THE signing of Kiwi Test prop Jason Cayless on a four-year deal is a decision I am fully supportive of. He is a quality player, but it does mean that with Darren Albert and Jamie Lyon also on board we have used up our three quota spots.

So the flip side of that means we have to lose Jason Hooper at the end of the year. This time of year is a very difficult period for those players who are off contract. The club, staff and players all feel awkward about it, but it is just one of those dilemmas that clubs face with the salary cap and the quota system in place. Coaches and clubs cannot keep all the players they would like to. I am really enjoying coaching Jason Hooper because he offers a tremendous amount to Saints. To his credit, the extremely professional way he has handled this situation has made it a lot easier for both the club and myself.

That is one of Jason's qualities as a person and he has now been given permission to look around for another club for next season.

But he still has plenty to focus on at Knowsley Road first - he is desperate to be fit for the Challenge Cup semi-final and can still make plenty of impact on our side for the rest the Super League season.

Looking ahead to Friday night's game at home to Hull, Paul Sculthorpe has an outside chance of playing after coming off with a hamstring injury at Wakefield.

If he does not play we are going to be down on senior players - the sort of players who give guidance and direction to our football team. Although we have a couple of natural leaders in Paul Wellens and Keiron

Cunningham, we may have ask a couple of other boys to step into the fold.

Last Sunday it was tough telling Paul Sculthorpe at half time that he was not going back on. He, like all players, really wants to play and it is really frustrating for him. I can see the reasoning behind our staff being a little bit cautious when Scully exhibits symptoms of injuries he has had in the past.

But I also saw in the Wigan game and in the first half against Wakefield that he is really starting to hit his straps with the quality he is giving to the team and the huge contribution he is making.

On top of that Scully's goalkicking is going really well and that has surprised me. Sunday's was a pretty difficult game to win, particularly in the last 20 minutes when we had to play a different style of football

due to the number of players we had injured.

We were on a bit of a hiding to nothing at Wakefield as we were expected to win easily, but we knew that they are tough at home and had a side that was not dissimilar to the one that got them through to the second round of the play-offs last year.

See you on Friday!