Age isn't a problem if you keep yourself in good shape, look at the Manchester United team for example;

Van Der Sar - 39
Gary Neville - 35
Ryan Giggs - 36
Paul Scholes - 35
Rio Ferdinand - 31

All players still going strong with plenty to offer.

all ugly buggers though.

WOAH have a look at Bretts right thigh in the photo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Signing a 32 year old full back is not something that fills me with excitement.

Exactly, Leeds have done this a lot, used the older signing as a way of facilitating players coming through their Academy into the first team....fans and the media slag it off saying its short-term but if you have good players in the Academy then short term is what you are looking for. The older players who are still fit enough to compete in their 30s are generally the ones who have looked after their bodies ie are the most professional, also generally married, have kids etc so are better mentors for the Academy lads than the younger big names who take impressionable academy players out on the town getting bladdered.

If there's some good talent in the 16-19 age bracket then they can get brought into training with the 1st team, get mentored by the likes of Hodgson/Solomona and basically be squad players for two seasons playing a handful of games, then they are properly set to replace the outgoing player when he retires. If we sign Hodgson I bet one of the things which gets said is "I would rather us sign a younger Aussie" but if you do that then it sends a message to the lads in the Academy competing for that position that that spot in the 1st team is taken for the next 5/6 years and they have to start looking elsewhere.

When Leeds signed Marcus Bai he was 32 and people said it was a negative signing, but they had Lee Smith, Ashley Gibson, Jordan Tansey all aged 17-18 at the time, by the time Bai left they were 19-20 and ready to go, if Leeds had signed a 22 year old Aussie then he would be 28 now and probably still taking up that spot.

i prefer this picture of brett

Current MOS fullback for a couple of years until Rhy Evans is ready? sounds good to me.

Looks like this could happen. He's turned down a one year extension to his contract. Sorry if already posted but I tend to stay away from rumour threads. news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 641538.stm

Looks like this could happen. He's turned down a one year extension to his contract. Sorry if already posted but I tend to stay away from rumour threads. news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 641538.stm

It was Mathers twitter outbursts last week that let people know something was going on.

I cant imagine Smith would have been very happy about that... airing your in house grievances on a social networking site.

Probably wont long before clubs (football and rugby) stop players using social networking sites... didnt paul Wood also give out that Bridge was playing loose forward on his facebook page, only for it to be hastily removed?

With possibly Hicks and V Anderson on there way would it not be possible to keep mathers?.. seems that two players are going and ones on the way. further signings maybe??

Rhys Evans, he's an exceptional talent.

As I've said previously, you only have to look at Smiths approach at Leeds, he's doing the same thing here and it's the right one, without a doubt.

It's not hype is it, he's the reigning MOS, so It can't be hype. If anything Gareth Widdup is hype, as he's untested but you're putting him forward on the basis that he plays in the NRL & for Melbourne - we've nothing to substantiate that he's even better than Mathers.

Good to see people being picky about is signing the current MoS and a world class performer. Have a word with yourselves.

i'm not disputing the signing,but personally i think we've already got the actual Man of steel from 2009 at the club.