Where does it say he will be leaving at the end of the season?, Just because he has a release claus it doesn't mean he will leave, What if no NRL club come in for him

I can’t believe I’m about to say this but here goes; I see the sense in the idea (initially) considering the short period of time they’ll have training together before the season.

But then when you break it down it doesn’t make sense at all when you consider:

- Tommy’s HB partner would be alien too
- They’ll be training together anyway
- Training to matches are two completely different things. We need them to be firing on the pitch which takes both training and playing together

FWIW I think our halves will be Hastings/French for a sizeable chunk of the season. It has the potential to be both a master stroke and a calamitous decision.

At least we would have one settled half back in Tommy. Also gives opportunity for the young lad Smith to get some game time and have a look at him.

Hastings will obviously be miles behind the rest of the team. At least he will get more of a pre season and French will have extra time to hone his skills without the pressure of playing a game each week.

Im glad you like the idea... kind of.

If we just throw them both in, it could end up having a negative effect on confidence if things go badly wrong, especially with French. Im only talking about 4 games. we could then start Hastings and Tommy and ease French in for a few games from the bench.

Its just an idea, you know i love thinking outside of the box!

I get that with Hastings and French but I reckon if we did it this way it’ll cause more harm than good. Then again we could be shifting halves in and out all season long so your idea in that light isn’t too far out there.

It could go either way which makes the upcoming season exciting but concerning too

Which experienced pairing would you go with instead?

I don't know why you would avoid an untested pairing to allow an untested pairing of inferior quality to play together instead.

To give Hastings the extra time to compensate for his very short off season and to allow French to understand the role of 6 better.

Tommy is the most tried and tested half back at the club. Smith would benefit from the game time.

Oh god he's back again with his amazing logic...

How about this... play French and Hastings. They need game time together and the team needs time to play with them. Additionally, the coach staff needs to assess if the partnership is working, and time to assess how to fix any unforeseeable issues or positional changes.

Drop two guys who need to play together, play guys who aren't going to play together long term, then just as they may begin to perform, drop them to bring in two guys who haven't played together yet this season.

Sounds like a plan...

Surprised nobodies suggested Hardaker yet

Hardaker could play HB? Or Escare?

Play them both there, Then French to 1, Hastings to 13, Hankinson wing, Burgess centre