Not if we've re signed him to play at centre it isn't. Centres are somewhat thin on the ground these days, and i've no problem signing Meli for 2 years IF it is to play centre. Take a good look at our 'rivals' left centres - Wigan keep resigning Carmont on an annual basis; Leeds have re signed a 34 year old Senior; and Warrington went out and bought one (a luxury Saints don't have right now). Add in the fact that Meli is Saints top try scorer, and its no wonder the club wanted to keep him.

I like Meli, he comes up with the odd brain fart but his try scoring record is outstanding and I'm not sure we could've replaced him with anything better. My problem is the 2 years, surely 1 year would've made sense and then look at our options 12 months down the line? If both he and Flannery left in 12 months time (providing we re-signed Roby, Graham, Pryce etc) it would give us flexibility on the quota and with the salary cap.

I was going to ask the question about who was going as only yesterday I had read that saints would have to release a player due to salary cap restrictions and everyone expected it to be meli. I take it now it will be Ade Gardener who will be released from his final year ?

I,ve no problems with the signing so far, just hope Meli is playing Centre and not on the wing. Not seen him have a bad game game at centre so this is where he belongs. At some stage Wellens will probably play at loose forward, he's got the right rugby brain for it.
My biggest worry is Wilkin, he's not really performed to his potential for the past 2 seasons, this might be why we have resigned Flannery because this bloke has outplayed him these last 2 years.

The try Meli scored on Saturday was a great finish. That shows what he is capable of. Unfortunately we remember him for his errors.

Probably because they usually lead to a try for the opposition.

No probs with wello's new deal - but meli and flannery?
These were the two guys (not entirely on their own) who were found to be embarrassingly out of position (and in flanno's case too slow as well) in letting in three tries last week.

Good work guys!
Play crap and get a new contract!
(Meli's has some really good moments this year but flanno is just way too mr average).

I can't believe we had a lot of competition to retain these two.

Next thing wilkin will be awarded a new enhanced deal and also be described as "the consummate professional".

I don't think Meli warranted his LAST contract. That said, for all my criticisms of him, if it came to a choice between him and Gardner to get rid of I'd probably pick Ade. He's been living life on easy street for far too long.

The thing is, wing is a luxury position. Sure, it's great to have a Martin Offiah or an Anthony Sullivan - but those kind of players are few and far between. Barring some miracle deal (like Lyon) I doubt we could afford to bring in a barnstorming winger without having to shave cash off of the forwards (which I certainly don't wish to do). And the game has moved on a lot since the times when you could simply sling the ball out quickly and your man would cruise around the fullback and score. The modern winger must also possess far greater skills in defence. No, as things stand in SL I think the next magician we see on the wing at Saints will be one we have grown ourselves (perhaps a long time off).

If we had shown Meli the door we wouldn't be in a position to buy a better replacement. Sure, we may have gotten a more solid player. But would he pose as great a threat in attack? Probably not.

Besides, Wheeler and Armstrong will both be fully mature next season. Without checking his age I think Lomax might need another season (but he will have improved significantly). Gaskill is hovering about the fringes and he has pretty good credentials.

I'm quite happy. Of course, I'd prefer another centre to partner Shenton - but with the constraints imposed by the salary cap I imagine every club will be thinking they are short in some position or other. It's the nature of the beast.

We have no quality in the outside backs or at fullback. I just wonder whether we are telling the truth about it being the cap that is stopping us. Surely it could just be the fact that the revenue is going to nosedive next season and them making provisions for that. I wouldn't mind that and I guess they couldn't admit or no one would turn up.

But I just think they should be doing more. There seems to be an obsession with promoting youth players, but the vast majority are useless as anything more than squad players. We used to have a very strong squad. That turned into a strong 17 when a few retired or left. Then a strong 13. Now we've not got any world class overseas players in the squad at all and only two, possibly three top quality English players. I'd argue that bar Graham and Roby none of the top sides would want any of our players.

Another possibility is that the club is just paying the kids too much. Eastmond is the only one with obvious quality, but keeping him long term looks almost impossible. The likes of Lomax, Clough, Ashurst, Dixon, Armstrong, Foster etc are all decent SL level squad players but compared to the players they have replaced in our squad they are all noticable steps down in quality.

I think wello is very important for saints, next year he will be even more important with KC going. It would have been nice to get him on a years rolling contract but i don't think he would be happy with that but next year we defo need him so i can see why he got his two year deal.

I can also see why flannery got a 1yr deal, i doubt the is much out there at the moment and i imagine we will have our eye on getting a overseas signing for our new stadium. Teams do plan ahead and ive got a feeling we will be looking at a big name aussie for 2012. He's not great but will do ok, my only problem is he is average just like all our backrows.

Meli should never have even be spoke to about a new deal, he is just not good enough and to be given a 2yr deal is utter shocking by saints, no wonder they waited until the season was over to announce it!

I think the squad will be stronger next year if we stay clear of injuries. The three players coming in are very good signings and with bit of luck leon and kyle will stay fit and wheeler will make the centre spot his own.

Whats next? Gardner to sign a new four year deal ?

You're being far too negative here. Shenton is a good player. You may not have seen the best of him at Castleford, but that's because he's been surrounded by lower-end players in a lower-end team. At Saints, I expect him to step up to a much higher level. In many ways, he's reminiscent of Gleeson - not really on anyone's radar at Huddersfield, then came to Saints and was soon GB's No. 1 centre. Foster is also starting to look like a proper SL-standard winger. And the fact that he can knock goals over is a major boost. Meli is suspect in defence, and he's not a flyer, but he scores a fair few, and it's arguable that he's not been as effective as we'd like, because he hasn't had a decent centre inside him - usually a second-row. Put Shenton inside him, and we might see real threat.

And remember that next year our pack is considerably stronger, with Perry and LMS joining a fit Soliola as effectively 3 new forwards with real impact.

As for no other club wanting our players, I'd wager most of SL would be quite happy to sign Wellens, Pryce, Roby, Graham, Shenton, Perry, Soliola, Meli, Wilkin, Puletua and Eastmond. All of them would walk into most of the SL sides.

In fact, the only bit of your post I think is realistic is that it's arguable we're paying young players too much. Wheeler and Lomax just haven't played enough and haven't shown enough to justify the sort of salaries being quoted on this thread. The others, Ashurst, Dixon, Clough, are squad players who shouldn't be on top dollar at all, and even Foster, after making the wing pretty much his own, is too unproven to justofy more than a starting salary.

Th only definite IMO is Graham.

They're the only ones, i think, a top 8 team may pick up.

and eastmond just on potential. He is injured too much.

Talking rubbish!

Wello, Shenton, pryce, eastmond, graham, roby, perry, soliola and LMS are players that nearly every team in the super league would want.

In respect to us paying young players too much, don't forget that at the moment this is a sellers market in that area due to the reducing cap restrictions.

If we don't pay them, someone else will, like they did with Emmitt.