Ellis won't be missing out. If he's fit and it's a big game, he'll be playing. Easily our best prop and one of the 1st 5 names on the team sheet imo.

Announced now with a decent write up.

Really came into his own this year, took on a lot of the burden with our injuries, if only he was as big as Matautia.

Spot on. I think there plenty of room for improvement yet as well. I think he’s the most underrated player in Superleague going off this past 12 months. In the GF, I think it was Phil Clarke who said his form had been ‘up and down’ but other than missing games, his form has just been up and up.

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Sione Matautia = 6'2" 16st 4 (from Sts website)

Kaide Ellis = 6'3" 16st 6 (from Wigan website before they stopped putting those stats on)

PS Apologies if you were joking.

Yeah I rate Ellis highly too and agree that overall he was our best prop over the season.

Puts himself about and obviously a physically fit lad. Personally I don’t mind his disciplinary record as long as he isn’t retaliating to verbals.
Havard, quite rightly, gets the plaudits because of his age and his exceptionally high level of fitness however, he’s had a few injury issues which hopefully are not going to effectively his game longer term.
Byrne for me still has the most potential. At times for me unjustified criticism has tainted his progression and I always enjoy it when he’s pitched against Walmsley when I think we see the “real” Liam Byrne.
A long long time since we had so much potential in our front row and that’s before our recent recruits.

Byrne just needs to find his top gear a bit more often and if he can do that, he could be extremely good. His form for about 6 weeks prior to his injury was pretty special, so we just need to see a bit more of that going forward. It looks like Smithies will leave, so Byrne would be my man to help support Brad O’Neill in being the leaders of our aggression and line speed at the start of games.

I'm a big, big fan of Byrne and have been for a while. He's only recently turned 24 so loads of time for him to really reach his potential & sort out any consistency stuff.

I've said before that, if we let him go to a Salford etc then a Leeds, Wire or even Saints will be snapping him up in a couple of years time.

I really hope he stays and smashes it for us.

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I assumed it must be. Apologies

Would be criminal to move Ellis to 13. Having props who can do big minutes is a massive bonus, which him & Havard can both do. Opens your options for proper impact props up, and means if you're blooding the younger lads there's no pressure for them to be doing anything more than 30 mins.

A good point re Smithies leaving. I think that Byrne is actually at his best leading the defensive line per my earlier comment re Byrne on Walmsley. I don’t think that Byrne is better with the ball in hand than Walmsley but his aggression in defence can nullify someone like Walmsley.
As you say his form prior to his injury and importantly after a brief break was what I think he is capable of most weeks.
With the new additions to the squad this will put pressures on Byrne to maintain his position in the 17 but I’m quietly confident that he will respond well to the challenge.

I would be very disappointed if he did depart. If he did become available like you say there would be plenty of teams chasing his signature.
I’m hoping that in 2024 we will see a more mature and consistent Byrne which will put pressure on the club to retain him with improved terms.

I’m hoping that competition will really drive him as well. He’s a nailed on starter for me ‘if’ he plays in a similar way to how he was playing in that latter period of the season. He was absolutely smashing people all over the show and that’s ideal to set the tone. As things stand with the squad currently (and assuming Smithies departs), I’d be looking at starting Byrne and Ellis and bringing Dupree and Havard from the bench, with Thompson at loose forward. To think that leaves Mago, Cooper, Hill, Chan and Eseh in the stands is pretty amazing.

I keep seeing fans’ teams for next year on Twitter and they have Ellis missing out, I don’t see where they get it from, I do agree that he was our best prop in 2023. He’s the most underrated prop in the league, a few decisions in the disciplinary don’t go his way at times but we’ve had that for a number of years with Isa. Played just under an hour in the GF and played the first 36 mins, that’s some effort.