For me Diskin offers control, patience and a little more composure than heath. Defensively against London disko went off and all of a sudden breaks up the middle were being made, I am not saying diskin is better than heath in defence but maybe the composure and communication is better. Heath likes to take the line on more and throw no look passes that can sometimes go to ground. If we are not writing players off I would imagine Heath's wage is more than diskins. I would keep diskin as long as he wants to play but I feel he will retire soon anyway.

Asotasi - who cares not interested in him anymore than i was 5 years ago. Do not think he is the sort of prop franny likes look of anyway, not a massive offloader.

Langers has to be kept due to his loyalty and experience/leadership.



Kearney has had a few games with some uncharacteristic errors but maybe he is playing with a knock struggled against wigan, and london had to be moved to wing late on.

Diskin is becoming relatively successful away from the game with other business interests. Perhaps he is not as desperate for success as he once was? That CSE grade B in French was my undoing as a player.

Brett Kearney has been our no1 player so far and is by far our player of the season so far.



He ran his blood to water in most games and created alongside Sammut when playing at 6. He deserves a another 2 years. We wouldnt get anyone better.



For me I have never really seen Purtell or Lulia on top form. Keith I would say played better than Purtell but even beore his heart attack he didnt set the world on fire. I think we could do with those 2 quota spots and use them a bit wiser.

If Lulia wants an extension he needs to pull his finger out.



We need a replacement for Matty Blyth too at the moment. at the min the kid can hardly walk and there is no timescale on him returning from his back injury. Not even the Dr's know what is wrong with him.

Think the criticism of Lulia Is harsh. Defensively Lulia is superb, he also puts winger into space.



Ok he's not a fast powerful centre, but he is a skilful, strong centre which I think goes unnoticed.



A lot of our tries have come from Lulia putting Foster a way.

Last year I would of have been desperate to hold onto Lulia. So far this year I would probably lean towards trying to hold onto him but I wouldn't be completely devastated if he went elsewhere.

I guess it's the same old gamble on who else is available, what quality and will they settle in SL. His skills don't go unnoticed but for me he hasn't looked quite as solid defensively and the excellent centre play from last year hasn't quite hit the same heights. Tough call perhaps for Cummins, hopefully his judgement will be spot on.

I am in no doubt that Kearney is having his best year by far with us, but I think my issue is that when he makes mistakes (which is quite often if you look at the stats) he tends to make very costly errors, which ends up costing us points. (See Leeds and Wigan for instance)



I appreciate his willingness to run his blood to water and ability to get on the end of a pass to score, but so does Danny McGuire but I wouldn't have him in my team.



Maybe i've been spoiled by the quality of the fullbacks we've had over the years (Keith Mumby, Sprogger Spruce, Michael Withers, Nathan Graham etc) that I don't give him enough merit. Had we the ability to splash a bit of cash around, I'd say he was worth keeping, but ateotd we don't so i'm probably taking a little bit of an over-progmatic approach when than thinking about him and his worth to the team.



With regards to Disko, write him off at your peril. Whilst his body might be struggling a little, his mind looks as sharp as ever. My own personal opinion is that we have the best of both in Disko and Heath and would want to see them both in RAB next year at least, with O Brien completing his apprenticeship with a view to stepping in to the void in 2015.



Lulia is a funny one. I cannot personally remember him putting Foster in too many times and the defence seems to have the measure of him and his hand-off following last seasons exploits. Maybe the Leeds offer doesn't look too bad now. That said, I'd rather have him in our shirt than a Rhinos one.



Blythe when fit has been solid and i'd like to try and get him perminently (if possible), Foster well worth another year or two as is Sidlow. Langley offers a reminder back to the days of glory and for me it would be sad to lose that last remaining link.



Purtell is the one that doesnt sit well with me. Part of me says that the guy has done really well coming back from what he did and that he needs time to settle back in. Another side says that he wasn't exactly setting the world alight before magic weekend and that he was probably a good Mr Reliable in a team that desperately needed some stability. My heart says keep him, my head says cut him lose

Purtell still has a further season on his contract so I doubt he'll going anywhere unless he feels he isn't up to it anymore. Personally I think he is gradually improving each week and hopefully that will continue.



Where is O'Brien going to continue his apprenticeship? He's ready for SL from what I've seen and hopefully he will continue to get some games in this year in preparation for being our 2nd choice hooker in 2014.

Sidlow is also contracted to 2014 so going nowhere without mutual consent.



Kearney is OOC 2013 with "an option for 2014" whatever that means to club and player



O'Brien will be ready in 2014. He's also a great passer of the ball for speed, length and accuracy

I tend to prefer way we play when l'estrange/ obrien are on the pitch.we just look to lack ideas a little when diskin is on. Unless diskin is prepared to take a significant pay cut then I would offer him another deal as think his wage would be better spent on other areas of squad, especially if we're going to be operating significantly below the salary cap again next year. Also worry a little that if block obriens progress too long he will look elsewhere. I know he's on a long deal but we all know contracts aren't worth the paper there written on these days.

On lulia, he formed a good partnership with Bateman last year. Batemans been missing for bulk of season so far and he's been working with Olbison. Would like to see if he gets back to last years form once Bateman is back in squad for a decent run. Thing to remember is we know what lulia is capable of when on form. So we know that's its possible for him to get that form back. Anyone we bring over from oz would be a gamble, like lulia was when we got him, although with new NRL salary cap it's likely that anyone new coming over would be of a lower standard. On that basis is stick with lulia.

Don't see problem with Kearney personally. His positioning can be suspect in defence but IMO he makes up for that in attack. Like all fullbacks when he makes a mistake it tends to lead to an opposition score. That's the nature of being last line of defence though.

Interesting to see how other fans view the abilities of our players.



Kearney has his weaknesses but we're a far more dangerous side with him in our 17. Being in the right place at the right time isn't a fluke. He is also safe under the high ball and supports well like any good fullback should. Been a great form so far this year and hopefully he will be even more effective now Gale is back in the side.

Expect the club, OOC players & agents are hotly involved in discussions. Just 14 days to go before we know who has been retained, who is not retained & who has decided to go anyway.



The club was required to retain players in contract before the OKE (Omar Khan Era) and pay the salaries that the previous administration agreed. That they did this in 2013 without 50% of Sky funding, estimated at £625,000, is a quite extraordinary feat.



For 2014 The Bulls will have a fresh look at the level of salaries of the OOC players they wish to retain as the Sky money restriction will still be in place.

The length of any contract offered will be a salient issue to both club and player. For example offering Platt or Langley a one year extension may not meet their expectations

It isn't a fixed cutoff date though. Just the date at which other clubs can start negotiating ( although we all know they talk to players before then anyway). Hopefully we'll be able to announce new deals for some of more important ooc players before then to stop inevitable speculation, but it doesn't necessarily mean a player who doesn't have a deal announced by then is definitely going.