I think all the changes the club have made over the past 12 months have been very positive, they do clearly still have ambition, and there is still the drive and energy there to do so. The one problem area though is the coaching, and I am sure this is the last throw of the die for Smith. He has been given plenty of money for players this year, we must surely be the top spender in SL ?. But he failed to get a timely replacement for Briers - around whom the whole team revolved. And by failing to import a decent set (4) of props he has in my view failed again at the 'insight' level, or strategy and planning level required of a top 4 coach.
But anyway, he has the remainder of 2016 to demonstrate he can meld together a team and inspire them to achieve more than the sum of their parts. I think Cox was simply a bit of window shopping by Smith( he's available, very cheap and we might turn him around). Bailey is a completely different kettle of fish as it's a statement by the coach as to what standards the club is prepared to accept. The mere fact that he had to explain his purchase to the rest of the players though is the elephant in the room. Perhaps he is desperate to avoid the void left by Harrison's injury woes ? Either way, he will need to string together some decent form to persuade a lot of the fans back that have been lost over the past two years.

Should we not wait and see what Mr Bailey offers us before casting judgement. I'm underwhelmed and never been his biggest fan but.....he's at an age when he might have matured off the field, he's at an age when props seem to excel, he's at an age when he might realise this is his last chance to play professional RL and knuckle down. Most of all he really gets under Jon Wilkin's skin which would be worth the admission money alone...in fact i'll pay his wages out of my own money if she spends the entire game against Saints annoying the hell out of that little irritant.

Surely he deserves a chance to prove himself?

I'm sure it will be mentioned!

Looking at this cynically (or stupidly), Smith and his bank of good will credit has been diminishing over the past year or so! I wonder if the current situation is way of him creating a way out during his last year if its going sour. I haven't heard any mention of Agar, not much on him for weeks is he still with us?

The last ditch signing of Cox raised many questions about recruitment and add him to the list with Wheeler and the news that our Aussie signing is injured and now Bailey it just seems very odd.

I wonder what Simon Moran and Roger Draper are doing/thinking. Simon is a fan and is not distanced from the supporters and as such he will be looking at the recent signings, I cannot bring myself to think that he thinks that the recent signings after Westerman are that of a progressive outfit.

All of this is very odd.

Neutral, but it would be as it's officially recognised by the club and they're hardly gonna say "what the f*** are the club doing signing this n*bhead". The responses by the fans on there seemed be pretty much split 50/50. As I understand the formation of it was an intentional move away from all the negativity on existing facebook groups and forums (ahem) around these days. It's just a bit of fun at the end of the day but I'm not sure their opinions are any less valid than any on this forum.

I would think that they knew of the signing and sanctioned them, cant believe that they have read about it on Sky Sports.

Same old story the fans that drink from the "glass half empty" hate the recruitment, we are a troubled club, wont last 6 weeks ect ect.

In my opinion we the signings are as follows
Gidley - Needed and experienced old head to steer the team around regardless of where he plays, which will be determined as always by injuries
Lineman - Top try scoring winger to replace one that was showing signs of wear and tear
Westerman - Top forward who has been in and around the England set up since he was young, went stale at Hull but still is a class player
Sandow - As close a player to Briers in the same mould can be a world beater and will give us a spark in open play
Dodds - A defensive machine, and just what we needed as we didn't lose games last season just because of our attack our defense was poor as well. played all season last year with the Broncos and no reason he be one of our top performers.
Cox - Young talent who is better than England and on a lower salary, worth a punt as we need numbers in the pack to help out with reserves numbers
Bailey - Troubled player who is only 31 and if he has sorted his head out could quite easily be back in the England set up, If he was a bad player he wouldn't have a trophy cabinet for medals bigger that the rest of our squads put together.
Sorry if I have missed anyone but to me the recruitment is better than for quite a few years and can only be good for competition for places and also injury cover. Still a bit light in the centres but we can live with it.

Ryan Bailey....man management from a different coach might produce a better individual.

As for Joel & Roy ...strange how they started playing out of their skins in the last two games as if they were glad to be going.

Marshman sums it up well with reasons/explanations for the signings and I agree with the reasoning, the truth is we took what was available as SL League is not brimming with world class players, yet I believe it's an improvement on last season, if we take away the said players who then would we sign in their place? I don't mean those we tried to sign or the impossible/fantasy ones but to be in with a realistic chance of getting? I believe the club has tried and will continue to attempt top players but they are at a premium.

A few of the players are on twelve month contracts they all seem happy to be here and are ready to make a go of it they prove themselves or they don't, as for Bailey he's not here to be liked especially by the opposition fans so for me as long as he does his job I can live with it.

I think Tony smith has most to lose, he has not got all the players he would have liked but has put a squad together he believes will see him through.

Gidley, Take your valid point on him, Injuries permitting
Lineham, An expensive gamble, but an exciting one nether the less
Westerman, Just don't ever seem to see him have a good game. Think the Hull fans (mostly) would agree
Sandow, Seen him have one game but was thrown in at the deep end a bit. Has to get it right straight from the off
Dodds, Massively injury prone and i suspect he only went to Wire because it was the best option (in the sense you were the biggest club offering him a deal)
Cox, More hope and squad numbers for me on that one
Bailey, Smith realised he had taken too long to get another body in and was the only one available at this stage.

I think it's the current squad players you haven't replaced that's the bigger problem rather than the patchwork job done on the ones that have left :/

Gidley an nrl legend for good reason. Judging by last reason still plenty to offer. Lineman - always around the top try scorer charts. Sandow a top five nrl halfback when signed. Dodds just had a good injury free run resulting in being a fag paper away from nrl grand final winner. Westerman a very good player if attitude is sorted. Cox and bailey two cheap gambles who may well do a good job. Could've blown all our money on an injury prone nrl flop I suppose.

The latest signings are either a stroke of genius from Tony Smith or signs that he has finally lost control. This season will either prove him to be a genius or spell the end of our time under Tony.

Unfortunately I fear it will be the latter; I sense desperation in his behaviour and also that he doesn't have the respect of the players that has underpinned his previous success.

I had no issue with any of the signings including Cox (cheap gamble). Bailey has the potential to come in and be a bad influence on younger players, his attitude has been off for quite a while and can't see any reason why it would change. Would have had similar concerns (although not the vitriol) if eg we had signed Chase.

Yeah, I agree. Everything we'd done before Bailey was looking good to me, but this has potential not just to not pay off but to backfire spectacularly... It's too late now, so I guess we should hope for the best, but I'm not optimistic at this point :/

As for centres, we do have plenty of people who can play there - Atkins and Toby King as well as the injury-prone Evans and Wheeler, with Ratchford and the new guy Jullien for more cover. I think Lineham can play there too if we need it, we have plenty of wingers.

Maybe because the world-beating players you crave just aren't available?

Yep, you have missed someone out. Although it seems everyone else on this thread has forgotten about him as well. One of the best signings we have made for next season, Jack Hughes.