I can empathise, it happened to me a lot but I got through it.

as long as he doesnt spit his dummy out when things arent going his way he could be a very good signing.

So what you're saying is that the Saints faithful took offence at an RL player ensuring that he has an income beyond his playing days? Seems fair

the problem at saints was his fall out with some key young players who were playing regulary. you will also have noticed that lee gaskell was frozen out

He didn't come across as a dummy spitter at Saints. Far from it.

I would ignore some Saints fans who are vindictive. Interesting that they are almost all male, generally older than Foster and generally resentful of his success with the ladies.

He has excellent positioning, he has pace (I have no idea where this idea that he doesn't comes from because it's blatantly inaccurate), he knows where the tryline is, he is safe under the bomb (only becoming anything like dodgy when his confidence takes a hit) and he is a real team player. He can also kick goals. His best goal kick for us came in the 2011 grand final when he lobbed over a penalty kick from the halfway line although during the 2011 and 2010 seasons he won us a game many times thanks to his kicking or, in one case, catching a bomb under intense pressure (2010 when we were giving the game away, as we so often did under Potter).

I would imagine he has signed for a year simply because the Bulls have a one year temporary licence.

If Cummins is a coach who works well with the young players like Simmons did then Foster should come on a treat with you. If he's the Rush type then he may well struggle.

I stand corrected, sir.

Well sit corrected, cos if I stand while typing I get a bad back.

I would concur with Bewareshadows comments.

Much of the criticism aimed at Foster was of a personal rather than playing nature.
It says a lot, that for many fans their main criticism of him was to refer to him as "Boyband"

Boybands being of course composed of handsome young males popular with teenage girls.
Jamie fitted those criteria, and this was a mortal sin for some male Saints fans.

The fact he opened a hair dressing business, a profession associated with "sissys" didnt enamour him to the more neanderthal of fans either. They probably preferred him to be breaking lumps of rock with his hands 500 feet underground.

Used right, Jamie is marketing gold for the Bulls.
Have him make a personal appearance in the city centre of Bradford, and just watch him attract girls and women like no other RL player around.

Playing wise Jamie is a diamond in the rough. His natural position is centre, and at academy level he represented England in that position. His winger by the way in the England team was Sean Ainscough, who was made to look like a worldbeater by Jamie who set him up for a number of trys with classical centre play.
At first team level he has so far only played on the wing. This is due i think in part to his lack of physical maturity. If he fills out as he matures, i see no reason why he cannot move into the centres and show people his real talent.

As a winger Jamie is no worldbeater, but he is someone who can read a game well and therefore knows the way to the line.Hence his excellent try scoring ratio. His lack of physicality means he doesnt make metres once in collision with opposition players. However he does have a knack of being able to see an unset defence and then go on a scamper, often from tap 20's.
Jamie blows hot and cold taking crossfield kicks, i think this is very much a confidence thing with him. He also isnt the greatest defensively. Especially if the opposition winger is a 15-16 stone bloke diving in at the corner.
Jamies real strength is in the kicking department. He is arguably the best goal kicker in the league. At academy level i recall he missed less than 10 kicks all season one year, and finished with goal kicking stats above 90% which is phenomenal. His kickoffs are also the best in the business, and this is a much under appreciated skill amongst fans. He is a master of putting a kickoff right into coffin corner or giving it a hang time so it comes down on the try line just as the onrushing players arrive.

Another thing about Jamie is that in addition the playing centre in the academy, he also covered at fullback quite a bit. Hence if you get injuries, Jamie offers potential cover for you in that department.

To sum up, whether Jamie becomes a top class player or another statistic of a youngster who showed promise but ultimately failed to make the stepup, depends mostly on his ability to mature physically.
An indication of his lack of physical maturity was the ribbing he used to get from the Saints players who used to make many a reference to his "boy arms".

Good signing for you guys, he might not be the quickest winger about, but he gets his fair share of tries and his goal kicking will certainly win you the odd game.

Shaun Ainscough (please note the spelling) was named player of the series during that visit to Australia. Maybe Jamie Foster or his family would like Jamie to take the credit for that but somehow I feel Ainscough probably got the award from his own playing ability at that time.

I'm not one to knock new signings and am willing to wait to see what happens in the future, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

Glad you mentioned this. The last time I did so on a Saints forum I got maulled. Fact is, if Jamie is on form with his kick offs there really is no catching them. He can produce an inch perfect killer of a kick that just screws the catcher, no matter who it is.

But I would add to your IMO totally accurate assessment (particularly with regard to Jamie's unfortunate inability to physically fill out) that he needs a coach who takes the approach of believing in his young players rather than the Rush bully approach of punishing them (by dropping them) if they don't perform to his particular set of standards. If Cummins is the type who believes in his young guys then Jamie will give of his best and will produce some good stuff for the Bulls.

Yet as anyone knows, a winger relies much on his centre. Gidley was a fantastic centre and so Jamie Foster blossomed with him there whereas he struggled a bit sometimes with Meli. A winger needs his centre to perform to his best and so I think Jamie deserves the credit given.

Thats exceedingly generous of you

Yes it is.

Well let's hope he doesn't get Platt then.

As for credit I think the person who deserved it got the award.