Cooper has earned and deserved good money. Neither Dudson nor Kasiano can be said to be a direct replacement but that doesn't mean we won't have a stronger pack overall.
I would want Cooper to stay.

I think most, if not all of us want Cooper to stay, on the basis of his playing ability, but if he cannot accept and work with Powell then his departure was inevitable.

Yeah i'm gutted to see Cooper go, he's been brilliant for us and always gives 100%. if we don't re-sign Mulhern i'd say we need at least 1 more Prop to come in so could be a fourth Prop on their way.
I wouldn't say Powell rates Dudson more highly than Cooper, but if Cooper doesn't want to play for Powell he has to sign replacements.
I'm happy with Dudson coming in, he is a good starting Prop and we could do much worse. And i'm happy having Kasiano come off the bench to cause havoc, with his offloading ability Clark will have a field day running off the back of him.
If we don't re-sign Mulhern i'd say next year Dudson and Mikaele to start, with Kasiano, Bullock, Philbin and Harrison fighting for the bench spots?? But who knows until next year

Dudson and bullock to start with kasiano and Mikaele off the bench. Looks a lot better to me. Mulhern is useful, I'm not sure he will be retained though with Philbin and Harrison also in the squad.

Has anybody joined the dots up and noticed that the floodgates opened on Friday night the moment Philbin, cooper and Magoulias were replaced by Mulhern, Bullock and Amor. I dont think we had the ball for 5 mins whilst Leeds scored 3 tries back to back.
The work from Marker was almost non existent and the push from the inside to help number up on the outside was shocking.
If cooper is going to Wigan then the pies have done us up like a kipper I the last 12 months.

I think Wigan may well have seen a "situation" they can exploit to their benefit with Cooper.

Well, fair play to him, I'll have to break the habit of a lifetime and support Wigan if they make the Grand Final next year so Cooper can get his SL winners medal.

Amor's 'performance' was pitiful, yet nobody seems to have mentioned it. A ridiculous signing who will look out of his depth at widnes if he continues to play like that.

Honestly i just think Amor overplayed and was trying to impress, i think he was guilty of being too eager. I think he'll settle down and find his feet the more he plays. Again he's just a decent solid squad prop, never been a world beater but a grafter.

Looks poor to me.

it makes me laugh, we talk about cooper and who replaces him, firstly there is a salary cap, how much is cooper on!!, secondly your all the same people who wanted Chris Hill to stay, Hill and Cooper have been good at the wire but have they delivered the holy grail(grand final) we crave for, the answer is no, this club needs a new direction and if you read between the lines both Hill and Cooper wanted to stay ,as well as Charnley as well as Mamo shall I go on ,and why because we have had a load of over paid players who have turned up when they want, many a time you hear the quote "champagne Charlies". what I hope players like Curry and Daz Clarke improve or they should follow, this club as been to soft for to long.

I asked myself 2 questions:

Who has been a better player over their careers, Cooper or Dudson?
Arguably Cooper imo.

Who has been the better player since at least the pandemic and perhaps a season before until present?
Little doubt Dudson imo.

I can only suggest Cooper has been on a slow slope for some time and as his decline is slow, we hadn’t really noticed and accepted it, it’s only when in my head when I compared him to Dudson throughout the last 3 seasons, it stands out. Perhaps I couldn’t see the woods for the trees. I’m ok with Coops moving on.

As has been said, it isn’t whether Dudson is better than Cooper, it’s whether Vaughan?, Dudson, McGuire?, Mikaele and Kasiano are better than Cooper, Mulhern, Magoulias, Bullock & Philbin. That’s a resounding yes right?

Vaughan and McGuire put a very different slant on our prop recruitment.

Is this just a rumour or do we have it confirmed? I’m surprised we’re able to sign 5 top forwards, along with Dufty if the other rumour is to be believed.

Hope it’s true though!

I asked why are we signing all of these players and what's happening to the incumbent players, I was informed that there are is potential for 12 players leaving. The person I was in conversation with wouldn't divulge who was on the list that isn't in the public domain. Overall i believe that once the OOC and confirmed moves are done there will a couple of surprises.