As good as Vaughan is I think Burgess wants more of a leader in that pack which he doesn’t get from Vaughan (and has allegedly told him so). £180k for a player on the wane and freeing up a quota spot (Bunty) would probably be good business. Don’t know enough about Afoa - can any NRL watchers see him as a pack leader or is he an impact prop?

No idea on the leadership part, but he's very much used as an impact prop. I'd say he's in a bit of a mold like Chris Satae for impact. I think it would suit him over here and he'd do very well.
But it all depends if he even wants to play over here, but i'd be very happy with him. He's a big big guy but he sprints when in full charge and is very quick so has a big impact in collisions

Looks like we are done then with recruitment with what Fitzpatrick just said.
So we have a little bit of cap space left so we're just holding on to that and he fully expects Vaughan to return, as we've had no contact about him from any NRL club and nothing from Vaughan or his agent about him wanting to leave.
So our forwards are set so i expect more game time from Wood, Okoro, Holroyd, Whitehead etc
And i think we are stronger in the halves next year with Hayes and Leyland fighting for a place.
2nd row i'd be happy with Fitz and Holroyd starting, but if Burgess can get Russell up and firing on full cylinders i think he has the potential to do really well, despite what we've seen from him from PNG.
I think we are very slightly stronger than last year but not by much at all.
So not sure if we can improve that much on this year. But we've still got a quality squad so you never know, and i'm already looking forward to next season

If lindop starts instead of tai we'll be massively improved in the centres. He will have had his first full pre season and will be ready to take the league by storm!!(no pressure lad )

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/pa ... ecruitment

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/pa ... ecruitment

You can read that 10 times and come up with a different reading of it.

From a defensive point possibly but Nicholson was always a bit overrated in my oppinion, Bateman defensively was great and got better as the games went on.
I think Holroyd is better than Nicholson and is a machine in defense, and will have see if Russell jumps up a gear over here for us

Very close then, apart from a few good tries Nicholson didn't excel in defense or attack, and wasn't a stand out player. He's good but overrated. Holroyd was superb in defense and full of energy in attack, not as big as Nicholson but not a big loss losing Nicholson with Holroyd stepping up.

I would argue we haven’t lost with Bateman, him only being on loan.
His inclusion displaced Holroyd, who will be coming back matured an hungry to disprove Wire’s decision to drop him for Bateman.
Fitzgibbon fit is a greater presence than Nicholson. We still have Currie too.
And with the academy lads pushing themselves on the fringes, backrow is one area Wire really has no weaknesses.

Re: Bateman, I was considering the strength of the squad as 2024 ended vs the projected squad for the start of 2025. Bateman was in the former, but won't be in the latter. Hence a loss. His performances really improved over the final weeks. But I like Holroyd and hope he continues his development.

If the squad numbers are anything to go by it looks like Currie and Fitzgibbon in the 2nd row with Yates at loose forward.

If Fitzgibbon can stay fit I think that's a pretty strong back row. Let's hope his shoulder is in full working order going into 2025.

I also like Holroyd, would just like to see him pile on some bulk asap as he's pretty fearless and is going to take some knocks.

Russell, we'll wait and see but using a quota spot on a player with his record still leaves me a little surprised.

I believe Fitzgibbon's surgery went as well as could be expected, fingers crossed he stays fit as he's an excellent second row. Also hope Holroyd has been bulking up a little as he's a real quality player IMO.

Fitzgibbon, who has a history of shoulder problems, underwent surgery that is believed to have uncovered and corrected an underlying issue, so the hope within the club is that he will be able to play a full part in 2025.