WP hasn’t made that many signings tbh but the ones he’s done seem good.

The one that sticks out for me is Hall. His signing upset a few and actually I got there point. However you’d be pretty mean spirited to not accept that Hall looks like one of the most natural young centres in the game.

Probably not season ready for SL yet but he’s far more advanced than I expected. I can easily see him pushing hard in 2023 which I wasn’t expecting tbh.

There is a way to go for Hall so no guarantees but on what we’ve seen so far a genuine prospect who with the right attitude could go all the way.

What it confirms to me is that although coaches make mistakes with players they still do way better than any of us.

Also note that on the team sheet on the website Whitbread is a Prop which again puts pay to the debate on here. No secondary role like some players have, not a LF just a prop as we were told.

I agree regarding Hall, he's a class prospect .
I was one who felt we were light at prop, the way that Fev steamrollered us, but who knows when the firmer pitches come and the warmer weather, the big props often can't cope as well and aren't as mobile.
We've had big props before and that hasn't always worked for us.
I remember years ago Fev had a prop called Vince Farrar who wasn't the biggest prop but had a heart like a lion. I would prefer that in my armament rather than a Jarrod Hickey.
Time will tell but our props certainly should be more mobile as summer comes on!

Agree on Hall and most of the post, but Its a bit far fetched to say because Whitbread has been put down as a prop on the website that he will just be a prop with no secondary role. Pitts is down as a second rower, yet he is our number 13 which would suggest Poaching at some point in the pre season looked at him as our best option at loose. I think his primary position is front row, but he has the best hands out of our pack for me and I think we will see him at LF more often than you think.

Squad numbers are just numbers these days, unlike the good old days, when you knew that players with 8 0r 10 on their back would be playing prop.
Whitbread should probably be playing LF but, we have plenty of options there.
Let's just see if WP can shuffle the deck and get us a few "W's", hopefully starting with the Hull game.

Not really, a number of players are down as multiple positions but not Whitbread. Not saying he won’t or can’t play LF I’m just saying that he’s primarily been signed as a prop imo.

Coaching is a results game. Unfortunately for WP he has a lot less to spend than the majority of teams in SL, although expectations obviously should match that too. I think we’ve done well with transfers, with all adding to the team for sure. The only signing I have question marks over is Hood, I’ve not seen much of him, though he seems a different type of hooker to Wood when I have seen him. Corey Hall is an astute signing, and until Tupou is back to full fitness it’s Hall’s position to lose for me.

I know at least one poster who used the signings comparison of Hall v Leilua as criticism of our club. Lets see how they develop.

Leilua can be a decent player... but he’s also prone to massive brain farts and often compounds with error on error.

Not seen much of Hood but from what I see I don't think he'll produce the darting runs that Woody used to do, but I'm prepared to see how he goes, probably a different type of player to Woody. Does he look a tad overweight, or is that how he always looks?
I completely agree re Hall, although Minns may be given a run first - who knows what WP thinks?

Tricky one, Minns has the experience but personally I feel like Hall has played himself into contention with his pre-season performances and the shirt is his to lose.
Like you say though, Willie may see it differently

Hall has probably earned the right I agree but I hope we are patient with him. With BT out I think he starts the season in the centre but is rotated and rested before he is over utilised. He looks a very good talent and both a natural athlete and wingers centre, however physically I think he has a little way to go (which at his age and stage of development generally goes without saying).

I hope he starts the year and the plan is to play 8-12 games across the course of the year whilst focusing away from the pitch on adding to his frame as he clearly could carry more weight with his build.

Similar in frame to a certain young Reece Lyne when he first came to trinity. Hall seems to have it all and I agree he only seems to lack that bit of physicality/muscle that comes with age. Looking forward to see him develop and I agree that he deserves to start the season. When he’s coming up against big units week in week out it will test him but I’m sure he will do good. I’ve also been impressed by Minns too though, he’s got his head down and looked good in pre season.

Am in my 70s now, have seen the good the bad and the damn right ugly. Always hoping for the best and never shocked at the worst. We are all hardened to it. I feel starting a season without props is nuts. Lacquer it any way you want but you would expect to be easily steam rollered by some teams. If DF is injured, we are in the poop. Not seen Lino yet and against Fev we were really shocking. The six unvaccinated will mean capitulation of the French games due to Covid rules, particularly if all are overseas players which we don’t know of course. I am a 100% glass half full person but this time have a negative feeling and want desperately to be 100% wrong. The Whitbread signing just seems plain daft to me. There had to have been a young prop looking to come over and cut his teeth in Super League. Playing people out of position is a massive gamble and often unsuccessful. There’s a bit of boom and bust about Fev and exactly the opposite from us. Maybe we will look at things again mid season. Vasty, I would love this re- posted to show I am completely wrong later in the season and I know there will be plus points like Hall (Craig still looks good by the way!) someone said a good big un will always beat a good little un. Against FC will be a barometer as they have a few missing. First time I have felt like this sadly. Sorry!

Whilst I do believe we are 1 prop light I don't think we really need to panic quite like the above would suggest.

Battye/Arona/Tangianoa/Whitbread/Fafita are all experiened senior prop forwards. We then have Aydin and Adebiyi as back up, both who have a number of senior appearances under their belts. The prop market has been very lean this offseason. Even the traditionally bigger teams have had to go a little left field to recruit n that department and to what is no doubt an inflated market in regards salary.

Trinity are a money ball side. We don't have the cash slushing around to pay over the odds for players. If we are to push up the table we need to get players in who provide more value than their cap value not less so paying over the odds really isn't an option.

We clearly are not going into the season with no props. We have a set of capable props and some with promise. The issue is we only really have one stand out prop, the others are all fairly similar in style and stature. We may well be waiting for a mid season move rather than panic and bring in the wrong type of person and player.

I think we are OK going into the season with the Prop options we have. In an ideal world we add some size later in the season when players become available on loan etc.

So you think you know better than Willie Poching?

Interesting.