I imagine the answer is "he refused to sign a contract".

But, even if true, that is to miss the point - seems like the the club have offered him a contract they feel is reasonable (and based on performances since 2011 it probably wouldn't be a whopper) and he's clearly decided it's not enough.

But you see that IS to do with playing - specifically, not playing well enough to force a club into paying what you think you are worth.

does this mean your going to go and support Salford???? I wonder if the handle 'SalfordFan' has been taken ??

An absolutely rediculous bit of buisness by the club again.
Salford must be p!ss!ng themselves.If he's better than what we have comeing through were in deep sh1!

The only positive I can see is he'll be gone at the end of the season. Personally I'd have asked for a transfer fee for Gaskell and just banked the cash

From what I've seen of Howarth, and the 10/15 minutes of Speakman I've seen, he isn't.

Wakefield fans on Howarth...
"I always thought he was good quality that will be better with a better team around him."

"Thought he was very underrated at BV , and think in a decent team he will go well."

"Stuart was an excellent player for us. Led from the front with a good RL brain and will do OK at Saints."
Sounds a bit more positive.

Basically they are saying we have better players so we might be able to carry him ... hmmm sorry for being negative it's just a poor signing for me.

Only four have posted on that thread!

Time will tell I guess. Either way, throwing him into the derby without any chance for him to get to know his new team mates is pretty dumb.

I agree. I'm just trying to see the positive side.

I'm sorry but I can't understand all the kneejerking over Howarth coming in - we have a fair few injuries piling up in the forwards so a bit of cover coming in makes perfect sense to me. And bringing in some other team's cheap makeweight player to get smashed for a few unimportant games instead of relying on risking a bunch of our own young players for 80 minutes so early in the season when they're not quite ready for it game-in, game-out and performances and results ultimately don't matter too much anyway seems like a flippin' good move to me... I could understand the haters if he was a permanent signing or we were getting him in ready for some big CC game or the playoffs but, errr... we're not...

I'm annoyed the way Gaskell has been Treated! which is badly, the quicker he joins another Super League Club like Foster and shows what he can do the better for the lad! I wish him every success. To put Howarth straight into the squad sends a real positive message to young players! McManus & Brown never fail to shock.

Shocking really. What has Gaskell done wrong exactly?

Can someone tell me what the point of signing Howarth is? He's one of those players that is so average he'll be completely anonymous. Why not just play Speakman and let him sink or swim?