2 crap wingers. Only 1.5 props. 6th in table at best. And that's with a couple of world class players you have no chance of recruiting.

I would take 6th at the moment!

Still waiting..........

First priority - attempt to extend the contracts of Kearney and L'Estrange. I say this not because they are exceptional players (both, I believe, are generally rather over-rated on here), but because they are good players who will be easier to retain than to replace, and negotiations with them will mean that - one way or the other - we will know where we stand with the overseas quota and a significant chunk of salary cap. If we can't retain them, replacing them will clearly beome the new first priority

Second priority - sign a half-back, presumably a stand-off, given that Jeffries is contracted for next season.

Third priority - at least two threequarters, who are at least competent and professional - though ideally including the mythical strike centre we have so lacked. Given the lack of quality threequarters in the current side and the lack of any juniors who seem likely to be ready soon, I'd be happy if we recruited even more.

Fourth priority - a forward to give us some impact off the bench. Ideally someone who can genuinely cover both prop and second row, to give us some flexibility.

Final priority - re-sign such other out of contract players as we have cap space for. There are none I see as particular priorities, though I'd like to see Ainscough get a further chance and Royston looks handy as back-up. If (though only if) we don't otherwise fill up the quota, I wouldn't mind Ah Van getting another season.

It shows the standard of our team when you say two years ago people said Koppy wasn't good enough and now he is our best forward. Unfortunately that probably says more about our fotwards than Koppy's improvement (although I admit he has come on).
Another positive for next season: What price will the season ticket have to be to get anyone to buy one.

Ah well, the truth is out there, but not from you it appears Adey. making things up and wrongly accusing people of things they have not done.

Shame on you.

www.sportsnewsfirst.com.au/artic ... ague-move/ Why are we not linked him? Exactley what we're looking for.

www.sportsnewsfirst.com.au/artic ... ague-move/ Why are we not linked him? Exactley what we're looking for.

probably because wire and hudds will turn it into a bidding war we cant compete in. plus 2nd row isnt really top of our priority list in terms of signings for next year. half and and arguably prop are where we should be directing any available cap space IMO.

"Should he accept the lucrative deal he would join former NRL stars Brett Hodgson, Adrian Morley, Joel Monaghan, Michael Monaghan and Matt King in the UK."

Maybe the question you should be asking is how come Wire can seemingly afford all that lot PLUS their UK stars? And add Waterhouse?

Remember a few years ago, we were supposedly set to sign Matt King then Wire gazumped us?

One can only presume these kind of players' agents must be pretty damn good at stacking up image rights or other deals with "unconnected" third parties - either that or they are prepared to come and play over here for far less than their market value just to get some overseas experience in?

'Quality' is where we should be directing our cap space and Waterhouse is precisely that. If we accept we can't compete with Wire and Hudds then nothing is surer than we won't be competing with them. Apparently we haven't spent close to the salary cap this year and unless we see dramatic improvement or 'signings to whet the appetite' then season tickets will be harder to sell etc. Waterhouse and Lafranchi are probably the 2 biggest bames coming to SL this season and we should aim to sign one of them.

I don't disagree with the need for reinforcement in the areas you suggest but who from either hemisphere are available. Pryce? Joel Reddy? Bryce Gibbs?

not saying he isnt the quality of player we should be looking at. just think we've more pressing recruitment needs elsewhere which would have a bigger impact on the squad. We need to get the best bang for buck we can out of our salary cap spend and paying big money for a player in a position we're already relatively strong in isnt going to help IMO. Wire and Hudds have the backers in place to pay over the odds for players like waterhouse, with probably a significant part of package being through a backdoor so it doesnt appear on cap. we dont have a backer to finance that type of deal AFAIK.

That said we have managed to recruit Menzies and Morrison in the recent past so it is posible to get a decent quality player if we want one. One decent performance in defeat doesn't change our season yet and I think we do need a player of that calibre in the pack at least.

menzies at least was a bit of a gamble due to his age, morrison was a bit of unknown quantity too but at point we signed him we were in lot healthier position in league so a more attractive place for him to come. Dont think either we're being looked at by anyone else so we werent in position of having to outbid other clubs. Just think we need to be careful how we spend cap we have available to get best value from it.

Both signed when we looked to still have realistic chances (on paper) of finishing in the top 4? Two seasons of missing out on the playoffs, with a third looking to most third parties to be on the cards, is not going to help our club look attractive to a prospective marquee signing? Or, perhaps, to induce some of these mystical "independent" third parties to want to back such a player if he is likley to get minimal exposure?

I'm not sure everyone recognises just how much harder it is to sign the best talent if you are struggling to offer him the prospect of success. Top-performing teams are able to attract the top talent. I fear we will have to try and claw our way back up the rankings mainly by our own efforts first, before we are in a position to once again be a little bit attractive to prospective "high quality" signings.

The top 8 isn't completely beyond us yet.

While I agree that it's probably harder it's not impossible. IIRC Hull signed O'Meley and Fitzgibbon after finishing 12th in SL. Catalans too haven't had a problem recruiting despite a pretty abject season last year.