I wish Patton all the best for the future.
I take from this that we have been hanging on to find out if Widdop will be coming back before releasing him. It is odd that it is just a straight release and no other club has announced his signing, I can't remember the last time that happened with one of our players.
We can certainly say that we gave Patton plenty of chance to shine, it's not like he played a couple of games at a young age, drifted out on loan and was never given a chance because of NRL imports. His big opportunity was when Kev Brown picked up an injury on the eve of the season and he played a full season in the halves.

i think arguably, his best season, was 2018, when he was bench hooker

Good luck to him, he does some things really well but he just hasn't made the most of his opportunities with us IMO.

I hope he gets picked up by another club and given another chance in a different environment.

Will be interesting to see if he ends up like O'Brien with a starting spot in another Super League team or is more of a Gary Hulse and just disappears. Next on the conveyor belt... Riley Dean...

Its a pity he has gone, but everyone knew it was on the cards so good luck to him.

By my reckoning we now have a squad of 29 comprising 7 inexperienced academy trained and 22 core team members. That seems like a significant drop in squad size compared to previous years, presumably due to the financial situation. However it should mean we will see a lot more of the academy boys playing in SL.

I am hearing Latu may be off soon and Widdop looks like staying.

Ratchford
Lineham
King
Inglis
Charnley
Widdop
Austin
Hill
Clark
Cooper
Hughes
Currie
Clark
Philbin
Butler
Mulhearn
Davis
Walker
Mamo
Ashton
Sita
Latu

Dean
Robson
Doro
Thewlis
Roebuck

Who else from the youngsters? Longstaff? Wrench?

Yes, Longstaff and Connor Wrench. Both BR and both eligible to play in the U18's this year, assuming it gets off the ground with Covid still causing chaos. There are also one or two more that might just get a SL game but I think would need to kick on a fair bit beforehand. Two props and another BR/LF.

The real problem for Dec is that Championship teams are unlikely to commit to any new contracts at present, and most SL teams have done their business already.

Probably much to do with the lack of reserves for 2021 also?

Full Back: Ratch, Ashton, Thewlis, Mamo
Wing: Charnley, Lineham, Ashton, Mamo, Roebuck
Centre: King, Inglis, Mamo, Roebuck
Halves: Widdop, Austin, Dean
Prop: Hill, Cooper, Philbin, Mulhern, Butler, Doro, (Sita, Latu)
Hooker: Clark, Walker
B/R: Currie, Hughes Clark, Wrench, Longstaff, Davis, Robson

Full back and wing we are well covered, Centre worries me a little, Inglis will miss games with injury, Mamo's injury record isn't great either, so I hope Roebuck is able to step up.
Halves, Looks ok with Ratch able to step in, Dean hopefully will get some gametime
Prop, numbers look ok now, hopefully one of Butler or Mulhern can develop into a true first choice prop, otherwise it will be an area we lack a little quality.
Hooker is fine, Davis can also play there in emergencies
Back Row seems ok in numbers, but seems light in quality for me. I still think a back row of Currie + a new player with Hughes at 13 and Clark on the bench is our best bet. I imagine that is dependent on Sita & Latu though

[*]

Shame that he hasn't yet gained a contract elsewhere, hope this doesn't take long for him to be fixed up.

My guess would be that Ratchford would be cover for Centre ahead of Roebuck and Half ahead of Dean with Ashton moving to Full Back.

This brings us back to the question as to how Price can utilise both Ratchford and Ashton in the same team when there are no injuries. I expect Ratchford to be given the number 1 shirt, and I think that Full Back is his best position, but you could also see that, given sufficient game time, Ashton could become a future England Full Back. Most likely he'll be the better Full Back by the end of 2021.

I really like Ashton and he’s probably the most exciting player we have.

In terms of what a player brings to the team overall, I’d place Ratchford in his full back role ahead of all the other players in the team. Maybe I’m missing something that other fans are seeing that I’m not.

I can't say i was filled with glee when Ashton played at fullback In the CC semi. He may well shape up but his defence , positioning & anticipation need to be worked on. Still he is a young lad just learning his trade.

This.

There is a lot more to full back than pace, Ashton hasn’t knocked Ratchford off his perch yet.