I suppose it would depend on what is considered a "normal" amount.
e.g. the average number of "world class" centres for the last 10 years has been 5. In 2009, there is 7, therefore there is an abundance!?

that or hyperbole,exageration and a blind ignoring of the facts

From FreeDictionary;

[iworld-class
adj.
1. Ranking among the foremost in the world; of an international standard of excellence; of the highest order

I suppose you could have 2 views from that.
1. You are the best available at the time (see Paul Deacon).
2. You have reached a comonly accepted standard of excellence, world-wide (see Sam Burgess).

I see no problem with there being an abundance of anything... the word means


dictionary.com

Which can pretty much be summed up as "there are many more available than are needed".

The other thing you need for this discussion is a definition of 'world class'. Possibly something like - of sufficient quality to have a strong chance of being selected for any of the top international sides irrespective of nationality constraints? (e.g. a French centre who would be good enough to play Origin or for Australia/NZ if he qualified).

Sorry to drag this up from the 1st page of this world class thread, but this links into this mornings T&A piece;

rlJeffries wants new dealrl

“[iI’ve not heard anything from Bradford yet but I’m not going to wait around too long. I like to have decisions made sooner rather than later. I’ve told Macca I want to stay though and my manager is on to it. The ball is in their court but hopefully it will get rolling now.” [/i

also interestingly;

"[iJeffries – who is aiming to have his quota status relaxed to aid his bid to stay..." [/i

If he comes off quota in some way that would make his resigning an even easier choice would it not?

definitely. after watching him against huddersfield i didn't think he'd amount to much this year but he's looking good all of a sudden. it can't harm to sign him to another year?

According to my understanding, the answer is yes - but only marginally. He'll still be 'overseas trained' (of which I believe we can have 6, including quota players), but won't be 'quota' (of which we can have 5).

Thus, at the moment I think we have 7 overseas trained players, but of those only Jeffries, Menzies & Morrison are quota. Solomona & Tadulala are Kolpak, Rinaldi is an EU citizen and I think Nero is an EU passport holder.

If he gets off quota then yes, give him another yr, he`s better than sykes etc at s/o..but is he worth a quota spot when theres better out there?

By sound of that he wants to stay and he`s told bradford so for a while and they are leting it drag on..if they really wanted him to sign they would say yes there and then, are they looking at other options or waiting to see if he come off quota then they know where they stand..but id you hang around then other teams could come in for him..ie celtic/hull/hudders.

In SL at the moment there are only 3 SO's who i would suggest are possibly more valuable than BJ (in the short term at least) - Pryce, McGuire & Bosc. None of them are likely to be available (arguable), you are going to have to go overseas to get better.

I'd add Horne - but that's academic as he is, if anything, even less available than the others.

Interesting, though, that Jeffries claims in the article to see himself as a SO, when many have argued that he's a natural scrum half.

I see BJ as a natural SH.
As regards Horne, I'm just not sure what is his best position. He's almost a great player, but he doesn't attack the line like BJ did.

I personally feel that BJ is worth another 2 year deal, he's been one of our best players so far this year. We'd be daft to let Jeffries go but stick with Deacon for another year.

Brdford are not letting it drag on but simply considering their options. He cannot sign for anybody else until later in the season so it seems reasonable that we look around at what may be on offer. There are too many people that immediately want to re-sign anyone that has had two or three good games and forget about his form before.

of those only menzies and rinaldi are full quota. under rules change brought in at back end of last season anyone who joined us before april? 2008 is counted as overseas trained for as long as they stay in superleague. This is change in interpretation which led to us losing evans as we thought he'd count as a full quota spot. menzies joined us after deadline and rinaldi this year.