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 (48-18), 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.

You really are a joke. Jamie Ellis the answer to our problems, im sure were battling it out with Wire, Wigan & Leeds for this sought after signature.
I love you're simplistic approach, we are currently mid table for many reasons. Crippling injury list, Simmons signing the likes of Hohaia as our marquee stand off, & losing once in a decade type players as they finished their careers in KC, Long & Scully was always going to catch up on us.

Theres a cycle in sport, Wigan weren't far off relegation a few years ago. Saints are developing some very good lads & coupled with Walsh, a few big props will see us competing once again. Brown had a thankless task with the squad he inherited, ppl have no patience in sport.

Not many people had an issues with releasing the likes of Ellis (non rugby). What does he's doing nothing wrong mean? He's been poor at Cas this season & isnt up to the standard. Lomax bring identified as the long term FB has left us a hole to fill, which in a sport that allows a 25 man senior squad with salary cap restrictions was never going to resolve itself overnight.

No need for the personal insults.

My original point was a criticism of our retention policy bearing in mind that we now need to loan players from other teams, so successful have we been in retaining our own young players (not). I cited two and you resorted to ridicule, simply because one is playing for Cas.


Really? I thought it was because we have lost too many matches and that would be because we weren't good enough to beat those teams.


Indeed. And presently we are a mid table team. That's where we are up to, which is what I was saying, which is why I find it funny when people look down on Matty Smith (playing in a table topping team) and Jamie Ellis (playing in another mid table team, should they actually manage to hold on to their present coach longer than five minutes).

It's an improvement on Ashe at least, good short term fix, but doesn't really solve the problem that we've only got one half back for next season.

True. Hopefully something is being done in the background to sort out next season.

Simplistic. Im sure Ive just answered that. We've lost a lot more matches for many reasons. One being our injury list. Take a look at Wigans win percentage without Sam Tomkins. We've gone months without any of our recognised pivots, in Lomax, & Roby, throwing in Wello & Wheeler at to boot. Do you not think we'd be higher up the table had we enjoyed a little more luck with injuries?

Re Ellis its nothing to do with who he plays for. He isn't good enough. Released, doing nothing & is Joe Average. "So successful in retaining our younger players" - weve released those who werent up to the required standard.

I wouldn't swap the likes of Ashurst or Dixon for Thompson, Walker or Greenwood. Percival & Swift are light years ahead of heartless Foster. Which of these released juniors are the answers to our problems? Because no other top 5-6 club wanted them.

Retention is only part of the problem, duff signings from Simmons (Perry & Hohaia) has massively damaged us, especially taking up quota spots. Injuries are another.

Leeds needed to loan a player last year.His name was Lunt - from youre analogy does that mean Leeds have failed in recruitment/retention decisions too? Maybe like us in Charnock & Yates they didnt feel like McShane & Ward were quite ready?
Think we both bring through a similar amount of junior prospects.

I don't think anyone looks down on Matty Smith. He's a pretty good scrum half with a mighty boot on him. I don't think anyone has him down as a world beater, either.

With hindsight, we would all have liked to have kept him, but no one in their right mind would chosen him over Eastmond. Unfortunately, the club didn't protect themselves and we ended up screwed.

So after Smith, we've got Ellis and Gaskell as half backs we've released. Playing for Cas and Salford. Both of whom are strongly rumoured to have left more due to none rugby issues.