TBH, just looking at the way Liverpool seem to have capitulated this season, whoever they have in place from the world of Sport Science doesn't seem up to the top level. They seem to have peaked far too soon. Just using my own learnings here; when doing Macrocycles (Basically a yearly overview of an athlete/team's training), Alex Ferguson was referenced and singled out for being on the ball, so to speak, in that United's Sport Science department is world class (you get what you can pay for, I guess) and that they prepare the squad to be peaking at exactly the right time of the season, which is usually circa March-May, for all the finals they'd be hoping to be involved with and the last few games of the Premier League season. Since that case study, I followed United's progression this season quite closely and noted a sharp increase in performance (and apparent fitness) since Christmas and upon reflection it doesn't look like a coincidence. If you think of it as a bit of a graph, they are on an upward curve at the moment, looking to be in peak condition and performance in time for (hopefully for them) The FA Cup and Champions' League Finals.

I suppose we could always hope that Jimmy Lowes and 'his mate from t'gym' have devised a similar macrocycle for the Warrington squad and that we will in fact peak in time for October, but the players' body language seems to suggest otherwise.

Getting back to the pics Wirefan put up of Hicks and Monas, they do seem to have lost a lot of defination - Monas looks quite pasty and skinny on his pen pic and their shoulders don't appear as broard. Now, I'm not just jumping on a bandwagon, I pointed it out a while ago, but it seems to be a bit of a Warrington trait - anyone remember Martin Gleeson's physique when he was unveiled at the HJ against Salford in 2004? Within two seasons, he'd appeared to have lost muscle mass and spread a little bit around the belly.

The irony is that Stevo described Hicks as a 'big unit' in the commentary for Friday's game. The man has lost the plot

I blame their growing of beards - get the razors out!

Trouble is he now plays rugby like Chuck Norris as well.

Chuck Norris can play halfback and fullback at the same time. Nothing gets past Chuck.

Those pictures can't be compared..! Ours are at the start of the season and the NRL ones could be at the end of the season..they are bound to be a bit more thinner and look more ripped! As for being pasty...where has the sun gone for Monas and Hicks to get a tan - I can feel another thread coming on.."Overpaid Ozzies spend more time in a Tanning Salon instead of on the pitch"!!

The pictures of them on the banner above were from when they first joined us, before they had played a game.

This years pics make them look like they have bulked up IMO.