I'm 50/50 on this. I don't think Lance is a bad hooker at all. If he were used consistently as an interchange 9 then I think he could finally make a positive impact at Saints. I'd also worry about the lack of cover at 9 if he were to leave suddenly. So if he was guaranteed to only play hooker then I'd be alright with him staying.

On the other hand, I get the impression Brown has no intention of using him consistently as an interchange 9. If he's still in the running to play 6 for us then I'd be happy to see the back of him - I'd prefer to see Wilkin or Charnock in that role if/when Wheeler takes a knock.

So if we get an injury we want to pay a bloke top money as cover , when;

1. Wellens or Makinson better option - with Gardner or Dawson covering wing.

6 Turner probably a better option - with Jones to centre. Dare say Wilkin a better 6 too.

9. Brown preferred Howarth first ??? . Personally feel Lance is our current best option as back up 9 . If not , when we signed Flanagan , it was mentioned he could cover 9.

Let him go NQC and hope it works out for all parties

Didn't Royce bring Mark Flanagan over because he could play/cover hooker?

But for me we need cover in the halves

He did say that, but then he also brought Lance over to play scrum half. Personally I can't see Flanagan as a hooker at all.

i just dont see how we can justify a quota spot and a £100k + wage for just a backup utility player. That sort of money should be for a first team star.

Correct. If we can get rid of him it makes pure business sense to do so. From a rugby point of view it makes less sense, as it would clearly weaken the overall strength of the squad - but it would open up the option of making a mid-season signing should something come available.

Probably best for everyone concerned if the move happened. It may be good for his pension pot to be sat over here in the stands, but it cant be great for his state of mind and family life.

Players who werent in the 17 that could be brought in for injuries

Full back - plenty options
move Tommy Mak there and bring in Dawson or Ade, alternatively put percival on the wing outside turner and play Jones as Swifts centre.

Stand off - harder to fill
Wilkin, or even bring in Charnock playing next to Walsh can only help his game. He has also played Fullback

Hooker - probably the toughest to fill
This is probably were Lance would be the best option. Royce thought Flash could play there, im not overly convinced by that. Lomax would make a good 9 but would you want to move him from fullback?
All this said, Robes has had 1 injury hit season in 10 yrs, hes hardly injury prone so touch wood we wont need any cover there

All in all Lance is a good player, but theres just no way of justifying his wages in our squad

Not to forget laffranchi as prop.

I can totally understand the argument that we can't justify paying Lance's wage for him to sit on the bench. My worry, though, is that ditching him at this point would be the kind of risk that could end up costing us silverware at a time when we're finally right back in there. I'm not suggesting that Lance is going to win the title for us, of course, but Roby getting injured and us having to play a season without a hooker is the kind of thing that could put us out of contention. If we could line up a decent replacement hooker (not a star but someone better than Howarth) then I'm all for it. If not, then I think it's a risk best avoided.

Lance has been a failure but I don't think it's all his fault and I actually feel sorry for him. He was brought in to play stand off which he can't play. He's tried and put the effort in but he's just not a stand off.

He's now not even making the 17 which IMO is a insult when we've got wello taking the utility role off the bench yet wello can't play in any position other than fullback which he's behind lomax, makinson and swift. Lance can basically cover the back line and hooker.

When he came off the bench at 9 at the back end of last year he was playing well.

Given that Lomax and Wheeler have missed more than a handful of games over the past two years it'd be silly moving Lance on because past injuries suggest we'll need him.

Ryan Brierley scored another 4 tries today. I would love him at Saints alongside Walsh. Another Danny Maguire, great support play and fast.

Just checked wiki (a reliable source i know) - he's out of contract at the end of this year, so I suppose the saints management will at least look at him!

At 22 he's the same age as gob, and probably a little too old to fall into the youngster category - and there's a lot of things that we don't have answers for yet - IF wheeler lasts the season, would he want to go from first choice to back up (especially with middle 8 being a viable target) - if wheeler breaks down, is he (more) capable of making the step up (than charnock), there are plenty of examples of players looking great against poor opposition and then freezing (mike smith? We signed him from hull Kr played a friendly then ran off, inspite of looking awesome in the division below!) - and given were probably looking at a bit of money to spend next year, is there better available for our problem areas?

But I've certainly heard good things, and will keep an eye out for mentions of him!

Quote ="LFC Saint"Ryan Brierley scored another 4 tries today. I would love him at Saints alongside Walsh. Another Danny Maguire, great support play and fast.'" Make that 5^ www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/11 ... _the_week/

Quote ="LFC Saint"Ryan Brierley scored another 4 tries today. I would love him at Saints alongside Walsh. Another Danny Maguire, great support play and fast.'" Make that 5^ www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/11 ... _the_week/

I'd definitely take a punt on Brierley if he's available at the end of the season. Will offer much than Hohaia ever has, will be much cheaper and is still only 22?

Lance still not even made the 19, as a professional he can not be happy

Especially with wello in front of him as the utility player.

a bit of a kick in the nuts that!

You got to wonder why, given the amount of key positions he can cover. If Roby/ Walsh/ wheeler/ lomax were to pull up in the last training session, you'd assume it would be lance to step in - but he's not even in the squad so can't?

It's all very strange

Exactly

problem is, he can cover those positions, but badly. Lance it seems is well out of favour

It has more to do with his hand being forced, frozen out of the squad.

But is it any worse than having to move around 3/4 players to cover?

Given how brown talks about him in the press he's always very complimentary, almost smitten about him, it's almost like he wants to play him but just can't bring himself to justify it!

Clough loaned, Gardner loaned, does lance fancy a spell in the capital?

He cant go on loan for visa reasons, i think wigan have had the same problem with Gelling

Brown bigs him up in public, but can't rate him that highly or he'd be in the squad

He is in the 19 mate.