I'd take Hargreaves over him any day of the week.

So you'd rather have a prop who busts the line once in while but only plays 1/3 the actual game time that Dowes does (based on injury time out & minutes played) whilst earning a shed load more wonga because of said players perceived value?

At this moment in time I wouldn't.

Balance, that is what the best sides have and this includes the forwards too. You cannot overstate the value Dowes brings purely on his ability to stay on the park for virtually the full 80 minutes and an unbelievable injury record that is pretty much unmatched compared to other SL props. Due to the amount of minutes he does, in theory should give us at least one spare interchange so we can utilise the likes of Manu, Lauaki & O'meley better hopefully giving them a rest so they can do the damage required.



If there is a better prop out there that can do what he does & would accept the same whack or near it would you care to suggest who that is?

Sorry, I should now add "cheap" and "frees up an interchange" to his underwhelming qualities.

Let me address your concerns.



You ask whether I would prefer a prop who busts the line every so often and doesn't play as many minutes. Yes I would.



You are trotting out the fact he doesn't get injured and plays a lot of minutes as evidence of his worth and this is where we fundamentally differ as I stated in my initial post, where I said it is sad if those are his best qualities. I believe that it is immaterial how long he stays on the pitch if he is doing nothing of note, which I believe he does not. Lets face it; if we want someone to stand out there and have no discernible effect on the game and free up an interchange spot we may as well let some willing punter from the East stand give it a lash for free!

Oh and you can overstate the value of him staying on the pitch for eighty; and people normally do.

So who is his replacement then, this blockbusting player that does the 80 and costs nowt? anyone?

I think the point we differ on is that you think Dowes is valuable and I think he is the definition of mediocrity. He might be a nice guy who gives his all, but he's not very good.



I am not sure you would find a blockbusting prop who would play 80 mins for free, if you are aware of one please forward his details to R.Agar, Post Office Road, Featherstone.



This is again where we differ; you have a self forefilling prophecy....... "one prop must play eighty, Dowes can play eighty, ergo Dowes has value."



I'd prefer another prop with some impact and spread the workload amongst the others; different viewpoints. I thank Dowes for his service but he defines for me a player who isn't good enough to make us genuine competitors. I struggle to see a SL team which would want him.

Where have i said one prop MUST play 80 minutes? I'm saying in the present team set up Dowes has value because he allows other forwards who are more explosive/effective at punching holes to do so because they do not have to be on the pitch for the full 80. If we had 2 or 3 Fitzy's then the likes of Dowes would be surplus because Fitz is by far the better player & can do almost the 80 every game too. However with that comes extra expense, spreading the workload is fine IF you can keep your best players fit & balance how long they stay on the pitch w/out losing their effectiveness like what happened to Manu on many occasions last season.

Are you for real? If he leaves Hull I'll have £100 with you right now that he gets a gig at another SL club. Money to the Prekkie fund?

I believe that Dowes and Radford will show their value to the team in a big way next season as soon as Yak's place is taken by an impact forward.

Think Dowes has been a great servant to our club and is still a good forward who can play the full 80 if needed, solid in defence, hard grafter, english and wont be very expensive. I would keep him for another 1/2 years, all clubs need players like Dowes who do a lot of un noticed work and never get the credit they deserve.

The whole issue for ewan is that he and his agent believe he is worth an awful lot more than FC have offered him hence he has spat his dummy a wee bit over it!!

Agent isnt Howes is it?



Wonder if that was why he was left out against Quins.