TS clearly wanted 'bulky' wings and Chris didn't fit the bill so was let go - erroneously imo.
Even though he was relatively small (about 5'8'') I don't remember many teams getting the better of him with high balls or 'running over him'.
I'd suggest he made less errors than Penny (but I have been impressed with Penny's ability to make yards in the tackle - better than Lineham or Gene from what I remember).
Russell is a bulkier version of Penny (not tall) but not as quick, although can't doubt his ability to make yards at the ptb and difficult to put down.

Anyway we've got what we've got for 2017 so that's Lineham and Russell with Evans and Penny as cover.

Roll on February

Riley was probably starting to decline when TS let him go, but his place had been considered questionable by a lot of our fans on here at least for a while before that despite his consistent scoring record. I just think a lot of people were never that convinced by him but his performances were good for a long time. I think he's about our 13th/14th all time top try scorer: in the modern era only Briers and Joel Monaghan have more than him.

It's a strange phenomenon about home grown players that have come through the Academy, some get a lot of leeway from the terraces, because they are home grown (Gaskell and Penny), others get held up to higher standards: Riley was one and also Mike Wainwright in his first spell, he used to be a magnet for abuse from the crowd and was mocked when he went to Salford although in his second spell he was popular.

Riley was no world beater, but he was an outstanding finisher and I think he was hugely underrated. Always felt he didn't get the plaudits he deserved, especially as he was born and bred in the town and came through our own academy. Of course it's unlikely he would have achieved such success if he wasn't outside of good centres and halfbacks, but the same can be argued of Hicks, Monaghan et al.

Dean Busby and Chris Morley?
How on gods planet was they considered as some value for Scully?

Didn't Saints give us £350k cash for Scully? Seem to remember a figure round that amount.

I think we took them and someone else who also wasn't good enough for about half the fee, which was rumoured about that but officially undisclosed.

It was £300,000 + Chris Morley (rated at £70,000)

Didn't Busby come with him? Either that or we bought him with the money we had just got for Scilly. Which is technically the same thing if not officially the same.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/rugby_league/42215.stm

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/rugby_league/42215.stm

All the best BWW

3.00390625:5