If Walsh - or any other player - was ripping it up in the NRL, then they ain't coming to SL.

The only way Saints get him is if he's struggling for form.

It's delusional to expect the cream of the NRL to come over here right now - all we are gonna get is players with baggage. Does Walsh look like he has potential? Yes.

And most importantly, of all the criticism of him, is anyone saying - he isn't a 7? Would be better at fullback/hooker/centre? Exactly! An undisputed 7 with some level of potential (POTY 2011 etc. etc.) On that basis I'd be pleased with his signing and don't know exactly what some others expect us to be doing.

Times have changed. NRL players willing to come over are at a premium with the cap, exchange rate & a far better comp. The "homegrown" rule & increase makes getting an overseas player a difficult & competetive process. No player would be willing to come over here on loan as there will always be a lesser club offering a longer contract to compete.
2-3 yr deal or it just won't happen. Im sure weve done our homework this time with likes of Daniel Anderson still in regular communication with the club, weve just got to trust Mike Rush on his recruitment selections.

No one is expecting the cream of the crop to come over, but there is no point signing a player just because we can. They need to evaluate it properly and be sure he's better than the options available in this country. If Brown deemed him to be so, then great, sign him up. It is one of the most important decisions the club will make, they need to get this right. Signing Perry, Laffranchi and Hohaia set our progress back a couple of years and we need to get this one right. Another poor signing and we can forget the next 2 or 3 years as well.

Agree with your post, but it seems to me there are zero options in this country. The best OOC 'half-back' is Hanbury who has played most of his rugby at 1 this year.

We need a traditional 7. Desperately. Walsh fits the bill for me.

I don't think anyone will argue with that.

The club has to be thorough and they have to get the right number 7 that will lead us around the field for the next 3 or 4 years at least. Since Long left we've had no stability in this position with Smith, Eastmond, Lomax and the multiple players from this season trying in this role. We need a good half back to come in and that position needs to be stable.

If Luke Walsh is deemed that man then fair enough, I know very little about him to comment too much.

He's been released from Penrith from the end of the season, expected to join Saints.

At least he's a natural scrum half and can kick goals. Got Penrith player of the year in 2011 so must have something about him. Let's hope he's not a dud, a la Lance and Perry.

At least we're signing him to play in the right position, which should avoid another Lance situ.

He should be good enough to do the job. You don't get player of the year at an NRL club without having some ability and he won that award in front of players like Michael Jennings, Petero Civoniceva (who was a big money signing for them), Trenerhouse and Michael Worrincy.

Don't expect a world beater, but hopefully someone who'll improve our team no-end.

Not quite in the same bracket as Civoniceva and Jennings

Come on pal, show us a link or something....

Nothing on the Panthers' site [urlhttp://www.penrithpanthers.com.au/newsvideo[/url

[iHumourous to see their ladies team is called The Pink Panthers[/i

From Redvee:



Twitter the base for most of these rumours via @RLW_Mole

Greg Alexander's assessment of him seems to be that he doesn't quite believe in his own ability; if he did, he'd be a very, very good player. Kicking game excellent, but doesn't take on the line enough. That can be coached, and let's face it, his confidence might well increase given the defences he'll be facing in SL. www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6611149016 Seems a potentially very useful signing, and even if he 'only' brings his great kicking game and organisational play, it's a vast vast improvement on what we have. This thread sums up the reason I rarely post on here any more. Far too many agendas to maintain, far too many people actually seeming to want the club to fail so they can post how wrong the club were to get rid of / keep hold of <insert name of player / coach>.

Greg Alexander's assessment of him seems to be that he doesn't quite believe in his own ability; if he did, he'd be a very, very good player. Kicking game excellent, but doesn't take on the line enough. That can be coached, and let's face it, his confidence might well increase given the defences he'll be facing in SL. www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6611149016 Seems a potentially very useful signing, and even if he 'only' brings his great kicking game and organisational play, it's a vast vast improvement on what we have. This thread sums up the reason I rarely post on here any more. Far too many agendas to maintain, far too many people actually seeming to want the club to fail so they can post how wrong the club were to get rid of / keep hold of <insert name of player / coach>.

I think we can take hope in this part of yor post.

I don't think confidence can be coached as such. A person who struggles with their confidence can feel more confident if someone important believes in them but that can be a double edged sword. I'm concerned that he has been around the first team for six or seven years but still is unable to take on the line or consistently pull off good performances.

I don,t know why there are quite a few negative posters on here that have convinced themselves that Walsh is going to turn out a Dud. He,s an experienced scrum half something we have not had for 5 or 6 years, yes he may have had spells in drop in form quite a lot of players do in there career.
If we sign Walsh it would remind me of the similar scenario with Meli who was out of favour and had a drop in form, he came over here, rejuvenated his career......I see a similar situation with Walsh. Most important fact is that he has the experienced skills of a half back, something which is getting rarer these days.

I'm focussing on the 2011 player of the year award that he won. According to Wiki, they finished 12th in the table that year - so he can't have had an awful lot of time playing on the front foot to make things easier for him, which suggests he's no flat track bully.

I don't see any posts claiming that Walsh is a dud. Just some people being open minded rather than desperate.

Good to see he reacted to being axed by putting in a massive performance when injury gave him his place back. 3 try assists and Cleary was full of praise.

Undoubtedly, there is a player in there. Saints have a good record of turning damaged goods into stars (and recently as good a record of turning stars into damaged goods!!) and Brown also has done great things with Brough, Robinson, and others.

Quietly confident.

www.leaguefreak.com/a-look-at-lu ... lens-4301/

www.leaguefreak.com/a-look-at-lu ... lens-4301/

I don't know what to make of that really. It looks like a gamble but maybe one we've got no choice in taking

He looks decent on the youtube clips. I just hope the club have scouted him more thoroughly than that though. They simply have to get this one right.

The club could do with announcing this pretty soon. They need the PR of it.

Rab's has just said that Walsh will be joining you on Ch9 commentary of the Roosters v Panthers game.

If he does arrive next season and he plays to his strength then we might be scoring more tries from kicks rather than ball in hand, not sure if that is a good thing.
Slight concern that a few reports mentions that he doesn,t take on the line so much lets hope he gets more opportunity in this magnificent superleague.

I have just watched the panthers v roosters game and he seems like he will be a good solid signing for us. He lets the forwards do the work in his own half but then gets the ball on near enough every play in the opposition half.

His kicking game seems very good especially close to the opposition line. He loves a bomb and often finds the floor with more reserved kicks.

The only gripe with him is that today he didn't get tackled once and he just doesn't take the line on at all. However the commentary mentioned he took the line on quite a lot last week. Andrew johns in particular was extremely frustrated with his lack of taking the line on today.

I think he will be a good signing he is very similar to Dobson bar running with the ball and he seems like he is just what we need to organise and control our play.