How near to knowing what it will look like are we? There is not much time for the 12th Super League team to pick up the cast offs but there may well be a fair few of them given that the reserves and DR are not running. We have a pretty good Idea about the destinations of some of our leavers but not all. Leneghan is reported to have said that we would be taking a smaller squad on so I imagine the likes of Woods and Jake Shorrocks will be moving on but what about the junior lads who would have been hoping to get a contract? I imagine that the loan market might get quite interesting.

Wingers / are the big question.

We have 3 wingers in the squad in bibby, Dom and Marshy.

Marshy will miss the first 3 months of next season. That leaves no cover for any injuries.

Maybe they are thinking there will be games where French or Field have to cover the wing spot.

Centres we only have 2 in Hardaker and Gildart. When we get injuries we will be relying on Isa

I don't think we'll see Isa get any game time at centre other than maybe if we get an injury during the game. Not sure whether Hankinson will still be here. Aside from him we have Field or French who could play wing if needed. I wasn't super impressed with Hanley, Halsall or McDonnell on debut but I'm sure we will be looking at giving them some gametime next year. Likewise Pearce-Paul who is a centre/second row and looked a bit more capable in that Saints game.

Bibby is a centre Bateman has played there in the past its the wingers we are short of .

Why would Field play on the wing? Is the only reason for this because he is fast?

He is a half and occasional 1.

I’m not sure we need a winger. It would be nice but at the end of the day it isn’t a priority.

If we get an injury on the flanks then someone like Hanley needs to step in.

We have all seen what a dominant prop can do to a team.

For some reason we thought we had one in Burgess despite his injury.

A dominant prop is a must have for me, other than that I’m happy with the squad and think it could be very dominant.

I think we saw last night that prop is still an area that needs attention. We get pinned in our own half a little too much for my liking and I think that’s because of a lack of go forward through the middle. We don’t have a hooker that will run the ball a lot and we only really have Bullock who is capable of eating up the ground in the middle (and I didn’t think he had his best game). Getting Havard back in the team will be big but I’d love one more. It’s unlikely we’ll be able to get one with George Burgess on the books, so unless that changes I think we’ll be going with what we have.

Absolutely this.

I think both Burgess & Clarke have proved to be very poor signings based on what they have shown this season and it’s clearly cost us dearly.

We won’t have Flower & Clubb is not the player he was these days.

Having Field & Bateman is great news but we are going to have the same issues without bringing in a very solid prop.

As I said in another thread the two main issues were high tackles and a lack of go forward (a consistent problem for several years). The first issue can only be solved with coaching, improved tackling technique and more self-control. Wigan tried to solve the second issue by bringing in Burgess and Clark - both have not worked out this year and weren't even in the 17. Singleton isnt a prop who will make big metres so we're really back to square one on that one.

Well yeah mainly speed to be honest but I've only seen his highlights. Can he really not do us a better job than Bibby there at the start of the year as French did when he first came over? I can't see them dropping French, Leuluai or Hastings for him until he's proved himself. There's Field at 1 with French on the wing I suppose but I'd rather not lessen French's influence on games. Longer term I think they're hoping they can have a Field-Smith partnership with Leuluai retiring and Hastings likely leaving.

One back up option could be to move Hardaker to the wing with Bateman to right centre.

Spot on.

I can't see how or why we'd move either Hastings or French. That leaves Field to either fight it out with Tommy for the other HB spot or possibly a bench spot.

Field is going to have to earn his spot and that might mean playing on the wing. If Bibby can do it, then I'm not sure why it's such sacrilege to suggest someone as fast and elusive as Field.

Maybe it's one of those "you've got to be in the game to understand" type things?

Good if we get an injury mid-game but I'd hope we never start like that. Bateman at centre for England in the World Cup was so bloody frustrating. Bags of metres coming out of yardage but his winger may as well not be playing. Plus again we're lessening the influence of one of our best players.

+ Zak has been doing a great job, so that would be another crazy move to make.

Sometimes there's something to be said for just keeping things simple. This is a team that was 5 mins or so off winning a GF. French, Hastings & Zak need to be kept as is and Bateman needs to do his thing in the forwards.

What has Bibby done to not get a shot at that shirt?

He has grown into the position nicely and will be an asset in 2021.

We use our wingers as ball carriers early in sets Field nor French are that guy that does that.

I’m expecting Field to drop in the halves with Hastings and Tommy off the bench sharing duties with Smith.

There is a lot more to wing play than speed.

Field isn’t that player despite the speed.

Looking forward I think the succession plan is in place to have Field and Smith as starting halves in 2022 assuming Hastings heads home and Tommy retires.

178 metres for Bibby last night and the scorer of our only try. He has got better and better in this spell and I have no fears over him starting the season on the wing. In saying that though, I do fear relying too heavily on Manfedi’s fitness. I don’t think we will mind. It sounds like Hankinson will be moving on as well and I just can’t see is going in to 2021 with zero senior back up for either the centre or wing positions.