Probably because he'd let it be known he wished to join his brothers in the NRL in 2012.



I'm not assuming he has.



Because they took a punt and it proved to be correct.



They are not on the open market until they are free to negotiate with other clubs. There is a deadline in place for that to happen. Before then clubs would need to seek permission from their existing employers to speak to individual players. If they don't they are in breach of RFL rules.



I doubt the players would do that. Agents/managers might.

The point remains those players were contracted to their clubs and if they have now extended those contracts they were never on the open market. The employing club is entitled to negotiate with it's existing players if they wish to retain them.

Did opposition teams miss out on Sinfield, Hall, Jones-Bishop, Watkins and Clarkson when they extended their Leeds contracts earlier this season?

__________

I agree Craig Huby would have been a welcome addition.

would have signed Feriol in a heartbeat had he been available but Griffins come a long way at the giants

You think I'm knocking him because he's not a Leeds player?

I see plenty of players from other clubs thanks, both live and on TV. Huby is a long way behind those who are currently in the England squad IMO. His offload game is good, but he doesn't make the yards per carry you get from the likes of Graham, Morley, Carvell, Crabtree, Griffin - even Lynch and a half fit Jamie Peacock.

His footwork in defence is suspect - he gets put off balance too easily by more agile players and loses the collision as a result, leading to a quick play the ball (much like Luke Burgess used to do).

I'd summarise him as a grafter, but nothing more. Is that what you think Leeds really need right now, another one of those in pack or someone with a little more mongrel about them like Griffin?

Look at it another way then. This thread is about Griffin. Is contract does not end until end of season. He is not on the "open" market as you put it. How have we managed to sign him then, as so many think.



Well of course they did. Sinfield on his last two resignings with Leeds has made no secret of the other opportunities he has had. Even made a speech about and the other players after the 2008 GF.




I don't think Gilders seen him play for quite a while.

That's a tremendous moving of the goalposts, or be honest you didn't really read what was put previously did you?

Only one player have you named there who I was making comparisons with on the earlier page. And the comparison was to Griffin, not even to any of them. I already said Graham was a million miles ahead of the rest.



I'd put him down as a ball playing forward with great hands. A player who was well ahead of the competition in the tackle busts, before his injury. A stat that I would still guess he would be above on in comparison to some of the players you mentioned. Tackle busts is very important for a prop.

You see a different version of Griffin to me. Cross, Ferriol, Morley, Lima, Graham, they have mongrel, Griffin is more of a running prop than having mongrel.

I'd rather we signed Larne Patrick or David Fa'alongo (sp) from Hudds but Griffin isn't the worst player we could sign. The Hudds fans seem to rate him as their best prop.

TBH i would rater sign griffin than Fa'alongo, dont think he would be what we need at all

I'd rather we signed crabtree than both of them

I'd rather have Crabtree than any other prop in the comp (know Graham was always unobtainable), but unless we were spending transfer fees, he was never an option.

When you look at what people say Leeds need, Crabtree is the perfect example of that.

English...yes
Under 30...yes (maybe )
good workrate...yes

Seems to me he's a decent signing, he's better than Kirke, Burgess and Cross therefore an improvment to the playing rosta.

Relatively young, English, Experienced, available Prop, seems to be exactly what we need. Not a marquee signing by any means but a good addition to the squad.

More than happy to have Griffin rather than Bailey. Let Bailey waste time at another club.

Sorry, Bailey one of our better props this year has been wasting time?

Is the alcohol really making me that blind?

not the best but good and does have some stand out games. has got better in the last few years. This has been down to:

- High quality conditioning

- very high quality man management, Griff can be high maintainance.

- Smart tactical utilisation by Brown / Anderson


if Brian Mac / Lowes have man management and tactical skills equal to or better than Nathan Brown you will have a good signing. If not you may have troubles ahead.