Ellis is an out and out leader. The team play better with him on the field.

You only said it to continue your incessant negativity at the time,nobody with his NRL achievements and Green and Gold honours is average.

Quote dayvoz="dayvoz"You only said it to continue your incessant negativity at the time,nobody with his NRL achievements and Green and Gold honours is average.'" Could be wrong, but I don't think he's played for Aus? He has represented Italy though. Edit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Minichiello Played City v Country but that's as far as he got. Didn't realise he'd played hooker, now we know who can replace Danny if he were to get injured

Quote dayvoz="dayvoz"You only said it to continue your incessant negativity at the time,nobody with his NRL achievements and Green and Gold honours is average.'" Could be wrong, but I don't think he's played for Aus? He has represented Italy though. Edit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Minichiello Played City v Country but that's as far as he got. Didn't realise he'd played hooker, now we know who can replace Danny if he were to get injured

Sure you haven't confused him with his brother?

He's never worn the green and gold

I thought he'd had a short stint with West Hull

Mark has 260+ NRL appearances though and my original point of negativity still remains.

Mini has been superb this season following a great inaugural year in 2015, when he was our stand out player. Need him on the pitch longer - My concern is Frank the Tank, very poor on Sunday - too many penalties and ball given away - he owes the Club a big performance on Saturday against the Saints - from off the bench!
COYH

Yea, it seem bizarre to think The Tank has been probably the most disapounting out of this years crop of signings. That's not neccesarily because he's played bad. Its that Taylor, Washy,Fonua, Manu & Carlos have been so good. Credit has to go to Motu on that one. After the dross of signings we've had over the years it's very refreshing.

Our left edge was well covered on Sunday so can't blame Frank. Think some fans are suffering from highlights reel syndrome expecting him to bust through every tackle and create a try.

Up to his international break I felt Frank's performances were getting better and better as he settled in to the side and the team got used to his style of play. His stats are outstanding, in terms of his go forward and the quality of his defence (haven't checked lately, but prior to the Catalans home game I think he'd made 100 tackles in the previous 5 games with no misses). I think he's been a very good signing so far and, alongside Manu, Carlos and Fonua, will continue to improve as the season progresses. I suspect he is also a big influence on the team off the pitch, having the likes of Ellis, Frank and Minichiello around, as well as Taylor and Pryce, has surely had an impact on the culture and togetherness of the squad, which is the most notable change for me this season versus previous seasons. We have real leaders, a core nucleus of winners, that the whole team are feeding off. The challenge for Radford is how best to utilise both Frank and Minichiello, who is simply an outstanding player. Personally I'd start Frank and bring Mini off the bench, Mini's burst, power and lines are very difficult for tiring defences to stop, plus limiting his workload may prolong his career. But it's a great problem for Radford to have.

As to your point about the quality of our signings, completely agree. All have added significantly to the team, all work hard and all seem to be a great fit in terms of the squad dynamic. When you think that not only did our offseason net 6 excellent additions to the squad, we were also net £300k up cash wise, then that is simply outstanding business.

Like all years and all coaches we've signed good and bad, the signings under the last coach weren't that bad when you take into account the situation and the relative position we finished under a new coach despite severe injuries and not spending up to the cap.

Motu signed the likes of Tuson (destined for Wakey and a known injury risk at Wigan), Carvell to fill a supposed gap because he and Radford wouldn't trust in the youth and was absolute garbage, he also signed Stuart Howarth which was a ridiculous signing considering we already had Cunningham and LR was never likely to move away from using DH for 80 minutes. Motu Tony also signed the worst winger we've had in decades in Liam Colbon, instead of letting Lancaster get a chance (whom only got a chance through injuries and proved his worth with 8 tries in 4 games)
Also Sneyd was very very inconsistant last year, on the back of a big transfer fee it looked like a bad deal, he's turned his fortunes around on the back of a much better pack so that has worked out thank god and he is playing some outstanding rugby.
Fonua doesn't do enough for me, he's had a largely very average season and only a couple of games has he being 'good', his defence is sadly lacking at times. Pritchard considering the whack he is on isn't matching the superstar salary, that's not to say he's not being good but inconsistancy is his downfall. Minichello on balance is a far more effective and reliable player AND does a heck of a lot more minutes. For me Minichello is the pick of Motu tony's signings by a distance.