Agreed. This was kind of the point of starting this thread. Normally by now we pretty much know what's going on. But this season the club are playing there cards very close & are leaving it very late to announce players that are OOC.



Sandow ???? Atkins ???? Dwyer ???? plus 7 players out of contract........ it's going to be a very interesting few days after the GF.

Heard that Sandow will not be here next season + rumours abound been seen with shall we say some unsavoury characters around town.

Well I heard he'd been spending a lot of time with Ryan Bailey, but I guess that's the same thing.



Regardless of rumour, he looked very much part of the fold on Thursday when the players came over to the South Stand. If he'd been guilty of anything I'd have thought the club would have told him to stay away.

I've just been reading Sandow's twitter and his comments don't seem to be from a player leaving.

Nah that would only unsettle the team before the big match + he's hardly going say he's off.That will prob be announced after with the rest of the leavers + stayers but on a personal view we've coped without him quite well last few games so we'll be alreet whatever the outcome.

Atkins is going to be a busy boy next season, that's Huddersfield, Wakefield and Leigh he's signed up for next year according to the rumour mill. Or how about he's actually staying with us?

Spot on, early on in the season it was worth the admission price just to watch sandow. He was rushed back and hasn't recovered.

I tweeted to Chris a few hours ago ' that i really hoped he would be staying' and he tweeted this back "I love it here mate best club". This and other tweets show no sign of him going. Let's keep our fingers crossed-a fully fit Sandow is a huge asset to our club.

Do we need additional back row cover to make up for the loss of Currie? Or are we happy Wilde and Westwood can cover for the most part of next year...?

I hope Benjamin Jullien isn't reading this

Julien can do a job, he's not ready to be playing week in week out yet, in a team that is looking to win the comp. In my opinion obviously.

Can he read this?

Certainement mon brave

I'm sure the forums resident Lisa Simpson will be along to correct you shortly

I have a full course of GCSE French from the Rodney Trotter school of linguistics

I'd be extremely disappointed if Sandow, Dwyer, Julien left. Philbin is worth developing and arguably Bailey has got another year left in him.

Cox seems to have fallen out of favour so he'll probably be released.

Keep Dodds - still only mid 20s and all players get injuries.

Need Penny to keep Lineham on his toes (or get Sio / Mantellato)

No need for whole scale changes.

Morgan Smith is a good prospect but with a Reserve grade comp he can develop there. Don't think he could play week in week out at SL level without performance dropping off.

I know many aren't keen on Evans at centre or wing but I think he's ok and besides there aren't too many top class replacements.



With Cooper coming back our front row looks fine - especially with Bennie able to play there from the bench with King.



I think we'll be able to strengthen through the youngsters developing - and wel need to if we are to get silverware next year.

There are some at the club with dreadful attitudes but they are on a protected pedestal and made of teflon.



And they are not on your list!

Is that based on here say / gossip or knowledge?

Not having a ' pop', just be surprised if that really was the case.

TS has shown the door to alleged bad apples.

From what I have heard I agree with mark and there are some bad apples in the group up to no good.

Smith isn't as close to the day to day dealing as you might think.



And there is an outside influence on the comings and goings of players that is going to cause problems in the near future.

Care to elaborate on that and your previous posts? Always plenty of rumours flying around to be taken with a pinch of salt but you seem pretty well informed and certain. Youve just left us all hanging a bit with what you've said though?

I suppose it's what you mean by dreadful attitudes... I would guess Ben Westwood has a dreadful attitude to training, recovery, and diet, but hes super Ben so who cares....



Adrian morley had a bad attitude towards drinking his well known drink driving ban was before he joined us but didnt he also get busted for being mickeyd up in tenerife just after he was made Wire Captain...!!



I'm sure Mickey higham had a bad attitude towards money and "honouring" contracts which was why Smith held a dim view of that particular "transfer"



if any current players have a bad (lazy) attitude towards playing it was only noticeable with Tom Lineham and he was dropped as a result, and while he hasnt come back a work horse by any stretch, our team is better for his return.



I'm sure the days are gone when the whole team gets faced the night before a game and loses spectacularly.



you'll never get 25 players with the attitude of a Buddhist Monk....but i'm guessing some rumours are getting out of hand now.

Players drinking doesn't really bother me, so long as they are sensible. I'm sure most of us on here are capable of having a few pints this afternoon and still being able to function the next day. It's when it turns to 5am scraps on Bridge Street that the problems start. It isn't rocket science that you are going to be recognised!



Smith persisted with Asotasi for two seasons, despite the fact he was without doubt one of the laziest footballers I have ever had the misfortune to watch. Westwood hasn't been anywhere near his best since 2013, at least not consistently. Does he do enough to justify the big salary?

To be fair, we don't know what Benny is on for next year - I think a lot of older players get a cut in their salary as they age. He has certainly slowed down a lot and that has made him a bit of a liability in defence, but surely as a 'prop' he can still add a fair bit to the team next year.

Goodness me, why let the truth or tangible evidence get in the way of a bit of gossip, eh? If having some bad apples, unsavoury influences and lazy wage-stealers gets us to two finals and top of the table, then we would have needed a bigger trophy cabinet for most of the 80s and 90s.



I'm some the levels of attitude,personalities, work ethic, effort, and commitment vary amongst the squad - it does in any workplace. I'm sure Jordan Cox and Ryan Bailey don't train like Chris Hill, and I'm sure Ben Westwood doesn't sit down with Tony Smith to discuss Dostoevsky. Asotasi was one of the laziest people pull on a rugby shirt in recent memory, but he actually seemed very popular with the other players.



The truth may be less fun than gossip, but I suspect some recent truths are, simply :



Dwyer got dropped because he started to believe his own press and his performances suffered, at a time when Morgan Smith's improved

Sandow, like most "mercurial" temperaments is always likely to attract rumour, but is happy here and is suffering from being rushed back too soon

Lineham is a very popular, likeable chap but not University Challenge material, and needs a regular kick up the booty

Penny is in and out of the team purely because he alternates between the sublime and the ridiculous with monotonous regularity



I'm sure the Wires camp isn't like The Waltons most days, but you don't achieve what we have, in sometimes difficult circumstances, without having a strong, insular, single-minded focus and togetherness at the core.