Two things - not much money.



Remember most Championship players are part-time, not much of an incentive to join a struggling SL club on not much money. It's a perennial problem, many Championship players if you combine their salaries and the money they get playing part-time RL are on better money than most SL players.



They have to be exceptional, young and willing to take a risk. Can't see many of those, unfortunately.

Hell, just looked at York again and missed Pauli Pauli!

I get what you are saying Vasty. We got Keegan Hirst from Batley and he did ok for a while. Walmsley came from there too. Nothing will happen before Thursday after which will follow another meltdown.

The only problem with a loan swap deal is you have to have a player they want.

How did Sam Eseh get on at Barrow?



He looks a big unit and can’t be far off making his debut at SL. I remember him impressing 2021 pre season against Dewsbury I think. Looking forward to seeing how he’s grown.



18 is young for a prop but getting a few first team games under his belt this year would help his development I think. He certainly looks like a unit.

The point is surely that we need someone better than championship quality??



For next season? Sure. It can be a project. But not for now.

He's big and he made his debut last year I think.



IMHO he's not ready yet, he's too raw. You could argue he's no worse than what we have but really we don't want to be introducing these lads to a team on a losing streak if we can avoid it.



If we get a few wins under our belt and he does ok at Barrow then maybe a spot on the bench at some point.

I didn’t think he’d debuted yet for the first team and thought the friendly was his only game.



He is raw for sure and I can see your point about bringing into a team on a losing streak but if he can get some minutes under his belt at barrow it would be worth giving him a couple of games towards the back end of the season if only so he can grasp what is expected of him at that level should he wish to break into the team for 2023.



We have certainly been very patient with him it seems. He has the physique that indicates he could cause defences some problems given some time and the right attitude.

SL has seen a fair few success stories over the year, especially in the forwards. Walmsley (Batley), Hill (Leigh), Hirst (Batley), England (Featherstone).



Unfortunately with many clubs being part time, it's a massive risk for them to take to join a struggling club. IMO we should be looking at the younger lads we have coming through and potentially a fringe forward from the NRL to replace Arona.

I can never understand why Tyler Dupree is stuck in the Championship.

A mixed set of examples to be fair.



Walmsley was always on everyone's radar, he just started at Batley so he could finish his Degree. He was always SL bound.



So was Hill in a way but Leigh kept hold of him for longer than expected - did debut at 18 so Warrington signed him at exactly the right moment.



Hirst is fair enough but sadly nowhere near as good as the other two.

Dupree is the obvious one though rumours suggest he may be Salford-bound next year.



There aren't many obvious young ones at Championship level and some of the more promising Championship forwards (Harrison, Halton, Garrett) were snapped up by SL clubs last year. Heck, Kyle Trout got a SL gig the other year. The fact that Leigh have basically gone with a series of NRL fringe/Intrust Super Cup Aussies in their pack and Fev have gone with a string of veterans tells its story.



Fev's pack which includes the 37yo Cuthbertson, the 36yo Lockwood, the 35yo Moors and then the baby of our pack, a promising youngster called Craig Kopczak, has pretty much dominated every Championship team it has faced this year. To be fair they pretty much matched the Catalans pack in the Cup too apart from struggling with Kasiano a bit.



There's just a shortage of middles/props around, every team is looking for the same type of player.

Whenever I see him or read about him he just seems too good for the championship already. At 22 years old he's already gone through Siddal, Salford, Leeds, Fev, Oldham, now Widnes and possibly Salford next.

Strange.

I've watched him a few times now and you have to wonder. It all looks to be there.



Maybe he has an attitude issue or some baggage we don't know about but if not he looks far more destructive than Whiteread as a prop, so if we were willing to take a punt on him then why not this lad.



I'll be honest the way SL clubs sign players baffles me at times.

Is that really the right way to improve us right now. In not sure it is.



We currently have one from the championship that looks totally out of his depth.

I'

I'm not convinced going down that route will necessarily improve us in the long run.