I doubt we will get McShane as we have got rid of a good hooker and already have Aiton, Wildie and Wood so thats a non starter for me. Murrell if we did sign he would offer cover in various positions but hes linked with every SL team from 8th to 14th so we will have to see on that one.

I dont think Wildie will be leaving after reading the story on the Wildcats website it mentions the following.....
"Ellis returns to Rovers after a loan spell earlier this year. He made ten appearances in the red, white and blue in his single season at the club, finding opportunities limited due to the excellent form of Paul Aiton and Kyle Wood.

With that duo plus the highly regarded, homegrown Matty Wildie in the ranks for 2013, plus Ellis’ desire to play more regular rugby at this stage of his career, the Wildcats have allowed the hooker to join neighbours Featherstone on a two-year deal.

Wildie has gained valuable first team experience at Batley Bulldogs during this campaign as well as catching the eye as part of the under 20′s Academy that reached the play-offs, and the man who was part of the Wildcats under 18′s Academy Grand Final winning side in 2009 will compete with Aiton and Wood in the hooker role, an area where the Wildcats are packed full of quality."

I would take that to mean we are keeping Wildie and Agar has intent on using him next year along with Aiton and Wood.

Don't see any point at all in getting rid of Ellis and signing McShane. And Murrell isn't a hooker at any level. Guess we will just go with Aiton, Wood & Wildie. Washbrook can cover there in an emergency as he did for Hull.

I would rather have seen Ellis getting regular game time with us next season, I rated him, but based on how this season turned out i'll put my faith in Agar.

Is there anybody on the planet, apart from Agar, who believes that Ellis "had limited opportunities due to the excellent form of Kyle Wood".


I'm not sure even Agar believes that spin!
What about the 24 games where Wood was abysmal?

For me Aiton, Wood and Ellis are all up to the job for us, but is having 3 decent hookers a luxury we can afford? I have every faith in Matty Wilde stepping in when needed providing adequate cover. He played a lot of first team rugby in 2011 and I thought he had the potential to kick on. This year he should get his chance and I don’t think he’ll let us down. He must have impressed the coaching team enough to have faith in him as back up. Use the money to strengthen elsewhere.

Just to clarify, I'm not saying Murrell is a hooker but he can and has done in the past, a job if required. In a similar fashion to Danny Washbrook. This is a 4th choice hooker we are talking not a starter.

Far too reasonable for some people on here.

Got to be more to Ellis going than meets the eye. Hooker is a crucial position and Ellis proved that he was the best hooker at the club, he got our forwards on the front foot, his pass was fantastic ( like watching Brad Drew ) , he moved forward engaging defenders before passing, he gets passed the markers running straight and got us quick plays. He was the answer. Aiton is just not a hooker, his pass is slow, he just passes rather than moving forward and passing, he runs sideways, he is a great tackler but you need more than that from your hooker. We won games when Ellis played, our forwards looked good when Ellis played, Tim Smith looked great when Ellis played. Tim Smith was average playing with Aiton and our forward were often second best. Four hookers is to many to have in the squad, I would have played Ellis with Wildie as his back up, Wood would be my cover for injury. I just don`t know about Aiton , Impact back row sub.

At last belly someone who can put 2 and 2 and come up with 4.Andy was by far the best hooker at the club, and the play the ball area improved 100%
A BIG LOSS IN MY VIEW

What do you mean at last, there's a fair few people on this thread lamenting his departure.

I don't think this reflects too badly on Andy Ellis.
The club has a limited budget below the salary cap. Tough decisions have to be made to build the strongest squad possible within that budget.
Players are valued on their contribution in relation to cost.
I have no idea about individual salaries, but I would suggest Aiton and Ellis were on more than Wood and certainly Wildie.
So say Aiton and Ellis cost 3 salary cap points, Wood 2 and Wildie 1.
We need a starting hooker, replacement and back-up. What's the most efficient way of having this. Maybe fans would like Aiton, Ellis and Wood, but that would be 8 points and without injuries, one of them wouldn't play. As it is Aiton, Wood and Wildie would only be 6 points, leaving 2 points to be used elsewhere in the squad.
If other clubs have 100 salary cap points, we only have 80. If we use up points on back-up players, it reduces the amount spent on the first team squad. The loss of under 20s rugby will drastically reduce the number of back-up players.
To me the right combination is to have one established player, one almost there and one developing. Two established players would be a luxury for a club on limited salary cap. The decision then lies between Aiton or Ellis and that's down to coach's preference.
Good luck to Andy Ellis. He is a good SL standard 'hooker'. Suprising that he's gone to Fev, but they are very ambitious at the moment and maybe they made the best offer.