Sally - I know you have been "out of touch" with Super League for the last couple of seasons but surely you are aware that the World's greatest half-back is the young and British enigma that is Sam Tomkins.

Does this mean that top class players are a disadvantage to a team?

Has having Lockyer or Inglis hampered Brisbane or Melbourne or their ability to have a competitive side? Or even more so what about Fittler at the Roosters or Johns at Newcastle - those guys were on big salaries at their clubs but they were crucial in taking their clubs to Grand Final wins.

To me its about how the salaries are balanced. If we got rid of the ex internationals in our team on good money who are in the comfort zone or always out injured, and replaced them with young upcoming players, that would free up a lot of extra cash, then that cash could be used to bring in a player that would make a difference like Lockyer.



I bet Scully was on similar money at Saints to what Barrett was on at Wigan, and he was always out injured, but Saints managed to put a good squad together. Wigan did the same as us - ie brought in a lot of average players on salaries that they would have warranted 3-4 years ago, that ate up their cap. If Lockyer goes dud next season then I would also be opposing us signing him because I'd put him in this bracket just like I didn't want us to sign Johns in 2008. But as of now if it was Lockyer for 2009 I would be very much for it.



Those were bad examples to choose, Scott Hill was good for Harlequins and Berrigan was one of the best players in SL last season



This sort of thing happens all the time. How often have we given a hooker chance to play halfback etc. If Saints weren't able to get Pryce that year who do you reckon they would have gone for - I have a feeling he would be Australian....



Can't pass judgement till he's played in Super League. Remember how dominant Simon Svabic was in the National Leagues with Leigh - would he have been a big player in SL? There have been a lot of NL halfbacks with good reputations who didn't stand out in SL - Cliff Beverley, Sam Obst, Barry Eaton, and then a couple who have done ok - Rooney and Brough. But would you be happy with Rooney or Brough at Warrington? Id want to set our sights higher than those two.

Don't be daft.


or: oh crap I just fell for a not-so-cunning trap that Sally set.

C'mon Sally, jesus christ !

Sculthorpe was on the same as Barrett !! Well for a start Saints will have got the 50k dispensation for him being there 10 years so I hardly see that.

Scott Hill was very poor for Quins, hampered by injury. Berrigan was awful, i'm guessing that they didn't screen many Hull games to SA ?

Anyhow, i'm guessing you've seen little or nothing of Myler anyhow, so I don't know I keep replying. I think he's a good player, I think he will become a very good player, he may not, who knows.

Don't forget that is limited to £50k total - Saints already got £50k off for Long/Cunningham.

Right, I didn't realise that.

Still, I can't go along with the notion that Sculthorpe was on similar money to Barrett in Sallys mind.

At the end of the day neither of us know, we can only speculate. However I would guess that when Barrett signed for Wigan he was on similar money to what Sculthorpe was on at Saints. Sculthorpe was GB captain at the time and was on a contract which he had signed when he was the top player in Super League and twice won Man of Steel. So I don't think its unreasonable to expect that he was on a top deal.

Wigan on the other hand had used up a big chunk of their salary cap on one player (Fielden) which will have limited their ability to offer big deals to any of their new signings like Barrett.

I seem to recall something in my head that the first year he was at Wigan, Barretts wages were subsidised by St George to get him into their cap.

Sally, Sculthorpe signed a one year deal the back end of 2007, and as said, a proportion of it will have come from the RFL, so I'd pretty much assume it paid for itself, or it cost Saints very little. I think your thinking that he's been running down a long term deal from when he was GB Captain/Man Of Steel etc, he hasn't, he signed a one year extension since than. He'll have been on a pittance compared to Barrett, of course I don't know, but I'd be pretty sure. Saints nearly let him go at the end of 2007.

Personally my view of us as a club is we don`t have the luxury of signing players like Richie Myler who MAY or may NOT turn out to be SL standard, its all well and good doing it in NL1 but SL is a huge step forward. We need players that are proven and can do it now at this level, we have our own version of one for the future in Bobby Goulding Jnr as he has been signed in the hope he can be the next young half back to break onto the scene.

We need a big name to replace Briers in my opinion and not chancing some young kid that hasn`t proven anything so far other than a bit of potential in a lower league, maybe its time to start looking at Union again for flair players like the Bateman`s and Jonathon Davies`s of this world as available, quality strike players are a bit thin on the ground in RL especially stand offs.

Henson? Hodgson?

So, we shouldn't chance a kid who's played for England, and by this time next year will have played a year in SL, but we should chance people on pretty big deals who've never played Rugby League before ? Just to be clear like.

Super League might be this 'big step up' that people keep mentioning, but Westerman didn't struggle, or the likes of Fakir, Mounis etc who'd been playing in an inferior French league.

Richard Myler isn't one for the future Rob, he's one for the now.

