Plan A will have Westwood playing through the middle, that said, we wanted to do that last year but for indifferent form for Laithwaite we had to move him back out to back row. Same with Laithwaite, I don't think he has the pace to play out wide, but it a solid defender and a big guy, good back up for the middle unit.

Ideal world id like another prop, but unless you can get one better than what we have, don't bother. The young lads deserve a shot after coming in and doing well last year.

If Sims beefs up 1/2 stone in close season, I think with Westwood we'll cover that area. Yet our depth looks shallow...with the loss of just Harrison we are already asking questions!!??

Shouldn't even be thinking this but an injury to Hill & i think it would be " Goodnight Vienna". He has carried the team for the last 2 years.

My concern isn't whether Benny could step up at prop, because I think he can, but whether that position of high collision would frustrate him into being costly with the officials.

Christ I always forget about Ben Evans yeah he's a good solid prop who could come in handy. I think looking at the Squad we're not in a great position prop wise but if Dodds works out I think we're actually in a better position then this year. Dodds last year was 10 times better then Asotasi ever was for us so let's hope he continues his form. King is better then England and should only get better with more gameplay, Ben Evans missed most of the season so we have him to help offset the loss of Harrison. Pack some more size on to Westwood in the off season and like already mentioned cut his gameplay minutes down and we've got ourselves a solid prop who likes the biff. I would like another prop but we could go Quite well with Sandow playing off the cuff and Gidley guiding us around. And hopefully Clark will find his form again like he did at the end of the season.

I agree that getting Evans back as well as swapping Dodds for Asotasi should be a bonus as far as the pack is concerned, but I'm not convinced that King is a better bet than England yet.

Sure, I would have liked England to have kicked on a bit more than he did, he should be reaching his prime right now and I wonder whether it was the spitting incident that finally put paid to his time at Wire or some other factor, his performance or likes of Evans and King putting him down the pecking order?

Given the losses we have endured in the pack recently, culminating with Harrison's withdrawal next season and us not appearing to be getting another prop in then I might just have kept England in a last chance saloon.

For the 20 mins I saw of England v st George before he got injured, he was better than King, Simms, Evans, asatosi , we won 11 straight games in his first season when he started with hilly that got us to semis of gf with 5 mins away from gf itself,, so I can't see how people are labelling him a championship player
I would have kept him, he had 1 season left and would have had to play better and put himself in shop window for if his contact was not to be extended, to get another club
As it stands

Simms no prop
King no prop
Westwood wouldn't last season without injury if placed as prop
Harrison out
B Evans 2 years with serious injury rusty
Dodds knees like Harrison
Philbin, great prospect but untested


Hilly will be knackered towards super 8,s Ayer carrying above
So would have kept England for sure,, as it was do or die for him

If we had kept England we'd be slipping back to that culture we had under Cullen. ... he's not for me glad he's gone. ..

But I'm shocked Tony Smith is "Happy with the squad". ..

Is the prop situation another one of TS's blind spots ? We seem to have a pack that is filled to overflowing with backrow forwards. I don't see King as a prop, also Simms - as previously mentioned. Philbin is second row, even though he could move to prop in time and Westwood is in a similar position but at the other age scale. So yes, I agree with most of the comments, we are at least a good quality prop short for 2016.
Then there is Mike Cooper and the question why did he not flourish at the HJ. He looks a different player now after a relatively short stint in Oz. I might be putting 2 + 2 together and getting 5, but it is looking as though we need much more focus (coaching and squad selection) on the role of the prop in order to ensure we can get the basics completed on the pitch, before we move the ball out to the 3/4's or unleash the likes of Currie and Hughes.

However I do disagree that we are likely to endure another year like 2015. The squad has been considerably upgraded with Dodds, Gidley and Sandow, and hopefully Westerman and Lineham will also prove high quality imports. SJM has put his hands in his pocket again for the club, lets just hope that the coaches have the ability to get the best out of a squad that has essentially 7 new players. At least they should certainly all be pretty fit after a 1st November start to training.

Roger Draper said at the Pyramid that another Director matches SM contribution and the rest of the Board were fully committed to improvement of the club. Maybe it's time to spread credit for player signings 'across the Board'?

I think the club has been on the lookout for a prop/props and must have had at least one lined up having missed out on a couple, England for weeks was rumoured to be going at the end of season, so not to have a replacement especially knowing the team would be missing Harrison and Laithwaite for a long period is poor management.

King for me has prop written through him but he's young with his experience being mainly from the bench, King who is quick, like Sims can slip into the back row as both are mobile, Sims isn't your ball wrecking prop but he hurts in the tackle also having a great work rate.

This is not a massive pack but certainly one of the quickest, I can't see Hill,Sims,Dodds,Westwood or Clark being bullied so if the
team plays to its strengths with the pace it has we should be OK.

We'll be signing another prop don't panic.

who and when..do tell

I still think Ryan Bailey could be a bargain 1 year buy Apart from George King do we have any youngsters who might step up this year for game time? I have to admit since the breakup of the academy teams I've lost track of things. I would have liked to see England see out his last year with us as like mention he was a beast in the st.george game and I thought he's finally become a bigger Alex Walmsley. I'll be gutted if he finally hits his top form with Wakefield, looking at wakefields forward pack for 2016 I genuinely don't think there's a team that will bully them, there gonna be a tough game for anyone next year. I think we have a solid pack though and will do well I just think we lack the depth with cover for injuries.

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