Ok, to make it clear, please read my original post above.
His age is only an issue for me in this case because he is not willing to be full time, hence the age being a secondary reason in brackets !
The older a player gets the more important it is that he is full time, to get the fitness training and full range of after game recovery options to stay fit and fully effective at the high level our club is aiming for. A full time, fit and quality halfback is what we need to add to our squad, regardless of age, to complement (not replace) our current quality half back pairing.
My original post was in direct reply to another teams fan saying that this guy was a "replacement" for Ryan.
Trust me I have no problem with age, I'm old enough to be this guys Dad and I'm still playing rugby.

At the fans fourm ph & db said we have signed four plays for next season odvas Paul Sykes is not one of them his agent might of been spoken to but that might be it.At the end of the day why would you turn down full time work to be part time...

Because you already have a full-time job elsewhere, possibly earning a decent wage and you don't want to give that up for the full-time deal - especially a short one.

Lots of folk reduce their hours when they get older Tony.

Thats true if you were talking about an existing championship player moving to Leigh but that does not really apply to Sykes does it ?
I reckon that he has probably been paid the same money from Fev as he was offered full time, so won't have the daily travelling and will only have to train 2/3 times a week, and at his age maybe its not the be all and end all to get back into SL.
Also it gives him an option to work if he needed/wanted or set up a little business..as his career is now coming to an end and.
If he was younger and ambitious and was hell bent on getting back to SL, then based on that criteria he would have probably chosen Leigh and rightly so.

Let's just say that its a Fev Press Release aimed at Fev supporters. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story springs to mind...........

Well as it says he's not coming to Leigh so I'm not particularly bothered. Take it as a compliment that they feel the need to mention us (again) when talking about their new signing.

Agreed, but whatever the exact reasons, it's clear a part-time deal suited him better than a full-time deal. There have been some talented players at Leigh over the past decade whose primary reason for coming to Leigh is that we offered the best part-time deal this side of the Pennines. Our local rivals were either in SL or have fallen from grace.

They'll even be promising the fan's never to lose another game next.

Personally , I think the side we are assembling for next season , will be more than able to cope with the demands of what will be needed , we already have a good squad , and its been stated another 3 signings are on the way , added to Greg Worthington , so im not to bothered about Sykes , if he has chosen Fev , it doesn't matter for me they will go backwards next year while we at Leigh will move forwards .

With Tom Armstrong and Greg Worthington in the centres we are looking very solid with Platt as back up ,as for 33 years old being to old



ive a feeling we will be welcoming an older player at the End of November -Beginning of December .

If he's fit, high quality, AND wants to play full time, bring him on

My take on this is although I quite like Paul Sykes he has been a bit hit and miss over the years. If he does bring Fev some good wins then well done but I'm not sure he was the one for us. He is too straight laced and if I was to bring in a season half back I would want one with a bit more flare than Paul.