On this topic, our hookers currently consist of one defensive (Smoothy), one attacking (Mozer) and two utilities (Walters and Paix). The club wants to offload Paix, leaving us with only one utility. Billy's utility value is experience in the halves, making him less of a defensive liability, but he really isn't much chop in attack and offers very little impact from the bench. He can't chase kicks, run down intercepts or pull out length of the field tries in the way a genuine 6 would do. He doesn't have the speed or the ticker. We do not have an impact utility, and no one to cover a forward and back role.
In the future, this means the Top 30 has been structured so that Billy is undroppable, yet frustratingly inadequate. Mozer would not be as safe in the halves as Billy, regardless of how much better he is at his primary role. Even if Billy is injured, elevating Mozer would weaken our flexibility in the halves, especially with an eggshell like Reynolds.
Whoever is planning our Roster is either in denial of this massive fault-line or is gifting Billy a job for life at the expense of the team. Your conspiracy theory goes here. And please, someone gatekeep him by telling us how CHEAP he is.