Next year what Dec Patton is NOT (same as this year) is our first choice starting half back

Because the marquee players only count as 150-175k on cap but we could be paying them a million each still only 175 on cap there are other cap exceptions like burrell so with Austin widdop and burrell we probably have close to 750k not counting on the cap... The whole were spending the same as every other club us a smoke screen

If that's the case, then you may as well fire Price now, because you aren't winning any SL title, or playing any free flowing rugby with him as one of your half backs.

So what about marquee players at other clubs? Do you know what they are on?

'Mindless bashing' - pointing out that somebody is obviously not upto the standard required for a top side isn't mindless, it's pretty common sense & seeing as this is a public forum, I'd suggest you are in the wrong place if that upsets you.

I'd happily have Patton as a back up hooker, who we saw about a dozen times a year, in 15 minute spells. It's just obvious to anybody with working eyes, that the last thing he can be, is a starting half back for a SL winning side.

In the reserves or Ladies team?

The plan at the start of the year was that he should be a back up half-back. You really can't really expect the club to have a world class half-back as a back up.
Are you suggesting that in a "public forum" you can insult anyone ... for ever and ever and ever. If I was to suggest you are "mindless" you would quite rightly be upset ... so I won't. I'm sure you mean well but I think it has already been mentioned on this forum about Patton.

No, it wouldn't upset me in the slightest because it's an open forum for actual opinion. I wouldn't visit any website if it 'upset' me - anybody who gets upset by words on any website really need to stay away from the internet and probably see a doctor about their own issues...

there was a NOT missing!!

I reckon if you ever played, reffed or coached a team you would have a little more sympathy for the players. But maybe you haven't.

If you are going to be a pro-sportsman or sportswoman in front of an audience you need to take the accolades and the critique. If you go on a public forum expect to read posts you disagree with.

No-one is making personal attacks or slurs against a players character, just commenting on ability. I would hope that 100% of the people on here would wish the player well in life.

This is the most sensible way to see Patton.

He is the back up, and he had to play the full season due to unexpected circumstances. When this happens all you can expect is that he does the best that he can. Occasionally there will be a heroic story where the back up turns out to be an undiscovered gem but more often than not this won't happen.

Now you can rant all season and say Patton should not be a first choice starter...well yeah, he wouldn't have been if Brown had been fit.

I think a lot of the aggro against Patton has been provoked by rubber duckie's excessive hyperbole about Patton being some kind of rare generational talent, so there's a backlash on here. It's not Patton who has been going round telling everyone he is this great, its rubber duckie. So really it's rubber duckie's ability to evaluate players that should be in the dock more than Patton.

If it wasn't for that, there wouldn't have been the same angry debate here, most of us would probably have thought, yeah its not ideal that we have to run with Patton this year, next year when Widdop arrives Patton will be understudy to Austin/Widdop and can cover at hooker as well - which isn't a bad situation for us and it's not a bad role for him either. It's the role Nat Wood used to have at Sydney Roosters as the third halfback behind Adrian Lam and Brad Fittler.

My rationale for not expecting us to win a Grand Final in the next 10 years is more based on the lack of rationale for expecting us to win one.

Look over a long period of time and you see the Grand Finals every year are won by one of three teams: Leeds, Saints and Wigan. Bradford broke in to that three times between 2001 and 2005 but since they fell off a cliff no other club has done it. Wire, Hull, Castleford have had their moments but not been able to break in.

Those three clubs are ahead of the rest in terms of their general set up, recruitment, ability to bring young players through their academies who can spend a decade in their team as elite players, ability to get the right coaches. All three of those clubs have had down periods but they always recover before other clubs break in.

So to expect us, or anyone else, Cas, Hull etc, to break in and win a Grand Final you'd need to see evidence that they have reached the levels of those clubs. Nobody has.

The clubs outside that clique will have lots of debate focused on the coach, is Price/Radford/Powell the man or do we need to fire the coach to take us to the next level, but it misses the point and overrates the importance of the coach. Tony Smith, Brian McDermott, Ian Millward, Brian Noble all won multiple GFs inside those club set ups. They have all coached at other clubs too, but the GFs don't follow them when they leave.

Have you been smelling something?
So RD is the catalyst for a linching frenzy!
How do you equate the vile abuse DP receives on bacefook?...no RD to stimulate them there?