No more signings then since world cup. A ball playing prop required?

[geoffw]

Well i think at least one what do others think?  Only Gannon and the Saints lad I knownothing off. Morrison an excellent player but loose forward now Paterson is injured if not second row. What do others think? Ha sanyone heard any reliable information?

[efcviking]

I agree we need a big prop! Maybe something will be said on Tuseday.

[Brynhild]

A ball playing prop?

Surely we want one who'll be out there playing rugby, not one who'll be messing around in his shorts all game.

[J20]

We've had enough 'ball-playing' forwards to last a lifetime!!!

And none too succesfull! Stanky/Frame/Finnigan/Beswick etc.

Problem is we have not had enough players for the grunt and these players especially in Bob's case took too much ball off the halfs and taking plays out of the game! Let the pack gain the yards and the backs use the ball!

[manxviking]

We've had enough 'ball-playing' forwards to last a lifetime!!!

And none too succesfull! Stanky/Frame/Finnigan/Beswick etc.

Problem is we have not had enough players for the grunt and these players especially in Bob's case took too much ball off the halfs and taking plays out of the game! Let the pack gain the yards and the backs use the ball!

Um....Big Baz wasn't bad at both though was he?

[vikinggriff]

Um....Big Baz wasn't bad at both though was he?

he was great as a 5 minute inpact player!

[manxviking]

he was great as a 5 minute inpact player!

I meant earlier in his career. And I often used to make the comment on here that we only ever seemed to have forward momentum when he and TOC were on the pitch. But the point is, you can have players that can do both.

[widnes_tiger]

We've had enough 'ball-playing' forwards to last a lifetime!!!

And none too succesfull! Stanky/Frame/Finnigan/Beswick etc.

Problem is we have not had enough players for the grunt and these players especially in Bob's case took too much ball off the halfs and taking plays out of the game! Let the pack gain the yards and the backs use the ball!

He said props, last time i checked 3 of them we're loose forwards and one was a 2nd row. The only ball playing prop i can think of is danny sculthorpe or willie manu

[MattyR]

New signing... Ricky Stuart? 

[Steve]

Not sure about a 'ball-playing prop', but an experienced prop yes!

We will miss Fellous, I think, he was much under-rated by fans and such impact-players are crucial in the modern game.

[Dan]

I would say big, hard prop to punch holes in the line rather than a ball playing prop would be my first choice, a few good offloads would be good but smashing the first 2 players that attempt to make a tackle in to the middle of next week would be even better!

[King Viking]

Gannon is as close to a ball playing prop as we are going to get, we dont need another one.

We need a big lad that can punch holes in the defence and make breaks, in the Fellous mould. In the last few years we've had too many chiefs and not enough indians, partly one of the reasons Beswick, Noone etc have gone. Let Webster, Thackeray, Wildbore and Smith play with the ball, let the three-quarters get on the ends of the passes, and let the big forwards create the platform by making the hard yards up the middle.

[mascoviking]

Well i think at least one what do others think?  Only Gannon and the Saints lad I knownothing off. Morrison an excellent player but loose forward now Paterson is injured if not second row. What do others think? Ha sanyone heard any reliable information?

I would like to see Morrison in the second row, running at opposition centre's, but he is not a loose forward!! i think the candidates for the number 13 shirt whilst Patterson is out injured will consist of Hartley, Fletcher, Strong or even Duffy.Getting back to the original point i would like to see a tough, no nonsense, hard yard maker of a prop with a bit of size and attitude, however i can't see us making anymore signings until we are well into the season.   

[Mr Widnes]

Stanks had as good as if not better hands than most forwards in the game.

I recall a number of times when he spun out of the tackle in our time in SL looking for men to support him and offload the ball only to find that nobody was in support. All down to technique and playing with a fluid footballing side in Saints. Yet some in the North Stand had a go at Stanks for not taking the tackle, rather than the lack of support of his colleagues!!! Baffling.

I would say big, hard prop to punch holes in the line rather than a ball playing prop would be my first choice, a few good offloads would be good but smashing the first 2 players that attempt to make a tackle in to the middle of next week would be even better!

Punch the holes first, line on the back foot then got your ball playing prop targetting the spot players to draw defenders in. You will see that teams nowadays always target a spot player to which the props run at, typically their half back or main attacker to run at and wear them out and negate their potential impact on the game.

[Peter]

Gannon is as close to a ball playing prop as we are going to get, we dont need another one.

We need a big lad that can punch holes in the defence and make breaks, in the Fellous mould. In the last few years we've had too many chiefs and not enough indians, partly one of the reasons Beswick, Noone etc have gone. Let Webster, Thackeray, Wildbore and Smith play with the ball, let the three-quarters get on the ends of the passes, and let the big forwards create the platform by making the hard yards up the middle.

Good, intelligent post!  There have been too many "loose forwards" taking the play away from the half backs. A loose forward like Vinty Karalius or Dougie Laughton could do it, but I have not seen many who could since then. A good prop forward should be able to move up the field past the gain line and drag in some tacklers. If he can offload at the right time, all the better.  Big Jim Mills scored most of his tries by backing up other forwards, and if we had him and Kurt Sorenson the backs would come alive!