news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 277411.stm He is thought to be the replacement for Tony Puletua, who is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with a move to Warrington.

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 277411.stm He is thought to be the replacement for Tony Puletua, who is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with a move to Warrington.

That is just a standard news release filled with speculation, Andy Wilson wrote yesterday in the Guardian that Puletua is now more likely to stay at Saints ahead of Warrington, IF he doesn't go back to the NRL, basically the media are guessing at what will happen.

Also Simmons has an interview on SLTV stating he (Laffranchi) is being seen as the replacement for Graham (not overly impressed with that) but he knows him well after working with him when he played front row and back row and he expects him to play most of his rugby with Saints in the front row.

cheers. would rather TP stays another year or 2 or goes back to NZ than move to another SL team.

Chris Sandow wont be coming, just signed a deal with Parramatta for a cool AU$1.75m, Crowe reckons its more around the AU$2.2m side.

Extraordinary.

[urlhttp://bit.ly/iZSoES[/url

Can Parra now afford to keep Jarryd Hayne...

Just when I thought the signing of Laffranchi couldnt get anymore underwhelming, according to RedVee, royce has stated he is a direct replacement for James Graham.

Fantastic

A 30-yo second row with a recent history of injuries is certainly no "direct replacement" for a world class prop and leader in the prime of his career who can play for 70 minutes. Not by any stretch.

Probably.

According to a video which has now been removed. Really reliable that is!

Quote mistermoo="mistermoo"According to a video which has now been removed. Really reliable that is!'" www.superleague.co.uk/video/player.php?id=22063 Its not been removed...its been extended from 1.07 to 2.18 but it still hs the same content and its Royce Simmons not someone quoting

Quote mistermoo="mistermoo"According to a video which has now been removed. Really reliable that is!'" www.superleague.co.uk/video/player.php?id=22063 Its not been removed...its been extended from 1.07 to 2.18 but it still hs the same content and its Royce Simmons not someone quoting

Well, no-one will be able to replace James Graham. But presumably what Royce meant was that he was a direct replacement for the position. I think he would have said nothing at all about it had there not been rumours around TP going and suggestions in the media that Laffranchi was a direct replacement for TP.

Sometimes you've just got to get yourelves the best player available. Ideally we'd have kept James Graham, but signing a player who has recently played for Australia, has been extremely reliable in the NRL for 9-10 years is very good work in my view. Simmons confirmed in his interview that when HE worked with him 4 or 5 years ago at West Tigers, he did play alot at prop and is easily capable of playing there, so we'll see. Puletua was originally signed as a back rower for us but has had to play prop and has been great because he's big, adapatable and a quality player. Laffranchi fits that bracket also. The fact he isn't a quota player is also a bonus for our squad.

Let's see what else McManus delivers before we complain as there will be several more players joining.