If you were aware that some had greater achievements than others then it seems odd to suggest 68% / 83% as inappropriate. Perhaps you wanted to negatively spin it by saying we've left "only 17% for another 10 or so" which is an exaggeration, and then compound with a comment about breeding complacency. Most responses so far appear to be aligned to the viewpoint that 68% / 83% given a few exceptional performers in there is OK.

Hull have looked to maintain quality at the top end of the squad but injuries have exposed a lack of depth this year, with some of the players in their early 20s not having kicked on as much as was hoped.

Success makes your top players attractive to others, driving up their value. On the other hand a lack of success or little prospect of it can mean you pay more to attract and retain the players you want - which was part of the problem with our long-term planning.

From the outside, it looks like Motu Tony did a great job of selling Hull FC to a group of players who might normally have been out of reach. Our best years in SL were largely based on recruitment in late 2007 and early 2008, when our direction of travel was really positive. It’s a difficult trick to repeat though, especially in a market that is thinner than 10 or even 3 years ago. Same for all SL clubs, of course.

Hopes that more than a couple of the most recent club-trained Hull FC golden generation will become top SL players seem to be fading. Some people’s expectations 3 or 4 years ago were way too high, but if those players had turned out like Yeaman, R. Horne, King and Cooke, or even the Hall, Washbrook, Wheeldon, G.Horne and Lee generation, you’d be in a much better place. It’s so difficult to know whether potential at 18 will be fulfilled, it seems.

You rode your luck really well the last couple of seasons. This year it seems to have run out. I don’t think there was anything massively wrong with an ‘if it ain’t broke...’ plan in prospect. But now it does look a bit knackered, Pearson is right to change things up imo. What he does and whether it works will be fascinating to see.

Fair appraisal. For me all roads lead back to not maintaining our pack strength. Regardless of off field behaviour binning Watts without a replacement and replacing Ellis with Paea have downgraded the foundations of our recent success. This is just compounded by Bowden and Green taking up Las Vegas style residency in the treatment room. As you say Motu Tony's influence will be sorely missed in a market where available players of quality are in very short supply. To me it matters less - the last 2 years have been like some incredible dream, but for those who believe 2 great seasons should automatically entitle us to more silverware despite a pretty significant injury crisis, it's apparently time to give up. Not talking about this board particularly BTW, more social media generally.

Could the infamous claim by Bumpy, that contracts had been backloaded be true and that’s why the ratio appears to be lopsided? He’d love being here and telling us all “I told you so”. A lot of his birds appear to be coming home to roost.

Is it so lopsided though? I wouldn't expect Washbrook to be paid anywhere near what Kelly is for example but both would be in our Top 25.

No Bumpy is an embittered fool. The salary split up is similar to most clubs. Maybe Wigan, who have a lot of young, up & coming home grown players on their roster can distribute it more more evenly but that option isn't available to most clubs. Even then if these players become really good then they still would have to offload some to maintain that distribution.

No doubt Radford will eventually be moved out - probably following a run of indifferent results just like the vast majority of those that coach at top level. If you look at the history of any club not many coaches left because they were doing too well so simple odds say most appointments end in tears. Following those odds and predicting a coaches demise doesn't show any great insight at all, its happened to a lot of very good ones. In this city two of the most successful of all coaches, Arthur Bunting & Roger Millward left in rather sad circumstances in the end - did that make them rubbish?

If those figures had been produced in 2016 season or last season then the answer would be no but looking at the squad now, Mini and Washy surely won’t be on big deals. Shaul maybe,Talanoa and Faraimo surely not. Carlos maybe, Griffin maybe, Sneyd and Kelly definitely, Taylor and Houghton definitely, Manu just resigned, would he command a big deal? Connor definitely. Who else would command big money so I would say that the cap is disproportionate to the squad.

Griffin is in the top 5/6 earners I believe

Several of Motu Tony's contracts particularly in the 2015 and 2016 influx were backloaded and not just over one year.

I was asking a question and asking for opinions. I don't do spin, but as ever you go completely overboard to make a non existent point. Haven't you got some beans to count rather than looking for reactions on here?