I hope Harrison is good for us, but it's a bit unfair for us to think he could sort out the problems we have in the front row after a lengthy time out injured and stepping up from the championship. I think we will need to be patient with him and give him plenty of time to get up to speed and fully match fit.



I just think we are setting the guy up for a fall putting pressure on him to immediately become a first team lynchpin of the front row. It would be fantastic for him to become the new Chris Hill or Alex Walmsley but that's not going to be instant just like they weren't instantly the players they gone on to become.

Fair comment re Harrison just look at the pack that Hill joined the pressure was to bed in and fulfil his potential not transform the team's fortunes single handedly

I’m not saying he is the Messiah, just that lambasting the club for not signing a prop, when in fact we did, is a bit harsh.

I guess the point is, knowing that Harrison would be missing, have the coaching staff made best use of the players available - and have those players performed as expected - especially in the backdrop of letting Doro and Robson out on loan ?



Therefore it's reasonable to question why players like Philbin, Currie and King maybe haven't stepped up to the level they were once at, knowing that the team might be lighter in some areas, or are they just doing the job asked of them by the coaching team.

To counter that, even without the injury, the club shouldn't have been relying on a young Championship forward as the answer to our problems.



And even if he was fit and firing, we still wouldn't have enough quality props.

We have signed 4 props recently, Butler, mulhern, bullock and Harrison. Unfair to comment on Harrison who hasn't even pulled a training shirt on yet. Bullock and mulhern are alright, Butler hasn't had a run and I don't know why. I'd say all of them are project signings though really. In all honestly seeing other teams front rows and comparing it's hard to see where the problem is, ours isn't the best by any means but it's not the worst either.



I think we need a lot of work in the ruck both in attack and defence because we don't seem to win either and the line speed has to improve. Its hard for any team to play on the front foot if we don't get fast PTB and I think that's where we are really struggling. There is no space created in the opposition defensive lines because we are too slow in the ruck. Some big units help obviously but there is no reason why the players we have can't pick up the tempo a bit.

I've said this repeatedly, but I'll say ut again, we are not alone in our prop troubles.



Leeds fans are lamenting their props/middles/bumped up 2nd rowers, and Wigan are, after a good start they're moaning about their firepower up front.



I highly recommend going having a nosey, the grass isn't greener everywhere

Throw in the beef of Margoulis and we wouldn’t look quite so lightweight. Again, I’m not suggesting all in the garden is rosy just countering the argument that the club had done nothing.

Yours

KF

This is very true. We do tend to scrutinise our mistakes and our weaknesses.

As regards forwards we have lost Sitaleki Akauola, Hill and Doro and gained Bullock, Harrison, Holmes and Magoulias.

Of the new recruits only one out of the four played v. Trinity.



Leeds are worth looking at. They have some umph in the forwards but the form of Sezer (who was outstanding at Hudds) & Austin must be a real worry for them.

Sezer was outstanding at Huddersfield for just a bit longer than Austin was outstanding with us.

Just watched the game back & we were well in it till 70 minutes when the score mounted in Wakey's favour. I thought it was a good game of rugby & would have kept the neutrals interested throughout.

Exactly how i saw it, we weren't blown off the park and weren't as bad as the reactions warranted. We have Daz Clark, Mulhern, Charnley and potentially Magoulias for the challenge cup game so will level things up even more. We need a good response this week though.

this is true

We are getting the full set on this thread.



denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance

We've even had s Wigan fan send their condolences

What's the craic at your gaff then, Ellis and mago (in particular) seemed to give you real edge against us in the pre season game.



What's happening with the other props, who's getting picked out of Partington, havard Byrne and singleton?

We have a team of backrowers. That’s it. Even Cooper is a backrower, he does his best, but alone without a Hill, he’s found out wanting.

I’m not sugar coating ewt, I’ve banged on and on about it since we signed Sims, we haven’t bought a prop since the well passed it Asiteasy.



Every season I’m the hurdy gurdy man, and the tune is always the same.



PACKS WIN GAMES

To be fair RD you have added a new theme that I haven’t seen from you before, namely Cooper is a 2nd row, reliant on Hill and now found out. How this wasn’t picked up at Warrington in his 2 stints or Newcastle Knights when he was there shows how little the professionals know.

Not so much “hurdy gurdy” as “horsey dungy” on this occasion.

You've just poured unmentionables upon the image of Mr Rusty that was in my head.

I think Robbie Mulhern and James Harrison will probably end up being our best possible Prop pairing. But I always thought someone like Samy Kibula could have been the next tank for us in the forward pack, shame we let him go.

For the moment Mulhern is putting in stats at least similar - if not worse - than Philbin, he's part of the problem. Philbin seems to get more criticism because people (rightly) export more of him.



Samy Kibula had all the physical attributes but seemed to lack the impact, aggression and determination to make it as a SL prop, just as most Wigan fans told us at the time.



High hopes for Harrison though.

Like I said. Found out.

But props are no longer like barrels of lard who train in the pub ,they are more athletic & manouverable than they used to be. The game these days ,ever since 6 tackles was brought in, is in need of forwards who are not much different to backs.

Quote(ish) David Fafita

‘We knew they(Wire) was light, and the plan was to run up the middle right through them’



Make of that as you will.