stated before.

I'd say 4 or 5 signings to be honest. Our youth have plugged some of the gaps already, with Percival, Walmsley and Greenwood who have already made the step up as first team regulars.

Some of your points are good points but some aren't. To say we have no pace in the three quarters are wrong.

We need a general at 7 and two big props. In an ideal world we would sign a 6 too but that isn't as important.

Agreed, although we'll probably need a winger too (if we can't get any then perhaps give Meli a 1yr deal). Something like the following would have us back in the mix:

OUT
Gardner
Meli
Wellens
Perry
Puletua

IN
Paea
Amor
Dobson
Broughton