The older players like Sinfield, Peacock, McGuire etc will have accepted less money for extended contracts and a testimonial.

Watkins is still on the way up and his next contract will be the big one so that leaves Ablett, Hall and Briscoe. I am on the understanding that Achurch is on a sizable contract one of the largest in the squad. That may be true it may not but that is what I have heard from more than one reliable source.

Even if Sinfield, Peacock and co. have accepted less money (which I don't think is certain btw) they'll still be the top guys on the money ladder.

Watkins only signed a new 5 year deal back in October, he's been part of the starting 13 for 4 years now and an England player with plenty of offer clubs sniffing around. If you think we've managed to keep him using less money than it took to sign an Aussie no-name who seemed destined for the bench at best then I think you need to have a word with your sources.

If I had a pound for everytime I've heard "a reliable source told me" then I'd be a millionaire. We'd have also signed Gareth Ellis back, and BJB and Hardaker would be playing for Wire and Wigan respectively now. Even though only a couple of people will truly know what everyone is on at the club it's nice to know they're quite happy to pass it on to others who then pass it on to their mates.

Instead of rumours and sources, perhaps use common sense and remember the guy running things in Hethrington and remember he isn't exactly known for throwing money around. Like you said, Watkins will have had to wait for his big deal (like Hall and Ablett will have done previously)......the notion that he offered that to Achurch who had some injury hit uninspiring years in the NRL with very few first team games is fanciful at best. Sometimes sources really shouldn't be believed.

You're not doing too well on this one.

I was actually wrong, I over estimated you, you are not man enough. Pretty poor excuse that.

For the fourth time now of repeating, I said the right hand side and named the three players, were excellent, and said the left were not so good.

You in your wisdom, decided as you had not heard Ward's name mentioned by the summariser, that he couldn't have had a good game, and infact I was just bulling him up.

I challenged you on what a summariser would mention, and what about defence and dummy runs. You couldn't answer it and let it go. The stats show he was the teams top tackler, there is no stat that shows dummy runs or positioning in defence to ensure the opposition move away. Yet here you are trying to backstep by naming another player.

So lets remind ourselves what I said about McGuire. That he was distinctly average, credit for coming up with the decisive plays (which he did), but took too many wrong options and missed tackles. However, he was better than his half back partner. From the stats it was chosen to ignore the four missed tackles, but concentrate on try assists. Where is the stats that show someone taking the wrong option? there isn't one, and exactly why stats should only be used in conjunction with actually watching the game. Something listening to the radio can not give you.

The fact you can't admit you were wrong and too hasty to pick at a post where they were actually at the game, tells us more about you.

We will have to agree to disagree - I think your logic flawed regarding the older players and their earning power. I am only repeating what I have heard - I don't know for certain and neither do you, but if Gould's comments are anything to go by I would suspect he hasn't come for peanuts.

Leeds and all the SL clubs have a salary cap of £x per year (I have not been able to find the figure, but sure some of you will tell me). What particularly does it matter how high up Achurch is on that list? The club will have decided how much to give to eah player, out of the maximum they can give. If the club have decided to give Achurch a bigger salary than Ryan Hall or JP, then presumably the likes of Ryan Hall and JP would go if they were unhappy with their portion. After knowing what the salary cap total is, anything after that is pure speculation. Those with sources, even if you asked the players themselves, it doesn't necessarily mean they will be telling the truth, does it?

If I am Ryan Hall, and Achurch is actually on 3 times more than me, I am not going to admit that to some bloke I know who supports the team, am I? I am going to muddle the figures so that I look like I am paid more than a fringe-player, as I feel I should be.

Really?46 apps too .I know he's had injuries , but I am slightly amazed

Never mind ageing props and how are we going to replace the golden trio. I think the most worrying thing for the club is that someone quite high up keeps telling every Tom, Dick and Harry he knows all the going ons at the club like how much players are earning, whose negotating a new deal, who we are looking to get rid of and who we are trying to sign.

Person/s just freely passing on what should be private information and then being described as "reliable"......the irony.

A good example of this would be notice of Briscoe's signing a full six months before it and despite the Leeds CEO saying he didn't know anything - low and behold Luke Briscoe signs for Leeds.

Stuff appears on here well before it is ever announced/denounced by the club - what is surprising is how much ends up actually happening.

Gossip is the lifeblood of the any sport its what keeps fans interested - far less important than whether the Rhinos are going to replace an ageing captain

Just on Achurch, bear in mind that he'd played very few games for the Panthers. Gould's comments on Achurch getting big money from Leeds would have been in the context of them giving him an offer based on his actual output for them at the time (very little) and some promise of better things - but caveated by the fact he'd been regularly injured in his time there. The likelihood is that they didn't offer him very much at all, just a contract with the promise of an upgrade if he stayed fit and in the team, and were most likely surprised that Leeds offered a decent wage and a four-year deal.

Rovers have brought in 13 new players Leeds brought in 1. Rovers where always going to take time to gel especially with so many new players having to learn new defensive structures, Even existing players are learning new structures with the club bringing in Willie Poaching to oversea the defence. I'm guessing that 80 minutes where invaluable for Rovers and the defence SHOULD get better and better as the season goes on.

Dixon's miss on Bricoe was nothing to do with structures. Neither were most of the misses on either side that led to tries.

Another clear sign to Printers stubbornness. Obviously his beloved Brian McDermott isn't influenced by radio summarisers, and bearing in mind his interview now stating Ward was "outstanding" on Sunday.

Like I said pages ago, I did think you would have been man enough to accept you maybe made an error in jumping in having a go without foundation.

Wow your man crush of Ward is really strong isn't it.

If you actually read it McDermott exact words are "he played 74 minutes and was very good".......note no mention of excellent.

But I look forward to you going with McDermott's appraisals of players in the future. Aiton was one of the first players he praised in the Boxing Day win yet you said he was garbage.......that after you'd set your tone for the year by saying Ward looked like an absolute beast with the bulk he'd put on, and whilst he's put some size on and looks good describing him as an absolute beast is beyond pushing it.

Note to others, don't dare even slightly criticise or question Stevie Ward because like some big fat mother at an under 11's match hearing someone criticise her son, Gotcha will run over trying to claw your eyes out shouting "leave my lad alone!"

Stevie Ward looked sharp, he was aided by a dismal defensive effort against Campese, run through him time and time again. But he capitalized fully on the situation. Good lad.