For all the doom and gloom when you look at who we have signed it’s not been bad so far. Pele and Herman are for me both upgrades on Satae, with Pele being the one who others will wish they’d signed if he gets going. Morgan Smith always looked good to me and one of those players who really puts in a shift, has a very handy kicking game and is very strong in the tackle. He’ll fill in for Truman very well and then he is a very handy option to rotate with Houghton when Truey gets back in the halves. Walker is a very classy fullback and although his injury record isn’t great that could have just been pure bad luck. I remember Lomax battling a terrible run of injuries as a youngster and now hardly misses a game so maybe we get the same from him, let’s say we do then that’s fullback sorted with adequate cover too in young Davey Litten. Hoy is the unknown , but , what better motivation for him than seeing what Clifford has managed to get from playing well for us- Hoy must still want the NRL , so he’ll be motivated to make an impact and play well there for us. Ashworth had clearly fallen out with Watson after his decision to sign for us and I think he too will have a big point to prove, he adds some size too and I don’t see our pack being bossed about by many when you look at the size we’ve added. I must admit that Okunbor has been unimpressive when I’ve seen him but he’s been picked consistently , starting ahead of players like Pangai Jnr for a run of games so maybe in a league that is nothing like as tough or intense he may prove the doubters wrong . There’ll be more to be announced and if we can land another good half then the squad looks better and will be without the influence of Savelio and Griffin who we are led to believe didn’t always buy in to Smiths new direction . This glass ain’t half empty anymore , it’s three quarts full . (And that’s without a beer too)
