Just read hetherington has just returned from Oz. So that rapira to leeds for sure I'd say.
Paea would have signed or be close to signing soon if he's gonna stay. He could get a gig in oz never mind in SL.

Paea is a must, I'd rather sign Whitehead and move Ellis up to prop. So if we are in SL ( which I think we will be, even in the middle 8's) and we sign Taylor, our props would be

Taylor
Ellis
Watts
Paea

A centre (or two) is a massive priority.

I agree with moving Ellis to prop. Him and Minichiello are both very good players but they aren't the type who will bust the line or create things too often. The top teams tend to have at least one more dynamic backrow who is important to the attack. Ellis runs strongly and tackles hard, but when was the last time you saw a real good piece of skill from him.

Ellis to prop and a second row in the mould of Whitehead would be ideal. The other option would be to sign two good centres (or maybe just one if Logan can step up) and use Sa in the backrow (if he ever strings two games together).

Just seen Saints are been linked with SKD, will should be going all out to sign him if he wants to come to SL, use our Roosters connections to help us.

Now that would be a signing.

For all the other ignoramuses like myself, who don’t easily get all this more and more common lazy abbreviated $h!t

SKD = Shaun Kenny-Dowall

Not sure if Sa will be with us next season.
In a recent interview on HFC live Radford seemed peed off with Sa bigtime regarding his injuries.
I agree two centres a priority for next season.
Think we should look for a loan deal now if anyone decent is available
Pity we don't have Ben Crooks now.Playing with Mini would have given him more confidence.We certainly need some flair and pace at centre as it looks like Yeaman cant do anything wrong in Radfords eyes yet has poor really poor last three games.

Am I right in thinking that we have first refusal to sign Crooks if and when he returns from the NRL? I'm sure I heard that in a Pearson interview or something.

I wonder if he could be tempted to come back next year if he hasn't broken through and Radford is gone?

Like it or not, a weak defensive centre will be exploited by the opposing halfbacks and back row forwards.

It's probably the easiest position to attack.

At the moment, it's a toss up between Yeaman, who can at least defend, and someone else, who may improve our attacking options, but may give the opposition an easy(ier) way through.

The difference this season Crooks would have had Mini in front of him.Yeaman also had the benefit of having Ellis with him for most games.
I thought Yeaman was OK first two games but the last three have been very poor and whilst he made the occasional good tackle he has also missed a few and dropped some easy ball.
If Radford was true to his word about dropping players who are not performing then Yeaman should not be playing tomorrow if Lineham is fit.

Sorry, don't agree one bit. Defence isn't an issue for us at all. We need to get some flair in the team and if that means we are a little less secure in defence then so be it.

Besides, Crooks defence hardly made him a liability did it? In 2013 he played 18 league games. In that time we shipped an average of 19.27 points per game. If you include cup games that drops further. That is almost identical to what we have done this season. Last season, as a whole, we shipped 21.7 points.

No coincidence that Lineham has been distinctly average since not having Crooks by his side

What don't you agree with? Dropping Yeaman is a defensive risk, I didn't say it wasn't worth taking, but it's a risk nevertheless.
And Crooks defence was the main reason he became a liability, or have I got that wrong as well?

If Sa was fit then it would be a much easier decision, but Talanoa is hardly going to add flair, Rankin isn't really a centre, and that leaves Logan, who might do ok, but it's a bit of a risk for his development, and for the team as a whole.

I'd rather sign shillington than rapira but seems he is heading to the dobbins.

When was the last time one of our management team went out to oz to speak to players and their agents?

I think you have, I don't think he was a liability, he just had a weakness that needed addressing, much like Yeaman has with his attacking play, but it's too late now.

I'd love us to sign Crooks back next year.