I wasn't a fan of Cuthbertson getting a 2 year deal. He's 32 and frankly as the senior prop he's completely MIA when it comes to the tough stuff. I couldn't care less how good his offload game was 3 seasons ago - we need him to muscle up. It was exactly that issue, the desire to showboat instead of roll his sleeves up and do the hard yards which saw him booted sharpish by Bennett following a less than stellar NRL career.
In terms of the rest, being realistic we can't get rid of contracted players, but the likes of Cuthbertson could and should be made to play DR/on loan if they're not delivering.
There's no grounds at all for re-signing anyone currently off contract. We as a club have shown loyalty to the older guys, and if there was only one we could even continue to do so, but the time has come to call it quits.
I'd like us to focus on genuine quality if possible, but it won't be easy to sign more than one or two of the level we need. We're starting that process way too late as most players are contracted way before now. I'm wondering whether a 'Survivor' style approach to a few younger Championship forwards might be worth trying - give them an off-season and a year to show if they can make it at Leeds, and assume that out of 3 maybe one will. Fleary had zero pedigree when we signed him, and Farrell not much more, and yet they delivered more than a lot more fancied signings.
