..... And Kicking

Yeah that's why i said he rushes out too often and leaves gaps. He's decent but like i said the other 3 we have would be my first choices.

He's injured all the time and would cost a fortune, i'd swerve clear of him. Hopefully Lindop and wrench will develop more over the next few years, have 2 fast strike centres for a change with pace to burn.Can't remember the last time we had a really quality centre since Gleeson & King. Atkins had his moments but it's been a long time since then.

Trbojebic would be the best player in the comp by a distance. If you consider how Field and French look in this league, yet Trbo is in a whole different class to them, without disrespecting F&F. He genuinely is up there with the best players in the NRL when fit, but his fitness is an issue. 

Seems a good man too, tried to repay a significant portion of his salary having missed most of the year with injuries a few years back. 


It would take a good medical, but the demands of the game is much lower in super league. But this isn’t dragging Inglis out of retirement, he’s still world class. But we can’t afford his wage to play single figure games, he’s got to 7, 18, 11, 20 and 7(this year) over the last few years, plus origin games. We would need a better return than that 

I have been told by a Saints fan they have signed him, a top quality acquisition for them if true.

Id speculate he demands quite the salary more so with a few teams being in for him, and i think we and have learned some hard lessons over the years about big salary's.   

Papali'i is well past his best and in slow decline, i'd rather we didn't try and sign him and look elsewhere.
I know we're interested in Liam Knight, but looks like that might rest on this possible Quota change, whatever that might be, or not be?

Hull FC are holding out for a quota rule change to see if they can keep Knight. 
Same with us for Vaughan I suspect. 

Vaughan has already signed for 2026 season.

The possible Quota rule change would mean that Yates would be excluded from counting on it though, which I assume you are referring to?

I'd have real concerns over his comments in recent months and his motivation to play here. He's spoke about going playing 'local league footy' a couple of months back and is now saying how he wanted to stay at Canberra. It just doesn't scream of a guy that is coming to Superleague for the right reasons and I'd have thought Saints would've stayed clear of guys who make it pretty clear they're coming to this country as their fall back option. 

Yeah, people in Aus have said his heart hasn't fully been in the game for awhile, and he isn't the dominant force he once was at all. It just screams of an old school pension top up. I genuinely hope we don't sign him.
Martin Taupau is currently free and i would be happy with his signing, but ONLY on a short term contract for this year, i definately wouldn't sign him on anything longer than that. I think he would add alot to us currently for the remainder of the year. But beyond that i'd hope we sign younger props Like we've signed Liam Byrne.
He'll only be 26 next year so hitting his prime years, Him and Vaughan starting next year, with Jimmy H, Philbin, Wood and Yates is decent but we still need a big aggressive prop on top of them.

On Papali’i and Tapau, there are both well past their best, but undoubtedly they are power houses. Vaughan, Harrison, Yates, Currie are all superb, but more about big minutes and effort areas. Philbin can, and has recently, been a disruptor and can scatter the pigeons (first carry yesterday, in a difficult position!) but with no disrespect, Tapau and Papali’i could do 15 minutes of fire and fury and create some actual chaos, Papali’i in particular close to the line is a threat. 

But, as Or Thane says, it’s a short term plug. We need to find a space for Thomas when he returns from injury, and Green and Whitehead are in the way, we can’t block the path for a pay day. 


If you look at the “outs”, Johnson, Russell, Ratch and Crowther would be on the hit list, if we can. I’d add Tai and Powell to that personally. We need a right back row, and we need to look at that 14, a hooker/utility. If I was Leyland, I’d be playing for that 14 shirt. He can play fullback and half, but if he can develop to be a back up hooker, he would be a strong candidate for that role.