vastman wrote:
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Don’t think Lino will consider himself back up and I’m not sure I do. Russell has a lot to prove imho, Trueman less so.
I’d be surprised if we don’t sign another hooker - plenty about - Hood knocking on and imho Smith is possibly two seasons from SL ready. Smith is talented but is really small by modern standards, so the only way he will succeed is by skill and grit and that takes time to develop. Think we might see him feature heavily in the run up to the play offs. He could be a Langer type player, but that’s asking a lot of an 18 year old, could of course be wrong.
This is also why I can see something in the idea that Lino might be injured for the rest of this season. If Lino's fit come the semis, would Powell drop him for Trueman? Trueman's a better player, but management is about more than putting your most talented team out.
It's the same reason Olly Russell's signing has got me scratching my head a bit. He's not a bad player, but I haven't seen anything in his game to suggest he could steer around a top 6 side. And having followed his career a bit, everything he says is about playing regularly, which he never got to do at Huddersfield and Ian Watson was always apologetic about that. When he signed for us, Powell said something to the effect of 'He's ready to take charge of a team'. So if he's been signed on that proviso, how unhappy would he be playing backup again? It's awesome to have that competition for places to drive players - might bring the best out of all three.