The RU World Cup starts in September, while Eastmond will probably be playing in the SL play-offs.

Eastmond is still a novice in the professional game in RL as was Ashton. In my opinion Ashton always had more off a complete game and the transition was always going to be easy as long as he was eased into it. Eastmond however is a bit of a one trick pony, stepping at speed. The weekends game v the Wire proved he could be contained with ease and looked ordinary without a good number 6 to work with. His kicking game is poor so that rules him out of the 9 or 10 position in union and possibly even number 15.

That leaves him on the wing, he is a poor mans Jason Robinson in that respect. Rugby League has many better wingers than what Eastmond would be, they ( RU ) are jumping on the Eastmond bandwagon and blowing sunshine up his because he had A good season. If he had any sense he would establish himself in league before he does a Gareth Raynor, and comes running back with his tail between his legs.......More than anything else he would be bored sh**le** in union.

I think that Eastmond will make a very good winger in onion and it would not surprise me to see him play for Eng within a year. May be able to play outside centre at a push. I dont think he has the overall skills to play half in either code. But his acceleration, power and athletic ability are superb.

If he plays 11/14/15, he'll be spending 80 minutes every week looking up at a barrage of high kicks raining down on his head, then getting trampled to death when he does manage to take one in.

Those are also positions where England have established first choices in Cueto, Ashton and Foden. Chuck into the mix guys like Armitage and Banahan who would also be ahead of him in the pecking order and he could be a long way from the England squad even once he's bedded in.

The area of weakness for England is in the centres, but I'm not convinced Eastmond has the physical presence to make a go of it in either the 12 or 13 shirts.

i'd love matt banahan to play league....

as for eastmond...i just don't see him lasting in union

Like many others I dont see were he will play? Bath must have a good reason to go for him though. What I do think is that if he is going for the money (or even the fame sucsess will bring) without having any knowlage or previous interest in thye game he will be in big trouble.
From Saints point of view they have invested in him & will now have to start looking for a half back( Australian most likley) if they had had that much faith in him they should have tied him to a long contract then at least they could have demanded a fee, a lesson other clubs should look at.

If Eastmond continues to put in lacklustre performances and get up the fans' noses as he has done so far I could see him leaving before the end of the season. I'm not saying it will definitely happen that way but that is what we saw at Wigan with Chris Ashton in his last season. He clearly couldn't be bothered to play for us any more and as a result got dropped and shipped out to Northampton early in exchange for a bit of compensation.

If the same happens (lack of effort and commitment, poor performances) with Eastmond then Saints would be better off getting rid and giving another young lad a go in the team who will be there for the future.

By all accounts Saints wanted rid of Eastmond immediately but Bath didn't want to pay compo, so I can't see that playing out TBH.

I suppose it depends on how much Saints wanted and if Bath were willing to pay some compensation but not as much as Saints asked for. Wigan only got a small amount of compensation for Ashton but there was little value in keeping him as he wasn't playing and was taking up a squad place and wage (albeit not a large wage).

Right now Eastmond is a first choice halfback so Saints will likely want his contract paying up as compensation (or close to that amount) but if in a couple of months time he has been dropped for playing poorly and Saints decide they can spend his wage and/or use his squad place more wisely then he may be offered for little or no compensation to Bath.

Eastmond is far from a one trick pony. Not only does he have power and pace most backs would dream of, but, considering his age, he has a very well rounded skill set. Don't take his 3 performances this year as any indication of his ability, this guy has all the potential to get to the very top of RL.

However

He's not going to be a scrum half in union, it would be too hard to make that transition in such a specialist position. They're going to want him either on the wing, full back or perhaps outside centre.
8-10 years ago, when union were still behind in terms of professionalism, Eastmond would have creamed it in the same way Robinson did, but now, it will be a lot more difficult for him.
Eastmond is small, really small, he's not exactly tough and have never shown to be that resistant to the rough stuff. At international level, he'll find himself being peppered by high kicks and jumping against much bigger guys. He'll also get a good shoeing when he's on the floor, which he will not take well.

Ashton's no great shakes, he just has an excellent supporting gmae and good pace, but he's big and tough enough to defend the above.

I suspect Eastmond will rip it up at club level, but struggle at international. He'll perhaps end up stuck on the international 7s circuit a la Henry Paul.

Have I missed something? He's already gone..

I just can't see where they're going to put him. There's an awful lot to learn if he's going to SH, FH or FB. It'll take him a year or two to catch up. Also, as mentioned his kicking game isn't that good, so he'll struggle there. He could be put on the wing or centre, but he's just too small. Union backs are generally a lot larger than League backs because they have less attacking space to run in, have to deal with the rucks and mauls and don't need to run backwards and forwards continually in the defensive line. He'll get smashed or driven into touch everytime or lose possesion in the ruck. I also don't think he'll be able to defend in a way that will help his team gain possession.

A few games on the wing at the Rec (which looks like the coldest and boggiest ground on earth) in the middle of winter, seeing the ball passed to him twice, having bomb after bomb put down his throat, being smashed by defenders and run over of by attackers will see him looking North again.

He's a RL player. End of.

I'm amazed no one has blamed Steve McNamara yet www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/fe ... elens-bath Poor chap seems to get blamed for everything else

I'm amazed no one has blamed Steve McNamara yet www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/fe ... elens-bath Poor chap seems to get blamed for everything else