We managed to get that squad together with the promise of winning stuff. That was before marquee players and the cap nudging up a bit. It's not rocket science to understand - and as for the off field team, McDermott was essentially a one-man show. Add in Sinfield and the expansion of the other assistants and we are several £100k down.

We weren't exactly paying them with washers either & the bonus' weren't a pittence.

We have 1 Marquee player & we always leave "cap space" for a rainy day.

Given the low wages we offered Myler & Watkins before him im confident that this squad is nowhere near what that Golden Squad costs.

As for Mcdermott he walked away from a cushy well payed job in London ,Agar is GH's yes man i dont bekieve their wages will be comparable either.

We will have definitely saved a few quid with some of the youngsters coming through like Newman, Handley, Walker, Oledzki and so on. I think generally we’ve strengthened in the areas we needed to and have got a reasonable balance between strength in depth and improving the starting line up. I can see the recruitment being a bit lighter all around the game this year as the financial impacts of no fans for what will be at least a year comes to bite.

I know we all like a new signing but I am sure we need quality rather than quantity now. Absolutely no point signing anyone who doesn’t give us something we lack. Absolutely no point signing anyone who will block the pathway of a young player who could be just as good or better.



People (including myself) were talking about the need for a winger last year. This year I’m looking at Handley, Briscoe and Tindall thinking it isn’t all bad.



If we lost Lui or his fitness gave in, a real game breaking 6 would be good. I still think one more animal prop to give us an awesome foursome. Other than that... unless a world beater comes up then I say run with what we have; major surgery completed and time to let the patient heal.

It was pretty well known that pretty much every player in the club would have earned more elsewhere - since we stopped winning we've had to pay more, that was always inevitable.

FWIW bonuses as paid by Leeds (100% of the prize money) are outside the salary cap which was a more than decent top-up as long as we kept winning.

Yeah we’re not a million miles off and pretty much agree with that. We’ve definitely got room for improvement up front quality wise but as you say there’s no rush

I know theyy could earn more elsewhere individually that doesnt mean they weren't already well paid. Plus the rest of the sqyad wont have been cheap either.

Despite having a marquee player the current squad is way off the quality of those squads & no way will they be earning more.

It is also complete bull with absolute no foundation to say "every player in the club". People have gone way ove the top on what was said at the time. The "Key" players yes, could have earned more elsewhere, but sacrificed that for winning trophy's as they said. Because they were earning less than they could have elsewhere, this allowed the other players in the squad to earn more to be part of that, and ensure the squad depth strength was better than other clubs.

Seen people talking about Taupau on Twitter, anything in it? Would be a cracking signing imo

Any truth in the rumours that Sean Long is going to join the coaching staff?

He was heavily linked a couple of years back. Great player. We certainly have the cap space

Yeah seen a fair bit on that today being linked with us. Would welcome it without a doubt

If he was prepared to come over then I think he would be a great signing. Replacement for Cuthbo and gives mik, Ava, Tommy H and Taupau in the front row with prior and Smith at 13.

Would be a massive coup, but didn’t he sign a new contract at Manly recently?

Taupau would be an immense signing IMO



Weren't we liked with him for last year after the NZ test series?

It's that x4 prop lineup of Mik, Ava, Tommy plus another proper thing like Taupau that I think we have been missing for quite some time now. We need a front row at Leeds that demands respect, and we haven't had that since McDermott, Kylie and Peacock were running around.



Props are the foundation of your side.



Someone like Taupau would fit the bill, but it doesn't even have to be him, there are plenty of good prospects particularly in the NRL. I do think we need one more first grade quality player in this position. Mik has been carrying the pack this year and frankly that's a bit embarrassing, shouldn't be happening and if we get some real support around him, we are going to cause other teams all sorts of problems. If we want to be the best team in the country again, we would do worse than building the best pack.



Our back row I'm less concerned about, Martin, Donaldson, Mellor, Smith, Prior, O'Connor, Edwards, Muizz, Walters - and there are others too - even Ward might yet come back in who knows. But we have tons of talent coming through here, so I wouldn't bother signing anyone else unless they were world-class. I honestly can see Walters and Edwards being the England second row within 3-4 years - that is a cracking combination in prospect with those two alone. People who haven't seen Edwards yet will be surprised at how good he is at his age IMO. Rare to see such an all-round game in someone his age.



We need another half or two over the next few years, but again not urgent unless the right player became available and we were willing/able to swap out Lui (who has been alright for me).



With Tindall showing some ability, and Handley going so well, again I'm not fussed about wing. Centres are fine as long as Konnie stays and Harry recovers - I'm still having fingers tightly crossed that Broadbent will make the cut but he does need to improve physically.



I honestly think we will be back there or thereabouts within another 1-2 years, the squad is coming together very nicely all of a sudden. We just need some magic dust to inspire the young lads and set some standards and we're golden.

Totally agree on the x4 props. Saints dominate on the back of the pack and getting quick PTB. I like the idea of that 4 if Taupau came, Ava and Mik starting and then TommyH and Taupau coming on. Most teams dip a little when they rotate big men but with that kind of 4 you could argue when you make changes you up the aggression and power. We then have prior and Smith options at 13 depending on the game plan, Smith being a bit more ball player than prior.



I don’t know a huge amount about Edwards but if we can get a solid set of 4 for the 11 and 12 shirts then we have a decent pack with good options.



As with most sides it comes down to halfbacks, we look such a better side with Gale and he makes such a difference to how we play. Hopefully when we do change halfbacks we take on board the need for that game controller and make an appropriate signing.



Others know a lot more academy players but we don’t seem to have many halfbacks come through and look potential first team. Do we have anybody reasonable who could step up over the coming years bar Callum M?

Theres Jonah Parsons who's a 9 or 7, but for me, he's much better at 9, theres Alfie Edgell who's a 1 or 6, but again, probably better at 1, theres Oli Field, who's a very classy 6, but growing so big he might end up a backrow, started to play a bit there before lockdown. Then theres Kevs lad, Jack Sinfield, he looks an extremely good 6, but he's only a first year scholorship player this season (If they'd played) so still very young.



On the backrow, for all the praise Edwards rightfully gets, Morgan Gannon isnt too far behind, he's another very, very good backrow prospect in the same age group, in the same Siddal team, as Edwards. Agar mentioned them both in a recent press conference.

Where have people seen the link with taupau?I cant find anything.

There is no link/rumour....it was just a tweet from his Mrs who is leaving her admin post at the NRL and she was asked something along the lines of you can get a job in the back room team at Leeds and bring your Hubbie at the same time

Cheers mate. Total crap then.

Yep there wasn’t anything in Taupau but the point remains, I’d say he is the kind of player that would turn our pack into something formidable.



I just don’t think we’re far off where we need to be now. We will lose form again and questions will get asked but from where we were to where we are, massive progress.

You can't sign players like Taupau anymore. Better to put our faith in out youngsters...

I appreciate that post lockdown his stock may have fallen, but who had heard of ava before we signed him? We dont need to break the bank we need to buy smart.

Sean Long as assistant coach - please someone tell me this isn’t real.