Ah fair enough, was the writing in the wall then? I couldn't get over the pennines in time for that one so watched on TV. I do remember he got a squad number in 05 so it can't have been properly confirmed by the time of that Leeds game. I remember Ryan Bailey causing us massive problems in that game

Go on I'll bite...

Just to put your comment into context, LMS and Amor will be 4th and 5th choice props next season. Only 1 of them would be in our strongest 17 on paper. If these two were our headline retentions/signings I would be worried but they aren't.

We are also keeping Knowles, Lees and Bentley, whilst already having the best prop in the competition and adding 3 NRL regulars to boost the pack as well. I think on the whole we are very strong in that department.

No denying your squad for 2021 is looking very good. Retaining French is better business than any signing that will be made for 2021 by any SL club and obviously we all know what Bateman will bring. Lots of excitement over Field which I understand to a point given his comparisons in some quarters to French and his raw speed, however I think he is in danger of being over hyped slightly. He's played 17 games in 4 years so he's hardly the proven article. He *could turn out to be as good as French or he could turn out to be a bit of a dud. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Leuluai/Smith next year and if you will put Field straight in at 6 alongside Hastings.

Overall though your backline is frightening on paper and if they all click then you lot are in for some fun next year. I do think though that barring any other signings from you lot (please not Thompson) our pack is still the stronger of the two. There'll probably be two contrasting styles on show again next year I imagine with Wigan being much easier on the eye than Saints no doubt. We will continue to try and dominate and bully teams up the middle and more often than not we will be able to do that. Personally I think our weak spot is the lack of that little bit of magic, which you have in French. When we can't run over the top of teams struggle a bit and that's why I would personally chuck Dodd in as starting 7 next year over Fages.

Overall Saints and Wigan are looking at being the top 2 again for next year at this stage and it should be a great battle. Plenty to go at this year yet though of course...

Don't think anyone on here would argue that last year especially with Holbrook, Thompson, Roby and Walmsley Saints were a million miles in front of us, last time we played them all that was left was Roby and if it weren't for a one on one miss from Isa it would've been a nilling.
If we meet them again the key will be controlling Walmsley, we certainly shouldn't have an inferiority complex about playing them anymore.
As for next season I don't really follow the NRL so I've no idea if Saints new forwards are up to anything but if we can consistently keep Bullock/Singleton/Havard and one other on the field I think we'll be in pretty good shape.

I think YG's post highlights the one key hole in next year's squad - prop.

Whilst I think we've got some decent options in Bullock, Singleton, Havard & Partington, we're probably just missing one more consistent meter maker. It doesn't need to be a superstar, more a Kylie Leuluai, Mickey Para or Andy Coley type player and we'd be laughing.

Incredibly frustrating to think we've got Flower, Clubb & Burgess all taking up cap room. You could get one good player + change out of what we pay those guys.

On the flip side, Saints fans might interpret that game as being a Lomax mistake and a Leuluai forward pass off a draw

My point being you can throw a couple of ifs and buts into any game and the outcome changes. The fact of the matter is it was a very close game which had one score in it with 9 mins to go. Wigan were better on the night and deserved the win, BUT "if it weren't for a one on one miss from Isa it would've been a nilling" is stretching the truth somewhat surely haha.

I understand he generally plays with 8 or 10 on his back at club level (2nd row for Tonga). My point was more concerned with how he plays rather than where. He has a strong-running 2nd row approach with a good offload and reminds me of a BMM type rather than a metre making grafter like Walmsley. I'm not saying he isn't good, more that his game isn't suited to the Walmsley role which leaves you in a similar position to this year (especially with Woolfe still in charge). I think he and Walmsley could make a very effective partnership, as it goes.

As I said earlier, once you move past the starting 2, it becomes a lot less convincing that even your front row is 'better'. Lees is an unknown quantity. He has shown very little since his return. He may come good but it's not a given. Then we're into your 4th prop or, to put it another way, a prop that will play as often and for as many minutes as Walmsley and Paasi, and that, like it or not, is LMS or Amor. That's weak. If he was 5th/6th choice I'd take your point. However, he's essentially your Clubb; someone who will be playing far more than he should.

Roby has been a great. He's still excellent, but he's coming to the end of his career. End of next season, when the big games come around, he'll be a year older. As good as he is he's been no better than Powell this year (obviously you may disagree). Next year, who knows?

Where I would absolutely disagree though is on your contention that yours is better as a unit. You've had 'better' packs than us for years yet we've almost exclusively been able to bully you. We showed it again that, minus Walmsley, we were able to bully you. Next year we won't be starting with the same disadvantage as we have over the last decade or so. Even if you think you still shade it, I think you'd have to agree it's much closer than in recent seasons.

Add another top prop, which rumour suggests we are doing, and the balance would tip strongly in our favour.

I agree it's closer since we lost Thompson and you gained Singleton. But last year we beat you 4 times and all 4 times we absolutely destroyed your pack. In the semi final last year I think your starting props made less than 20m between them. I wouldn't be making a judgement based purely on our last meeting which a few people (not necessarily you) seem to be doing.

last year you had Holbrook

I was typing out my reasons why Saints aren’t what they were last year and why I see longer term cracks appearing but it was like an essay. This sums it up very neatly. He could go on to be the best coach in the game and he’s a huge loss. Saints are still favourites for the title IMO but they’re going to have some job on trying to keep their favourites tag as guys like Roby and Coote walk away, on the back of the exits of Thompson but in particular Holbrook already.

I know very very little of their new signings for 2021. I read about the place and they seem to be solid enough but an improvement on Thompson/Taia? I’d be amazed if they were and if you’re replacing players with ones not as good, you ain’t improving.

I think that’s a good point but I would counter with the fact out Props at the time were at both extremes of the career spectrum.

We have Flower and Clubb who are near the end of their careers and we have the rest of the lads who were relative novices.

This year the younger lads have gained more valuable experience and the older lads have been relied on less. We look to be moving on our ageing lads whilst Saints are signing them up for another year.

I don’t expect t us to win SL this year, I believe it is a year too soon for our young Props, as was highlighted in the semi against Leeds whose more experienced Props did a number on them, next year though I think they will be a match for most with a good off season behind them, another years experience.

Bullock is twice the player he was last year and getting better. Same for Powell and Partington. Last year we didn't have Havard or Singleton (and perhaps another prop still to come). Can you honestly point to a single area where your pack has improved compared to last year? That's before we even get to the seeming gulf in how they're performing under Woolfe compared to under Holbrook.

And of course Bateman wasn't here last year either...