As desperate as we are for bodies I hope not

What's the alternative? Play Joe Lumb who made around 7 appearances form the bench last year play 80 gminutes every game?

Exactly this

Besides, although it seems to be de rigour to bag Halafihi on this forum I don't think we've seen enough of the lad to know whether he's any good or not

We obviously need more than one hooker.

Yeah even I'm not gonna be picky.

I'd take Ryan Bailey in a Bulls shirt if necessary.

(But we're not desperate enough for Jordan Tansey though)

We could pay him in beer and fags. He'd be happy with that

The prerogative word being hope meant hope we dont have to. Campbell at 1 Leon 6 Thomas 7 Keyes/Lumb 9? Joseph to spell if someone is injured

For the sake of one or two seasons, Halafihi will be good enough. Lumb to start, Vila off the bench. Would not put Keyes anywhere near 9. He is the long term halfback for this side so keep him there. Joseph we need in the pack more than ever, otherwise we will be light up front.

In reality this season we are a bottom 4 Championship side. We won't attract big name hookers or halves. Pryce/Keyes with Thomas/Trueman as back up. Lumb/Halafihi as hookers with Joseph there as a last resort.

Do you think possibly,what is happening now is a distraction to hide what is actually going on behind the scenes.

What do you mean?

I mean it's obvious contracts are being either accepted or declined.Do you think something is already in place behind the scenes to cater for the fall-out. Smith wasn't part of the plan thats pretty obvious,are the ones declining contracts being offered something playing on their immediate vulnerabilities.

As in, yes I'm unemployed and will have to take whats on offer.Do you think the new owners are prying on vulnerable personnel? Knowing they have a back-up on stand-by.

I think they're getting all the crappy jobs out of the way now as much as possible. Hence the torrent of bad news (apart from the Pryce and Mendieka re-signings).

My theory is we're being run on shoestring until the ground sale is sorted out. That could take months, years, decades or may never happen.

Ah right I see what you are saying now! In terms of Smith I think the owners already had their coach in mind. Someone to build their club around. If I was a new owner, I'd want my guy in there as well. Looking at the record of Rohan last year it makes sense if they can get a Brian McClennan on board. Personally I would have liked to have seen Rohan in the role but if it turns out be a shrewd appointment tomorrow then I will be excited.

In terms of players declining contracts, no, I don't think the new owners are prying on the players current situation. I think it is just a simple case of evaluating how much a player is worth. For example (figures made up), Kavanagh was on £60,000 a year last year. New owners come in and evaluate that he is a prop who got us to 5th in the Championship. As a new business we can't afford to be paying that and performances last season don't warrant you earning that much in a year so we will offer you £40,000 a year. Kavanagh declines and finds a deal worth more than £40,000. I don't necessarily think it's taking advantage of the situation but rather a genuine cost cutting deal.

Where will you find one of them in Bradford.

We can always steal them from Halifax and Huddersfield. It's what we do. Apparently.