They've got some good young players, have Huddersfield. I've always liked the look of Danny Kirmond, whom they let go to Wakey - I don't know if there's a flaw in his game that I've not noticed but he's alweys seemed a very promising forward to me.

Doubt he'd leave Huddersfield, Anderson won't want him to leave either.

A switch to centre could be a good move for him too.

Huddersfield have A LOT of good young kids. Our academy has been praised for successfully producing young talent (and rightly). But it just goes to show that all the talk of Saints' youth system being "peerless" a few years ago (which even McManus bought into) was a mixture of hot air and spin. And other clubs have not been idle.

Top clubs, mainly Leeds, with their crop of McGuire,Sinfield,Burrow, Bailey, Walker and Calderwood showed the rest that a constant flow of youngsters was the way to sustain your fortunes with less room for error. Its a proffesional era, so good strategies are going to be copied.

The mistake McManus made was thinking other clubs would simply accept a dominant Saints academy and lie down. Not that our academy setup was ever perfect. I've talked at length about our appalling record of producing props.

I'd argue Saints' youth development setup has pretty much always been oriented toward the backs. From eight to thirteen (excluding hooker) our record is sketchy to say the least.

Did he mention this to you personally? I think we should give credit to Mr Mc for being a bit brighter than that don't you?

You must be going back a while. I can't remember any Saints side dominating the academy and reserve competitions. The only two that have, would be Leeds in the early part of the Millennium and the present Wigan side, who last year won the reserve comp for the fourth (maybe fifth?) time in a row.

As for producing props. You may not have created many but you did produce the best prop in the last 20 years IMO, and are now paying the price for his departure.

Bright enough to offer Francis Meli, a player who has cost Saints two Grand Finals (and had a hand in a third), repeated contract extensions?

Bright enough to let the Eastmond saga drag on six months too long, which threatened, at one point, to blow the team apart and has ultimately left us with NO scrum halves?

Bright enough to offer repeated contract extensions to Ade Gardner, a player who has had possibly eighteen months of good form in his career and undoubtedly one of the slowest wingers ever to wear a Saints shirt?

Bright enough to be spending up to the cap for the last five years (his words) whilst the team has been hemorrhaging talent like blood from a severed limb?

Bright enough to turn a team which has ALWAYS offered a potent attacking threat from the backs (Ledger, McCormack, Quirk, Hunte, Sullivan, Albert, Gibbs, Iro, Newlove, Lyon, Gidley, Martyn, Long etc.) into one of the slowest in the league?

Bright enough to keep Paul Wellens two years past the point when he was shot?

Bright enough to sign Royce Simmons?

The new stadium really does paper over a lot of cracks in many peoples eyes!

I think he looks like a very good player. He's got great feet, speed but maybe lacks a little size for front row at the moment.

I'd 100% sign him if possible, he's already better than LMS and clough.

He's a fine player, get him!

With regard to spending up to the cap, or not - let's say he was fibbing. Would ANY Saints fan [ireally [/imind if McManus came out and said something along the lines of, [i"Look, we're a bit strapped for cash funding the new stadium so squad expenses are going to take a short-term hit"?[/i I can't be certain but my best guess is almost all would accept the fact because Knowsley Road was shot, it was costing us a fortune to run and a choice between a new stadium and a successful, highly-paid team playing at a dilapidated ground is no choice at all. So he really had no need to hide the truth. But if he did he created a stick with which to beat him from the outset.

On the other hand, if we WERE up to the cap limit then serious questions need to be asked of McManus' business acumen - [ipurely insofar as contractual negotiations are concerned.[/i

Any fool can see an enormous difference between Millward's team of experienced, highly-skilled internationals and, say, Royce's first season team of - for the most part - greenhorn kids. The former commands high salaries across the board resulting in a maxed out cap. The latter teamsheet certainly doesn't leap off the table and say the same. Sure, Wellens, Roby, Graham, Wilkin etc. are likely to be on a comfortable salary. But Gaskell, Lomax, Foster, Makinson, Wheeler??? Surely not.