Good post. I know chairs and staff talk informally, but any quota rise is speculation until the vote later this month. Could be anywhere between 7 and 10, and different clubs have different reasons for voting for and against. Pros: Increase the overall standard of the league, potentially improve the England team by playing against more good players, give teams with weaker academies the chance to win more. Cons: Choke academy players' chances, lose touch with communities/civic pride, attract journeymen.

As you point out, we're at 7 even without Walmsley, who's the only one out of contract: Rodwell, Lino, Hamlin-Uele, Tevaga, Smoothy, Fa'atili, Nikotemo. 


When looking at signing and contract extensions I like to look at the big picture. Shaw, Atoni, Griffin and Hood won't be here. Walmsley, M Russell, Cozza and Croft are out of contract. Lingard and probably High will get promoted. So if you map out our 2026 squad with contracted players for a first 17 plus 13 in reserve, this is how it looks so far:


Jowitt
Johnstone
Pratt
Hall
?
Trueman
Lino
McMeeken
Smoothy
Hamlin-Uele
Vagana
Storton
Tevaga


Doyle
Rodwell
Fa'atili
Pitts


Rourke
Myers
Scott
?
Tchamambe
O Russell
Lawford
Lingard
Smith
?
Nikotemo
High?
?


So we've got clear gaps. Cozza will get a new deal. Mills is obviously working on a top class prop, which we need badly. But perhaps most crucial is a starting winger - which can only be Walmsley if the quota increases later this month. If that doesn't come through, do we throw money at a British or French winger to transfer? Do we keep Matty Russell and pray he stays fit? It's too early to promote Myers to a starting shirt.


That just leaves us with Croft, which seems like a no-brainer to me - great trainer, super-reliable, probably not that highly paid and buckets of enthusiasm. Yes, I'd rather have a weapon on the edge who scares teams every time they touch the ball. But Croft for me is the ultimate squad player. 


If we do get another quota spot, I'd use it on a winger, whether Walmsley or a big athletic unit from the NRL. I wouldn't be disappointed if we didn't renew Russell's deal - he's seriously targetable under the high ball and gets bundled into touch more often than finds space these days. I'd rather see Myers be first backup next year.

alegend: Shifty : alegend: Butcher: I always enjoy your ability to spark a debate, alegend, but claiming Will Dagger is a better player than Jake Trueman has got to be your best one yet. You're obviously frustrated about Trueman's lack of game time - we all are - but it's frustrating precisely because he's so good. And I have to ask, as you seem to know, how much is Trueman on? And how much is Rodwell on? Do not go out to get shot down all the time Just put down what I think As said.Truman was a very good player when he was young ,but because of injuries he is not the player he was and do not think he is worth the money he is on To me a marquee player is on top money and should show why, like the other two marquee player's we have got .Know player's get injured and I can accept this .But to bring in a marque player this season with the injury record he had was a bad call by the club ,when you think how much the same people have got right.A post earlier said ,I must live in cuckoo land because I said we signed Trueman on a 3 and a half year contract from Hull that i know to be true ,then we loaned him back .Fans at the time said it was a great bit of business but I thought we should have stayed well clear and at presents I am right Where do keep getting that Trueman was signed on a 3 and half year deal? He signed for us on August the 27th, but he was only brought over so we were in charge of his recuperation. He couldn't even potentially play for us, that's if we wanted him to until the end of the SL season on the 21st of September, which would have only been a game or 2, but we didn't use him.https://wakefieldtrinity.com/trueman-joins-wakefield-trinity/ Trueman still is a very good player, in fact, he's a better player than he was as an 18-year-old, with a better kicking and passing game, it's just that he keeps getting injured and there's a huge difference between being injury-prone and being passed it as you seem to suggest. Hull fans also didn't think he was a poor player either, they were just frustrated he couldn't stay on the field because they were a much better team when he was on.As I keep on saying why not wait till near the end of the season and see where he is, if he still has problems I think Powell and the team will already be having talks with Jake and we'd, unfortunately, have to move on but it's happened to plenty of players over the years and is the nature of the beast, some work out and others don't. Let me ask you this because it's very similar, do you think it was wise for us to sign TJ back? He was out with a bad injury when we signed him for 3 years and he also has a poor injury record & is older than Trueman. But that's turned out alright for us, hasn't it? Anyway, we're going around in circles here, you've got your mind made up and I'm not gonna change it.  You are right we  are going round in circles and I have had my say and will not say any more about T . As far as T J is concerned ,the last match he played for Catalan was again Cas and he got injured .It was already out that we had signed him on a 3 year deal ,so Catalan said it was not a bad injury and just put him out to dry ,and it was not till he came to the Club that our medical staff new the different and put the boot on ,think it was a fracture of a bone in the leg . True, we'd already signed TJ but It was known after the games that TJ had broken his fibula after that Cas game. He then had to have a plate put in to strengthen it, although not as long as an ACL it's a serious injury especially after what he'd already been through. www.catalansdragons.com/en/articles-9/286-11941-tom-johnstone-injury-update/ But it was more the point that up to that point, he'd had a catalogue of injuries over the years. ACL ruptures to his right knee, in 2017 and 2019, cost him almost two years of his career. Another knee surgery and numerous head knocks laid him low in 2021. Then a groin injury sidelined him for the final four months of the 2022 season. Like I said he was just as much of a risk as Trueman.

