Having read a few "rumours" on here about signing a half back i.e Carney, I am of the opinion we shouldn't go down that route, lets give Mellor the 7 shirt and give him a year to make it his own like Saints did with Lomax, another season out of the first team and playing under 20s rugby could push him away to another club. If it fails and he doesnt impress we have always got Tommy who can shift back to 7.

Thoughts?

Completely agree. We've got the talent there, it'd be daft not to use it. How long is he going to wait around, I was surprised he didn't get a run out this year to be fair.

sick of hearing this tbh

If its been mentioned in other threads I apoligise, but cant remember a "Joe Mellor" thread myself, cant really see the point in posting "sick of hearing this", if you dont like it, dont reply.

I'm sick of hearing about rugby.

I'm still unsure about Mellor. No wanting to be negative but I think he's lost a bit of "zip" since his knee injury. I guess time will tell.

Iv heard you say this before Brian, I havn't seen too much of him if im honest but what I have seen he looks as good as, if not better than Sam was at that age, is it just a bit of pace he has lost or has his all round game dropped since the injury??

I think you guys should give Mellor a shot at 6 next to Finch, not the best at controlling the game but works the fringes well, can't half spot a gap and has fantastic support play!

I'm sick of not having any announcements...

I reckon we should give Mellor a go, but giving him the number 7 shirt would be a huge risk IMO.

Unless we can sign a top class half-back (very unlikely in the current market) then I think giving Mellor a chance is probably the best option (maybe giving Deacon another year to act as cover/mentor). There must come a time when he is given a chance to see what he can do.

It may be a risk, but as I said, if it isn't working we still have options.

Surely that was inevitable though? He still plays with heavy strapping on his knee so I doubt it's 100% after the injury and only time will tell whether he regains that 'zip'. The strapping itself might cause some issues. From what I've seen the injury has led to him working more on other aspects of his game like his passing and kicking and I think that might actually be a benefit to him in the long run.

If were looking at replacing Deacon with a like for like either of the 2 youngsters could come in and produce similar displays IMO. We've seen Deacs play a very self disciplined role these past couple of Years which has basically involved him getting as much quick ball as possible to Sam and guys on the outside of him. His defence has been suspect at points and I believe both Mellor and Powell are good in that area.

There seems no better time to bring a young half in then now. They will come in to a side with a spine of 1-Tomkins 6-Finch 9-Leuluai and 13- O'Loughlin.

Try it in another 12 months and there's ever chance Finch and Leuluai may be gone.

I very much like the idea of Sam back I to the halves (despite being a massive fan of his at fullback) and Matty russell playing full back. That would give us great pace all over the pitch.

I'm also not against the idea of charnley to centre and king in on the wing. That back line would be very explosive, and with finch (taking on a much bigger role as a a leader) leading it round the park I would be happy.

Spot on NK. Lomax and Gaskell have shown what can be achieved with game time. I'm not saying he'll be as good as them (who knows, he could be better), but there's only one way to find out.