If true that is a significant weakening of the front row

Completely agree.

From the plaudits I’m hearing for James Harrison I believe he or Mulhern will be in contention to partner Mike Cooper as starting prop. If Bullock is signing I’d expect him to be fighting for a bench spot with Philbin and either Mulhern/ Harrison. Butler and young Doro will be back up. I think both still need to prove themselves at this level.
Joe Philbin for me seems to have levelled off this season and needs to get his old destructive grunt back. There again what do I know, Shaun Wane still picks him for England.
I’d expect our first choice pack next season to be:-

Cooper
Clarke
Mulhern/Harrison
Currie
Holmes
Hughes.
Off the bench would be
Mulhern/Harrison
Bullock (if signed)
Walker.

That for me is a good pack.

I can see mulhern jumping philbs to be starting prop, it's not been covered on here this year but I think he's had a very good first season for us

Really like Mulhern and Harrison could be a cracker but still our pack will suffer with the loss of Hill. Yes I know he's winding down in terms of age but one more year would've been ideal. He's been consistently excellent for us and IMO was the best player on the park in the last World Cup final. Hill would've smashed it in the NRL, he's undoubtedly world class and 3 or 4 (good to decent) props will not compensate for one world class one.

Excellent post, couldn't agree more.

who says he is definitely leaving?

A Wigan fan on the previous page, so it's obviously true.

Joe Philbin, as much as I like him, doesn’t have the engine or the defensive work to be a replacement for Hill.

It would be negligence to let Hill leave in my opinion.

I’d still want Chris Hill to stay another year. However sometimes it comes to a point especially with our salary capped sport you just have to let players go.

Back in 2012 when we signed Hill, we had our best pack of modern times in Morley, Carvell, Wood and Cooper but made the decision to put Chris straight in and it paid off handsomely.

In my previous post I listed what I thought to be a good pack. ( All signed with exception of Bullock who is still a rumour). I never even mentioned Longstaff, Robson and Doro who I presume you have watched many more times than me being involved with the academy. Along with Walker how long do they wait for a first team opportunity before deciding to move on.
Do you look at the bigger picture and use players you expect to be at the club for a number of years or stick with a top performing prop who gives you another year.
We need this Super League title win to get the monkey off our backs.



It’s the same with Riley Dean. Reading this forum guys just want us to sign the best players, which is understandable. Truman being mentioned to partner Williams after next season but when do we give these young lads the future of the game a chance.

Contract negotiation is easy where one party offers the other what they want. The difficulty comes where they disagree. if we are only offering 1 year and others are offering 2, i don't see how that can work in Chris Hill's best interest, much as we want him to stay.
I often read on here the opinion that it is better to let a player go a year too early than a year too late, this is an example of why the theory is so much easier than the practice..
I'm glad i don't have to make these decisions because my heart would over rule my head!

Rumour I've heard is that we're after an Australian prop. Just hope that doesn't signal Chris Hills departure.

Agreed. I can accept Austin & Lineham leaving if that means we manage keep hold of Hill for another year or two. Hill has certainly ‘rolled back the years’ this season and has probably been at his best in the big games vs Saints/Wigan. Him & Cooper always set a good platform for us, he hardly misses any games and seems to gotten those needless penalties out of his game too.

Would be step back replacing him with Bullock if the rumours are true.

Considering we signed James Harrison over a SL or NRL prop (not that I’m unhappy about it in the least), It looks a pointer with confidence that Hill is to stay.