For me the weaker positions are Chamberlains and Briscoes. Briscoe will hopefully (cos he's finished) be understudy to Martin so if we get Cross he would be first choice ahead of Chamberlain so in improvement imo

[quote="Steve0":1w7fjcgr]Always sceptical of highlight reels after seeing Pele, Okunbor and Bieneks, but looking at Cross' from 2024, he does have good footwork and is a good finisher[/quote:1w7fjcgr] Agreed. The highlights don’t actually lie, Pele, Okunbor and Bienek are all big units capable making for a semi decent highlight reel. This highlights don’t show the serious issues with fitness, work rate etc those players had at SL level. At least with Cross he has the highlights with the footwork, speed, finishing but we also know that he’s managed to consistently play well for 3 seasons in a SL side that’s always in and around the play offs, those other players didn’t have that track record. Now that the chance of a marquee level overseas centre (would have been my priority) has sailed Cross would tick all the boxes for a realistic signing. Like I say I think we’ll struggle to pull it off as I think he’ll be in demand by lots of clubs.

[quote="Jake the Peg":2i3q27pj]my only real issue with cross is that it will likely be a 2 or 3 year deal meaning we have him, hardaker and chamberlain here at least for 25 & 26, possibly 27 for 2 of them when none are really at the level of player we would ideally like. Centre is a key attacking position and along with 2nd row, one of our weaker areas which limits potential to improve there for another 3 or 4 years[/quote:2i3q27pj] 100% see that logic and personally I wouldn’t have gone for Hardaker (age) and Chamberlain on multi year deals for that exact reason. I think Cross though is the type of player who could maybe step up a level or two, he’s a late bloomer in his career. I also think we have to look at what’s available in context to other SL clubs. Keighran and Wardle are the benchmark best centre combo in SL, top players but when you compare to some of the top SL centres over the years the level has definitely dropped. I just don’t see where the centres the quality of prime Seniors, Lyon, Watkins, etc would be available to any SL club. Even any homegrown superstars will be snapped up by the NRL nowadays in their early 20s.

It’s a tough one, however we are not going to go from 11th to Top 4 in a season. Think we all realistically expect 8th at best next season and then kick on from 2026. I think Cross will be a decent addition. There appears no scope to add top quality for 2025. As I’ve mentioned before, other than the halves, our Centres have been a real weakness in recent years. Primarily due to fitness, Carlos and Sutty hardly played together and the back up options were not Super League standard. Cross is a no risk upgrade. He’s played in the Super League and if he’s fit and can give us 20+ games next season, then that gives us some much needed stability and allows a more settled team which in turn should deliver improved results. I’m sure they’ll be a review if all contracts during 2025. Although not ideal, we now have more funds to move on players if necessary to improve the squad further for 2026.

[quote="Rugby Raider":2g6xkl92]It’s a tough one, however we are not going to go from 11th to Top 4 in a season. Think we all realistically expect 8th at best next season and then kick on from 2026. I think Cross will be a decent addition. There appears no scope to add top quality for 2025. As I’ve mentioned before, other than the halves, our Centres have been a real weakness in recent years. Primarily due to fitness, Carlos and Sutty hardly played together and the back up options were not Super League standard. Cross is a no risk upgrade. He’s played in the Super League and if he’s fit and can give us 20+ games next season, then that gives us some much needed stability and allows a more settled team which in turn should deliver improved results. I’m sure they’ll be a review if all contracts during 2025. Although not ideal, we now have more funds to move on players if necessary to improve the squad further for 2026.[/quote:2g6xkl92] But we could be in the battle for a top four position in 2026 if we can add three quality players at centre,second and front row. Lack of real pace is still an issue but a quality centre would give us a decent backline with the two wings we have and Moy/Rapana fighting for the full back role or even moving Rapana to centre. Adding a couple of big name powerhouses to the forwards would make a huge difference but as i said we cant do any of this for 2026 without moving several of the 2025 signings on and possibly only Sao moving on if Cartwright extends would give us just one quota spot as it stands Understand adding experience for 2025 to try and stabilize the clubs on field perfomance but there seems no strategy for 2026 given what is likely to be a lack of quota spots.and cap space