Steve Southern is a good solid player no more no less, i think people on here expected him to be bursting through defences like Tony Williams and hit players like Sam Burgess. Not a prayer. How many games has he played prop againt players in excess of eighteen stone. He weighs about fifteen stone FFS.

And that is why our game is in the state it is..average player wont let you down but an overseas player over here taking the place of a homegrown / English player.

Southern is a grafter. His loss of form maybe due to having a newborn and him and his lass not having family to fall back on. But his wife was preggers when he signed he knew what he was involved and is well paid so hopefully things will settle down.

If he wants out of the club, id sooner him do it now rather than hang on for the rest of the season as thats not going to help anybody especially as hes the captain.Im not sure if the club knew his partner was pregnant or not when he signed for us but it appears to have certainly backfired plus maybe hes never fully recovered from his injuries? when he signed i expected him to be a hardhitting 2nd rower who could do the full 80 minutes as he used to get alot of game time with the cowboys in the nrl when he was there.

Where have all the drama queens suddenly come from.

He is a tough tackle and a decent ball carrier. He seems to the most driven so got the captains band when there was clearly no other option.

I've seen him play very well this year. We are battering him in the front row so won't get his best now but that's what we actually need as we ate lacking props.

One poor game and everybody starts moaning. They need more time....and more support from us than that.

Well said Pop Tart.
The guy needs to play second row and at least he put his hand up and had a go at prop, but thats not his position.
We shouldn't single out any individual player from Saturday, as we were poor from 1-17.
The Broncos showed what could be done with a very basic game plan with a decent kick on the last.
For me,we are lacking a midfield general. We struggle to make it to the last tackle and then if/when we do, we cant even finish the set off with
a decent kick, so there is no chance of building pressure.
The bizarre thing, is that we had played well for the last 3 weeks and then we had the worst performance of the season.

i for one would not single him out from saturday's game for any special attention. they were pretty much all awful from 1-17 as you say. for me the issue with southern is that we're paying him well, and he's just a straight up and down forward. surely we could have signed a british straight up and down forward? people do recognise that he's out of position, but i for one do not see an inspirational leader in him yet, perhaps this will come with game time if we ever get a prop. now ask me about aiton, he has captain written all over him at the moment.

if the rumours are true that he's not settled, then i doubt he'll see his contract out. it can be tough for people to be just tens of miles away from their support networks when they first have kids and not many thousands. i wouldn't be too surprised to see him complete the year then ask for a release.

Agreed poptart

The same was been said by certain people about Betham while he was here. He is now seen as a bit of a hero but I'm not sure if that is because of the 40+ tackles he used to make every week or the fact he tried to knock the tattooed freak out??

Maybe that's what you need to do on Friday Steve?

People are expecting the wrong things from Steve Southern. He's never been flash, just a respected work-horse with experience and a good attitude, which is why he was first candidate for captain.

As for the obsession with what people are getting paid, i just don't get it. Let's face it, whatever his salary is, he's hardly going to be retiring to a beach for his remaining years on the back of his WTW contract. I'm not party to what people are on, its unfair to speculate and ultimately i couldn't give a toss either.

Well said

Do we have a vice captain?

What role does he take?

Think it's kirmo, didn't he lead out players in london?

Can't see the issue with him being Captain either.

On the field, the playmakers are the ones that run the show, not necessarily the Captain. He is a club captain and seems to have the players with him.
On field, much like a Peacock, I just want him to lead by example and get the others going with him. At Widnes I was close enough to see him do that. At other games Smith has been the vocal one organising the team.
That is fine for me. The players shouldn't need shouting at to get some emotion. That is schoolboy stuff.

He is the captain when Southern is off the field?! It is apparent that Agar knew Southern was not a 80 minute man hence why he gave the vice captaincy to a player who would be on the field when Southern was off.

Call me traditional, stupid or narrow minded but I think a captain should be a forward or a play maker, as these players inspire the team with bone crunching tackles, barnstorming runs or a little bit of magic to get you on a front foot....this buoys the rest of the team up, from my experience anyway. Southern fits into this 'ideal' mold in my opinion as he makes the tackles, he does hit well and this will inspire his team mates.

Perhaps if RA used his brain a little bit, looked at the number on Southerns back and looked history of the games Southern has played he will play him in his favoured position and then we might see him enjoying his rugby a little more.

I concur.