alegend: Shifty : alegend: Butcher: I always enjoy your ability to spark a debate, alegend, but claiming Will Dagger is a better player than Jake Trueman has got to be your best one yet. You're obviously frustrated about Trueman's lack of game time - we all are - but it's frustrating precisely because he's so good. And I have to ask, as you seem to know, how much is Trueman on? And how much is Rodwell on? Do not go out to get shot down all the time Just put down what I think As said.Truman was a very good player when he was young ,but because of injuries he is not the player he was and do not think he is worth the money he is on To me a marquee player is on top money and should show why, like the other two marquee player's we have got .Know player's get injured and I can accept this .But to bring in a marque player this season with the injury record he had was a bad call by the club ,when you think how much the same people have got right.A post earlier said ,I must live in cuckoo land because I said we signed Trueman on a 3 and a half year contract from Hull that i know to be true ,then we loaned him back .Fans at the time said it was a great bit of business but I thought we should have stayed well clear and at presents I am right Where do keep getting that Trueman was signed on a 3 and half year deal? He signed for us on August the 27th, but he was only brought over so we were in charge of his recuperation. He couldn't even potentially play for us, that's if we wanted him to until the end of the SL season on the 21st of September, which would have only been a game or 2, but we didn't use him.https://wakefieldtrinity.com/trueman-joins-wakefield-trinity/ Trueman still is a very good player, in fact, he's a better player than he was as an 18-year-old, with a better kicking and passing game, it's just that he keeps getting injured and there's a huge difference between being injury-prone and being passed it as you seem to suggest. Hull fans also didn't think he was a poor player either, they were just frustrated he couldn't stay on the field because they were a much better team when he was on.As I keep on saying why not wait till near the end of the season and see where he is, if he still has problems I think Powell and the team will already be having talks with Jake and we'd, unfortunately, have to move on but it's happened to plenty of players over the years and is the nature of the beast, some work out and others don't. Let me ask you this because it's very similar, do you think it was wise for us to sign TJ back? He was out with a bad injury when we signed him for 3 years and he also has a poor injury record & is older than Trueman. But that's turned out alright for us, hasn't it? Anyway, we're going around in circles here, you've got your mind made up and I'm not gonna change it.  You are right we  are going round in circles and I have had my say and will not say any more about T . As far as T J is concerned ,the last match he played for Catalan was again Cas and he got injured .It was already out that we had signed him on a 3 year deal ,so Catalan said it was not a bad injury and just put him out to dry ,and it was not till he came to the Club that our medical staff new the different and put the boot on ,think it was a fracture of a bone in the leg . True, we'd already signed TJ but It was known after the games that TJ had broken his fibula after that Cas game. He then had to have a plate put in to strengthen it, although not as long as an ACL it's a serious injury especially after what he'd already been through. www.catalansdragons.com/en/articles-9/286-11941-tom-johnstone-injury-update/ But it was more the point that up to that point, he'd had a catalogue of injuries over the years. ACL ruptures to his right knee, in 2017 and 2019, cost him almost two years of his career. Another knee surgery and numerous head knocks laid him low in 2021. Then a groin injury sidelined him for the final four months of the 2022 season. Like I said he was just as much of a risk as Trueman.

