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Decent interview in today's Observer with Lee. apparently he has been running at prop in training and expects to play prop mainly in 2011.

Is that his own decision or is there a Hock influence?

I think Lee Mossop will eventually be the replacement for Stuart Fielden. They are both very similar players both in size and in the way they play.

I think Maguire and Lenegan want ready made replacements for all the senior players waiting on the edge of the first team and in an ideal world the younger players would force the older players out of the squad so there is never any 'transition' period.

ancientnloyal wrote:Is that his own decision or is there a Hock influence?

A bit of player / coaches. Mossop played at prop when captaining GB Academy and at Huddersfield whilst on loan. He stated that is the position he has been allocated most often during pre season training when running through set plays etc.

I think 2011 is a make or break season for Freddy O'C and a few others.

It was also interesting to see that he has put on 6kg in pre-season. I hope the rest of the squad are seeing similar improvements in bulk. This could really improve the likes of Tuson, Preccy, Faz, O'Carroll, JT, and HH who I feel lack a bit of weight, providing they don't lose any pace/mobility in the process.

cpwigan wrote:

ancientnloyal wrote:Is that his own decision or is there a Hock influence?

I think 2011 is a make or break season for Freddy O'C and a few others.

I agree which is a bit unfortunate considering he made great starts to 2010 and 2009 but missed a large part of the season through injury, he probably 2 years behind were he should be due to injury.

Prescott and McIlorum were similar though in that they were both injury prone but at the back end of 2010 were really playing some good rugby.

I hope O'Carroll stays injury free this season and finds some form.

doc wrote:It was also interesting to see that he has put on 6kg in pre-season. I hope the rest of the squad are seeing similar improvements in bulk. This could really improve the likes of Tuson, Preccy, Faz, O'Carroll, JT, and HH who I feel lack a bit of weight, providing they don't lose any pace/mobility in the process.

I think rugby league forwards in general lack a bit of size these days. I know the role played by league and union forwards is totally different but there was a time when it seemed our forwards were far stockier than theirs (apart from the short fat props of course) whereas these days their forwards look much stronger and more menacing. Fortunately our forwards are far more agile, make more hard tackles, run faster and can pass. Within reason, size isn't as important as people make out.

got to agree that Prescott needs some size on - 6kg on him would make a lot of difference.
Plus some more bulk on Joel, Harrison, Farrel would do not harm
but how many props do we want? Fielden,Coley, Lima, Prescott as the four in the seventeen.
Plus O'carroll and Davies to back them up
then Mossop as well
Leave him in the second row for the season - he brings some additional size to that area

thomo wrote:got to agree that Prescott needs some size on - 6kg on him would make a lot of difference.
Plus some more bulk on Joel, Harrison, Farrel would do not harm
but how many props do we want? Fielden,Coley, Lima, Prescott as the four in the seventeen.
Plus O'carroll and Davies to back them up
then Mossop as well
Leave him in the second row for the season - he brings some additional size to that area

Your obsession with size gets quite repetitive.

Whilst I agree that a "good bigun will always beat a good little 'un" as an example: I doubt that the likes of Rugby Union props (who are massive in comparison) would make Wigan a better team simply because they are "big". So why do you ask that the mobility our forwards have, be lost simply for the bulk of lumbering giants?

The game has changed, maybe so should your idea of what makes a good forward

I am also putting a bit of size on for our pre season and being at home in Whitehaven over Christmas I've been able to continue training at Whitehaven Sports Centre, was in there this morning and thought I was feeling pretty good, lifting good stuff etc, then Lee walked in and he is quite literally huge, I will keep my eye on him in town tomorrow night if i see him (lol) but to be honest I don't even think he will be out, he seems proper focussed on making an impact this year and I think running at prop will be the making of him. Future England prop i reckon, just hope he doesn't get put out by the Aussies we have, we seem to be building a strength in depth squad now rather than an outstanding 17 which can only stand us in good stead for years to come.

Is it february yet!?