Excuse my ignorance but is Rodrick Tai actually here now. Only asking because of the rumour that NRL may be after him and then in that case Burgess would go after Olam who was rumoured to be coming way back when.

Nothing to add to the rumour mill.. but entertaining reading the last few pages..

I’m worried about all the postal workers who have lost their sense of smell.

Tai isn't arriving until January and won't get much of a pre season or chance to bond with the squad. SB isn't happy.



DM's are open for some centre related news that can't be put on this board, except for a poster that knows I won't speak to who created a different screename and claimed he was new to the board to try and get a response, despite still having there original year they joined & number of posts when I checked there profile !

Could you edit or delete the posts about information relating to personal details please.

Yeah, no probs. I'll do it when you go back and delete the post where you mentioned what you do for a living, and you've asked everyone else who's posted it to do the same. Oh, and when you've also deleted every post (there's quite a few) where you use my name & knowledge to try and validate yourself as a serious poster

deleted - duplicate post

It won't solve anything, as your occupation will still be repeated within all the quotes of the original posts. There's a number of posts going back a long time now that refer to this piece of information, it's no secret to anyone. But, it's something that doesn't identify you - so stop worrying about it.

I have never said what I do.

I try to ignore them. Hoping they will fail away.

But when you get human shat through the post it ain’t funny or fair game.

I ask you again? Would you please delete or edit posts that disclose detail I do not wish to be shared.

If a poster on this forum was a policeman or a teacher, would you share that info because you are privy to it?

It’s not right. Please delete or edit it.

Hi gang I'm officially declaring an end to duck hunting season.



It's neither appropriate or entertaining probably easy meat is a better description not in a good way and it's certainly not rugby related.



We've all got our foibles and that is what I like about our board. Let's keep it on track please and that goes for everyone.

You could just change the name of this thread to duckie rumours and links?



Back on track I don't think we will be making any more signings for next season but feel we should be pretty happy with the squad and the coach we have appointed. If this squad want to win as badly as Burgess will then next season should be a lot more enjoyable than recent ones have been.

I am pretty content with the squad for next year.

On paper it looks competitive but conscious that results and performances over recent years have made a ass of that statement.

I think we look stronger past squad number 17 with a lot of experience in Bullock, Kassiano, Dudson, Dwyer, Russell and Powell and then Green, Hayes, Thomas etc.



I still have a couple of worries.

A) the past couple of seasons have shown that we are a bit fragile when it comes to things derailing the season. There was the contract situation in 2022 with players like Cooper and King moving on mid season and then the Maguire situation in 2023. It just feels like any type of wave comes along and the ship capsises. It will be interesting to see how Toby King (suspect he will be the new escape goat) is welcomed back and Abe's recent statement about Tai could be one to watch. .



B) I know everybody has a view on Phil Clark but I don't think he was wrong when he said that to lift the SL title you need a ball playing fullback. I know the week after that Dufty threw a miss out pass to put a winger (Thewlis I think) over but I don't think he is quite at the level of say Brett Hodgson in that department. If we are going to compete for honours we have to get the most out of Dufty. He has frightening pace but we just need a way to maximize his abilities to make him a point of difference





So there are 4 final spaces up for grabs and it will be nearly 5 years since our last appearance in a final. If the big fella and the coaching team can get an extra 5% out of most of that squad then we should be challenging in at least one final.

Re Worries : Mine are mainly that Drinkwater will continue where he left off - that being having 3/4 season of having very little positive impact on games. Another worry is the fragility of the players confidence/egos when under duress.



Re: fullback. Leeds won the title in 2017 with Jack Walker at full back, Wigan won in 2016 with Dan Sarginson. I don't think Dufty will be the reason we lose a GF if we get there but he may be the reason we win one.



Re : "Challenging in at least one final" - Personally I am only interested in one final, the GF.

I hope Hayes is pushing Drinkwater hard for his spot.

SB discussed this tonight at the fans forum, he said they would be working on playing a style of rugby that allows JD to play his best rugby and said he has been excellent on the training pitch but also bigged up LH and his qualities.

<stops posting dog doo through duckies letterbox>



ok, lets all move on from this.

Drinkwater is Out-Of-Contract at the end of 2024, so I expect that he will playing for us to offer him a new deal and show us what we could have had for the past 2 seasons.



Even if he does show a massive improvement in form AND effort, it won`t continue into 2025 onwards.



Hope he leaves at the end of the season.

Philbin is up end of 2024 too. I look forward to seeing him exhibit his 2019 form and winning an extension. I think SB will get a lot out of him.

I agree as I thought ended last season coming back on decent form. IF he stays injury free I think that Sam could fine tune Philbin to his early career form and hopefully reach his potential.



In what might be considered a lean year or two he didn't lack application IMO but needed to be less predictable and discover a bit of self belief (all not helped by injury)

Yeah I have never doubted his commitment at all, and he was becoming more effective towards the back end of the season.

Drinkwater



Years

2013 St. George Illawarra

2014 London Broncos

2015 Wests Tigers

2016–17 Leigh Centurions

2018 Catalans Dragons

2019 Hull Kingston Rovers

2020–22 Catalans Dragons

2023– Warrington Wolves



We are Drinkwater's eighth club. He is the classic journeyman professional and I don't believe you will ever see the level of commitment that you would get from most other players, particularly the home grown like Thewlis. We are stuck with him for another year and I guess SB is just trying to make the best from a less than optimum situation.

And thankfully Burgess has been harping on about how impressed he is with Leon Hayes in training. I get the feeling a Price / A.N Other Aussie type coach would have Drinkwater as first option every day of the week.

Good to hear his comments about Conor Wrench playing centre too.



Hopefully he will give Wrench a decent chance to secure that position, it depends I suppose if Tai settles in Warrington, or whether the lure of the NRL is too great.

Drinkwater often looked impressive for Catalans and Hull KR though, to be fair, and the reaction on here was largely positive when we signed him. I hoped that he was going to finally provide us with an excellent attacking kick option. Instead, he just became Mr Anonymous for most of 2023, unfortunately.

This, we need the right player as captain and acting as a captain on the field, backed up by two or three others who make sure nobody presses a panic button.