Just a reminder of what Trent said less than a month ago. https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... mbs-828636 Although he maybe should have said at the end of the interview “Unless St George offer me a deal then I’ll be straight on a plane home”

Just a reminder of what Trent said less than a month ago. https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... mbs-828636 Although he maybe should have said at the end of the interview “Unless St George offer me a deal then I’ll be straight on a plane home”

Gutted he's gone like. But we must look forward.

Quote christopher="christopher"Just a reminder of what Trent said less than a month ago. https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... mbs-828636 Although he maybe should have said at the end of the interview “Unless St George offer me a deal then I’ll be straight on a plane home” '" Yeah and that interview is exactly why we should all lose respect for him should this all be confirmed as reported

Quote christopher="christopher"Just a reminder of what Trent said less than a month ago. https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... mbs-828636 Although he maybe should have said at the end of the interview “Unless St George offer me a deal then I’ll be straight on a plane home” '" Yeah and that interview is exactly why we should all lose respect for him should this all be confirmed as reported

Merrin is a quality player, no doubt about it - however he is overweight for a professional athlete, he's too slow for second row, too small for prop and can't play 80 minutes.

For the amount of money he was on, a big part of that was his leadership and experience. Purely as a player, I think he was overpaid. Also his contract was way too long and his value-for-money could well have looked even worse three years down the line.

He is less effective when he's not in a pack of specialist players to cover the gaps he has.

He's a good enough bloke but I'm not unhappy he's going. There have been rumours of this not being right for him even from before he joined us.

Not really sure why some seem so upset by this? Our back row without him looks pretty solid anyway, and it won't be too long before we see the likes of Walters and hopefully Edwards breaking through too.

NRL clubs can afford to carry players like Merrin but SL clubs can't. This way is best for all parties IMO.

I think the club should be making some kind of official statement on it now but I suspect they want to get the Prior signing finalised so they have some good news to temper the bad PR from this

Not too fussed if this turns out to be true to be honest. Would be more disappointed to lose Ava or Hurrell. I wouldn't rush into another marquee signing either, certainly not in the back row, as long as we have another prop lined up.

Now it’s official that Merrin has gone, and he has, let’s see how we can replace him. While Merrin was under contract it was well known that we are in talks with Prior, this being the case he was never the new marquee player, so, we must still be sat on a big chunk of salary cap money to sign one or two top quality players. Let’s see what happens.
Surely as a marquee player we should be looking at someone who is at the top of their game, is fit to play SL and can play the whole 90 minutes, a leader of men, a top quality player

Let’s shift the mercenary off get prior in, then personally I wouldn’t be in a rush to spend our marquee money at this stage unless the right player is available let’s not rush into anything. Initially a little vexed as he has dumped us in the brown stuff even though we have been more than fair with him, but in hindsight back row is not weak and money could be used better

Whilst once again an overseas player has either been badly recruited or we have been shafted.
I think we will miss Merrin maybe more for his leadership than his ability which given the right signing might not be that disruptive playing wise.
Surely a Southsea Islander that Hull/Cas seem to unearth would be a better bet this time.
I know we really do need a prop as well as Prior.
But I do worry about Newman and a wing spot.
FB also a concern if Walker gets injured and seriously hope Liam Sutcliffe is not the answer to that one.
Sort that little lot out and we could easily be top 5 next year.

Personally think Merrin is a better signing than Prior would be.As for Boyd,he doesn't want to leave NRL plus his injury was worse than first thought.Prior and his agent were still trying to find an NRL club until recently so would be another risky deal

First an apology to Sgy Loiner who first brought the news of Merrin leaving that many refused to believe me included. Great snippet of news well done!
As for a Merrin replacement I would look for a quality centre (Agar should be aware of some from his days in Oz) thinking of someone like the quality of Martin and not a marquee signing and move Newman to wing. This is assuming Prior has signed. Then look at SL or even the C’ship for another prop. If nobody is available don’t buy for the sake of it as we have youngsters coming through and we could look at strengthening the wing.
Just my personal thoughts

First an apology to Sgy Loiner who first brought the news of Merrin leaving that many refused to believe me included. Great snippet of news well done!
As for a Merrin replacement I would look for a quality centre (Agar should be aware of some from his days in Oz) thinking of someone like the quality of Martin and not a marquee signing and move Newman to wing. This is assuming Prior has signed. Then look at SL or even the C’ship for another prop. If nobody is available don’t buy for the sake of it as we have youngsters coming through and we could look at strengthening the wing.
Just my personal thoughts