CW8 wrote:
I'd be disappointed if this is true. Although he is getting on I still think he has more than 1 good season left in him and until he retired I don't think we could replace him with better. His contract is up at the end of this season, by which time we will have a bette idea if either butler and mulhern are likely to be good enough and resilient (avoiding injuries) enough to be Chris Hills successor. Hill makes the match day 17 every week for me so letting him go weakens our best team and is counter productive, yes we will lose him sometime in the nearish future but I wouldn't like it to be now and I really don't like the idea of it being behind closed doors, he definitely deserves to hear our appreciation.
Hill and cooper are still our best props, even with gb international philbin and 2 England capped in butler and Mulhern.
This. Hill isn't quite the player he was, but given his age, gradual decline is only to be expected. And yes, we all get frustrated with how many penalties he gives away and how much energy he has wasted on blabbing to referees, but he is still very much worth his place in the side, for another season at least. It's all about succession planning, and hopefully signing Butler and Mulhern has gone a long way to achieving that. Time will tell.
