JWP, have you changed your opinion with the form Chris Riley has shown since his return from Quins ?

Without question.

His form since he was given another opportunity when Hodgson get injured has been sensational. He's filled both the wing & fullback positions with ease and looked a natural in both positions rather than a stand in. I think the form he displayed in the last 6 weeks of the season was better than anything that he's previously shown.

It's one of those 'taking the opportunity' when it presents itself times. I felt sorry for him that the season ended when it did, it must feel like Rd 7 for him, he must be fresh as a daisy.

Ive always stuck up for Chris Riley, i like his attitude, he's always looking to improve his game which is obvious for everyone to see. Yes he's not the finished article as yet but he's improving all of the time, no player is the finished article anyway as they all make mistakes, even Billy Slater has made some right howlers but people forgive him because he's Billy The Kid..

Remember the Catalan game away when he lost the ball whilst in the act of scoring, that try would have won us the game. In my opinion that game made him as a player, he must have been devastated . Each year ive seen signs of improvement from him, his form towards the back end of this season was superb.

Ive no probs with him being in our starting 17.

Having watched Rachford for many years at salford he does show glimpses of magic when he has the ball in his hands,he gives 100% every time he pulled on the red shirt even when it was announced he was going to you lot (unlike mr myler who didnt)
He is a good kicker both on the field and at goal, he has good footwork and has a good offload if you are to play him in the centre.

His weaknesses are defending ( he cant tackle to save his life, he played in the centre a lot this season but unfortunatley he isnt big enough and is a bit of a turnstyle we conceeded lots of tries down his side of the field with Him and Smith being targeted)
He is a bit of a penality machine as well he was our most penalised player this season mostly for holding down at the play of the ball, messing around at the ruck and talking back to the referee.

Ideally you would play him at standoff but for me he isnt much of a team player, he will do some individual magic then do something erratic, I know Briers is a bit like marmite for you guys but from a outsider looking in he is a genius and if Tony Smith has dreamt up that Rachford is the long term replacement they you boys are in trouble.
Go and spend some good money on a great ozzie if i was you.

As for him playing fullback, na cant see it, we did dable with it sometimes but didnt reaily set the world on fire.

Best plan of action for you guys would be fill him up with pies and protein shakes, make him a a couple of stone heavier / bigger and stick him in the centres with a fast winger on his shoulder for him to pop passes too, he is still young and Smith might make him a better player and cut out all the erratic stuff he does...

I would say thanks for Vinnie Anderson but he was very hit and miss last season, so if you are to send anyone else over can you make sure they are a bit more consistant

I reckon Ratchford is a really good signing but he probably will come in for a fair bit of criticism and doubting from fans next year if he's a bit rough round the edges.

I would see him as a longish term project. We have had players in the past like Kohe-Love, Westwood and Bridge who have spent 3 or 4 seasons either injured or underachieving on the high expectations that surrounded them, before hitting their stride.

Ratchford is a signing to show we have the money to outbid other teams we heard others were interested in him and we thought we'd flex our financial muscles he better prove his worth.

All of the weaknesses mentioned by the optimist are things that our coaching team have already fixed in multiple players over the last couple of years. Im really looking forward to watching him progress over the next 5 years.

Who would have thought that it would be us telling other clubs fans this now.

I remember Hull fans saying this about Toa Kohe-Love how his career would really kick on after leaving Warrington because he would get better coaching there.

Not really. We get a few people wanting to make up / spread rumours about him and delight in doing so everytime he's out injured but I'd say the majority of fans appreciate what a great player he has been / still is.

At the end of the day we just post opinions, it doesn't mean anyone is 100% correct.

Any player that pulls on a Wire shirt i'm 101% behind them when they play for us, it doesn't matter if i don't rate them as a player because at the end of the day they are playing for the club we support and they are wearing the primrose, yellow and blue. (Eddie irony)

I still believe that Steffan Ratchford's best position for us would be in the halves, play Briers at 7 for his organisational skills and kicking game and partner Ratchford with him. Briers could control the games from 7 with Ratchford being our attacking flair that looks to break the line on a regular basis and having a decent amount of pace to take us well up field or it resulting in a try.

I wonder whether there is mileage in having another ball player in the centres. It's a popular trend in union to have a 'second stand off' playing at outside centre, Jonny Wilkinson has played at centre a lot, Iestyn Harris and Henry Paul played there.

Can't think of it happening too often in league but it was done in Australia for a period with Canberra and Penrith playing a second stand-off in the centres, Canberra used Laurie Daley at centre with Chris O'Sullivan (later to join Wire) at 6; Penrith had Brad Fittler at centre with Steve Carter 6. Also I could be wrong on this but I think Matt Gidley used to play stand-off in junior grades at Newcastle Knights but he was played as an extra playmaker in the centres.

That will happen in the NRL a lot due to the amount of talent that they produce in Australia, using Laurie Daley as one of your examples, the only way that they could accomodate Chris O'Sullivan in the side was to drop Laurie daley back in at centre. Its pretty easy to slot a stand off in at centre as their a ball playing back, its the same the other way round where the natural progression for a very creative centre is to be tried at stand off.

Ratchford seems to be a jack of all trades but not really a master at any, yeh you would say he's an accomplised stand off just like you would say he's an accomplished centre but would you say he's the next Tony Myler or John Woods at stand off ? Or the next Alan Bateman or Jonathon Davies at centre ? I'd say clearly not on the evidence of what we've seen so far. I won't comment on his fullback potential given his apparent weak looking defence which has been confirmed on here by a Salford fan.

I remember when Paul Sykes in his early days was touted as being similar to what Ratchford is, a classy back that can play either fullback, centre or stand off ...... The rest is history, i aint saying that Ratchord will turn out to be the next Paul Sykes but i'd like to have seen us sign someone with a more proven pedigree as he won't be on peanuts given that we signed Salford's best player who was being tracked by a lot of other clubs including Wigan. Our offer must have been a very good one.

At the end of the day we have to give the lad a chance, don't forget when Mr Smith signed Solo we all said it was a waste of time how wrong we were. I went to Leigh last week and while Stephan made a few mistakes at fullback he also did some good things. He has said since he signed he will have to up his game, playing with better players will also help.

Don't forget Hodgson will also help along with Mr Smith and the backroom teams coaching give the lad a chance.

IN SMITH WE TRUST

Of the players that were available who would you have gone for?