He has been rewarded with a new deal and now just has o wait for his chances. Personally i am made up to see topics like this when all through the pre season people were concerned we wouldnt hav a pack at all!!

Thats a very good point. I was one who thought that we had lost too much in the pack. Just shows how little we know...... Or how the standard of SL has slipped...


Just thought i would stir it a bit at the end there..

At one point earlier in the season then especially against Wakey I thought our young lads in the pack were starting to get bullied.
They won't now Lauaki's back and most certainly won't when Andy Powell is on the field.
As far as I'm concerned Lauaki and Powell should be interchaged. Just to let the opposition know that if at any time they start giving our young lads some grief it will be nothing like the grief they'll get back in return.
We've had a fair few belted this year and that didn't happen when we had Gaz Hock out there. He isn't coming back anytime soon so someone else needs to be out in the middle.

Lauaki doesn't strike me as a player who intimidates the opposition or as some sort of enforcer type in the Hock mould. Now Micky Mac is a player I doubt any opposition player of any size would want to argue with. Powell has a reputation of being a hard man but we will have to see if he's any good and if it translates over to RL before we pencil him in as an enforcer.

Why props are out of contract this year? Apart from Mossop leaving I am not sure who is. Lauki has another year to go. Dudson? Flower? Prescott?

No way is Lauaki an enforcer. McIlorum's our man if things get tasty. I'm sure Hansen and Lockers can handle themselves too

I don't get the opinion that we need a fighter in the pack that will look after the kids. I say that because I believe this season, more then any other recent seasons we've really stuck up for ourselves and our pack is yet to get trampled by anyone, including Wire for a change.

I want props that tackle hard and run hard that ideally have good discipline and keep errors to a minimum. If they can't fight it doesn't really concern me.

Also as pointed out if we need this enforcer type Micky Mac does that job just fine. He has that intimidation factor and that will only increase with experience and as the old guard like Morley and Peacock retire. You only needed to watch him and also Hansen at HKR after the hit on Green to realise we're not short on that score.

i think what people mean about lauaki is he certainly has the size to throw about, and doesnt necessarily go down easily compared to the smaller forwards weve played like burke and flower. not to say they arent aggressive and go down easily, but size and presence is always going to be a bonus.

And Mossop, as we saw at the Magic last year. Sugar Ray Mossop!

Obviously size in a prop/forward matters, but the days of slamm’n Sam Backo IMO are over, they only survive now on the dark-side, in union. Our game has matured and learned the best kind of prop is a large but more muscly and less lardy type. A true athlete with stamina and a brain, who can channel his aggression into performance, and not just relying on his fists to make a point. Being a knuckle head gets you nowhere nowadays, ask Hock, on second thoughts, don’t bother.

Intimidation is a massive part of forward play in RL and always has been. Just ask anyone who's played in a pack at the top level.
Lauaki has changed since joining Wigan in that he's had to become more disciplined. He still puts in some big strong tackles and goes for the opposition's big men.
The Wakefield prop who belted Faz would not have done anything like that with Gaz Hock. The mere sight of Gaz would have stopped him.
Faz is Hock's sucessor and he got belted big time. That's what I'm on about.
A couple of Wakey players belted Greg Burke, does anyone seriously believe they'd have done that to Andy Powell? The man's 6'5", 18st and as a Union fan wrote a "complete nut job".
We need that type of player to stop what's been going on.
We didn't lose Faz and Burke but we lost Matty Smith and Blake Green through being taken out by the opposition.
Lauaki and Powell are just the type of men to put a stop to it. That's no doubt why both where signed.

Given Powell's reputation he might be as you describe but we will have to wait and see. Lauki isn't remotely like that. He's big but just as likely to get a smack as a young player IMO. What have you seen that makes you think any opposition player is afraid of him as they are Hock? I have seen Lauaki flailing about when tackled but it's all show. I haven't seen him square up to anyone that suggests other players will back off in future.

Exactly, Rob Burrow wouldn't give Hock a crack!

Think Wane has it spot on.

We don't want to burn out the youngsters. Greg Burke will be a great player in time but he is very young for a forward. Let him rest, bulk up and gain experience when it is needed.

Re DaveO's comment about Lauki. I got the impression that against Salford their No 12 (Dixon) had been putting about a bit. A quick slap and a few words from Lauki seemed to quiet him down. This left me with the feeling that Lauki was a good man to have around when things turned nasty.

What difference did it make in that Wakey game though? We won comfortably playing poorly.

As for the opinion that it wouldn't have happened with Hock around I can't agree. It didn't stop Mengennis's cheap shot last year or umpteen attack on Sam Tomkins. It also didn't stop Dickens taking out Hansen when we played Fev. These type of isolated incidents will always go on regardless of you having one nutter.

What I believe you need is a collective pack of forwards and for that matter backs that will stand up for each other. They need to know that each and every player has their back and vice versa. We have that IMO as proved by the Blake Green incident last week. The team visibally lifted after that incident and the intensity went through the roof. Hull KR stuck with us for a bit but faded under the pressure.

Hock wouldn't have stopped Paterson doing that in the first place and after the event would probably have got himself red carded. The game is too fast nowadays for the type of intimidation tactics you mention IMO.

All that's before even getting on to Lauaki in no way, shape or form being an intimidating enforcer or that Powell should concentrate on learning to play rugby league before throwing his weight around.