I'm of the opinion that Meli is one of the best centres in the league. Its suited our team change around to get him back on the wing, as we were playing with two shrimps out there, which wasn't getting us any momentum at the beginning of the set. This strategy worked in Rush's first game against Leeds, which is when he finalised his strategy for the rest of the season.

Get Meli in the centres and stick either Ade or Turner in the vacant wing position to give us the size.

Clough? Great move in my opinion. Won't command mega bucks, but has shown statistically that he can make the yards, makes few mistakes/penalties and has little problem holding his form against better teams (for instance, he had a great game in our last fixture against wire). Have you seen moneyball? I reckon Clough would be top of the list in a yards per £ analysis.

Wello, the real talking point. Playing better now that he was a couple of years ago and making the most of what he's got, but our attack as a whole is predicatable and having a pedestrian #1 (alongside a disfunctional half back pairing) is a massive reason for that.
We are a club that, 5 years ago, was winning trophies. Now we're not.
We need to improve, and just because players contribute, doesn't mean they can't be improved upon.
There was a couple of games last year around August when wello was injured and Eastmond played #1. The difference in attacking threat was marked, the threat out wide, the knowledge that a "nothing" kick or a bad chase, the ability to create something out of very little.
Now, the younsters we've got, whether it be Swift, Ashe, Makinson or even Gaskell may not have the raw attributes of Eastmond, but they do have ability and,given a decent chance running in a decent attacking system could help make our team as a whole a lot more challenging to defend against.

I don't think it's nailed on that Hohaia will be playing 6 at all. Nathan Brown seemed pretty shocked that Saints were doing that on the BBC, saying he's a world class player but not a half back.

I'd like to think Brown was consulted over the decision, but I reckon he probably wasn't. You and others keep rolling this 'until someone better' phrase when we've already got a handful of better players. Better players move every season, we just don't ever sign them.

McManus has always been terrible at building a squad and he's going to lead us well away from trophy winning if he genuinely believes this is a good decision and not just a purely sentimental gesture. If Wello is on good money, it's a horrendous decision.

Dont often post, but have to on this News. I think I'll pick and choose my games next year rather than re-new the season ticket.

Yes I'll go along with the budget restraints of the Salary cap but the facts are there to see, Saints are no longer fun to watch and those 3 resignings dont offer any hope of that changing next year.

Utterly Underwhelming.

I could rant and rave about this but our recruitment for the last 5 years has been awful.

If Wellos on 50K then he effectively costs us nothing on the cap. I would like to see him as Club Captain and Roby to Captain.

Melis done enough for another year and like for like harder to replace.

Clough is part of a bottleneck of average forwards we have. Hopefully brown can rediscover something.

Does any of these signings take us forward. NO

If anything they hold us back.

If Wello is on £50k, he's costing us £50k. Roby and Gardner are both eligible for the £50k exemption, so that's no excuse.

Have I been watching a different Clough this season? He does the hard work. Not every prop can be Paul Gallen.

He's made more yards than any of our other props/2nd rows excluding LMS, and he's done so with generally less game time and carries.

Every team needs a player like Clough, he is top class at what he does - making metres.

Every club does need this type of player but he's to quite for me.

What else would you like him to do?

Can somebody check the rule book, and see if loudhailers are allowed on the pitch.