Which OOC Scrum half should we have signed then?

And to be honest I would trust the numbers coming out of Aus to be that accurate. He'll our top earner for sure, but he potentially could be our best player as well.

Unless there are skills from Deacon that most are unaware of, such as coaching qualifications or Mr.Deacon is a very articulate intellectual.

This is a poor move.

As a player, he was average in his prime and suffered some truly appalling injuries, that must have shocked his system.

I hope I am proved wrong, but I can't help feeling it's another 'on the cheap' and 'on the hoof' decision.

We need a rough and tough prop as of a few seasons ago, not another half back.

he was very good in his prime

And following your model, what do we do if either Tomkins or Leuleuia, or maybe both, suffer season-ending injuries in the first month?

Would that be something you'd be prepared to gamble on?

We currently have five prop forwards, seven if you count Davies and Mossop. At a push, you could put Riddell in there, which gives us eight.

Contastingly, we have TWO halfbacks, as most observors seem to think that Mellor is still too young.

Not only do we need cover in the halves, I'd call it criminal negligence if we ignored such a need.

And I still can't see who this prop would be, especially not on the money Deacs will be on.

I think the chances are we'll be waiting another 12 months for a new prop forward which is again a blow as we've all been saying we need one for 2 or 3 years now but if the right ones aren't available this year what can we do.

By all accounts next year props available include-

Fui Fui Moi Moi
Luke Bailey
Carl Webb
Louie Mcarthy-Scarsbrook

If they all move onto superleague clubs and we don't get any of them then big big questions need to be asked about the prop situation. We should have stacks of cash available with Coley, Feka and especially Fielden being off contract. I can only really see Feka being kept on 'if' he shapes up.

I now think we've reached the stage where we need to see how our existing resources respond to the new coaching regime, rather than harp on endlessly about buying a new prop.

Some people (me included - I've done it as well), are starting to talk as if this new prop will be some kind of magic bullet, and yet the reality is that we've now got seven props on our books (three of whom have international credentials).

I think we're getting a bit irrational. If we released Coley, Feka and Fielden all at the same time, we could be in big trouble. We'd need to sign two new props, maybe three - and then we'd be in the situation of having yet again made wholesale changes that might not work out.

I'm not sure why IL didn't move for a prop before (apart from his being warned off the Aussies he went to look at by Bennett etc), but possibly he's now imposed a moratorium on major new signings until MM has had a chance to work with what we've already got. Just to see Feka and Fielden restored to their previous form would transform our team beyond all recognition.

On the playing front I cannot see why Deacon for a year isn't a good move.

No matter how much we worship the ground Tomkins and McIlroum walk on, they are young and inexperienced.

They are definately good enough, but if we should be prepared in case either/both need to be pulled out the team for a few weeks.

Players with the earning potential of Orfordare not not going to come for that kind of role. And Deacon has shown time and time again he's a very adequate half, as well as the key to making Bradford tick.

I'm actually pretty excited by what Feka and Fielden can offer this year. I think both will have big years because of the fact they're off contract at the end of the year but i just get the feeling we'll have abit of a prop overhaul at the end of the year. I don't see Fielden staying on whatever happens because i feel he'll want to move back to Yorkshire and I can see Coley moving on aswell.

I suppose though we all need to concenrate on 2010 and stop getting a year ahead of oursleves. Tony Smith hasn't ever spoke much sense but he made a cracking point about the Wire fans always looking a year ahead when they were in the middle of a current season. He said they should just enjoy that year and the prospects it brings....................thats exactly what we all should be doing. We've not even got into 2010 yet and we still look ahead to 2011(me more then most).

Even with our current squad 2010 has the potential to be a cracking year.

I agree. But for what it's worth, I've been told that Coley also turned in for pre-season training a week early and has so far been working his socks off.

Some would say 'about time', and I'm not unsympathetic to that view. I don't think we've ever seen the best of this lad in cherry and white. Maybe he will also surprise a few of us this year.

I've always like Coley and tbf he gets a hard time on here even tho he was easily the best prop we had for a long period of last season!

I agree, I think we'll see far far more from our pack next year. It's interesting that people also are so sure we need an 'enforcer' prop, when in reality most teams don't have one of those, including some tremendously successful teams like the Storm.

How did we go on last season without Deacon ?

We had Smith for much of the season.