How can a genuine half back helping the club out be a hindrance. Allows Wheeler to get match fit for a start. Unfair to throw even more youngsters into first team games, we obviously feel likes of Charnock isnt ready & Yates has only just returned from months out. For those taking about O'Brien's tackling, have we not watched Hohaia's efforts recently or the missed tackles from Ashe who's clearly not good enough.

If Wire sign the Leigh scrum half as mooted & have the likes of Ratchford, Myler & Briers whose to say O'Brien would fancy a permanent move?
Gauls me when people talk about developing our own, FFS how many debutants in one season do people want. They don't drop off trees & develop at different rates.

With regards retention I don't see any saints outcasts ripping it up elsewhere. Gaskell wasnt trusted by Rush, KC or Brown & the rest were nowhere near good enough.

Didn't look like that at Magic weekend. And they have a decent squad. I'm quite sure their present coach will bring out the best in them. Wouldn't mind Clarke for a start and Shenny is looking like his pre-Saints self again too.


I never take any notice of rumours as they are just that. And even if true, since we kept the likes of Longy on in spite of all his off-field and well documented troubles it is hardly likely that off-field antics would result in him being released.

Correct

A brand new player who hasn't a clue about our systems (assuming we have any!) and doesn't know our players (to play alongside I mean) and they don't know him, is thrown in at the deep end against the team who smashed us in the first game of the season. I could see that being a hindrance. We haven't done well with all the mixing and matching that has been going on and this is yet another halfback combination. If he was very experienced then he would probably be able to minimise the pressure of being a new team member at a stressful time (ie we are hardly winning a match) but he isn't and so it could be very difficult.

Hopefully it won't be but it might be.

Jamie Ellis has been woefully inconsistent this season & was released for non - rugby issues. If he's the standard you think would solve Saints issues god help us.

From a Wire point of view I am not really happy with this. Regardless of what your current position is you WILL be one of the teams challenging us in the play off's. I have said this before Saints will be in the last four of the play offs & the higher you get in the league table the more of a risk to us you will be. I am okay with us loaning players to Cas, Wakey Broncos & Salford. But not to one of our main play off rivals.

The whole of the Cas team has been woefully inconsistent. They're now on their third coach in a season.

I'm wondering whether anyone will define this mythical standard that people on here are always banging on about. I see we are in 8th at present and Cas aren't that far behind us, now with a very good coach installed.

And who is to say that O'Brien will be any better? Hopefully he will do fine but he's under pressure from the off so I don't envy him his role.

You have a player on loan at Hudds don't you? They're above you in the league so I guess rivalry isn't really a priority in the minds of your coach/management.

A sad day for the club IMO. Having to go to a rival that until recently was a joke figure to us, cap in hand for a handout of their fourth choice halfback shows how poor a state we're in.

We have mixed & matched as Brown is looking for a pair who could guide us around the park short term. Hasnt worked & nobody in club good enough, with Wheeler constantly injured.

Whether he knows "our systems" or not he is a genuine half back. Unlike many others he has a kicking game & is a far better & more accurate passer of the ball than the likes of Ashe.

We have players playing in the halves who clearly aren't halves, knowing when to take on the line, a straight forward run around & ability to pass both sides of the ruck dont require years of gelling with youre team mates. A bit of organisation on the 6th tackle would at the very least improve our field position.

I mentioned Jamie Ellis as you brought him up!!! "Saints raised halfbacks running around SL".

Feel free to name who of these are good enough to warrant a first team start at Saints.

Now official - 1 month loan www.saintsrlfc.com/news/page/3048

Now official - 1 month loan www.saintsrlfc.com/news/page/3048

All of them in my view. We're in frickin 8th place in the league! Do you think we are still world club champions or something? We are a mid table team. Cas are not far from us, with Jamie Ellis doing nothing wrong, and Wigan are topping the table with Matty Smith doing nothing wrong. Yet here you are talking like we are world beaters and they are somehow lesser than us! It's laughable!

Cas are as close to us in the table as we are to Warrington. As in, not close at all.

They're also one of the few teams we've belted this year (48-1icon_cool.gif, without Roby and Lomax.

Even ignoring all that, Jamie Ellis has been criticised by Cas fans this season for his form.

It was your man Royce who released him too.

So what? Cas fans have criticised all their team this season. We have criticised our team this season.