Tubby

Not half, he made some superb try-saving tackles. Personally, I thought he played his heart out. No lack of effort, that's for sure. £80k (if rumours are to be believed) and we get him back? Good business if you can do it!

In all fairness, he hasn't looked particularly good in Black and White, barely a glimpse of what we saw when he was here.

Performance related pay?

At the risk of hijacking the thread, I'd say the same for Greg Minikin. I didn't really expect much of him when he signed, but I think he's been immense. He's as strong as an ox and genuinely seems to give his all.

We might get Ben Reynolds, as he's cup tied to us...but I doubt it!

My guess is that this isn't that uncommon in second tier RL in this country and we're not the only club who doesn't pay up the last wage as quickly as we should, so players are sort of used to it? It's still wrong and needs to be sorted, but I'd be surprised if we're the only club guilty of this, we have perhaps waited too long? Or perhaps it's just us and players don't like to publicly shame a club for fear of affecting their future elsewhere.

Don't let details get in the way of an excellent piece of click-bait.

Ours is apparently on the Sportsman again.

Agreed, I've assumed that the WMDC money hasn't been spent, but as you say, not much coming from the club. Even a 'we're working on the IMG criteria' or something would be nice to hear.

But surely the savings made on players wages are an indication that we may be looking to improve other IMG points scoring criteria. I'd have been more worried if we carried on spending big on the pitch at the cost of improvements elsewhere. In the new IMG world, there are more important things than winning... Although, there are of course points to be had for winning the 1895 cup. This is modern Rugby League.

Super League clauses are quite common. We'll probably get next to nowt.

Very true, I'm not convinced about ET, personally either. But I'd keep Briscoe too, and Kheirallah and Longstaff (if they'd been available).

'Kin 'Ell. That puts things into context. We might be going through a 'mini-Wakefield' reboot, and that looks like a hell of a lot to overcome.

It makes the announcement, a week ago, of a supporter sponsor for Longstaff a bit strange.

And getting lots of social media traffic...

I'm not convinced fiddling the figures so blatantly would be a good idea. But it wouldn't surprise me if some clubs do, partcularly if the extra points could mean the difference between SL and not.

With the IMG scoring, I've subscribed to the youtube channel, even though I almost never use it. I've also started 'liking' everything the club puts out on twitter (even if I don't like it!). Am I wasting my time, or is there a way we could get everyone doing similar things? There must be lots of younger fans who are on all sorts of social media, who could give the numbers a real boost?

Not half, it wouldn't be a good look announcing new players at the same time as reports are coming out of existing players not being paid.

I think you're absolutely right, and I've said before, the removal of that pressure and expectation will hopefully make next season more enjoyable to watch. I, for one, have spent a couple of seasons expecting to be promoted, but that has definitely removed some of the enjoyment. I'm looking forward to watching a team that might finish top, but might not (maybe just me that fell for the hype!).

I’m much more bothered about losing Cozza, I thought Dan Smith was distinctly average.

There seems to be (as always) a simple divide on where opinions lie on this subject. Supporters of A grade clubs think this is a wonderful system and is for the benefit of all. Supporters of upper B's think it's good, but could do with one or two tweaks. Supporters of lower B's think it's badly designed and needs an overhaul or scrapping altogether. Supporters of C grade clubs basically don't care as it doesn't really affect them. Comparisons with the NRL and NFL are fatuous in my opinion as they are in different markets and have diferent histories. The truth is, no-one knows whether this will pan out for the good of the game, but 'good of the game' is massively subjective. There are those who would see the lower leagues becoming feeder clubs for SL as a good thing and there are others who really wouldn't. Try a bit of empathy.

It's shown to be a farce when Barrow just got an extra 0.5 points because the local council boundaries have changed. So in IMG world, that means they have more potential because of where the line is drawin on a map.

I imagine this is due to contract demands. I'd rate Briscoe as a high end championship winger?

Sorry Gubrats, sarcasm doesn't quite work in text. I'm with you.