Wish it was, i'd back us to make GF this year

Fielden seems to be doing pretty well for the team at the top of SL. Gleeson is in and out form wise but is still at a decent age and Meli is a great finisher and a powerful runner.

Meli turns 32 in April.
Fielden 31 in September
Gleesons 31 in May

All IMO would be risks on 2 year deals.

Those ages look ideal for Hull FC (I am afraid to say)

Unfortunatley so.

I'm still hoping for LMS

"Last Man Standing" in our case?

the only one of those 3 i would want is Fielden due to props maturing later in their careers.

In terms of backs we should be looking at signing the 'next' Meli (ie similar style) in their early to mid twenties so we can form stable partnerships and don't have to make sweeping changes every 2 seasons

Can not see us signing Meli,Fielden or Gleeson !

But you'd make sweeping changes to 4 props, if we got fielden, within a pre season or 2?
Lee Radford 32 in march
Ewan Dowes 30 in march
Mark O'Meley 30 in may
Sam Moa 25 in june

Am I right in thinking you can only have 25 players earning over a certain amount? At the start of this season I believe we had used those 25 places so in order for someone to come in, someone has to leave.

Calderwood ?????
Raynor - Gone
Dowes - hints at an extension
Radford - all but confirmed as staying
Cusack - retiring
Hall - ?????

So thats definately 2 spaces, a winger and a prop. 2 more that are likely to re-sign (props) with 2 more (winger/centre) uncertain. Looks to me like we will see 4 new faces next season.

King as well

I think it's slighty changed robbo.

It's your top 25 earners have to be at £1.6m (£1.65m for us) max combined. It used to be the 20/20'but that's been scrapped.

Does that in effect mean you cant have more than 25 "First team" players though? Bloody rules change every 5 minutes these days

NEW SALARY CAP RULES FROM 2008

In 2008 engage Super League will operate under a new ‘real time’ salary cap system that will calculate a club’s salary cap position at the start of and throughout the season. The combined earnings of the Top 25 players must not exceed £1.6 million and clubs will only be allowed to sign a new player if they have room under the cap.
Clubs will also be allowed to spend a maximum of £50,000 on players outside the Top 25 earners who have made at least one first grade appearance for the club during the year.
Costs for players outside of the Top 25 earners who do not make a first team appearance will be unregulated. Any player who has played for the same Club for at least 10 consecutive seasons will have half their salary excluded from the Salary Cap for his eleventh and subsequent seasons. This is subject to a maximum of £50,000 for any one club.