I'd be surprised were any SL club to sign him. With the obvious rise in the NRL cap imminent. Plus he'd have to give up his SOO and REP football career. He would be though a cracking signing though. Truly a player at the peak of his powers.

unfortunately i think that to get any half decent ozzie over here now with the different salary caps, more and more clubs will be offering older players longer deals, hoping they're a Menzies, not a crock

Age isn't that much of an issue with forwards I don't feel. Backs are a risk (Lance is a classic example) as they lose their pace and agility and become rather rubbish. But forwards don't lose strength, fitness or toughness as quickly I don't feel. Most players retire because after 10-15 years of playing professional rugby league they have had enough and their bodies are battered with so many existing injuries adding up to make the recovery every week hard. If a player doesn't feel like that (Menzies is a example) there is no reason why they can't continue playing.

I'm more worried about Lance who at 29 looks overweight and a yard slower than he used to be than Laffranchi at 32.

Menzies is an exception though IMO, and has been very durable throughout his career.

We're going for Lance's utility value though, and if he joins Saints under Simmons he will lose weight. (He'll no doubt get an ankle injury too!) We do need experience in the halves, of that there is no doubt, so I personally don't object to him coming over at all. I think he is a sensible piece of recruitment given the needs of the team. However, although we do need a prop to fill the vacancy left by Jammer, and I do appreciate that any young potential we may have in that position isn't yet ready, I'm just not sure about recruiting ageing Aussies. An ageing South Pacific Islander might have been better! (TP Mark 2!)

To be fair I don't think he's had to many injuries over his career. He's had a shoulder and wrist op recently but I think that was a pre season op that players tend to have when the season has finished.

He is injured at the moment and was ruled at for 8 weeks but think he's due back a month early from injury.

Top signing but I wouldn't have give 3yr deal.

Saints seem to be offering fairly long term deals at the moment. Maybe they are trying to stabilise the team a bit? We've had a lot of change over the last few seasons. Or maybe we can't get these guys on anything shorter?

Lance has just been picked by the world champs again so he can't be doing to bad.

rlThe box on the right. Just specultion at the minute it would seem.rl

I think for the overseas older players the latter is probably the case. Wigan had to give Lima a three year, but Hoffman only signed for one and will almost certainly return at the end of this season.

Do you think it was a mistake in letting Emmitt go? Wigan persevered with Prescott and O'Carroll (although he's been out for over 12 months). It's always difficult with props as they generally tend to mature later.

I don't know whether we let him go or he wanted to go. We can't force players to stay so if he wanted to be a permanent fixture in a first team this season, as opposed to a cover for injuries or whatever, then he might have seen Cas as the answer. However, we might have let him go, along with Hargreaves and Johnson. Or they might have wanted a greater presence in a first team. Who knows?

shillington to you or wire...if you get him then wire get puletua
waterhouse is being lined up by us (bulls)
leon is also coming back to us on a 2 year deal which is being finalised

Craig Fitzgibbon is 33 and the league's top tackler. If the player can still do it, their age shouldn't matter.

With the quota situation and losing jammer it may prove a mistake. If the quota rules are as I'm being told then we only have 1 quota spot and may need two props if TP goes.

Maybe thas why we are looking at leighs hill at the moment. The aunt many good English props available at the moment.

It's possible we may have to go for Keith Mason as he's the only decent off contract prop avaiable.

It think it a bit of both, stability for the squad and having to offer the going length.

As you say we have had fairly dramatic turnover and bloded a lot of youth in the last 3 years and we are rumoured to be seeing around 4/5 established first teamers go out again (Graham, Eastmond, Pryce, Puletua, Flannery) and it is hard to keep producing with turnover like this, it is a credit to all at Saints that we have been so competitive over the last 6/7 years.

Its also been well documented the chairman wants to have a squad worthy of the new stadium, I would imagine that he will want to have that experience and stability for as long as he can. Giving the over 30's an extra year is probably a risk worth taking this time, giving a more settled squad and allowing the juniors an extra year to develop around seasoned international players.

Saying that Contracts ending in 2012: Paul Wellens, Sia Soliola, Francis Meli, Scott Moore, Paul Clough, Gary Wheeler, Matty Ashurst, Andrew Dixon, Jamie Foster.... we could be doing this all again in 12 months time!!!!!!!!!!

As for Rogues I don't think we had much choice last year after Cas offered him a much improved 2 year deal and promise of first team action, had we got a full team out this year he wouldn't figure too often and there is only so much you can do to keep a player desperate to play.