Holmes isn't a bad player but not what we need right now. He's in the 30 club and we need younger legs in that back row.
Shame the appointment of the new coach came too late to save two of our younger members of the pack. If they knew Mash was getting the top job......they wouldn't have moved on.

Speculation

I doubt that very much

Not true.

Very little on here is, but you have to admire the conviction with which it’s said. I think some are so deluded they actually believe it themselves.

Alway best to start with IMO, in my opinion.

The rest of us would also add an H.

Lisone although I don’t know much about him seems like a impact bench player from the few highlights.

Seems to run it in hard and do some relatively short stints though his tackle % success is quite high so appears he can defend. If that’s what Mash is after then he will probably go well.

If he’s after a Dave type player who can do 50-60 a game when required and offer an offload game then it may not be what we are looking for. (Admittedly this is from the very few stats and short video/a I saw).

Wouldn’t surprise me if we were looking at 2 props and a second row or loose having 3 quota spots free we have that flexibility. There’s likely many conversations going on,

Regarding Shaul I believe we won 2 with him at full back but we also won 2 with Jowitt and still looked impressive. I think it was to do more with a combined effort of the team who found something to motivate them all rather than the full back.

Both Shaul and Jowitt looked good in their 2/3 games each at back end but the team was on the front foot and playing some good stuff in attack and defence.

Shaul certainly wasn’t one of the main reasons. I believe Miller and in general the players had a shift in motivations and effort across the board.

That’s not to say Shaul wasn’t good. He was good for us. But Mac was also good back end and I’d rather invest in another area first loose/second row or prop then see if we’ve anything left for a Shaul.

I’ll happily support Shaul or Jowitt and both are good. Jowitt is the future though and I suppose we will see as signings are announced.

Much like a GK in football, if they're a bit shaky the whole team look jittery. Whilst he did well when he played, he looks very suspect under a bomb, and it put us off against Catalans when he dropped that early ball. Jowitt, I don't believe I have ever seen him drop one. No matter the pressure or kick, or indeed weather, he taking most of those.

You are right about Max. He inspires confidence when taking a high kick.
However, for me, he doesn't inspire confidence when managing the defensive line. It's his only flaw really but its a big one.
Shaul is great at managing he defense. That's why he's valuable.