Hmm. Is anyone else just the [itiniest[/i little bit worried that we seem to be going down the "We're Salford Rugby, We'll sign who we want." route rather than addressing the gaps in the squad?

No, not at all, I think we're going down the route of building a bigger, better squad than we've seen certainly in my time watching Salford. If you want to be able to compete right through the season, then you need strength in depth in the squad to cover injuries, loss of form etc etc - something we've never been able to do.

He'd probably be our stand out utility back rower if he signs. Thing is he's turned 30 which concerns me.

I'm beginning to feel old when people get concerned about players being thirty.

Yes Aussies over 30 years old are generally a bad move with the odd exception like Menzies, Hodgson etc

My concern is that there seems to be a rush to sign a big name - anyone - rather than to build a competitive squad. I can accept that you need strength in depth, but we're still in the shallow end of not having a full back or an experienced stand off. I'd be less concerned if they were adding these big names to an already full squad, but we aren't.

Hahaha. Yes, it does seem odd on reflection. But I'd still much rather have a 26/27 year old version of the same.

At the Forever Reds meeting on Monday, Ed Farish said the main priorities for strengthening were full back, centre and prop.

If it was Swinton in you position that is exactly what I would want the club to do. Let this season pan out as it may and get the team in place for the years to come.
One marque signing won't necessarily improve the current team nor increase gates.

im hearing the name Harrison Hansen mentioned quite a bit, possibly on his way!!!

Would love to see H in a Salford shirt.

Probably a better option than Morley to be honest. Hansen is also a Salford raised lad with family connections to the club and a few years left in him unlike Mozza.

Another name to throw in is Kallum Watkins who's a local lad that played for our junior academy.

Chris Bridge (C),
Gareth Hock (SR, P),
Danny Tickle (SR),
Darrell Griffin (P), (On a permemnant basis)
Richie Moore (P)
Dale Ferguson (SR, L),
Mark O'meley (P),
Ade Gardner (W),
Vince Mellars (W, C, SR)

All these players could be possibly targets for Salford, and tbh, all would be cracking additions to your squad.

It's a tough one really. Do we throw as much money around as possible to get big signings in now on 2/3 year deals, and then have little room to manouevre on the salary cap in the off season? Or get 2 or 3 more realistic targets in now on shorter term deals whilst sorting out the bigger name deals for next season onwards? Or is it possible to get the balance right and do both?

I think it's possible to do both. This season should be about building a squad for this season and beyond, so we need a full back, stand off (maybe) etc. Targeting big names in those positions seems to be the way forward. At the moment, we just seem to be going for the big name signing irrespective of position, like Morley, for example. There are better, younger props around (like Griffin), but Morley seems to be an eye catching signing in a position that isn't as high a priority as some of the others. I just worry that there's a bit of "kid in a sweet shop" at the moment.


I'm not against making marquee signings (it's what the club should and probably needs to be doing), I just hope they would be [iappropriate[/i marquee signings, and not just big names for the sake of it.