Some difficult decisions to make as I've no idea who the club is capable of signing, however I do think we need an injection at halfback, in the threequarter line and in the pack. Of those up for new deals I'd do the following:

Halley - May be cheap but not really good enough. Let him go and clear the way for others to come through.

Walker - Unfortunate with injury which never allowed him to get back to form. No longer quick or agile enough for centre. Let him go.

Ah Van - A tough one. If he was off quota I'd definitely keep him. As it stands it depends if we need a quota spot for an injection of quality elsewhere. If not I'd keep him.

Kearney - Probably still keep him even though he's a fullback and not a stand off. When he played there last year we saw a glimpse of the best of him, since then he's been out of position so I'd keep.

Herbert - Come up with some handy assists but he's not a playmaker and we need one. Let him go.

L'Strange - Definitely keep.

Ainscough - Has some defensive issues but still has a lot of potential we haven't seen due to him not getting quality ball. Definitely keep.

Raynor - Getting on, still quite quick but we could use Finegan on that wing and he's got more potential. Let him go.

Royston - Definitely keep. Seems quite versatile and has made the jump up in quality no problem.

Finegan - Still years off his peak and maybe not quite ready but has potential and would probably return to haunt us if we let him go. Keep for another year or 2.

McAvoy - Not seen much of him but highly rated, keep.

point of thread was discussing the players who are off contract this year. none of forwards you've mentioned are off contract this year, so we cant simply 'let them go' without having to pay off remainder of their contracts or find someone to buy them.

Yes i know this - but someone mentioned no forwards getting mentioned so thought i would regardless of contract

but the reason the forwards werent getting mentioned was precisely because they arent out of contract

I know - but you never know a club might come in for them ie. Lynch ??

I think we need to start tweaking the squad rather than making whole sale changes again. We need to start building for the title in 2-3 years time. I think the squad should look something like this next year

1. Kearney
2. Ah van
3. Platt
4. Top Centre (£££)
5. Raynor
6. Briggs
7. Jefferies
8. Top Prop (£££)
9. L'estrange
10. Lynch
11. Elima
12. Whitehead
13. Langley

14. Diskin
15. Hargreaves
16. Scruton
17. Donaldson

I would get rid of;
Halley
Herbert
Walker

Use thier 3 wages to sign a top centre, and use the remaining cap to buy a mean prop with a bit of biff.

Don't forget we have Lynch, Scrutes, Koppy, Hargreaves, Tom Burgess and maybe Steve Crossley are all props and afaik all signed for next year. I wouldn't argue about a class centre coming in but I'm not sure a prop would be top of our current needs.

Releasing Halley would do wonders for his carrer. he would inevitably sign for wakefield, score tries for fun and then get a huge contract at Warrington.

Bulliac

Koppy's not good enough. Despire improving he's just not good enough. Would he get i any other top 8 side? We have no prop witha bit of biff to rough teams up. This was highlighted in the Leeds game when Mcshane (who is about 5ft nothing) bullied us, only Elima stood up. Burgess is young and we need to bring him in gradually, Crossley i'm undecided.

koppy been better than hargeaves this year to be fair. plus counts as homegrown. think crossley is OOC this year?

koppy has improved again this year and has been better than both lynch and hargreaves. Re the players ooc i would say:

Kearney- Depends on £££. Most talented player, but needs to play at fb where Royston has been good. Id look to keep him but not for mega money

Royston- Keep. Has been v good and wont command too much cap space

Halley- Have to see how he recovers from a bad injury. Probably let go

Ah Van- Not a huge earner and versatile plus kick so is a keeper for me

Walker- I would keep if he is cheap as he will be better than other options coming in at a similar salary level and is in a position where we dont have too many kids coming through

Herbert- Would let go unless he improves from here. A quota half back needs to add quality and he seems steady to me

Finnegan- Keep and lets see how he turns out.

Heath- Keep without a doubt.

Ive heard Matty Blythe of Wire is joining Widnes, and if so the bulls should be pushing to speak to him.

Craig has had a good year for me, a good year and a half in fact and is one of our most improved players, even if he never pulls on a GB shirt he's worth a spot on our roster for my money.

I agree about Tom Burgess, he's what, 18? and playing what is probably the most physical position in the game and should brought on at his own pace and, as yet, is obviously far from the finished article. Agree about Crossley too, but assuming he starts to dominate the under twenties a bit more(or goes out on a dual contract), he will need to be given his chance at first team level.

I'm not suggesting a 'fiery' prop wouldn't be nice, just saying, that as we're not short of props capable of doing a decent job, I wouldn't expect it to be a priority.