@jai_donaldson said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1491119) said:his past injury issues need not look any further than the man he’ll likely replace. How many serious, season ending injuries has Liddle had in his relatively short career to date? Dodgy shoulders and coming off an ACL a season ago, I’d argue the risk of injury is much the same with either.
Massive difference in having an ACL reconstruction at 20 compared to 30.
He’s had like 2 or 3 shoulder reconstructions too though.
I think both have huge injury concerns - but you can't discount the age factor as well. Having two ACLs in relatively quick succession at the back of one's career is a tough road to continue down.
On the other hand, Liddle has had too many injuries for a guy his age - knees, shoulders etc. So much so that I don't think we'll ever see the player he was going to be. He seems much more wooden than he was a few years ago.
The club has obviously thrown their support behind Simpkin being our next full time #9, but he's not had the games over the last couple of years to aid his development (for obvious reasons). It'd be daft to throw him in at the deep end, so getting a veteran in for a year or two to play big mins and hopefully assist his development seems the logical move.
Whether or not that player is Josh Hodgson is another thing. Not sure what other options are out there, and I figure whoever it is will be a gamble of some description.