Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 11:55 am  

Itchy Arsenal wrote:

Partington isn’t a prop

What position does Partington play then?

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 11:55 am  

dany1979 wrote:

How will it compare to the Saints pack next season? Have they brought anybody in?

recruited very well in their pack

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 11:59 am  

Tricky Dicky wrote:

Ah we also have Mitch Clarke who as yet is still at the club.

By eck Dicky scraping the bottom there
Although lauded as one of the most explosive forwards in SL he was a damp squib of limited ability and even lower fitness levels

There is no doubt that we have a high number of props unfortunately 3 of them just cannot do any minutes due to injuries or lack of fitness

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:08 pm  

dany1979 wrote:

How will it compare to the Saints pack next season? Have they brought anybody in?

A couple of NRL cast offs - a 28 year old prop with injury issues and a 32 year old second rower. Nothing to worry about in terms of signings, I'd expect them to be similar to last year, maybe a little worse as they don't have Graham's leadership, and the emotion associated with trying to get him a medal. Some of it depends whether those two guys are over for a retirement holiday or not.

I'd expect us to be a bit better than last year given that our youngsters will all be a year older, not sure losing Lockers' influence will hurt us too much as we're well used to not having him already. Ideally I'd like to strengthen the pack but I don't see how people have us as not good enough to win trophies with the same pack that just got as close as you can get to winning the Grand Final.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:09 pm  

Grimmy wrote:

What position does Partington play then?

A tackler. A good one too but makes zero yardage even against teams out of the top 4. Similar to Steve O’Neil who played for us in the early 80’s. Fantastic defender and full of aggression but no go forward
If he was a stone or two bigger he’d be a world beater

Maybe we should look to develop him into a backrower?

I like the lad but just doesn’t cut it as a top prop.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:30 pm  

Grimmy wrote:

A couple of NRL cast offs - a 28 year old prop with injury issues and a 32 year old second rower. Nothing to worry about in terms of signings, I'd expect them to be similar to last year, maybe a little worse as they don't have Graham's leadership, and the emotion associated with trying to get him a medal. Some of it depends whether those two guys are over for a retirement holiday or not.
.

Always uncertainty with NRL signings but I'd be really surprised if Joel Thompson doesnt work out very well for them. Ultra professional and highly rated over there - could turn out to be Hoffman esque. Less sure on the other two but if Paasi turns out to be half decent we're in a similar position in that our better players are at risk of being wasted due to our front row being over matched.

jonh wrote:

Itchy Arsenal wrote:

One that’s obviously gone
One that can’t do more than 15 minutes even in a GF
One that has 1 first team appearance
That effectively leaves 5.

A high number but low in quality and effectiveness

I don’t think it’s low quality but I do think 1 more prop in his prime would be a big boost to the team.

Singleton transformed our pack last year because he came in as a genuine battle hardened prop in his prime. In my opinion 1 more of a similar age/quality puts us as clear favourites next year.

I think it's an absolute must - if we dont recruit before the season start then I think the need for one will become even more obvious once we've played a few games and particularly once we've played Saints. Saints clear favourites for me without front row improvements and it would be a real shame if we dont make that last push to maximise the talents of French/Hastings etc. It might be the last year that they're available to us.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:32 pm  

Itchy Arsenal wrote:

A tackler. A good one too but makes zero yardage even against teams out of the top 4. Similar to Steve O’Neil who played for us in the early 80’s. Fantastic defender and full of aggression but no go forward
If he was a stone or two bigger he’d be a world beater

Maybe we should look to develop him into a backrower?

I like the lad but just doesn’t cut it as a top prop.

Agree regarding his metres. 15 years ago I'd agree about turning him into a workhorse backrower but I think positions have changed a bit now the props and loose (basically the same position now) are playing longer minutes and making more tackles. The backs are helping out by taking on a lot of the hard yards that previously came from the props. Of course you need some metre-makers between your props and loose but there's a place in there for Partington IMO as long as he's not on at the same time as Smithies.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:35 pm  

MadDogg wrote:

Always uncertainty with NRL signings but I'd be really surprised if Joel Thompson doesnt work out very well for them. Ultra professional and highly rated over there - could turn out to be Hoffman esque. Less sure on the other two but if Paasi turns out to be half decent we're in a similar position in that our better players are at risk of being wasted due to our front row being over matched.

I think it's an absolute must - if we dont recruit before the season start then I think the need for one will become even more obvious once we've played a few games and particularly once we've played Saints. Saints clear favourites for me without front row improvements and it would be a real shame if we dont make that last push to maximise the talents of French/Hastings etc. It might be the last year that they're available to us.

Joel Thompson has just come back from a serious alcohol-related injury. I don't know loads about him though so I'll defer to you on that one, just saw the age and the booze-foolishness.

I'd prepare yourself to be disappointed if you think and forward of note is walking through the door before the season kicks off. This pack very nearly won the GF though! I can't remember a season (bar maybe 2011) where we didn't want just one last signing. That's how it is under the salary cap I suppose, although we do clearly have a lot of deadwood at the moment.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:56 pm  

Saints have pretty much replaced like for like in their secondrow.

They are settled in the backs.

It’s the “middles” and hooker positions that will see if they can be the force they were this year. Some of their lads are at the wrong end of their careers and another year older. Roby is a wonderful player but how long can he keep performing at the levels he is? To be fair he’s not showing too many signs of dropping away just yet!

Passi I’m not convinced by. He does the eye catching stuff but don’t think the 6 again works in his favour.

Still have them as joint favourites with us, if we had one more quality prop available/signed then I’d have us as favourites.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:57 pm  

Grimmy wrote:

Joel Thompson has just come back from a serious alcohol-related injury. I don't know loads about him though so I'll defer to you on that one, just saw the age and the booze-foolishness.

I'd prepare yourself to be disappointed if you think and forward of note is walking through the door before the season kicks off. This pack very nearly won the GF though!

Joel Thompson quit drinking after the accident and is by all accounts an absolute model professional now, and his community work is as highly rated as his performances in the NRL. Taia will be a loss (especially the pat back on the inside ball) but Thompson should add a different type of impact. Between him, Bentley who came on leaps and bounds last year, and Mata’utia (conveniently not mentioned above on our pack signings as he’s 24) the back row is going to be highly competitive for us next year, something we havent had in a while thanks to Paulo being a complete flop.

Saints big question at prop is whether having a proper off season will finally see Lees fully recover from his injury at the end of 2019. Missing the off season seemed to really impact him and he seemed to lose a lot of weight and a lot of impact as a result. Paasi has been signed as a direct replacement to Graham in the front row, and has been sold to the fans as a wrecking ball style prop with an offload, which will complement us very well if it turns out to be the case. I know he was highly rated in the NRL, but that doesn’t seem to mean much for successful signings at prop and does come with an injury prone rep. If both Lees struggles and Paasi flops were down to LMS and Amor who aren’t as terrible as some of the props on the league but not who you want to be depending on.

Our full prop list Walmsley, Lees, Paasi, Amor / LMS, Norman, Batchelor

Really confused by the comment that Wigan won’t miss SOLs leadership but Saints will miss Graham’s as both of them will have had far more impact off the field than on it, and Graham was only here 6 months.