Uuuugh. I fell asleep in 2006 and have just woken up. Is Deacs still strutting his stuff? Or is the current England SH a 45 year old Deacs? He certainly plays like one.

A great appointment IMO which should keep me interested during the season.

Wonder if the 1 year deal is significant or just comfortable for all parties? Seems clear the club are heavily targeting the next round of IMG gradings - we are surely going to need quite a few pieces of the jigsaw to fall in place for any realistic chance. And that is before we factor in further improvements by SL clubs above and potential moving of the goalposts in the next few months.

I hear the Georgesons are massive fans of Harry Smith.

Well Noble is 62 now so probably didn't want a long contract. Maybe the club have a target who isn't available yet?

As for IMG ratings it's clear where we need to improve. There's still scope for on field improvement but the main areas of improvement needed are with the ground - can't see any championship club managing to get attendances of 7.5k.

It's good to see how much interest this has sparked, not only amongst the supporters, but also it's the most media interest I've seen in the club for a good many years. It's even on the BBC (admittedly in the sports/rugby league section) which virtually never mentions championship clubs.