Nah, he was an upgrade on Stuart Reardon. It's all about progression, we got shut of Gleeson as we had better to come in. Getting shut of Mathers, so Hodgson can come in.

Roberts is 3 years younger and he has the pace of a gazelle. The only time that guy will be slow is when he is six feet under.

Difference is a prop matures later and carries on playing for longer at the top level. So your comparison is not exactly the same for a 32 year old full back. You do have a decent set of youg players problem your going to get is that they will want a bigger wage to stay. Its great now as some are not on that much but they will want the top money and that will bite. You will not manage to keep them all if you go and pay big wages for the new Morelys and Kings of the world.

If he gets as slow as Wellens then even Vaeliki might fancy a comeback.

Likewise with Wigan's young players and any club bring young talent through.

Its about finding the right balance Leeds have shown it can be done.

Sad but not very suprising to see Mathers slowly fall down the pecking order. The injuries he's suffered in Aus seem to have affected him, and he's also a confidence player who probably underestimated how much better he played alongside his mates at Leeds.

As for the Leeds squad, I suspect we'll see a couple of changes at the end of each of the next few seasons. Leeds will certainly have to manage the eventual losses of Senior and Peacock in partcular.