I keep looking on the club website but have seen nothing yet.
Only announcement I have seen is on here!

not over the line yet, this is posted today www.totalrl.com/wakefield-set-to ... chael-sio/

not over the line yet, this is posted today www.totalrl.com/wakefield-set-to ... chael-sio/

Sums up the state of this club and the game of RL in general in this country - an utter disgrace.

I tried to make the point with Godinet but this one is even more blatant!

Right up until the 80's you could find a hard tackling hooker almost anywhere. Certainly in an area with a rich heritage like Wakefield and district.

Now I've no doubt Sio will be better than anything available now but you have to despair that an untried "bush player" is our best option - I know he played in the WC but that doesn't automatically make him a SL player - jeez us, Cas, Fev, Batley etc should be producing these kind of players every year.

This club and our game will never compete with the Aussies until the clubs learn how to train players and players start to treat the game seriously and start to aspire to be great again.

People like Neil Fox must despair when he see's how dependent we are on journeymen and not even local ones

Have to agree with Vast man. We should not be bringing average players half way round the world. Where are the Maskills the Skerretts and the Bells. If you believe the propaganda on Sky the game is better than ever and the rewards are there for top players so why aren't we producing players at least as good as Ryan and Godinet. At the moment there are only three Wakefield products playing in Super League that would get in most teams... ELLIS BROUGH AND WESTWOOD. and they are all at the back end of their careers. Not exactly a production line of talent.

Apparently Talipeau went on the play for Samoa in the world cup after he left us, so he can't have been that bad. Although I can hardly remember him playing

It's not really like for like though. In aus /nz rugby league or union is the number one sport

This is what the juniors dream of playing and representing their country at In the UK, the top athletes head toward football, rugby union , athletics,cricket Etc. rugby league is a long way down the list of potential career paths for talented sportsmen of the modern era .

Ha, what a character he was! I remember we were playing at Salford, had a slim lead and they had us under the cosh for what seems ages. I turned to my pal and said we need a fight here to stop Salford's momentum, up steps Talipeau throwing bombs (prob not bombs, more likely pushing and shoving) and we ended up winning.

Sorry but to me that’s just not right - the sports equivalent to business speak.

If we were talking about finding the next James Roby or Cameron Smith I’d agree. However we are talking about a run of the mill hard tackling No9 to tighten up the defence. I’m talink squad players, journeymen not star players. Thirty years ago these players were ten a penny around here and RL if anything was even further down the pecking order.

There is simply no excuse and those running the game and those coaching at all levels really need to take a long hard look at themselves.

Phil Gould summed up our problem when commenting on Ryan Atkinsons disastrous defensive performance against Australia. His fellow commentators where stating that Atkinsons couldn’t or wouldn’t tackle.

Gould responded by stating that the kid could tackle and was brave enough it was simply that he didn’t know how to play RL properly!

There lays our problem, young players spend far to much time bulking up in the gym and doing physical training, when IMHO any player under 18 shouldn’t be anywhere near a gym unless it’s in their own time. Training at that age should be based around skills, tag rugby and specialist positional training with a little bit of contact training at the end to keep them sharp.

If a player feels the need to bulk up I don’t blame them but it has to be off their own back - it’s like any form of apprenticeship/Qualification a lot of it has to be self motivation - you have to earn the right to be paid for pumping iron and you do that by learning your craft.

I thought we had signed a hard tackling no.9 and he goes by the name of Stuart Howarth?! I'm sure, actually quoting MC he said he would hopefully tighten up the middle in defence. I can't believe the club only opened negotiations with Sio after Howarth got injured on Sunday? So like we all know, McShane or Godinet will be probably leaving at some point.

I partly agree with that, but it's become a bit of an arms race - players are so bulked up and heavily muscled these days that those who aren't, are at an immediate disadvantage in the all-important ruck/collision area; a good big un will always beat a good little un!

On the subject of Sio - I also agree - it's a sad indictment of the parlous state of the club, and the game, that we have to fly this kid halfway round the world to plug a gap in the squad; and that strategy has hardly proved successful for us in recent years - for every Paul Aiton, there are half a dozen abject failures.

we had a decent hooker 2 seasons ago he couldnt get a game then agar got rid of him andy ellis

So true, I know my own son was victim to this - but there needs to be a way back in for physical late developers - he is now doing very well in Union which was the last thing either of us wanted. Also many (not all I know) of these South sea islanders in particular are born men which gives them a huge advantage and a real chance to work on their skill sets. However Aussies are fairly similar to us and seem to get it about right.

I really don't know the answer but I reckon by now we all know the question. Oh and I put about 99% of the blame on SL clubs/RFL and the rest on the occasional buffoon you come across in the junior game - but then at least the buffoon is doing it for free in his own time.

No we don't know that, you just think you do by adding 2+2 to make 5.

If Smith turns it round who knows, if he doesn't nobody will be staying.