Seems to have gone a bit quiet on Patton and him possibly leaving. He looked fine early on last season but as you say he ballooned in size and became a passenger on the field.
Wonder if he's got in shape under this new positive culture? On form and in the right frame of mind he could be a real plus. We shall see. With most of the roly polys now gone Patton will be surrounded (hopefully) with better attitudes and leaders which will hopefully rub off or at least keep him on the straight and narrow.
I'd be very interested to see how Scurr goes if he gets into shape properly too.
I don't know about being optimistic but I'm feeling a bit less fed up for sure. Remember we had a great pre season last year and thrashed Dewsbury (albeit it was Dewsbury) but all the positivity ran out after we got well beaten at home by Sheffield. Whether we have the necessary backbone will only be revealed when we get into the season proper.