I’ve been told Walker has been keen to go since the Summer mate. Fair play for keeping him, would be hard to replace this time of year as you say. Haven’t you signed a hooker from London though?

You’ve back rowers coming out of your ears this year. Wouldn’t surprise me if Bateman stays, if Fitzgibbon needs to retire.

I noticed a social media post showing Walker as having followed every man and his dog at Canberra on there, which possibly means very little but I would suggest it probably highlights he'd like to take the opportunity if he could. A lot now will depend on his character and if he can get his head down. He seems a leader to be fair and I expect he'll just carry on as normal. The Aussie clubs are laughable! You want a player under contract, then buy them out of it with your bucket loads of cash. It's nigh on impossible to replace somebody like Walker for Wire, so the asking price rightfully goes up. I think Wire should've asked for more tbh.

Didn't the club just make a loss for the year (again)? Genuine question, I'm almost sure I read that.

Yeah, I think it was £1.6m but expected to come down next year.

I talk as a fan when I say there isn't much we could do with a couple of hundred grand, as in who do we get to replace a guy like Nsemba? When your best players leave, you risk the side not being as successful and then you lose out on money anyway if crowds go down and prize money lessens. I think we got £100,000 for that LLS win last night. I just don't think a couple of hundred grand gives you any guarantee of reducing future losses.

The money prize for the LLS should be more.

Think you're confusing Oli Leyland (Half back) & rumoured to Wire with his brother Bill (Hooker) who's signed for KR.

Probably nothing in it, but has anyone heard Liam Bryne to Hull?

Liam Byrne seems to be connected to every club, he won't be going anywhere.

We have definitely held talks (according to the HDM journlist) who fet his information straight from the club and rarley wrong these days.

We'd lose a lot of squad depth if Byrne, Cooper and Isa all leave. We'll probably bring in a second rower and give Harvie Hill a bigger role. Maybe Sam Walters will be used a little more in the front row.

Having said all that, there's been no confirmation that anyone's leaving aside from Hampshire. Fans have always assumed that Cooper and Isa will go as they'll be 36 next season but maybe there's a case to keep them if there are no clear alternatives. Cooper's been unlucky with head knocks this year and Isa's injury came about from a horrible tackle. I don't think there's any real evidence to say they wouldn't be real assets next year with some better luck on the injury front.

I noticed that Coops was with the playing group when the LLS was presented but he didn’t appear to be wearing club kit which I thought was strange.

i'm pretty sure the club announced earlier this year that Cooper and Isa werent being offered new deals for next season , and were free to speak to other clubs

front row we should be fine next season, as they are all still contracted for at least 1 season, so with Thompson, Havard, Dupree, Mago, Byrne, Hill, Chan, Eseh and Ellis (i know he's playing 13 at the minute)

2nd row we look a little light if we get injuries. Faz possibly in his last season in 2025, Junior and Walters, so we may look at someone to backup in the 2nd row if we have any cap available

Maybe that's why the club might let Byrne good, lots of depth at prop, not as much in the backrow.

Byrne might want more gametime too, going from a back up to be a regular at Hull, would probably get a 3 year deal on decent money too.

Probably won't happen, but there are possible reasons why Wigan and Byrne are thinking about it.

I've said for a while I think we need another second rower and could live with another prop going to help facilitate that. I'd probably rather that not be Byrne but he does need more minutes to help him progress and that is going to be difficult to come by here.

Chan the project doesn’t seem to be working so extremely hard at this point to see him as a long term prospect.
Eseh loaned out twice and couldn’t get a game at Hull. I had high hopes of him but maybe he’s been found out? Hopefully he can and will kick on in 2025 but he will need another prop to exit to open the door for him.
I heard from a source that is usually pretty reliable that Byrne was going to Huddersfield.
Don’t get me wrong as we are still in a very enviable position but that can change quickly due to injury or monetary pressures from clubs actively seeking rare resources i.e. quality prop forwards.