Can’t see Mulhern being here and where it leaves Philbin is in a position where he has to bust an absolute gut to get in the 17 when he’s back to fitness. That is how it should be, that’s how Saints and Wigan operate and that’s where we need to be. We should have quality that goes deep into the squad and quality that is desperate to make it into a very successful first 17….and desperate to stay there.

Mulhern out of contract, and philbin coming back to a changing room next year where the light will blocked a lot more

I was going to post something very similar then read yours!
We had a competitive top of the table squad for a number of years. It’s true we didn’t win the HF but that didn’t mean most of the players were mid table make weights.For that you should look at the signings Saints made under KC and draw some comfort at how far they came in a relatively short time after he left (well that’s my current stance, it may of course change).

Tom Lineham on his way from Wakefield to Championship with Featherstone Rovers.

“ where does that leave Mulhern and Philbin?”
Out of the club and out of the 17…..respectively.

And if we want to challenge for honours that's where we should be. Mulhern has been steady and is a good 3rd/4th prop - will be interesting to see where he ends up. Philbin needs to look after himself, make a full recovery and push for a spot in the 17 but will be hard pushed if all are fit.

Step down, clearly. Smaller fan base, 1 honour in 62 years (SL Shield 2013).


Yes.

It's players like Declan Patton, Gareth O'Brien, Matt Davis et al to which Sally is referring. Still years off retirement - played lots for us but not good enough for title aspirant SL teams. Different than comparing a player at or near retirement tailing off their careers.

I don't disagree with your listings or that we are bigger than Huddersfield whether that's currently a step down for Hill, but that's not what I read into Sally's post where the squad was referenced and specifically "now that our player's are available and are being moved on", What player's are available and why are they being moved on is worth consideration

I'm not sure that a question would Saints or Wigan sign a player is a decent measure of a player's worth, For example, would or could Saints sign Clark? Probably not ahead of Roby a few year's back but that's not saying Clark is better or worse, or not good enough for a top side with SL aspirations, just that they were happy with their lot and had other priorities.

There's no doubt that the quality of the squad has declined since 2013 despite some money being spent (read that roster and weep) It's all about opinions but I'd have thought we could manage a decent sprinkling of players in our 17 in the glad they're a Wire classification at the start of Price's tenure Ratchford, Lineham, Goodwin, Atkins Charnley Austin Brown Hill Clark Cooper Currie Murdoch Masila Philbin Mamo

The proof of the pudding is have we won IT so ultimately we can all agree that the squad wasn't good enough, my issue was the specifics and simplicity of the original post...our 2013 squad was apparently not good enough either

Rating players of a particular period in time against those of another is extremely difficult to do. A players stock value falls and rises with age experiences and injuries, as does the collective squad. 2013 was a time when I look back and think most clubs' squad was better then, as the talent we had in the game as a whole is better then what we have now. It's subjective, and just my opinion, but I do think that Saints, Wigan and any other perceived superior clubs squad quality have declined since that point in time. As we are currently in our lowest position at this stage in a SL season for quite a while, were not as good as we were last season. Hence, it's not really difficult to be surprised that only Cooper is moving on to a top team, from the squad we currently have had at the start of 2022. We can wonder "what if" should Chris Sandow have been fully fit at the end 2016, as he was capable of being the difference in that particular GF had he not been carrying an injury. Similar has been stated had Powell had the services of Hardaker. Sometimes, it's down to just fine margins.

I'm hoping next season, with a proper set of forwards, we will see Currie come to life again.... not defending the performances of the last few seasons... but its been hard for ANY forward to look good in the squad we started the season with.

Lets hope he gets a new lease of life... as the talent is still there.

I think he has been one of our better performers over the last couple of seasons, our left edge seemed fine. However recently he's not been up to his usual standards. Sunday was a step towards what we are use to from him so let's hope for more of that. I agree with you I think the new pack will be good for him.

*snip*

Just in case you missed this earlier this week. /FMC

King having an absolute stinker v Saints.

Even against 12 men he can't create an overlap for his winger.

Its funny but we may get the turkey back for 3 more years!