Really? Sam Burgess, James Graham and 33 year old (but still the best we've got IMO) Adrian Morley who else?

2) Bums on seats / season ticket sales / publicity factor



See point 2

The list I provided was purely NRL, that's not what I'm asking, we know there may be a few in the NRL however I'd hasten to say even with that list Willie Mason would stand out to the man in the street in Salford or anywhere else.

I would much prefer Aston Simms, Ben Cross, Luke Bailey, Carl Webb, Jason Ryles, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and maybe Chris Armit of those out of contract (up to last weekend) in the NRL, than Mason but if he was willing to come to these islands and the rest aren't then why not.

Although this is irrelevant now as he doesn't want to sign for us.

Meh, this is getting messy. (I'm sure I'm developing dyslexia) I'll save my response for tomorrow.

There's obviously a split camp regarding Mason.
Some are suggesting that he's past it (although I wouldn't say so).
Some think he's a whole heap of trouble and not worth big money.
Some are of the opinion that he'd be a certain crowd puller.
In any event, it would appear that we are not favourites to land him.
Others who are more clued up on NRL props suggest that there are better out there.
The question is:
Are they available and would they sign for Salford.
If we intend to make a mark in our last season at The Willows, do we want to strengthen the team or pull the crowds in.
Ideally it'd be both, but I'd settle for either.

Today the Manchester Evening News suggests Anthony Quinn from Melbourne and Carl Webb from North Queensland are possible targets for us.

I'd say that if we signed Webb we would be taking a bigger risk than signing Mason.

Carl Webb yes please, always been one of my favourite NRL props and would compliment Cashmere wonderfully, Quinn is a class winger (though to be fair didn't think a winger was high on our shopping list).

Think we should bring back David Gower and then we can have my favourite Cricketer and Actor in the same team, now feel inspired to go watch my favourite film The Guns of Navarone again.

Quin is apparently coming to Super League and I'd be happy if it was to us. I think we do need a winger/centre to replace Talau (depending on where Gibson plays).
I'd be happy with Webb but I think we need a prop who can bring some genuine impact off the bench.
David Gower has gone to St George Dragons from Wests so we won't be getting him back.

With Tyrer returning from loan and McGilvary being injury prone I'd say sell McGilvary and get a new winger, saying that I think we need a centre and a prop a lot more.

Also heard chris Nero has signed

FFS, him and Anderson are like going backwards ...

Maybe Nero's not but Anderson, I mean I wouldn't say hes much better than what we currently have and his wages will be quite a bit, I'm just saying we could probably get better than Anderson for what he'll be worth and Nero well I'd rather have him than Talau yes.

I'd say Anderson would be an improvement on Sibbit, Parker and Littler (depending on how much effort he's willing to put in). By the way Quins fans think he's a cert for them next year. Strange how things change in a week, one minute looking good and feeling optimistic, next we're back to doom and gloom.

I have to disagree strongly because if you look at Anderson's stats he averages over 7 meters per carry. Compare that to all 12 current Salford forwards and he blows them out of the water. The closest to him is Rob Parker who has averaged 6.5 Metres. This is one of our problems we don't have enough go forward, three of our current back row are actually adapted centres. Further to this Anderson also puts in an average of 20 tackles a game despite being spelled for long periods.

Average Meters Per Carry Stats 2010: Alker 4.6 Mts - Sibbitt 5.3 Mts - Littler 5.5 Mts - Adamson 5.3 Mts - Swain 5.4 Mts - Cashmere 6 Mts - Leuluai 6.3 Mts - Jewitt 5.5 Mts - Boyle 5.9 Mts - Sidlow 6.3 Mts - Neal 5.9 Mts.

Compare this to Wigan and you'll see why they are top and we are where we are: Paleaaesina 8 Mts - Tomkins 6.3 Mts - Fielden 7 Mts - Coley 6.7 Mts - Hansen 6.9 Mts - Prescott 6.9 Mts - Riddell 5.7 Mts - Farrell 7.3 Mts - Mcllorum 5.9 Mts - Bailey 6.6 Mts - Mossop 7.1 Mts - O'Laughlin 5.4 Mts

I think it's very conclusive that Anderson could be a good signing for us, just for you info Adrian Morley averages 7.98 metres and Jamie Peacock does 7.5 per carry.

According to the MEN we are Fighting with Bradford for Paleaaesina, which I think would be a bad move for us, if Cashmere is penalised for trying to play the ball, Paleaaesina in a Salford shirt would be penalised each time he ran into the tackle.