I read Willie Mason can't get a gig down under - a big, non nonsense second rower that we could pick up for next to nothing - worth a punt?




.... joking.

It's very simple.

If he wants to come to get his head down, win things and play in a good side - he'll join us.

If he wants to chase the dollar - he'll go to Salford.

If he wants to chase a little less dollar but to be able to say how 'promising' a side are (a la Ellis,et al) he'll go to the KFC

Ferres is under contract at Giants until 2019. Let's take a punt and say he is on £120k a year. So Giants have a £480k liability and if they can't/won't play him an asset worth zero. On that basis be surprised if the sleeve will jump in and offer £50k because you are effectively offering £530k to Giants to get them out of a hole. Ferres is unlikely to accept a move on less coin so scope for negotiation if we are in which I reckon is a big if. If sleeve interested reckon we would go for 1 year loan paying chunk of his wages up to cap ( if any spare) with Giants paying the rest . Then if he goes well and jjb and achurch off cap next year - we could take him and pay full salary. at present Hudds in very weak negotiating position and all know it. Nobody will offer£50k in a rush. I' m still not convinced Leeds will want the attention that would come although agree with others re. Injuries and wear and tear to 2nd rows in current squad.

Anywhere with space on their cap will happily pay £50k to get hold of Ferres. He's one of the best second rowers in the competition.

If Leeds aren't prepared to pay it, someone will and he'll go there instead. Ridiculous to miss out for what is such a tiny fee in the grand scheme of things.

Would the Giants be interested in a player swap with Ferres going leaving them a man light? Achurch springs to mind.

Quite, and although his alleged actions are pretty low - it was a private life matter and does not affect his ability as a Rugby League player.

If he has been disciplined (a la Hock) for drugs - that would be something quite different.

The fee is almost irrelevant to any side. As there is not many players in Super League, regardless of standing, who are not worth £50k.

The issue is Ferres is on a lot more money than it seems people realise. I know that there was a bit of dressing room upset at the Giants last year over the amount Ferres is on when he signed his new deal, and the amount that Wardle got for a new contract. Many of the Giants players thought the respective contracts should be similar. I can't say what exactly Ferres is on, but it is comfortably over £100k from what I was told previously.

IF we are in for him, Ferres would only reject us if he was interested in more money (Salford). And I'd be quite happy with that. However, If he's serious about winning trophies and keeping his England place for the World Cup, he would probably need to accept lower wages than what Koukash would throw at him.

I very much doubt he's anywhere near 100k.

As a current international, he'd presumably slot straight in at or near the top of the Leeds pay structure?

So the question remains whether Leeds would have sufficient space under their cap to fit in another top earner.

Damaged goods, large contract, late in the off season with most clubs settled with their 2016 squads and Hudds clearly not able to play him leaves Giants in a very weak bargaining position. Whilst they may get a £50k fee up front, I'll be very surprised if Hudds aren't having to bite the bullet and continue to pay a proportion of his salary - I'd presume that would be the angle any club looking to sign him would go down in order to get a good player at a reasonable price on the cap.

And you would be wrong. He is comfortably over it.

As one of only a couple of England Internationals at Hudds he probably is. Looking at their squad from this year I would imagine he along with Brough and Crabtree are the top ones (McGillivary might be if/when he signs a new deal).

He might though be prepared to accept in the circumstances that taking a small pay cut is the wise choice with regards to his career. Out of the 3 clubs mentioned only Leeds offer him a realistic chance of silverware AND keeping his England spot for the 4 Nations and World Cup.

Wherever he ends up (in SL) I, along with many others I suspect, would pay top dollar to see the two (or more) Huddersfield games against his new club!

Huby vs Ferres THE REMATCH