Gale was only surplus to requirements at Leeds because he was 5 years behind Mcguire and a couple more behind Sinfield who were both established top class winners when he would have come through. He went down to Doncaster then was brought back up to SL at london by...Brian Mcdermott.

Shenton has always been rated and played for England 9 years ago. He probably didnt kick on like you would have hoped at Saints but he was hardly terrible and has been good under a few coaches.

Eden and Webster? meh. Your probably right there. They are mediocre players playing in a good side with a gameplan that has made them look their best.

Funny how facts never get in the way of a good story...

Gale- was Bradford's best player when signed for Cas, yes Bradford had been relegated but he'd been playing regular SL
Eden - was only surplus to requirements at Brisbane Broncos. Before they took a punt on him (and it really was no more than that from their perspective) he was a promising SL player.
Shenton - was a current England international when he returned to Cas (also wasn't it more about him wanting to head home rather than saints being desperate to get shut)
Webster - was signed from HKR where he was one of their best paid players

Powell has done a great job in making the whole greater than the parts, but why the need to exagerate...Cas have done well in assembling a balanced squad on a relatively tight budget (presumably, I have no idea if they spend the full cap). But none of those players were on the scrap heap before Cas picked em up

Ever heard of hypocrisy?

Yes. It means more than my using a different turn of phrase to the original poster... Ok "surplus to requirements" is probably a higher threshold than "on the scrapheap" but that's merely semantics, my point still stands...All four of those players had a good solid SL pedigree before Powell coached 'em

They may have had solid pedigrees, but haven't all of them been in career best form this year? Its hard not to see a pattern of DP getting players to improve rather than regress or stagnate.

It's not semantics, your point still stands - as crap.

Eden - journeyman - Hudds, HKR, Salford (Gateshead?), Broncos
Shenton - released a year early by Saints
Gale - ditched by Leeds, playing Championship for Bradford
Webster - injury prone & virtually finished

You could add McShane & Cook to the list of those surplus to requirements at any decent SL club as well as a number of the unknowns who Powell has made into top players.

Wait... What?

Apart from I said how good DP had done and how much better Cas are than the sum of their parts. Partly it's down to how tightly structured their game is, they're able to swap players in and out but still have them know their role. Hence I don't see Zak as that much of a loss to them (at least in attack, they'll miss him in defence especially if we manage to get our kicking game going).

My point was, and remains, that those 4 players are a rubbish example.

Fact is shenton was an England international, Gale had been outstanding in a poor Bradford side. Eden's only 26 now, hardly a journeyman...he chamced his arm aged 23 at one of the biggest teams in the NRL. Webster I'll concede looked to be on his way out a couple of seasons ago,tho he has always been a solid player.

Meh. You don't know how close I was to including Zak in the list of players Powell had rescued from oblivion...

Temporarily.