Motu Tony is a bigger loss to the club than we maybe realised at the time. Ellis isn't enjoying the role and all we've done is renewed existing players contracts. It is harder than ever to get experienced players from the Southern Hemisphere to join an SL club, so it was good to have Motu with his contacts and respect Down Under to unearth some gems like Talanoa, Fonua, Faraimo & Carlos. This years recruitment feels like we haven't look any further than our own dressing room.

Didnt take long for swear words to get involved,this board is improving.

As good as Ellis was he is not the only player to bring them qualities to a squad. We needed a big signing who was a leader and never got one.

Any suggestions?

Don't agree about masi think he us developing well, gevus hard to put down and him not getting out down is a real plus and something to work on, tough to compare him with Thompson as he is an outstanding player and could be one of the best props in the world, plus Masi hasn't been playing right that long compared to other props, so it might take him longer to develop.

I think Green is a decent player but is injured too often.

I don't think props are our major problem we make plenty of yards, we lack line breakers and our attacking plays are poor particularly in the red zone.

I'm not making excuses, our ball retention was absolutely appalling and we didn't deserve to win, however these players might be back from injury but they are far from match fit and it shows. Just confirms what I've been saying for years about the necessity for a reserve grade to give somewhere for players returning from injury to actually gain some match fitness.

… and confidence, you'll never know for sure your knee is 100% until you start playing for real, and the reserves is the obvious starting point - if you don't feel quite right then you can come off without risking making things worse.

Exactly. The reserves is so much more than just a youth team. It's somewhere for the regular first teamers to play if needed to gain match fitness. I'm massive advocate for it and really hope the rumours that are circling of a reserve grade being developed across the board are true.

Simon Mannering

I hear you

Lee can’t have it both ways though

Just like Trump claims the Stock market successes he then can’t disown the losses to come

Lee used to the excuse of unfit players returning as the reason
for the loss. So the following week surely he can’t fall into the trap of being so daft as to play players not fit etc

If he did then he’s stupid or unfit players are not really the reason and the low morale , confidence and missed tackles are down to his
coaching methods ??

He can’t use the same excuse 2 weeks running - surely

I don't think he used it as an excuse.
He actually said, after tha Wakey game that he 'Rolled the dice'.
I take that to mean he was gambling on not fully match fit players to have the experience, and guile to improve the team, more than several of the young players, who have all had too much game time this year.
We have a lot of players coming back from serious injuries, all of whom need game time.
Where else can they get that game time?

Granted if the morale is low there may be things he can do to improve that. Confidence and missed tackles are down to individuals.

And he's announced his retirement

Awaits calls for Steve McNamara.