Thats hardly an achievement in this day and age is it, look at some of the rubbish that have put on an England shirt in recent times. Warrington like i said do NOT have the time or luxury of being able to sign this type of player like Richie Myler to be a main starter in the half backs that like i said MAY or may NOT turn out to be SL standard.

It wouldn`t be a problem if we were Leeds or Saints and had experienced major finals and silverware on a regular basis in recent times as you could then afford to chance rookie players and bring them through slowly like Leeds were looking at the young kid from Whitehaven, your on about chancing Richie Myler ahead of Darren Lockyer from the way i have read it which if true is a bit laughable, by the way like i have already stated i personally wouldn`t hope us to sign Lockyer given his recent injury record of which one was a serious injury along with his age.

We have been starved of success for too long now and we need proven class in the key positions ahead of potential class, the likes of Castleford and Salford were forced by their budgets to chance players like Westerman and Myler, tell me a SL side that last won any major silverware that started with a rookie young kid at half back ?

Leeds Rhinos.

Ps, I want to know more about thes players that we should be getting from Union Rob, y'know because we can't 'risk a kid' as you put it, but we can pluck a player who's never played the game before and will command alot more money, but that's cool.

Im sure he was on less money last year(200icon_cool.gif, which is why I said that when Barrett signed (as in for the 2007 season) I bet he was on a similar deal to Scully. The point in general I was making with Scully was that Saints were able to win trophies whilst having a player on a big deal and still fitting other quality players under the cap - even when Scully wasn't often playing, which was several seasons.

Anyway I don't want to get distracted arguing over that, the main discussion that we were having was about Myler.

My feelings on our recruitment policy are that we should go for upcoming players who have talent and not achieved anything yet, so they will be hungry to make a step up to a bigger club and try to win honours. So Myler if he does turn out to be as good as you are suggesting fits this brief.

With the halfback situation basically we need to have 3 good halfbacks on the books. I think Bridge's future is as an outside back so I'm not counting Bridge as one of the three. When Briers contract is up at the end of the year I think its time to call a day and move forwards so for me we need to recruit 2 players. If Lockyer starts 2009 well with Brisbane then I would be looking to go for him and then if a player like Myler was available at reasonable cost bring him on board as well as the third halfback. This doesn't expose us to the position of having an unproven halfback who doesn't cut it - as happened when we tried Bridge there - because if thats the case he can understudy Lockyer and Monaghan. However if he turns out to be a real talent then he can easily be accommodated in the team either by playing Lockyer at fullback or Monaghan at hooker. Lockyer would be a genuine matchwinner who would make a similar impact to us to Davies, and that could put us in trophy territory. Then if he does leave after a year we still have two good halves on contract.

If Lockyer shows signs of decline next year, or his body starts breaking down like Johns did, then I wouldn't support going for him because then he goes into the category of players who have done it in the past and are now playing out time till they retire, we have too many of those.

So I don't want to come over too negative on Myler I want to take a look at how he does next season, but I think you are being overenthusiastic - how often have you seen him against quality opposition? He may be a talent but to identify him as our top target for 2010 when he hasn't even played SL yet is a bit premature. Its like us being apparently ready to shell out big bucks to bring Neil Turley into Super League a few years back...

I think we're getting to a common ground here. My initial point was simply in response to "Who should be our top target for 2010" and for me, he'd be the first target (Myler). I'm not against bringing in another halfback alongside him, and him being integrated into the side as oppose to Chris Bridge style 'given half the pitch to control' thrown in at the deep end. I maintain, he'd be my first point of call, once we'd secured him, any quality NRL half would be great, I agree with you on the Lockyer brief, very much a watch & wait brief, problem with this being, to get him, if he is available is that you'll probably have to act quick, so rather than getting a full NRL to see how he goes, your going to have to act in say July to beat off other clubs, so to some degree the signing comes with a risk.

The way I see it, when Danny McGuirre helped Leeds to the Challenge Cup Final in 2003, I remember him scoring twice at the Galpharm when they beat Saints in extra time, prior to 2003, he'd played 12 first team games, so for people to say that 'rookies don't get you anywhere' is rubbish for me, if they are good enough, and as you rightly say, given time, then will get you somewhere.

Maybe, just maybe, I am getting a little OTT about him, I've only seen him for Salford, somebody I know who I respect knows him well, and has watched him grow up as he lives close by thinks alot of him (I know that doesn't carry too much weight), but from what I saw I was very impressed, circa 40 tries in your debut season in NL1 when no doubt he will have been a target, I've seen him create tries, I think he has a good short kicking game, but like I have said, this year will be the acid test, how he does in a Salford side that's likely to struggle.

What I know as FACT, is that you'll drag this up if he's crap, and if he's great and goes onto greatness, I won't be able to find it.