Think that's probably how it works at most clubs, had the same argument on our board.

That's not what I'm saying.

Morgan has spent 5 years building a well-drilled side of non-marquee players and a great reputation off the back of it. Mason is a marquee signing. In my opinion, which I am entitled to, Mason and the cash he requires, would not have been a recruitment priority of Morgan when you already have Newton, Galea, Murrell, Cook, Watts and Taylor to play in the back 3 but, for example, your hooking options are Fisher and Hodgson. Club representatives have spoken a lot about Mason in the context of box office and merchandise. It's not an outrageous suggestion that, given the squad composition before Mason signed, Mason would not have been Morgan's dream signing.

Fair enough,I wasn`t having a pop.

Think most fans if they are honest wouldn`t mind Mason playing for their club.
Not saying it is going to happen,but even the biggest names don`t always gel at a certain club.
Different game I know,but I remember Garry Birtles scoring for fun at Forest,went to Man U and couldn`t score in a brothel.
Mason is a talking point with fans,which can only be a plus for Rovers.
As for the derby,"The answer my friend,is blowing in the wind."

Hopefully Mason will come good, but whilst we perform like this, the question of whether he was signed at the expense of 2, maybe 3 less 'glamorous' players that might have provided some valuable squad depth, will always crop up.

Have to admit it seems strange we pay the likes of Mason and Clinton so much, yet we haven't got a single player who can even 'do a job' if our number 7 gets injured.

That's fair enough, but I think the signings we made were logical from a purely rugby perspective. We were well drilled, but also predictable and a bit one-paced. Green's arrival would give us new options alongside Dobson, while Mason would add size, energy and aggression to the (sometimes lightweight) efficiency of our existing pack. Hall would create more options in the back 5.

Unfortunately Green only played twice alongside Dobson - when things looked okay-ish. Turns out that we can't cope very well without arguably our best and certainly most pivotal player. That reliance on one player is a weakness and one Rovers are clearly suffering from now.
I'm not quite sure why the pack no longer looks well drilled. But you need to be doing the basics right before you can add the spectacular, so I don't think Mason's muted performances are a major concern in isolation. The slow/stationary defensive line and lack of basic go-forward could/will be a major problem even when Dobson returns.

It hasn't really been an option for Rovers to do that. The 8 club-trained players rule means buying in that extra depth (and presumably pushing another youngster or two out of the top 25 earners) isn't an option. Clubs of longer SL standing tend to have more quality-experienced-expensive club-trained players, so have more of a choice in structuring their squad.

Agree with that. Mason will come very good IMO. Rovers biggest concern ATM aside from Dobson (who will be back shortly anyway) is that the only miss in the front row is Vella and this is where you're getting caught short. What happened to Wheeldon - is he injured? By all accounts he was very good in the games he played in. Are the 4 selected in front of him better?

If all of our forwards played with the vigour of Scott Taylor then our problems would disappear overnight. In fairness though i thought Joel Clinton was good last night.

Wheeldon has looked quite good from what I've seen this season - but not to the point that his replacement of Clinton, Netherton, Watts or Lovegrove would turn the tide. The pack has, in the past, won contests up front as a unit, they are now getting beat as a group. I think it is more strutctural than swapping bodies can solve.

=#FF0000As you said yourself this is thread drift so we won't go there-RW

Not that old chestnut.


Rovers by choice chose not to invest in thier youth structure when in NL1 so it's no good bleating about the club trained rules now. Clubs such a Cas,Huddersfield,Salford and newly promoted Widnes made sure their YD program was every bit as much thought of in NL1 as it was in SL.

Rovers club trained problems are self inflicted.


Rovers club trained problem is self inflicted.