Some fans will hate to hear it, but it's possibly the right time and situation for a compete rebuild.
If we believe the majority of the rumours we will be without Simmo, Daly, Hughes, WlR next season, and possibly Mullan, Taylor, JCW and maybe some others.
Players like Mullan and to some extent Simmo and JCW have featured so rarely for us over the last 12 months that it's hard to think of them as first choice at the moment, so replacing them will likely be easier.
To some degree the same can be said about Nathan Hughes. Between injuries, tweet gate, and international call ups, I'm not sure how many games he's actually played in the last 12 months and whether it represents a fair return on investment.
When fit and firing, he's definitely a must have in the team though.
Daly and WlR on the other hand are starters, and players with their ability are few and far between. There's still time to go before the new year, but there are murmurs that these 2 aren't playing near their best. Even world class players need to play their best or they're no better than the other squad players.
I don't believe all the rumours are "done deals" yet. For example, given how Dai often doesn't select a player if they're known to be leaving, I find it hard to believe he would have made Daly Captain for the last couple of games.
If these guys do go though, we will have a super chunk of salary cap available.
It's time to find out who wants to play for the club and who doesn't. Anyone wishing to go can go, with a big "thank you for your services".
I don't know where we get replacements from or who they would be, but as has been recently stated by nick Eastwood, Dai is a forward looking guy who always has a plan for next season.
I feel that he knows what cards he'll be dealt with for next year and is already well along the path of trying to smooth the transition.
Whatever he does though, it has to involve a significant increase in the size of the coaching team
I predict that we're going to see a quite significant player turnover this year, and those coming in to replace them won't all be big names. I think that we will now be building for medium term success rather than trying for immediate gratification and constantly trying to plaster over the cracks.
If it does happen, it'll only work properly if fans, critics and media alike all buy into it rather than complaining about the lack of a Willie leRoux, Kurtley Beale or Charles Piutau