You knew who I meant, not sure what you have to be clever? Not sure why we struggle, Mini was a steady NRL player who was coming to the end of his career, a move to the UK made sense, he has been an amazing signing for us and if Wakeman is anywhere as near as good as he has been, you have a great signing.

Point still stands, which not surprisingly you choose to ignore you can't judge how good a signing when he has only played in a comp like NSW, when average SL players like Tyrone McCarthy are getting in the team on the year, it shows the standard.

He might do well, but highlighting those stats and clips are pointless, when he will be playing in a better standard league next year.

Troll alert,

Don't mind players being criticised if justified (I do it many times myself), but to highlight Minichello, who has been one of the best overseas signings in the last couple of years and compare to Wakeman seems very strange, maybe a comparison of someone like Sam Moa, when he first signed for Hull would be better.

I take it you think jools has an axe to grind?

I'll give you that one

Even as a Hull KR fan I can appreciate what an excellent signing minichello has been probably there best overseas signing for years so to use him as a comparison to a 26 year old who's never played NRL is a bit stupid

To suggest that the NSW cup is a standard below superleague is burying your head at how poor the standard is over here.
As for minechiello -you might want to look at the initial comment I made about him and think it through .

Like it or not the NSW cup is a standard below SL that's why very average SL players can walk into there teams and become stars your comments make me realise you know nothing of that particular competition

Of course it is, everyone knows it, apart from Jools.

As said, when players the standard in Tyrone McCarthy, who lets be honest is Championship standard, is in the dream team, it shows how much below SL it is.

Tyrone Mccarthy is no a championship player, to say so is being blinkered to support your own argument

This situation though is simply what happens when you have a p&r battle

By the time it's settled the best players are long signed up, leaving other options and it's been the case since 1973 that every single manager would pick an average Aussie because he will be of a certain standard rather than chance a young kid or championship player

Under Licencing clubs promoted youth and lower league players knowing they had that luxury. As soon as we went to p&r the journeymen returned

Out of interest, which props in England should Huddersfield have signed that are as good as Wakeman and wouldn't need a transfer fee?

Nail on head.
It's all about availability and your comments about licencing are bang on.
It is inevitable that any of the SL clubs will go for "cheap" Aussie imports, rather than taking a chance on home grown youngsters.
It's exactly what happened previously and it was inevitable when P & R returned and for the longer term, this damages the domestic game.
Having said that, unless we return to franchising (or something similar), I dont know what the answer is.
We could have a transfer deadline some time before the split which would prevent wholesale changes to teams competing in either the Super 8's or Middle 8's or a tighter restriction on overseas players but, clearly, every coach will go for an experienced player vs a youngster in tight games.

Mccarthy was average at Rovers, in a team that was poor in 2015, the fact that few Rovers were bothered when he left early says it all, id be interested if he came back what SL clubs would try and sign him.

If you read my posts I have never questioned signing this type of player, my club have signed similar in the past with some success and failure, what I can't agree with is fans coming on here trying to make out he is a good signing based on highlights (which in it's self is very misleading and could make any player look brilliant) and stats from an inferior.
competition.

Personally I would have kept Huby.

Your right Dave as someone who actually watched Tyrone McCarthy play for a season he reminds me of the player we replaced him with Chris Clarkson both extremely average players

McCarthy is average and I'm not saying Wakeman is a bad signing in the slightest I'm just saying your can't compare the stats of two different standards of competition but on the other hand we signed Josh Mantellato from the NSW cup and he turned out to be a great signing and we've also signed proven NRL players who've turned out to be donkeys

How about hodgson- did he make rovers look amazing? Did people think he'd be in line for the Dally M when he moved to the NRL? He was fantastic in a higher standard game- so yeah you could be right- you can't judge based on different competitions......

Glad we agree that you were talking nonsense in your assessment of a player using lower league stats.

I wonder how many Raiders fans were going nuts about him when he signed based on his SL stats and video highlights I would guess none.

Another good comparison, get your money on Wakeman for SL dream team and MOS.

No one is claiming anything of the sort though. All I did was post some figures- with no comment about them as it happens.......... - but then you immediately jumped right in- not really sure why you have got your knickers in a twist about a signing for another club.
In your haste to pooh pooh the signing for another club you've made assumptions about what I have actually said. Please go back and properly read my posts.
I didn't say in any of my posts he was a good signing- you also attributed my assessments- where did I make these assessments? but you seem to have attributed me doing so. I'm apparently "talking nonsense" in my assessments that I haven't made.... who's talking nonsense. As I said- go back and read my posts.
By your own admission minichiello was coming"to the end of his career" and so you know what his best was. Hudds have signed A reletavely young, hungry, passionate hard working prop forward with a point to prove, someone not yet at his peak as a rugby player--so you can't really say whether he's going to be any good- neither can I- but you've written him off before he's even set foot in the country yet alone played a game in the competition.

