Think Gaskell made it pretty clear today in the T&A that if we aren't promoted in 2016 then he will be looking for a deal in SL. Which is fully understandable, we can't expect him to play in the lower leagues forever if he gets a SL offer.

I expect O'Brien will also fall into the above so it really is do or die next year. Sadly I just don't see it happening which is why I feel pretty fed up with it all at the moment.

The problem is... We won't know if we are in super league for 2017 until October 2016! You would expect them to have their futures set by then.

Same, although Sheffield offered a 3 year deal which may have been a stumbling block.

Saw Darrell Griffin and Danny Craven linked with moves to Fev. Could do worse.

I think you've got a gem in Gaskell. A SL-quality half back, who is showing tremendous loyalty to Bradford, when he probably wouldn't have any difficulty in immediately finding a club to resume his SL career.

A bit like Brierley at ours. Although, unlike Gaskell, he hasn't proved himself at SL level, I would think there would be SL clubs who would snap him up, if he became available. So far, touch wood, he is showing loyalty to Leigh.

I think this year is arguably more important than lastbif we fail to go up, majority of our players will leave and we will revert to part time and that's our nail well and truly hammered into out coffin for the last time I fear.
Crowds will drop drastically and we will be on the ropes.

We won't be on the ropes, all that will happen is that we'll drop down to part time, spend whatever we can afford on the squad, retain a core support base of maybe 2-3k and end up as a top 5 or 6 championship side.
Whether that is acceptable for a city the size of Bradford, and for a club with a history such as ours, is open for debate.

Pretty much agree with that.

Problem with the scrum half is availability and willingness to sign to a div 2 club. Your post though , sort of, assumes that someone is available [and willing] right now, and that we could sign him. I'm not sure there is anyone right now, to be honest - nor would I be too fussed if we left it until later, after all the first 20 or so games are pretty much nothing games, so as long as we can sign someone in time to get a few games in before the 8s, that is all that's really necessary to me.

Walker came to Leigh with a lot of potential, I too watched the video of him put a huge hit on for Castleford and was looking forward to seeing him play.

However it quickly became apparent he is a small minutes player and we never saw anything like the video, to me he looks lame, always has 1 knee strapped up heavily and runs with a noticeable limp which I suspect hinders him from getting back to his full fitness.

Nice lad though and I feel sorry for him as I heard it was a terrible leg injury, good luck to him.

He'd need to be some halfback to come in with only a few games with the squad and help guide us through an already near mission impossible qualifiers. I don't think leaving arguably the most important signing for us until the last minute is a sensible plan to be honest.

Mullaney still has plenty to prove regarding his ability to stay injury free, if we go down that route I would expect to see Addy at 7 once again for large parts of the season. Come mid 8's he isn't good enough in that position IMO.

Indeed. Putting Addy there isn't going to be good enough. Mullaney is too injury prone unless he's just picked at SH for the big games and Addy for the others but I can't see that happening.

Purtell isn't a playmaker. One good game at Leigh doesn't make him our go to man.

Won't signing all of these Walkers make our squad a bit pedestrian?

I was hoping for a bit of 'bite' personally.

I'm sure there was some report at the back end of the season that said they knew what Mullaney's issue was and that he would be getting it fixed in the off-season.

And while I agree that we do NEED an actual half back, that need isn't a pressing one until nearer the end of July when the important games come into view on the horizon and the wins begin to matter

Well, first off it's not [ireally[/i a plan. It's a work round due to circumstances, like there being no suitable signing available - if the right guy is available right now, then obviously you get him on board asap and definitely before anyone else does. What I'm saying is, we don't need to just bring in A.N. Other in just 'cos he has no.7 on his back, it's hardly a necessity for the early stuff - we should be able to get top four with Luaki at seven...

It actually makes much more sense when you add in the financial implications. Bring a guy in for the last 14 or so games [or whenever he comes available]and you aren't paying the full season - and if he can't get up to speed in half a dozen games at that level then I'd question whether he's the right bloke, to be honest.

I believe Kris Welham will be the next new signing