I’ll say! Any idea how he did in the NRL last year?

Hiku and Charnley centre/wing partnership anyone?

Our defence back then was rubbish and Farrar was a good tackler, hence the positive view of him at the time.

Over hype, with us looking for any sort of positive, we took Average Joe and tried to make a cult hero as a diversion of just how bloody shxt we were.

Mixed really, very good on attack but pretty woeful on D to be honest

Remember 2002. At one point the fans made a cult hero out of Tommy O'Reilly, his name always got chanted in games. Then people wanted a whip round of the supporters to raise the cash to sign Danny Halliwell permanently.

And even he wasn't the same player second time around.

That period wasn't just bad. It was a bloody embarrassment that I just want to brush under the carpet unless I can find a no win no fee company to try and get back my stolen gate money.

This started out as a positive topic, now there has been not so much thread drift as thread sink! Remember let’s be careful out there...

Nikau delivered exactly what we thought he would. Great player and as tough as they come. Fantastic to watch in a close game with some niggle.

Brett Hodgson from day one was top class. Split opinions to sign him and lose Mathers at the time but as soon as he stepped on the field it justified TS’s decision.

There’s a few that you could argue have delivered, just whether it’s to the level we would have liked. Chris Bridge during TS’s reign was an international centre and was devestating at times, but blew hot and cold before that. Stef Ratchford since nailing the FB position you could argue has delivered. Ryan Atkins, like him or not, has done what it said on the tin when buying him. We were never going to get a Gleason, but he scores, runs hard and is entertaining.

Nikau was a disappointment for me but there were mitigating factors. He was NRL loose forward of the year the year before we signed him but didn't look like that when he played for us. He was angry and looking for trouble on the pitch, probably out of frustration. He had come from the NRL Grand Final winners and then suddenly had a lot of mediocre players around him at Warrington so wouldn't have had the runners off him that he was used to and that will have limited his game.

In his second season he had to deal with the tragedy of the death of his wife. He was a strong character then because he stayed to finish his contract, and after Langer, Gee and Mercer quit mid season, he stood up and provided leadership. I seem to remember his best form for us coming at the end of that second season.

I think my disappointment with Nikau was wrapped up with my overall disappointment that the big signings for 2000 didn't make us a top 5 team. I think I was hoping that signing the NRL's form loose forward, at a time when the gulf in standard between the two leagues was huge, meant we were going to have someone on par with Sculthorpe or Farrell, but guys like Brad Mackay at Bradford and Adrian Vowles at Cas were better overseas 13s.

I respect Nikau though as a lot of big name overseas players find ways to get out of their contract if they don't like it. Nikau stayed through all the turmoil Warrington were going through in 2001 at a time he'd experienced massive personal tragedy and he actually started playing better that year. The signing didn't worked out as I hoped but I don't see him as someone who fleeced us.

We pick on players that take on the mantle when around them the pack is without heavy depth. Exactly what happened with Hughes in 2017. He was always better than that. We played Nikau like a front rower with hands but I'd love to see him in this team in place of Sita. Nikau would be devestating.

Good call. He had a big rep...and he delivered.

I know that it's supposed to be a positive thread, but, can't agree with your excuse for Hughes 2017, he was just poor. He didn't suffer trying to carry the pack, he suffered because he ran terrible lines ball in hand and our attack was easy to read as came to a full stop down a dead end that side.

Maybe its no coincidence that his form improved under a different coach and or centre/wing combination?

Well that's what is good about a forum. Sharing idea and thoughts. Some mind changing, many not.

You suggest a new coach and outside partnership. I can't dispute that and valid.
I put it down to the decision not to deepen the quality and size on the other side of Hughes...under the previous coach of which Hughes had arguably one of his better seasons.

Or perhaps it's a combination of both, in which case we're both right.

Tony Smith came with a big rep and boy did he deliver in the first 4 years. Can't take that away from him.