Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Mar 18, 2015 8:05 am  

jonh wrote:

Nailed on for Salford I expect with his brother being there.

He form me is exactly the type of player we could do with in terms of experience and also attitude but I think his injury record does go against him.

I would hope there would be better options available to replace Patrick in the squad and we are in discussion with them now.

Rapira's brother is back in Oz in the Queensland cup but I'd still say Salford were his kind of club.

As for us I always hope we're looking well in advance but a lot of the time things seem to just be done in the off season when you're feeding off scraps a little.

There could be one big change this year in that there could be some very good players available should one of the superleague teams lose their spot. The placings will all change between now and the split but say a team like Hull or Cas lose their spot, there will be plenty of vultures circling those types of clubs for players.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Mar 18, 2015 11:39 am  

Does Patrick need more time? He'd always impressed when I saw him play for the Giants (don't other posters agree?), but has shown nothing for us.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Mar 18, 2015 12:14 pm  

I remember patrick side stepping sam and leaving him on his booty,maybe Wane wants him to just play to the structure and not have free reign to run the channels

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Mar 18, 2015 1:41 pm  

Firm ground will help Patrick. He's quick and has good footwork.

He still should be producing more though.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:11 pm  

SW and IL should be pulling out all the stops to sign Sam Rapira and for me David Shillington. Our props lack experience and size. These two have it in abundance.

Looking at Warrington/Saints/Leeds pack, they are far bigger and dominant than ours.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Mar 19, 2015 11:43 pm  

I heard we were linked with Shillington towards the back end of last year, the same time as Terry Campese's name came up but thought nothing more of it. If he's available I'd hope we were in for him, big unit!

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:08 am  

Has Shillington had some injury problems? Aside from that worry I'd be in for him big time. We need a prop who can add real size to the back and just add a presence.

We can't start another season like this one! Scratching around with the smallest pack in the league and getting run over on boggy pitches.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Mar 20, 2015 2:23 pm  

On Wiki it says Shillington is 194cm and 111kg. He's 31 which gives him experience.

Crosby is 194cm and 110kg. Mossop is 195cm and 110 kg not much difference there in size.
Where we are small is in the 2nd row with Farrell and Bateman, Joel is around 6.3".
If Gelling were to be shifted to 2nd row to give the pack size then it would transform matters.
Our starting pack then would be -
Crosby 6'4"
McIlorum 5'9"
Mossop 6'4"
Gelling 6'6"
Tomkins 6'3"
O'Loughlin 6'2"

That is a fair sized starting pack equal to most in SL. Where some teams have height is in the 2nd row which is the case with Saints (Greenwood & Vea) and Wire .
We are relatively small in the interchange props with Clubb, Patrick & Tautai being approx 6'1"

If Shaun wanted to go "big" once all his troops are back then this would be my Wigan 17.

Hampshire,
Charnley, Thornley, Sarginson, Burgess,
Williams, Smith,
Crosby, McIlorum, Mossop,
Gelling, Tomkins,
O'Loughlin.
bench - Clubb, Tautai, Sutton, Powell,

With that 17 we'd have one of the biggest packs in the League as well as the fastest backs.
A back three of Hampshire, Charnley & Burgess would be very fast, Sarginson and Thornley are no slouches either. On firm fast grounds that 17 would take some stopping.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Mar 20, 2015 2:45 pm  

Father Ted wrote:

On Wiki it says Shillington is 194cm and 111kg. He's 31 which gives him experience.

Crosby is 194cm and 110kg. Mossop is 195cm and 110 kg not much difference there in size.
Where we are small is in the 2nd row with Farrell and Bateman, Joel is around 6.3".
If Gelling were to be shifted to 2nd row to give the pack size then it would transform matters.
Our starting pack then would be -
Crosby 6'4"
McIlorum 5'9"
Mossop 6'4"
Gelling 6'6"
Tomkins 6'3"
O'Loughlin 6'2"

That is a fair sized starting pack equal to most in SL. Where some teams have height is in the 2nd row which is the case with Saints (Greenwood & Vea) and Wire .
We are relatively small in the interchange props with Clubb, Patrick & Tautai being approx 6'1"

If Shaun wanted to go "big" once all his troops are back then this would be my Wigan 17.

Hampshire,
Charnley, Thornley, Sarginson, Burgess,
Williams, Smith,
Crosby, McIlorum, Mossop,
Gelling, Tomkins,
O'Loughlin.
bench - Clubb, Tautai, Sutton, Powell,

With that 17 we'd have one of the biggest packs in the League as well as the fastest backs.
A back three of Hampshire, Charnley & Burgess would be very fast, Sarginson and Thornley are no slouches either. On firm fast grounds that 17 would take some stopping.

I agree with some of that.

For me we could kill two birds with one stone if we signed an experienced Centre and moved Gelling to the pack. He'd still be attacking those same wide channels and he'd be adding some extra size to the pack.

Let's not forget about Flower. For me he's our best prop and I'm excited to see him return as he's a cannon ball.

Off point but it seems to have gone quiet on Locke and RU.. I'd love IL to be sniffing around to see if he's available.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Mar 20, 2015 2:48 pm  

I remember watching Shillington on a few occasions for the Aussies and to the naked eye he seems bigger then Mossop or Crosby.

I still think out props will see us right this year though tbh but a player like that would add a lot.

Dom Crosby's form before his injury is still my biggest let down of the year. I rate him massively and expected him to really lay a market down this year.