No one is suggesting Kyle over Liddle... Cook will not be here forever and aging bodies get injured.
Good Triangle signing + competition for spots is a good thing...
Liddle is off contract as 2026 is an option.. Kyle has bulked up 10kg out of no where.. he's clearly been told his future is in the middle, likely hooker. This whole Kyle to 13 thing is ridiculous, he will not play there. He'd be laughably bad, it'll be hooker where the positional switch happens.
My realistic assessment of this re-signing is that Kyle is being given a passage to the 9 jersey in the future, when the better thing for our team and club would be for Kyle to go to reserves, with Liddle at 14 and Cook at 9. Instead what it looks like, is Liddle will be moved on with Kyle going to 14, before then going to 9 once Cook retires. Can that be confirmed? Not at this stage, but I find it very, very convenient. I've said from the very start when we signed Kyle I am fine with it as long as Shane is willing to put his son in reserve grade where he should be. At this stage there is no evidence he'd pull that trigger. If Kyle is a depth piece, I'm happy enough with that. But I find it strange that a lot of fans don't seem apprehensive about this whole thing, and maybe that's because they don't necessarily realise Liddle can leave after 25'. If he is moved on so that Kyle has a saloon passage to NRL football, then Flano won't necessarily lose my support, but I definitely won't have the same level of trust in the process.
I've also seen the argument tossed up that if his name wasn't Flanagan, no one would have an issue with the re-signing. That's because if his name wasn't Flanagan there would be no doubt over whether he'd end up in reserves as depth behind Liddle, Cook and the halves. Plus, if his name wasn't Flanagan, people need to remember, he'd be over in england. That is the realistic, harsh truth that people shy away from. So given that, I think it's right to have apprehension about the retention because he frankly isn't good enough for NRL, and it's a realistic concern that he could be picked in preference over more deserving players in the future, like Liddle for example. It's a real possibility that Liddle leaves/gets pushed, with Kyle going to 14.