Absolutely brilliant signing and brilliant player. Can't wait to see him in p and b. Funnily enough, I think him and Myler will complement each other really well, shame he's of to Cats.

I do wish some of these signings would say something a bit different from the normal garbage " I can't wait to meet the fans, I am so excited about this new chapter of my life, I get hot flushes when I think about playing under Tony Smith, I have already got my fishing gear ready for the Mersey".

How about " It's been a pretty traumatic few weeks and I am relieved to be able to escape Oz and quietly start my career again". I am a bit concerned about the different style of play in the UK but hopefully will adapt quickly" or even " Asotasi has been so crap at Wolves I am certain I can do a hell of a lot better"



Lets face it, he does suit TS's style of 'minimal on-field structure' so will certainly get the opportunity to express himself. So perhaps he is the ideal candidate for the creative half we have been looking for. Add in the goal kicking and field kicking and I suspect nearly every other club in the UK will be green with envy, lets just hope that all the theory works out in practice. At the very least no one can now complain that the club have not brought in a Brier's replacement, even though it's taken them a couple of years and a bit of serendipity to do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QYCBuvsKf8 bits of this made me chuckle, doing a search at lunch for stuff on that video sharing site that should not be named, there's a couple of vids of him having hand bags with ennis and luke, the fella isn't affraid of standing up for himself, i'll give him that. If any wigan or saints forwards hit him late after a pass, they'll be getting one across the chops, something GOB has never done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QYCBuvsKf8 bits of this made me chuckle, doing a search at lunch for stuff on that video sharing site that should not be named, there's a couple of vids of him having hand bags with ennis and luke, the fella isn't affraid of standing up for himself, i'll give him that. If any wigan or saints forwards hit him late after a pass, they'll be getting one across the chops, something GOB has never done.

So who partners Sandow in the halves next year? Gidley? Ratchford? Marquee?

Surely we'll be letting Asotasi go this year so at prop we'll have Hill, Sims, England and B Evans, surely another top quality prop has to be our priority now?

It's always a bit of an unknown as to what the attitude and character of an overseas signing like this is, but you will never know for sure at the time of signing and that is not a quibble. But on paper he fits the bill of what we need and so I give everyone involved in this at the club a lot of credit for securing him. Mixed feelings on him coming halfway through the season to an extent - I had sort of written any chance of winning SL off and so would have been happy for him to come in over the winter with the chance to acclimatise. Happy he should be here for the Super 8s but I hope expectations for this season remain realistic given the circumstances. So a level of circumspection but excellent news really.

An extremely important point. Many on here have been of the opinion that TS must be either blind or stupid not to have signed the likes of Danny Brough or Kevin Brown, or, more recently, even Ryan Brierly. None of these players is, at their very best, more than 20% better than the half-backs we have now. Any one of them would have cost a great deal of money for a marginal improvement. Marginal improvements in half-backs will not win Wire the championship or the challenge cup. Sandow has a lot to prove, but, in raw material terms, is a genuine star, on an entirely different plane to the modest talents listed above. It has been worth the wait to get someone of his status at the youthful age of 26. Well done to TS and the board.

Well done SJM and the board.

It will be interesting to see if removing Sandow from his home environment will do anything to cure his failings ,if he does in fact have any. His problems may just stem from a clash of attitudes & personalities.
Unfortunately,although it is a great defender of freedom throughout the world, Australia & some of its people don't have much tolerance for its aboriginal population .Let us hope he can prosper at the Wire.

I agree MM especially about not getting ahead of ourselves this year, but, overall the timing of events I think is perfect, even his two game ban as it gives him a little time to get over here, train with the lads and acclimatise a little rather than, "right Chris, it's up to you go out and beat Cas on your own to close the play offs up a bit and make sure we get to Wembley the week after".

The eight game run in is just more of the same a chance to play himself in then relax and go for it next year.
And it's always nice to do a bit of transfer business early, especially major business, as the coaching staff can now plan ahead.

- Well done to Tony Smith

can sandow play in our cup semi

No he's band for 2 games

Sportinglife report suggests he would be eligible to play at Wembley should we get there...

Without wanting to get ahead of myself, would be an interesting decision....

I don't have any animosity about our hbs. They have been here long enough to have attached themselves to my sentiment but they have failed.
Bottom line is there is a cup to win, not just to show up and walk passed it with their heads bowed down collecting a finalist medal.

Sandow plays.