If Currie isn't willing to accept a reduced contract he should be moved on.

Back row is one of the more replaceable positions so I wouldn't fill up a lot of budget space on it. Good young back rowers emerge more often than good young props, halfbacks or centres.

It's going to be a difficult and worrying time for all players coming out of contract. They aren't mega rich like footballers so being asked to take a pay cut will have a big impact on their families' lifestyle and security. There may be a lot of movement because it will create bad feeling when a club tells a player they will resign them but on a reduced wage. Some might think they would rather sign elsewhere for a reduced wage than do that.

All the clubs will be facing financial hardship and they may have to reduce the number of experienced players in their squads and fill spots with Academy players on cheaper contracts. There will be a premium on players who offer versatility (cover more than one position) and reliability (good fitness record, consistent performer). Players who are single position, have injury history or blow hot and cold will be in a worse position. RU clubs are also struggling and squad-trimming so taking the gamble on whether a RL player will be a successful convert will be lower down their priorities, so it will be hard for agents to find back up options in RU.

The off-season business will probably be underwhelming compared to what we want but this year I will give the club the benefit of the doubt and not complain about recruitment ambition etc because they will be doing the best they can in the circumstances. Players might be putting their bodies on the line next season for less pay and they deserve respect and support.

According to the lads on 'What would Brian Bevan say', Currie has turned down the clubs contract offer.

Have heard that as well from a very good source. If any club is willing to pay him the same contract we gave him as one of the hottest young properties in the game then more fool them. This is a salary capped sport and the 2020 Ben Currie does not deserve to be taking up a large chunk of it.

They'd be taking a punt on talent, which has paid off sometimes before. When Saints signed Darren Albert, he'd missed one full season and two half seasons out of the past four in the NRL, and Newcastle Knights were only willing to offer him half his previous salary to re-sign. He hardly missed a game with Saints and was top class. We took a punt on Fozzard after missing the previous two seasons, and we stuck with Simon Grix after several serious injuries early on, those both paid off.

What clouds things for Currie is he missed the best part of 2 seasons then came back last year and looked ordinary. Him being fit last year has probably raised more questions in the minds of clubs than answers, because they are now not just wondering whether it's going to be a recurrent injury risk but also whether he's just not the same player. With Grix, he missed a lot of time, but whenever he came back he got back to form quickly. With Currie its a leap of faith to think that he is going to be the player of 2015-16. Clubs might look at him as a player who is just a steady SL back rower now, with a lottery ticket attached that he may return to his peak. Someone will surely be interested in taking a punt on his talent, but it's a big risk to commit to a big contract.

I'd rather we kept him than lost him but if the contract size forces us to make compromises elsewhere I'd be nervous.

Hypothetically - Saints (replacement for Zeb Taia) Wigan (replacement for Lockers/Greenwood) and Toronto (replacing Bodene Thompson) I suspect would be the clubs that are interested. Those players are also too out of contract at the end of the current season, it’s more than likely one of the clubs will offer above the odds if any of the above players retire/move on.

Ben Currie??

Good player? - Yes.

Irreplaceable? - Absolutely not.

To be fair, he's pretty much the same as 99% of players in the league. Solid individuals, but because the game is now so formulaic, there is very little that makes one player stand out any different to another. It's becoming increasingly a sport where it depends on a coach organising and rotating his squad and getting the best from it over 30 odd games.

Look at Saints with Ben Barba. Everybody thought he was irreplaceable and they would go downhill with his departure. In comes Coote, the coach makes a few adjustments and they improve and become the best team in the league by a mile... interestingly, to confirm my argument, the coach leaves and it is only then we see a downturn in form.

As for Wire, the only player I'd be worried about leaving and not being able to replace adequately is Daryl Clark, simply because he is in the 1% who do actually stand out from the rest in the league.

Putting some respective into Currie. He’s no longer the player he was pre injury x 2. He is no longer an international. You have to consider those factors when reviewing a new contract. Is he more than half the player he used to be?...
Not quite so much...only right his deal reflect what he currently offers. He could take a reduced season only deal with hope to impress and improve on that for 2022

Currie did stand out before his injury because he was a different level athlete, he was easily a 1%er. He carved SL teams up running wide at age 20/21. He reminded me of when Nathan Hindmarsh came through at Parra or Bradford-era Jamie Peacock when he started off in the second row, you just knew this was a player on a different level. But how much of that was based on him being a cut above the rest as an athlete in terms of speed, strength and agility and how much have his injuries taken away permanently. If they have robbed him of that then he may be now in the 99% like you say.

Could be an argument for Currie being the RL equivalent of Michael Owen then?

Fantastic young talents, struck down by injuries and the unavoidable and inevitable aging process, which diminishes one of their major attributes, their pace, and sadly you are left with a shell of the player you once had?

But unlike Owen...Currie is in a salary capped sport.

Just seen that Niall Evalds has told Salford that he has signed for another club. The merry-go-round has begun.

In the absence of any actual Rugby, this is where we have to find our excitment these days.