That's where I am. I'd be very, very disappointed if we weren't in top 4 at the end of the season and fairly disappointed if we weren't top 2. In those cases, it just comes down to winning a couple of games (at most) and then it's 5th time lucky for the big one.

And before I forget, we also need Musgrove to consistently play to his weight for decent minutes. If he can do that I think our pack is ok.

Regarding Musgrove Burgess was quick enough to ship Bullock out so how is it that Musgrove has got away with many lack lustre performances.

Musgrove is better than Bullock. Mind you he ought to be able to do more minutes.

I don’t disagree with that but aside from needing to do more minutes he does not do enough after contact. He is bigger than Philbin but Philbin makes more impact.

Just watched the PNG game and i hope to god Dan Russell is just well behind his fitness at the minute.
His Tackling is very amateurish, and the fact he had his hands on his knees getting his breath after just 15 mins after making a whopping 5 tackles and 1 attacking run is very concerning.
But he seems more of a project with potential signing rather than an established signing.
If the team numbers are actually followed it's Currie back to 2nd row with Fitz and Yates at 13, I know shirt numbers don't actually mean that much but wouldn't complain with that, with Holroyd and Crowther as back up.

You may well be right, but a project signing would be one hell of a waste of a quota spot.

It looks like we we odds on to sign George Hirst from Oldham and were stunned when he opted for Wigan instead.

We then signed Ben Russell as an afterthought to cover the 2nd row position after we missed-out on Hirst.

I watched the game on Sunday and Russell was very average, and doesn`t have age on his side to develop.

Hopefully we will be surprised how well he plays for Wire in 2025 for us.

I hope you are right, like I said earlier I’m hoping coaches see something we don’t. My only real concern is he has taken the last quota spot and we are stuck with that and it would be hard to replace him with someone from here.

Imagine writing that without checking out the facts.

Your players will get praise once they start winning trophies.

Strange watching Russell. I kept wanting him to get his hands on the ball but he kept being the dummy runner (and usually a bit too early & flat). They actually scored from two moves where he was missed out. He is big and on the very few times he took the ball up he made a bit more ground than I thought he would. No crunching tackles but did make several tackles ... usually low. He actually popped up on the wing to score a try which was disallowed for being forward ... perhaps he was a bit flat again. Nothing to get everyone wild with excitement but I have been wrong before. Sam will need to shove a rocket up his rear end.

Yeah, i suppose we'll have to wait to see what he's like after a full pre-season with the coaches working with him, and some games under his belt. He's indeed a big dude so hopefully will develop under Burgess

In its simplest form, if you compare the team for 2025 c/w the team that started 2024, we have replaced Nicholson with Yates and Drinkwater with Hayes / Leyland. From what Sam Burgess has said, Russell has been brought in to give us 'options' in the second row.

The halfback situation is a bit 'wait and see' as it depends upon whether / how quickly Hayes can come back from a serious injury, but having Leyland there gives us a Plan B.

In the pack Fitzgibbon's fitness is clearly a concern. He only played in 17 out of 33 games last season (and failed to complete 2 of those), so we're going to need Holroyd et al.

Before the 2024 season started, we lost Kasiano. He's never been replaced, and we've missed not having a big interchange prop. Musgrove doesn't seem to punch his weight and whilst Yates, Philbin, Crowther and Holroyd all give 100%, our pack lacks a bit of size.

I'm not worried about our 3/4s. Lindop, Wrench and Taylor-Wray are there for backup and to put pressure on the incumbents.

In summary, I see us as being neither weaker, nor stronger, than at the start of 2024.

Maybe a little bit stronger as Lindop, Taylor-Wray, Holroyd were virtually unknown at this level.
Yates is a really good addition too.