Vaughan and Fitzgibbon show Nrl class in every game they Play for Wire. That standard is stepping in to the other players who have raised their own game. Walker, Currie are just two examples.. Musgrove just gets better with each game as well. He seems to keep up the intensity of play and makes good yards.

Should Musgrove not already be at that intensity then?

Both are an upgrade on an aging Mike Cooper and you were pretty quiet about his performances.

Mike Cooper has been and gone (thanks for your service) but I agree without any disrespect at all but our pack with these two guys leading and Harrison playing a big part setting the example as Bobby D states is in the healthiest state that it's been for years

Agreed. Two years ago, almost to the day, we lost 40-8 away to Catalans, and our pack that day was Mulhern, Clark, Cooper, Longstaff, Holmes, Magoulias. We also had Mata'utia and Currie in the centres. Sacre bleu!

I don't know what Duckie is playing at here (unless it's the usual clamber for attention with expressed faux controversy).

Vaughan and Harrison would grace the pack of any side in Super league.

How many times down the last few years have our bench props come on the pitch, and the impact and intensity has dropped significantly.. Musgrove just keeps that up, Philbin doesn’t have that energy..

I think Philbin has played well recently & should be judged on these games.

Philbin made 20plus meters against Salford, Hull and Kr were 70plus . that’s not playing well in my book. He’ll be lucky to still be at wire next season if Yates signs on

You obviously like your stats so who are you comparing with? Have you compared his Stats with Musgrove, Bullock, Wood. Need to compare like for like. I think we will retain Philbin on his current form but I think Yates will be a step up otherwise why buy him.

It’s not just lack of meters made it’s the missed tackles as well.. Bullock shouldn’t be anywhere near this Wire 17 am baffled by his new 2 year deal.. Musgrove meters are better and his missed tackles are lower, I think Musgrove is a better around player than Philbin. Philbin hasn’t kicked on like expected from a few seasons ago

I don't get carried away with stats ... as I'm not sure what goes through the head of those who count the stats. So how many tackles does Musgrove make? If you come in No3 as a tackler should that really be classed as a
tackle? If you rush up and make an attacking player alter his line of running it's not recorded as a contribution. One of the best defensive players I ever played with didn't make many tackles (he was a centre). etc etc.
For me Musgrove & Philbin are very close on performance. So we have Vaughan, Harrison then Musgrove/Philbin as our best four props. Of course Crowther also spends time in the middle & I really like his input. Yates ... yes please.

We have got good depth at prop at the moment, and there will inevitably come a time when we need it, because of injuries and suspensions. For me, when everyone's fit and available, there's not that much between Philbin, Bullock and Wood in terms of who gets that 'fourth prop' bench spot. I'm sure we all agree that it's nice to have enough options that we can afford to ship out Dudson, at least!

Philbin is better than Musgrove, i know he's not been here long, but Philbin has some superb games and some mediocre games. Every single game Musgrove has played has just been ok, he basically comes on to be a steady eddie and Give vaughan and Harrison a rest before they come back on.
I'm not saying he's bad because he isn't, but he's NOWHERE near how he played in the NRL.

Some of the NRL players take a full season to adapt to the way the game is played in Super League, English weather and pitch conditions sometimes longer, Some don`t make the transition and are OK again once they return to the NRL.

Hopefully he will play better with experience as he plays more games.

Matt King was poor for his 1st season with Wire. Michael Monaghan was average at halfback for his first season, but was brilliant once Tony Smith moved him to hooker.