We do have a world cup winner at FB playing for us already and he is the fastest player at the club at an age below 30 that could fill the FB role at the club for the next 3 years???


Just a thought!

When you look at it now, that seems logical. But look at the names that HAVE moved in recent seasons. Greg Eden could be developing as our fullback now, we COULD have Jodie Broughton and Joel Moon on one wing, we COULD have Chris Hill at prop and Danny Brough in the halves. Those kind of players will be on the move this season again and we need to make sure we identify those players and do our best to sign them. Matty Smith has just moved, you're not telling me we wouldn't be better with Hohaia at 1 and Smith at 7 than Wellens at 1 and Hohaia/Lomax goofing it up?

The club just needs to refocus on being successful on the pitch and start making better decisions. It just seems we panicked when we lost players. When Kyle and Jammer left the recruitment that followed was awful and a very costly mistake for the club. There doesn't seem to be a plan in place at all. Perhaps it's been caused by the disruption in coach, but the development of the youth has been awful as well. We had Foster, Makinson, Gaskell and Lomax who all looked sensational prospects a year or two ago and none of them have progressed, in fact they are all headed backwards at an alarming rate.

I'd still love to know who is reponsible for assembling the squad at Saints? Is it Eamon? Rush? Is it Kel Coslett? Is it the coach and if so who decided on Turner and Manu? The next two seasons are absolutely vital. We'll either kick on, improve the squad and reep the financial rewards of the stadium or we'll continue our rapid decline and become firmly entrenched in mid table and set for a decade or more of anonymity.

You know the standards in Super League are depleting when the top team is signing Matty Smith and Blake Green as first choice half backs.

Greg Eden this, Greg Eden that. A couple of seasons ago people were talking in exactly the same about Owen at castleford and now nobody cares about him, mainly because they're all going on about the new kid on the block.

Yes, we should have a better solution at fullback than Wellens.
Yes, the Hohaia as a half back signing was a poor idea.

Past that though, Its hardly all doom and gloom. If we celared up the above and get the side a bit more geared up for the big games, then we could really build on our 3rd place standing.

Resign Meli, play him in the centre with Turner outside him. Move Lance to fullback and bring Gaskell in at #6. Go for Hanbury at Widnes as back up. They've just signed Mellor from Wigan and Brown so would listen to offers. Send Wello or Wilkin the opposite way if necessary.
Play Ade outside Jones and make Wheeler, Swift, Makinson and Foster work to prove ther're more than just an able deputy with some loan deals.
Sign a starting prop and move laffranchi into the [ibig 13[/i role. Unload Wilkin to free up cap space. Sack off Magennis and bring Forster in.

I'm sure I could make a sympathetic highlights reel that made Gardner look like Ettingshausen...

Sounds good. When can you start?

I've phoned Eamon to tell him I'd help out for free, but he wasn't there. I left a message, but no one's got back to me yet.

Hohaia is more than good enough for this league. He held down a starting spot in the NRL for several seasons, which is more than most other Super League players could manage. The reason why we're not controlling the game has to come from the coaches and given that they've plumped more often for Wilkin running the show you can make up your own mind on that one.

Not in the halves he didn't. He played most of his games at hooker or halfback. He can't control a team, he isn't an organising half back and he has no kicking game.

If we brought Billy Slater over and played him at scrum half, he'd struggle. Round pegs and all that.

Hohaia should be moved to fullback and Wello released.

You could argue we have not enough of the right players and too many playing where they should not.
We are not short of numbers per se, but numbers in the right places.

ie

Wellens still pretty decent FB
Lance an NRL standard FB
Makinson a young up and coming FB
Lomax someone who could play a number of positions but will struggle at SH without another experienced half to help.

But there you have potentially 4 FB's

I cant understand why people are getting upset about this signing. He is a very average Aussie that if he was coming to Saints, would be just another in a long line of whipping boys for the half wits to moan about. Get over yourselves.