Bit of a sickener that as Brough has been superb.

HOPEFULLY it is 12-14 weeks which means he should hopefully be back for the back end of the season. With us already racking up a decent number of wins, hopefully we should be able to get through this period without him and still be in the play-offs.

I'd personally go with Jowitt or Race. Jowitt didn't let anyone down when he played.

The problem with a loan is they can be recalled at any time. Whilst this isn't too much of a problem for props, wingers etc at HB they need time to form a partnership. Chopping and changing just unbalances the team

As long as we don't go with the ridiculous situation of Joe Brown playing a made up position again.

I wouldn’t mind a 28 day rolling loan for a Keyes (if he is fit) or a McLelland at Leeds who doesn’t seem near a playing shirt at Headingley (also hear George Williams needs a gig for the rest of the year, anyone up for joining bullssquadbooster.co.uk ?)

Well that just sums up the Bulls luck, losing that partnership is a big big blow. He has also been pretty deadly with the conversion accuracy, he surely must of been kicking at around 90% mark?

I would hope Kear has already been making enquiries about a loan replacement. Keyes would seem the obvious player to ask about given he would probably take the least amount of time to settle into our squad. I don't really follow SL so is he likely to be available?

McLelland would be a good shout. Haven’t Leeds just offered him and Gale to Cas in exchange for Trueman? If that’s true McLelland will be questioning his position at the club? Although I don’t like the idea of two young halves together he might be the most realistic?

Absolutely gutted for him and the club, today wasn't his best but still a massive loss

The options set out in the post above are interesting. I think Golding at fullback, Pickersgill at 6 and Lilley at 7 would be my choice unless we can get another loan player in.

I don’t think we’ll keep Golding for very long but I’d be delighted to be wrong.

Supposedly that’s true according to ITK he’s really accurate like the time he said Ta’ai was coming to bulls… yeah I think Mclelland would be the best option… might be tempted to make his stay permanent too as he would be coming in similar circumstances to Lilley

It just had to happen didnt it. Flying high on the field, just got back to odsal, acadamy decision overturned. Everything was going so well then BOOM!

Wouldnt be Bradford Bulls unless there was something going on we have to overcome. Its going to be a massive loss, and just at the wrong time in the season.

Lets hope he makes it back at some point this year but with there being 13 leage games left to play it might to not be the case.

Think Lilley and Pickersgill are too similar to play together in halves. I know its old fashioned but I still see halfback and standoff as being distinct roles. Halfback is the organiser/creative player and standoff takes advantage of any chances created. To my mind both Lilley and Pickersgill are both more suited for standoff role. Neither is really an organiser/creative type. Ideally we could get someone in on a season long loan, Keyes would be ideal as already played alongside Lilley so should slot straight in but not sure if he's currently injured or in Hull KR's plans. Also would he be prepared to come back after the pension issues that led to him leaving under previous ownership.

Failing that think we need to give Race/Jowett a chance against some of the lesser opposition at least. Maybe go with Lilley/Pickersgill for tougher fixtures unless one of younglads really shines. At least while Golding is here he can drop in at FB. If he goes back we'd probably have to move brown to FB and try someone else on wing. How much longer is dawson jones out for?.

Realistically I'd be surprised to see Brough again this year unless damage isnt as bad as first announced once he sees specialist.

Take it with a rather large pinch of salt but Gledhill is claiming we will be bringing someone in to cover in the halves in Brough’s absence.

Lilley is the nearest thing we have now to a halfback that can control a game so unless we bring someone in that's going to be his role. Whoever plays at 6 is going to be more of a runner.

It's pants because Lilley was thriving without having to do everything. Keyes or McClelland would be great but as loan deals it's not perfect.

Race or Jowitt might be ok to try in spells before Brough got injured but now it's going to be more difficult as they'll come into a team that isn't as settled.

I have no idea who runs the ITK account to be honest. But in all fairness Ta’ai was pretty much a done deal wasn’t it at one point? Could be wrong. Either way Craig Harrison (on the Full Eighty podcast) has said that the trade deal between Cas and Leeds is nonsense anyway.

McLelland is still on the fringes though and could be a good option. If the choice is there I’d sooner go for Keyes though as he can kick goals pretty well too.

I think Lilley has shown he can play either the 'runner' or 'organiser' role, but for me he's better as the runner, picking up the scraps and supporting. All that said, if we don't bring somebody in then we are down to untried (at this level) kids who are going to be dropped in at the deep end. Fair enough, there are lots of examples of youngsters coming in and taking the game by storm but they're not all are Keith Mumby or Sam Burgess. The choice is either that, or even more disruption by players switching roles.

It won't happen 'cos it never does, but we can hope that the injury isn't as severe as first thought and Brough is only out for a 'few' weeks - if that's the case we can bring the lads in and/or move some players around, but otherwise we'd better hope that JK is owed the odd favour.