Quote: Iain "I may be wrong, but weren't they signed by Andy Gregory? I'm sure I remember Brown and Hudson Smith playing in a televised cup game at home to Sheffield the year after they beat us in the semi. Was Simms with us as long ago as 1999.'"
Just shows how memories get muxed up! Thinking back now it must have been Xmas 2003 that I spoke to Simmsy and a quick google search revealed that for the 2004 season we had struck a deal for Dane Carlaw (but that eventually didn't happen) and Sean Rutgerson was removed from our overseas quota because of his SA roots. I can't remeber who else we'd signed that year.
In terms of signing Borgese from Youtube, perhaps things have slipped since he came on board, who knows? The Bailey signing surely must have been down to McRae's say so - i.e. McRae says he wants him and Steve makes the numbers work?
Finally, the clause in the contract about the overseas players coming back later. I've been doing some thinking about that and wondered whether it was a deliberate negotiation point, i.e. we say to a prospective sigining 'look, we haven't got the money to pay you the same rates as the big boys but if you sign with us you're guarenteed a longer break back home in the off season.' I know that's probably self-defeating but it may explain why it was done. If it isn't a negotiation point and we're paying the same or nearly the same as other clubs then I can understand why Parish has seen his a*rse about it!
