On the Lino rumour, when Luke Gale announced he was retiring at the end of the season, he mentioned that next year it'll be Lino and Russell playing for us in the halves and he also had some nice things to say about Russell as a player and a person, which was good to hear.

After Cas not getting anything like the best out of Miller, I'd be very surprised if they went down a similar root again. They haven't seen anything like the form Milky had for us from 2016 until around those covid years

Totally agree. We've gone this year with effectively 2 halves and young Lawford and struggled. Next season you need depth in the squad because there will be injuries and 3 halves surely is the way to go.

The Lino rumour has gone on for a few months now regarding him leaving, and this has surfaced again on the cas fourm and cans fans on twitter....

The only reason to let Lino go is to clear a quota spot for what I assume would be a better Aussie HB.

Whether it’s Lino, Russell and Trueman or New Aussie, Russell and Trueman, I’d be reasonably ok with either. As I’ve never been a Lino fan I’d prefer the latter assuming he will be a much better player, but I can live with Lino.

We have Jowitt in an emergency and I’m told Powell has high hopes for the Reserve/Academy SH. On the flip side I’m also told he’s not overly sure on Lawford making it, but we will see.


For me three experienced HB is a good position to be in and we arnt even in SL yet!

Lingard says there's nothing in it.

I can't say I've ever seen Lino do anything massively impressive, I rated his performance against Warrington in the cup last year where he stood out but across a three year stretch it's no accolade.

However I am fairly excited to see him against SL opposition with presumably an improved and less injury riddled pack versus what we've had previously. You can see he's eager to run the ball and throw the little goose step, get a proper organiser with him in the halves and let's see what he can do.

That said I don't see Russell or Trueman as those types of halfback.

There hasn’t been anything in it for months and the numerous times it’s surfaced. Not sure why it’s go more traction this time.

I’m not a Lino fan. He’s good at this level but he’s not SL standard. I’ll be blunt about that. But so long as he’s a trinity player I hope he puts in some good performances and will continue to wish him success. He’s not short of effort at least.

Not much going for us then Timmy

Just to be clear as I don't know if you actually listened to his interview on the radio or just took a sentence from love rugby league, basically said he didn't know if there was someone at the club speaking with him but its the first he'd heard of it, some bloke called Danny at Cas lines up there signings. I would assume though that Lingard would be part of those conversations, especially with a HB, it would be worrying if not.

I was told a couple of months back that we were shopping a player around and he was on his way to Cas next year, I thought that was Lino, maybe they were initially interested but nothing comes of it or maybe our plans changed, who knows.

Lino was given a three year contract and throughout his time he has never had to worry about his place in the team as we have never had more than two credible halves. If he is with us next season he will be under pressure to retain his place. Plus if he plays he will also have a good half alongside him who may help improve his game. Therefore I am happy to wait and see what he can do next season.

Can't resist fighting Lino's corner - though I'm not going to do a very good job of it. Lino's a confidence player, which I don't like. You can't really afford to carry a half who's only on when he's on, and loses his head when you're down. But that can be coached out of players - Tony Smith has made a career of it. Lino has weaknesses in his game - his pass selection being the obvious one. And that's also crucial, especially in tight games. But it's also really noticeable, which is why I think he's a much better rounded half than people seem to give him credit.

He'd be horrible to defend against on your line - he's unpredictable (for better and for worse), can tie you up, get on your outside shoulder, make you commit to the tackle and then put it on a plate for a wide runner. His short kicking game is very good. His long kicking game decent too. He's good in broken field, backs up, and his defence is way above average for a half back. Before last year - when we were pure tripe all over the field - when he played well we usually won.

I actually think him and Gale are an excellent pairing - one dominant play caller, one more elusive runner. Russell will fill Gale's role - he hasn't had enough chance to prove it, but he's a general with a decent kicking game, much like Trueman if he comes (who I think is a superb player). Neither of them are game breakers, and for me we need someone who is. For now, much like Walmsley on the wing, I'd like to see how Lino goes next year. And if he's not up to it, we go back in for a better version of him.

If we do bring in Trueman too it's going to be a bit weird. There's no way Trueman would come to Wakefield to be rotated. And it sounds like Russell has been given assurances about kicking on and commanding a team. So if it's true, I guess Lino's on the bench or fighting for his spot.

Onto other business, most fans will know it's transfer deadline day tomorrow. Bower's written a great little article on LoveRugbyLeague, clearing up a few things. Namely you can't make any more loan deals after the deadline, and you can't send players out on dual reg unless they've already played 4 games for their partner club this season. I know that doesn't affect us, more thinking about our competitors.

So where does that leave us? Any signings you're expecting to see announced? Anywhere you'd like to see our squad strengthened with a loan? And if so, who?

Has Storton been formally announced? Any truth in the Matty Russell chat? If Lino or Gale get injured before the end of the season, is it officially Max to 7 and Walkmsley to 1? Interested in your thoughts.

Thank you for your input Mrs Lino!

Apart from the odd game, I've not rated him since he came here. No where near SL quality in my opinion, especially if we're aiming for top six or even top eight. I don't think he'd be a bad option as a third choice half to cover injuries, but it'd a waste of a quota spot if we did.

Haha I knew that was coming. Let me guess - "bring back Rocky"?

For his entire Wakefield career, Lino has been saddled with being partnered with Miller's headless chicken act so my main concern with Lino is that he didn't push Miller aside and take control as a dominant half. This season should have shown us what Lino is capable of but he seems to have some chronic conditions that need to be cleared up or shipped out. The clock is ticking on his opportunities to impress that he can do the job required of him.