McIlorum has been at the club for so long that he's almost certainly one of our highest earners. His form over the last few years now probably hasn't been good enough to justify such a huge chunk of the salary cap going to him when we have several other options at hooker.
We played no better with McIlorum at hooker than with Powell. I know Powell has his issue but last year they were both inconsistent, rarely very good but when one played well the other didn't, and it often changed from week to week. I think Powell plays better when starting at hooker (as quite a few 9's do) rather than coming off the bench so I reckon we'll see more from him this year. Hopefully Leuluai does better at hooker than at scrum half. When he played hooker for us the last time round he was outstanding but it remains to be seen whether he's still good enough for Super League.
What I'm looking forward to more is the chance of Ganson breaking through. He's an exceptional hooker, did really well when he was given a chance in the first team and is such a clever player that he's exactly the sort of hooker we need. People say that McIlorum was stifled by Wigan's attacking play but Ganson was more effective in attack playing in the same system.
Powell should be more solid defensively. Last year must surely have busted the myth about McIlorum being so strong defensively. He missed tackles far too often and was exposed frequently as a result, both playing for Wigan and for Ireland in the world cup. Powell doesn't hit anywhere near as hard but his defence is more composed and disciplined.
Perhaps McIlorum will be a huge success at Catalans. It wouldn't surprise me but I just didn't see anything from him over the last few years to make me think he'd have been any better for us this year.