Jonny Lomax is another player who was blighted by injury during his career but Saints stuck with him, and they got some great service out of him in his latter years, on the downward slope now at 34/35.

Shifty : alegend: Shifty : alegend: Butcher: I always enjoy your ability to spark a debate, alegend, but claiming Will Dagger is a better player than Jake Trueman has got to be your best one yet. You're obviously frustrated about Trueman's lack of game time - we all are - but it's frustrating precisely because he's so good. And I have to ask, as you seem to know, how much is Trueman on? And how much is Rodwell on? Do not go out to get shot down all the time Just put down what I think As said.Truman was a very good player when he was young ,but because of injuries he is not the player he was and do not think he is worth the money he is on To me a marquee player is on top money and should show why, like the other two marquee player's we have got .Know player's get injured and I can accept this .But to bring in a marque player this season with the injury record he had was a bad call by the club ,when you think how much the same people have got right.A post earlier said ,I must live in cuckoo land because I said we signed Trueman on a 3 and a half year contract from Hull that i know to be true ,then we loaned him back .Fans at the time said it was a great bit of business but I thought we should have stayed well clear and at presents I am right Where do keep getting that Trueman was signed on a 3 and half year deal? He signed for us on August the 27th, but he was only brought over so we were in charge of his recuperation. He couldn't even potentially play for us, that's if we wanted him to until the end of the SL season on the 21st of September, which would have only been a game or 2, but we didn't use him.https://wakefieldtrinity.com/trueman-joins-wakefield-trinity/ Trueman still is a very good player, in fact, he's a better player than he was as an 18-year-old, with a better kicking and passing game, it's just that he keeps getting injured and there's a huge difference between being injury-prone and being passed it as you seem to suggest. Hull fans also didn't think he was a poor player either, they were just frustrated he couldn't stay on the field because they were a much better team when he was on.As I keep on saying why not wait till near the end of the season and see where he is, if he still has problems I think Powell and the team will already be having talks with Jake and we'd, unfortunately, have to move on but it's happened to plenty of players over the years and is the nature of the beast, some work out and others don't. Let me ask you this because it's very similar, do you think it was wise for us to sign TJ back? He was out with a bad injury when we signed him for 3 years and he also has a poor injury record & is older than Trueman. But that's turned out alright for us, hasn't it? Anyway, we're going around in circles here, you've got your mind made up and I'm not gonna change it.  You are right we  are going round in circles and I have had my say and will not say any more about T . As far as T J is concerned ,the last match he played for Catalan was again Cas and he got injured .It was already out that we had signed him on a 3 year deal ,so Catalan said it was not a bad injury and just put him out to dry ,and it was not till he came to the Club that our medical staff new the different and put the boot on ,think it was a fracture of a bone in the leg . True, we'd already signed TJ but It was known after the games that TJ had broken his fibula after that Cas game. He then had to have a plate put in to strengthen it, although not as long as an ACL it's a serious injury especially after what he'd already been through. www.catalansdragons.com/en/articles-9/286-11941-tom-johnstone-injury-update/ But it was more the point that up to that point, he'd had a catalogue of injuries over the years. ACL ruptures to his right knee, in 2017 and 2019, cost him almost two years of his career. Another knee surgery and numerous head knocks laid him low in 2021. Then a groin injury sidelined him for the final four months of the 2022 season. Like I said he was just as much of a risk as Trueman. Can see were you are coming from ,but we had seen the best of T J,  Tupo  ,Miller Big Dave just to name 4 players who played for the club and showed how good they were before they  had bad injuries and the club stood by them and so they should  .Same as any player who as given is best to any club before he gets a bad injury .Injury are part of the game

