He'll be here next season as will Lovodua too.
Time to say goodbye to Shaul,Bowden, Reynolds and Johnstone.

Wynne, Scott and Mitch t to stay too hopefully.

Tough one on Ma'u as really do like him and he's been outstanding since coming back as well as the last half of last season. i know he's very highly thought of by both the players and coaching staff. 100% professional on and off the pitch.

Torn on Houghton and Gale but wouldn't be surprised to see them both here next season.

Gale automatically gets a new deal if he reaches a set number of appearances doesn't he?

For me it would be disappointing if we did sign Truman as despite all his early promise he's done very little since and had major back concerns. Is Truman the type of signing that will improve us enough to seriously challenge, would St's, Wigan or Catalans sign him for example? In my mind no.
I know there are no guarantees when it comes to players look at Leeds with Austin and Sezer (mind you neither for me have done that much in SL).
Cas fans don't seem to have been overly impressed with him for a while either.

One thing we have to find though Chris is players with real pace.
ball handling is one part of game but todays players need to have have speed especially at full back.
Connor at full back with his one good game in four is not good enough and his lack of pace has been really shown up lately.
Maybe we have to give him a run at 6 and bring back Shaul or Wynne/Litten at full back.

Have you watched Trueman this season he's been very impressive for Cas, I've watched a few of there games and his support play is brilliant, nits things together well and solid in defence, I wouldnt say he's done very little so far this season after his pre season back operation. His stats are far more impressive than Reynolds and be cheaper wage as well as freeing a quota spot. He d bring the support play we've missed since Kelly left.

Id be happy signing Trueman and also using Reynolds quota spot to sign an organiser/kicker to play alongside him. I've not seen Gale bring any structure or organisation yet, although that could change.

Mau and Houghton will be knocking on 35 come start of next season, I'd let both go and reinvest the wages especially Houghtons, if Balmforths seriously thought of fair enough we have a ready made bench Hooker. We could use the cap for an over seas loose forward in the Peachey mould or a second row.

I agree we are missing genuine pace, in fairness to BH he has tried to rectify that as quickly and as much as possible given the limited options/movement due to the previous coaches signings.

I just find it strange that we don't seem to utilise the forwards and get them to do more in terms of carries, instead we still seem to have the same ideology from the Radford days of getting the backs to do a lot of the work only they are half the size compared to Fonua & Faraimo. As for Gale & Reynolds I think need a run of games together which they haven't had yet and had little time together in pre season.

We aren't going to challenge for the GF o present form but we should be able to at least compete, yet we still seem to suffer the same issues of inconsistency, mental readiness/attitude and shooting ourselves in the foot by indiscipline, lack intensity and lazy or slow line speed.

I watched a little bit of Truman but can't really say he's been that good even in a very poorly performing Cas, I'm not saying he's a poor or bad player but just not sure he's a player that will significantly improve us enough and would the St's, Wigan or Catalans sign him. If we do indeed sign him I hope he does turn out to be a great signing but the jurys out for me.

Steve0 wrote:Gale automatically gets a new deal if he reaches a set number of appearances doesn't he? Yes, if he hits a certain figure the deal renews. He mentions ten here but it's not clear if that's the actual number. https://www.totalrl.com/luke-gale-explains-contract-clause-and-why-he-could-finish-career-at-hull-fc/

Steve0 wrote:Gale automatically gets a new deal if he reaches a set number of appearances doesn't he? Yes, if he hits a certain figure the deal renews. He mentions ten here but it's not clear if that's the actual number. https://www.totalrl.com/luke-gale-explains-contract-clause-and-why-he-could-finish-career-at-hull-fc/

Can't disagree with much of that.

As you've mentioned Shaul,Bowden, Reynolds and Johnstone should be released. Ma'u too for me. Mini and Sika went 1 season too long, Manu would probably fall into that category if we extended.

I'd release Houghton and try and sign a hooker/half from aus. Someone in the Nikorima mould and probably keep Gale.

We should be keeping an eye on Jack Broadbent and Tee Ritson too.