We will have a very inexperienced three quarter line next year, in Makinson, Turner, Jones. Foster simply aint good enough, hasnt bulked up to compensate for his relative lack of pace for a winger & cant tackle. Obv the opinion of some very experienced coaching staff too. In addition the likes of Swift is a better all round player with high hopes for Percival too.

If you dont think Wello deserved another yr after last seasons performances you didnt attend many games. Our problem is in the halves, stand off in particular.

Just because you bang on about pace at FB being the be-all and end-all doesnt necessarily make you right. Wello werent much quicker 4-5 yrs ago was he, but we had quality halves that had creativity & kicking games & it was never a major issue as defensively & under the bomb he's the best there is, still.

Pace would be a luxury at FB & can certainly see others getting games at FB next season, Wello's vision, hands & link in line would make him a good loose forward IMO when we do start phasing in a new number one.

Erm. No we won't. We'll have a 33 year old fullback, a 34 year old winger/centre and probably a 30 year old on the other wing too.



He's a fantastic goal kicker, which we don't have. The wing is the kind of position you can hide a player or two. He's young, faster than people give him credit for and is a superb finisher. When he was golden balls in the Saints fans eyes, he was scoring tries that didn't look possible. Then he drops a few bombs during a spell in which the entire team was dog dirt and the mongs on here single him out as the culprit.




I attended almost all of them. I am not wrong on Wello. Holding............us............back.



I'm right. If we'd dumped Wellens five years ago we'd probably have 2 or 3 more trophies than we have now. He's a major weakness and we will won't win a final with him in the team. If you put him in the Australia team at fullback, they'd still win, but that doesn't make him a good player.



An absolute classic there, blimey. Fullback is only probably the 1st or 2nd most important attacking position on the field and pace is an essential part of a fullback's game. I simply cannot believe that people still fail to acknowledge the change there has been in the game. The fullback's role has changed completely. It's gone from being Rugby League's version of the goalkeeper, the last line of defense and the man who catches the kicks, to being the centre forward or attacking midfielder, the man who creates and scores. Puig Aubert, arguably the greatest fullback of all time, believed that tackling was not something a fullback should do, so he refused to do it. We're not that far off that these days, a fullback being able to tackle or dropping a kick is pretty irrelevant. Catching bombs is pretty far down the list of attributes they look for these days when choosing a fullback.

Look at the Grand Finalists and recent trophy winners in the two hemispheres and their fullbacks:

Melbourne - Billy Slater
Canterbury - Ben Barba
Leeds - Zak Hardaker
Warrington - Brett Hodgson
Wigan - Sam Tomkins
Manly - Brett Stewart

What do you notice about them all? Is it just a coincidence that they all have pacey, thoroughly attack minded fullbacks who pretty much all have a mistake or three in them?

I'd expect more players to seek a move rather than playing for Rochdale or Whitehaven. Once again another badly thought out plan from the RFL.

If they are good enough we'll keep 'em here if they might make it they go to Rochdale for invaluable first team experience against proper full size rugby players not just other 18/19 yr olds. If they're not good enough, they leave its the way it alays has been basically

I have no qualms about Foster going on a years loan at another SL club to help him further develop his game, but i would want him back at St.Helens in 2014.

He showed at Hull that he is a SL quality winger who is a lot more than a kicker.

Jamie is also right to suggest that he is too good for the championship.

I want Jamie to be successful and i want him to be successful at Saints.

My big fear is what happens in the 2014 season.We know Meli will be retiring, so who will partner Makinson on the wing?
Will it be Gardner who would be 31 years old in 2014?
will we be forced to throw in a really young and inexperienced kid on the wing for the whole season. One who will probably be mentally and physically destroyed, once they start to make errors?

When you consider the vilification the likes of Meli Gardner and Foster have taken for mistakes on the field, how would a 19 year old winger be able to handle that.

