That's exactly my point,IF he was deemed that good then surely the offer would of reflected that?
I'm aware of what others were offered in relation to their worth to the team so by offering Broughton what they did that reflected where they saw him in terms of potential and pecking order afterall if he was seen as an "elite" youngster he'd of been tied down to a long term deal ala Bjb,Watkins and Mcshane.
I agree he may go on to prove himself a quality winger but i still don't think he was ready to walk into Donalds place.
As for this quota you keep mentioning we are within it and have broken no rules so i don't see the problem and i'd also expect GH to replace quota players with homegrown ones who are deemed at least as good if not better.

Who has said that he was deemed that good by Leeds, I haven't, so it's a bit of a strange proposition. Broughton was an Academy player at Leeds with his only SL appearances coming while on loan at Hull. Leeds' offer (if there was one) will have been in line with that. The bulk of the serious cap money will have been allocated elsewhere, not least in the likes of Donald and Buderus' direction for example. As already indicated Leeds' offers can be bettered elsewhere and it (understandably at times) costs Leeds some good players that they probably would have liked to retain, never mind a player who was still to make his 1st grade debut with the club.



I wonder how you felt when Richard Mathers was given an opportunity at Gary Connolly's expense or when Lee Smith and Ryan Hall were given the opportunity to win a place in the 1st grade. Those didn't turn out so bad.



No doubt.

Gary Hetherington set himself a target of a 80/20 split (20/5), this season he's achieved 18/7 and missed his own target.

Scott Donald - on quota or off quota?

At the end of the day Broughton was not good enough to take a full time Wing spot at the countries top club. He was offered a contract that will have reflected his position as backup, but someone else (Salfrod), would give him a better opportunity, and maybe pay him more.

I don't see what Leeds or Broughton have done wrong.

You argument about McShane or Buderus is that McShane is currently 3rd in line for a position that has 1 starting position. Losing buderus, and leaving McShane to take up the slack would not leave us as exposed as having a player with little SL experience at Leeds as pretty much a guarunteed starter every week.

For the record, I would not let Buderus go, at least until his contract expries.

I'll tell you that i felt we let Connolly go a little early in terms of squad numbers but still thought Mathers was up to it as i did with Smith and Hall this isn't the case with Broughton but i would of liked to see Ratu stay but i back the clubs policy.
I'm sure you can find posts where i'm defending Hall as i did Gibson et al.
Like i said maybe we'll be proved wrong and good luck to the lad but i don't think he's one to "come back and bite us".

We might. Simply put, I think McShane has better potential than Broughton (in their respective positions) and I think the Antipodean keeping McShane out of the team hasn't achieved a fraction of what Donald has in the ENglish game, whatever his reputation prior to arriving here.

I judge players on merit. Donald has earned it as one of Leeds best wingers. Buderus has been massively underwhelming.

At least one of Donald Webb and or Kylie are off quota and I see no reason why all three shouldn't be.

And? So he might've been a quota player under the old regulation and he might not be under the current ones. Where are we going with this?

I do. That said, it's probably not a massive step up from from our Academy to Salford's 1st team

Mathers got into the Leeds team at the end of 2002. He got a taste of first team action. The coaching staff then signed Connolly for 2003. Mathers was patient and waited for his chance. He took it with both hands.

If Broughton is as good as you and Salford think I wish he'd shown the same attitude as Mathers and waited until he'd earned his chance. Same thing with Hall and Smith, they got first team action, then dropped back into the Academy. Look at Smith's progression to 1st team regular.

Who knows, if Broughton had shown the same attitude and taken the same career paths as the three you name he too could have been a RL international, playing in the NRL or making a big money move to RU.

As it is, he's playing on the wing for Salford.

So I've noticed. Abysmal and Gash being a couple of the more astute observations.



From the ridiculous to the sublime. Hey ho.

I'm a fan of Donalds, I appreciate what he has done for the club. However he can't and won't stay forever. I thought he had intimated in 2008 that 2009 was to be his last season over here as he wished to return 'home' with his young family. That for me would have been the right call. Everyone in the game, I think, could see the RFL were seeking to increase the numbers of home grown players and that neccessarily meant the amount of overseas trained would have to reduce in line. Leeds 'perhaps' had already indicated to Donald that their limited quota spots in 2010 were going to be allocated away from the wing. I think Leeds have always regarded the wing as not being an overly critical area in the team and used on occassions as a proving ground for Academy starlets to cut their 1st grade teeth and it's an approach that has served them well in the past. That situation changed with the 'cajones clause' and Leeds were then perhaps minded to take the conservative approach and re-engage with Donald helping to create the best Leeds squad (on paper) since 2004.




You'd have to ask him, I don't think anyone else would know the answer to that.

If the clubs already have their wing spots settled with contracted players there isn't much Broughton could do. As it is, he did a deal with a SL club that had a wing spot available and so far he is taking that opportunity with glee.

To imply that an Academy prospect somehow had the pick of the majority of Super League clubs or that the Super League clubs all bar Salford rejected him is far out dude.



Why would they when they already had their wing positions covered by contracted players? In the age of the salary cap there are several factors to consider on retention, recruitment and succession planning.

Leeds had several options and they took the conservative approach in extending Donald's deal as was their right. That closed the door for another 12 months on Broughton at Leeds (unsubstantiated talk of a contract offer or not(?)) and he backed himself that he was ready to play SL and another SL club stepped in and gave him that opportunity.

While Leeds have been forced in to playing two part time players plus a recent amateur rugby union player (described by one poster as a 'desperate gamble' in Feb 2010) on the wing in Donald's absence, Broughton has continued his SL education and appears to be making good progress and earning complimentary reviews from coach McRae.

Nice side step. The Bulls didn't have their wings covered by contracted players. They signed Reardon this off-seaon.

Reardon.

The 28 year old former Great Britain International (try scorer V Australia), Grand Final winner, Harry Sunderland winner, fitting the criteria McNamara was looking for. I'll let Steve take over the point"Everybody knows the quality of Stuart Reardon as a player and his ability to break tackles and get the ball over the try line. We're very excited to have him and Stuart is just as excited to be here. When he left Bradford Bulls he was still a young boy in a side surrounded by senior players. Now he is coming back as a senior player and we are very confident in his ability to be a fantastic player for us again." [/i

If you are looking to add an experienced player why would you consider a player (even a good one) just emerging from Academy rugby?

That's it. You quoted Steve McNamara as an authority. Need we go on?

Do YOU rate the present Stuart Reardon (the one discarded by Hull and Warrington, the one who has barely played in three or four seasons) as a better player than Broughton? If YOU were a coach would you sign Reardon in preference? Which presents more of a gamble, the three year injured Reardon or the emerging Broughton?

If Reardon, with his record and history of achievements in the game, is a better signing for the Bulls than Broughton why is Donald for Leeds not a better option given what Donald has achieved in the game during the last four seasons?

Because Donald is an Aussie and we've broken tvocs non exsistent "quota" rules

Just to add that i may be wrong but i'm sensing a tvoc "agenda" with our strawberry blonde try machine.

As do you and most people on here. Not many people come out of a discussion saying, well that certainly changed my view on things