He’s a good player. He’ll be in the England squad at the end of the year I reckon. 

Russell and Croft are exactly the right players to get us there.
Top 6 sides are not about the first 17. It's the next 10 that make the difference.


And to be honest Croft is the type of player you need in your 17 too.

100 %. 

I agree, Croft is running 100% tackle efficiency and playing very well in the forwards this year. No reason he can’t add to the squad and maybe even push for a starting spot. He’s becoming a real mr reliable. 

Russell is like to see more but he looks pretty lonely and decent. 

The word I keep hearing is that we're going up to 8 quota spots next season. That'll be interesting, although I'm not sure it's the best call. I know the  RFL thinks the NRL are gonna come in and take a load of our best players with the 2 new teams but I doubt that many will go over or will be picked. There are only a few English players in the NRL with 17 teams at the moment, so I can't see more than 5 or 6 at the most going over in the next few years.


So we've got Smoothy and Jazz signed for 2026 and lost Atoni so far, which takes us to 7 atm. So if we do go to 8 spots we've got space for another at least, if not we have to make space. Ellis mentioned we have 3 signatures so far with 2 getting announced, so it will be interesting to see who that will be and whether they'll be British or foreign. So we either continue to look for another quality Prop like we were doing, or we make a couple of moves for some British players, if there's some quality we can attract and let another quota player go. 

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.