so we have some experienced players to call on while likes of whitehead,olbison donaldson etc develop? And I'd guess Elima and Sibbits combined wage is still a significant saving over what we were paying menzies allowing us to strengthen over areas of team with the surplus. Fact we didnt spend up to cap isnt really an issue as we had transfer targets that didnt come off.

Keep believing that if you want but I don't believe it.

I'd have loved to keep Menzies at the club to sooner or later go into our coaching setup as well.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it?
The guy is immense, I'd even go so far as to say he's a modern day RL legend. It's a loss to lose a player like that, but we must keep moving forward. Hopefully, Olbison, Whitehead and Donaldson will have kept an ear open to anything Beaver had to say and that some of his magic will rub off on those lads and they crack on.

Should we have ever let Menzies go? Hmmmm duh, absolutely not - with a back 3 all around 20 how useful would he have been to those kids



Watching one of the best to have ever played the game would have been pretty handy!

In hindsight we could have done with him in a few cases this year but the point is that we haven't got him anymore so lets just work with who we have. We might not have signed Elima if Menzies stayed and we can be here all night saying who we should have kept. Pointless discussion!

Its not as if none of those three were here or never played first team or trained with the first team squad last year though. when Beaver was here?

For better or for worse, Beaver has moved on, the club has moved on, and so I suggest should those agonising over what might have been?

Actually all the young players you mention were also a very good reason for keeping Beaver; how much quicker would they improve with quality like that around to help them? Role models like that are hard to come by.

I'd have loved to keep Hape, Big Les, Fielden etc etc but you have to make decisions sometimes whats best for the future if he had stayed I doubt we would have seen Olbison this year and may have meant we lost him to another super league side because he wasn't breaking through! Also we wouldn't have been able to afford the 11 players we brought in had we had him in our cap because at a guess I would say he had a fair bit of money on him! As much as I loved beaver I think it was the right decision to let him go.

I think the board have to play what's in front of them and I'm sure that what they did as regards Beaver was correct when they did it. Hape, Vainikolo and Stu Fielden left at an earlier time when we needed to save some money and Beaver left, I guess largely due to Orford mucking us about, though as it turns out we still have a spare overseas spot AND the money for another player, so it would seem that, in reality, Beaver could have stayed.

As I say though, the board have to do what they feel is necessary in the circumstances at that time, and you can't knock them for that. Rather like Glenn Morrison, who was looking very injury prone when he was off loaded. If only we'd known he would come through that period as strong as ever I'm sure he would have stayed at Odsal, but it can't be denied that it was the correct decision at the time, especially in the light of the back rowers we have coming through. It's always disappointing to see players of that standard leave though.

But it can be denied, i loudly denied it and any such claim doesn't hold water. We all know what is meant by "injury prone" and Morrison never was. He had a couple of serious injuries, which is something 100% completely different. "Injury prone" is like some guy whose hamstring is suspect, or keeps suffering knee ligament problems, or has a dodgy shoulder which keeps going. That was never Morrison. Suffering a serious injury or two cannot sensibly be said to make you "prone" to it happening again.

Morrison has never in his career been injury prone, he's just a rock hard diamond, and there was never any reason to get rid on such a ground. IF we got rid cos he was "injury prone" (and I don't think anyone said as much?) then it was a colossal and stupid mistake by someone.

In terms of role models and bringing youngsters on, I can't think how we would not have been better off if we still had Morrison and the peerless Menzies. Instead we got Sibbitt.

Aye, cos Sibbit will be on the same wage as Morrison and Menzies were.

You make an excellent point.