It looks therefore that our only option in 2014 would be to look outside the club if Foster is released.
Australia will be a no go area unless you want second rate wingers, due to the huge salaries available in the NRL.
That leaves SL, and it then begs the question of who is out there who is out of contract in 2014, is over 23 years of age so cant command a transfer fee, is of a higher standard than Jamie Foster can offer, and doesnt already play for a big club like Wigan or Leeds or Warrington.

Answers on a postcard to Eamonn Mcmanus

Makinson, Turner & Jones will all play next year, coupled with cameos from Percival, Swift & if ever fit Wheeler, a bit of experience in the backline is no bad thing.

As for Wellens holding us back, we aint had anything to challenge or oust him or it would have happened, Makinson will probably get opportunities there this yr. That said when Wello wasnt fit or banned, we missed him IMO, Wigan at home at Easter springs to mind.

The point I was making was pace isnt everything or Kev Penny would be a GB regular, to play FB at a top club you need to be a rounded player, the heir apparents ie Lomax, Makinson etc obv werent deemed ready especially when over the last few yrs weve lost some real leaders & experience in Longy, KC, Graham etc, and we were obv loathed to replace Wellens around same time.

There is a bigger picture, im sure better rugby brains than you at Saints have considered it, which is why I said pace was a luxury in saints current position & squad depth. I maintain tho get the halves right & firing & FB isnt suddenly as big an issue, like I said earlier we hardly ripped up SL at the start of the season when Wellens was missing did we!!!

The aussies you mention are outstanding players full stop, Hardacker was hardly anything like a match winner in the playoff series, albeit I accept they all have pace. Wellens time is undoutedly coming to an end, but the quality & length of service deserves a bit more respect than youre monotonous bleating the entire season, if anything the kiwi stealing money at stand off all year & hiding in the centres 4th or 5th receiver was a far bigger issue.

The irony in this is that the Kiwi stealing a living is a World Cup winner who has played fullback for the majority of his career. He's already doing a big chunk of the defensive work Wellens can't do because he's so slow, so why not play him there?

We also have a very good half back counting down the days until he can join Wigan in the reserves.

Hohaia certainly isnt doing Wello's defensive work, thats ridiculous. Hohaia came as a six & proclaimed himself to be a half back. Yet hes no kicking game, ponderous with ball in hand & has largely last yr pattercaked the ball to the next man out or the telegraphed dummy n go he uses 3-4 times a game with little success.

You wont get any arguments from me re Gaskell he has good hands, a kicking game, acceleration to take on the line & creativity, but there was concerns re his defensive aptitude.

Although it's been a stupidly long time since I've seen him play, I hadn't seen anything worth worrying about regarding Gaskell's defence. Certainly nothing that an extended run in the first team couldn't fix anyway. Hopefully this time around he will be a little more mature and especially a bit more physically developed which will help in all facets of his game - even towards the end of 2011 he was making half-breaks and with a bit of extra strength he will hopefully be getting through the line more often. Coupled with his already good passing and kicking game, we should have the halfback that Nathan Brown is looking for at our fingertips already.

Your kidding!!! Hohaia and Makinson on the other side saved Wellens bacon all the time last season.

I would give Hohaia a lift the airport right now but I have no issue with his defense. It is world class.

I cannot see Brown leaving him at 6.

Why would players moving clubs make it a badly thought out plan? If anything I think this is the kind of thing the RFL want to happen. If decent players end up pursuing careers in the Championship or the bottom end of Super League instead of lingering in the 23's at a top club I think that will ultimately be good for the game.

I'm much less convinced about the merging of academies, though.

I think he will be at Cas Tigers next season.

If he's on Shenton's wing it will definitely help him improve his game if Shenton plays like he used to at Cas

Foster just put on twitter last day as saints player tomorrow off to tie up my move to a club in Yorkshire

Jamie's just tweeted that he's signing for Bradford tomorrow. Well, I assume it's Bradford since that is where he has been rumoured to be going. What he tweeted was that tomorrow will be his last day as a Saints player as he is going to Yorkshire to tie up the deal.