Shifty : alegend: Shifty : alegend: Butcher: I always enjoy your ability to spark a debate, alegend, but claiming Will Dagger is a better player than Jake Trueman has got to be your best one yet. You're obviously frustrated about Trueman's lack of game time - we all are - but it's frustrating precisely because he's so good. And I have to ask, as you seem to know, how much is Trueman on? And how much is Rodwell on? Do not go out to get shot down all the time Just put down what I think As said.Truman was a very good player when he was young ,but because of injuries he is not the player he was and do not think he is worth the money he is on To me a marquee player is on top money and should show why, like the other two marquee player's we have got .Know player's get injured and I can accept this .But to bring in a marque player this season with the injury record he had was a bad call by the club ,when you think how much the same people have got right.A post earlier said ,I must live in cuckoo land because I said we signed Trueman on a 3 and a half year contract from Hull that i know to be true ,then we loaned him back .Fans at the time said it was a great bit of business but I thought we should have stayed well clear and at presents I am right Where do keep getting that Trueman was signed on a 3 and half year deal? He signed for us on August the 27th, but he was only brought over so we were in charge of his recuperation. He couldn't even potentially play for us, that's if we wanted him to until the end of the SL season on the 21st of September, which would have only been a game or 2, but we didn't use him.https://wakefieldtrinity.com/trueman-joins-wakefield-trinity/ Trueman still is a very good player, in fact, he's a better player than he was as an 18-year-old, with a better kicking and passing game, it's just that he keeps getting injured and there's a huge difference between being injury-prone and being passed it as you seem to suggest. Hull fans also didn't think he was a poor player either, they were just frustrated he couldn't stay on the field because they were a much better team when he was on.As I keep on saying why not wait till near the end of the season and see where he is, if he still has problems I think Powell and the team will already be having talks with Jake and we'd, unfortunately, have to move on but it's happened to plenty of players over the years and is the nature of the beast, some work out and others don't. Let me ask you this because it's very similar, do you think it was wise for us to sign TJ back? He was out with a bad injury when we signed him for 3 years and he also has a poor injury record & is older than Trueman. But that's turned out alright for us, hasn't it? Anyway, we're going around in circles here, you've got your mind made up and I'm not gonna change it.  You are right we  are going round in circles and I have had my say and will not say any more about T . As far as T J is concerned ,the last match he played for Catalan was again Cas and he got injured .It was already out that we had signed him on a 3 year deal ,so Catalan said it was not a bad injury and just put him out to dry ,and it was not till he came to the Club that our medical staff new the different and put the boot on ,think it was a fracture of a bone in the leg . True, we'd already signed TJ but It was known after the games that TJ had broken his fibula after that Cas game. He then had to have a plate put in to strengthen it, although not as long as an ACL it's a serious injury especially after what he'd already been through. www.catalansdragons.com/en/articles-9/286-11941-tom-johnstone-injury-update/ But it was more the point that up to that point, he'd had a catalogue of injuries over the years. ACL ruptures to his right knee, in 2017 and 2019, cost him almost two years of his career. Another knee surgery and numerous head knocks laid him low in 2021. Then a groin injury sidelined him for the final four months of the 2022 season. Like I said he was just as much of a risk as Trueman. Can see were you are coming from ,but we had seen the best of T J,  Tupo  ,Miller Big Dave just to name 4 players who played for the club and showed how good they were before they  had bad injuries and the club stood by them and so they should  .Same as any player who as given is best to any club before he gets a bad injury .Injury are part of the game

https://x.com/WTrinityRL/status/1940832919578194213

https://x.com/WTrinityRL/status/1940832919578194213