The only point I'd make is that at 26 you'd have expected him to have played first grade at some point but the days of top aussies coming over are long gone not because of the standard of SL but our salary cap compared to there's

I guess we never read each other posts, I haven't written him off once, just pointing out that his stats from an inferior competition are pointless. If we had signed a 26 year old prop never to play at the top level, Id just see how he did rather than try and justify a signing, maybe not you but the excitement on the Hudds board over this signing is way over the top including someone claiming he is a huge signing.

Nobody has seen him play and certainly not a level he will be playing, guess we will have to see how he does, but on paper I don't see him as an improvement on Huby or even Crabtree.

Actually on the Hudds board you have claimed he looks a quality signing.

He might not have any NRL experience but that's not to say he won't be good. I think every team has horror stories about signing an NRL who came with a good reputation but turned out to be rubbish, mostly because he was here to pick up a nice wage. Every club can also probably point out a NRL signing that didn't come with much of a reputation who turned out to be pretty good. Mitch Garbutt at prop for Leeds came in late 2015 with only a dozen NRL appearances under his belt aged 26 and many would question his ability based on that, but he played a key role in helping win the treble and even when we struggled in 2016 he still made over 100m in 18 of his 21 regular season appearances and was one of the best metre making props in the competition. This guy for Hudds could well be in the same mould. Just now at Leeds some are questioning why this new hooker we have was let go and assume it must mean there's something wrong with him......Parcell and Wakeman, like Garbutt might just be good players that never got a break in the NRL because coaches made poor decisions that they weren't good enough when they could've been. Also not being good enough for the NRL doesn't mean they won't thrive in a competition we all accept isn't as good in quality as the NRL,

No I haven't. I said he looks like a beast. I said his stats are impressive and some of the best from the league he is in.
What I did say was I'd like to see another quality signing. You have (again) made inferences and twisted that.

You are correct this time, so I apologise. We are going around in circles, I look forward in welcoming Shannon to SL, with these two I feel you now have a decent chance of 7th/8th.

Merry Christmas

I've watched this thread in the hope that you'd relent and show you were more clued up than your posts suggest - alas you seem not to be.

Tyrone may prove to be a dud signing for Hudds or could end up to be an inspired one, you can't tell for now - one thing is for sure he's as much a SL standard players as most of the Hull FC team. You seem to have a basic lack of understanding as to how teams and players are created or arrogance after a good season, I'm not sure which tbh.

There are two basic rules regarding players in my book.

First - Peter Fox once told me during one of his endless lectures (I used to drive him around a bit when he was at Fev) that there were three kinds of players. First is the player who has it right from the start and never loses it, there are not many of those but as you can imagine their Don and their Neil loomed large. Next were the players who never had it and never would, no names mentioned. Third and the one that covered the vast number of players were those who had it for a bit. Some were the burst on the scene youngsters then fade, others were those who had been around for a while then for whatever reason suddenly blossomed and finally those who bloomed at the very end.

In other words most players have a short shelf life and the art of a great coach is spotting when that's about to happen. John Kear is the best I know for this. It's important because even if a club could afford it no team should ever be staffed by only superstars, it wouldn't work. you need those players who peak and then move on to keep the balance right.

This brings me to the second point. McCarthy like most players will play his best in a team and for a coach he likes - Mr Stone may be that man in which case Tyrone has all the attributes to shine as do most players who get this far. My own club Trinity has a rich history of getting the best from these players. Some like Mike Forshaw and a few others have resurrected their careers with us and gone on to great things. However most have given us a few really great years then just faded away or made the wrong move and that applies to all clubs to varying degrees.

The difference between a truly great player and a good one is massive - the difference between a good club player and a work a day journeyman is small and can be summed up in three words - 'the right circumstances'.

Sums your knowledge up that sentence, you might want to re-read your post and see how wrong you are.

Ignoring your massive error, ask Rovers fans how good he was for them, he might be a workhorse, but would get no were near the Hull side, he isn't a top 8 SL player and certainly not a top 4 player.

Like it or not, McCarthy at 28, has no stood out in SL and has been no more than an average SL player, that's why he was released by Warrington and didn't stand out at Rovers (In a poor side, coached by Chester, who has done great at Wakey).

Let's see if he comes back the UK (Clue to your error there), who he signs for and how he does.

Although you use to taxi around Peter Fox, so you obviously know more about the ability of McCarthy than me, you should put that on your CV.