100% this. A lot of fans are getting carried away with themselves big time. If someone would have linked Bateman with Wakefield Trinity a year ago, you would have been laughed out of the room quicker than you could say Timmysmithsatroll.

The fact now that there is a small chance that we are even in this conversation shows where we are at, Bateman is a brilliant player, tough as nails and more important than anything is a winner, if we had the chance to get him I'd 100% go for it.

Where is this Hastings talk coming from? He`s under contract, are Newcastle wanting rid?

How many Quota spots do we have for next year and how many have already been filled?

How many forwards do we need.The Cash as got to be spent on the backs We are no were near having a back line ready for S L ,As a unit they are not the best in the Championship Just the fact that we are full-time that is winning us matches

Who do you expect to play in the SR next year?

He also had a fight with his teammate Curtis Scott when at Canberra, that was all over the news at the time, so he's got form for falling out with players and starting fights, we knew that from his Wigan days.

As a player now, he'll turn 31 this year, so no doubt he'd be a good signing for 2 years. He's struggled with shoulder injuries a bit, which isn't a surprise with his playing style, is a bit like Big Sam in that regard.

Personally, from watching him over his career, he was at his peak at Wigan then Canberra where he won Daly M backrower of the year. When he came back to Wigan I thought he'd lost a little that made him so world-class, but he still had big games for them. Then he chose to go back to the NRL and ended up at Wests, which at the time I thought was probably a poor move and the times I've watched him this year, even though he's still a tackling monster and has a great work ethic, the team around him just isn't great at all.

There's no doubt that even if he ever thought of coming to Trinity, which I doubt, he'd bring valuable big-game experience to what will be next season a fairly young pack and a winners mentality. I wonder if DP sees him as a player who will fit into the club's culture and the team we're trying to assemble.

That's interesting, who's got the best backline in the championship then?

I wouldn't change many if any of our backs to players for others in the championship, out of Jowitt, McGillvery, Walmsley, Thornley, Pratt, Lino, and Gale when he's fit.

that's only because we're full-time time is getting a bit boring now tbh. As Powell has said loads of times now, the actual time that all teams spend training and fitness is about the same. The only difference our guys have is we get to go over tape, individually and as a team so that we can do more analysis and planning and obviously they can rest more if they want. When we were in SL with all the other full-time teams, we lacked in fitness compared to most at times and that came down to how good your cardio and fitness guys have trained in pre-season, we constantly used to moan about our fitness when we had Clogger at the helm because eh's a dinosaur compared to Ben Cooper and the guys. We obviously must have better guys that have worked with them and got them into better shape

We have one available quota spot for next year.

Interesting, the team have done a great job so far with the overseas, so can't wait to see which way they go and who it is.

Can`t see how anyone can argue that we don`t have the best back line in the championship, we have the championship player of the year in our team and he isn`t even the best winger at the club.