I nearly crashed on the M20.

I'm not particulaly excited by this news. Tony Clubb is a pale shadow of the player he was two years ago. To be honest at least a 4 year contract means the club are positive about getting a new franchise!!

And a new coach?

And a new coach?

I cannot believe we are complaining about this
I am more than happy that Clubby has signed for the period, so he is not having the best of seasons, lets be honest nobody is having a very good season this year at the club!! As has been said, 2 years ago we thought he was one of our best players on the pitch, and he got an england start
Get some decent players around him and he will prove his worth

The fact you refer to him affectionately as "Clubby" indicates you are the Chairman of his fan club and main seller of Clubb-Tinted-Specs. Have you not been watching him this seasion? He has probably been the worst full time player that is currently stealing a salary from the pockets of Sir David Hughes.

What next? Giving Mills a 5 year deal? Rewarding Danny Ward the kicking duties for the rest of the season?

Do people on these forums actually watch the Rugby League that is played infront of them? I do wonder sometimes.

He was bad last year......and by all accounts (even excluding listy ) he is worse this year......so we do what? Reward him with a 4 year contract........sums the club up perfectly....reward failure........reward failure...reward failure......

CRAZY:
He was bad last year......and by all accounts (even excluding listy ) he is worse this year......so we do what? Reward him with a 4 year contract........sums the club up perfectly....reward failure........reward underperformance...reward anybody......

Still....some will claim this as more proof that the club are doing well......regardless of the drop in gates, growing reliance on 1 mans money to stay afloat and our league position........we've managed to give an average player another 4 years salary....

I think the Clubb boo boys are a bit selective in their criticism, he has a good game and they say nothing, he makes a mistake and he's the worst ever. Yet anybody who's been watching for a few seasons knows he has the capability to be a good centre and almost certainly an even better second-row, so I don't think he's really part of the problem, although his drop in form is probably a symptom of the wider problem. I'm reminded of Atkins at Wakefield, he showed bags of potential, then his form dropped and fans slated him, someone with a bit of nous takes him to Warrington where he plays in a better side with most importantly a competitive pack and he's now showing his ability again.

I appreciate he has had good games KF and it lights up the supporters when he comes out of the line fast and actually connects with his target.............but for much of the year he has been a turnstile that the opposing sides have targeted and week after week we have seen evidence of that. He also rarely passes to the man on his shoulder and Kevin Penny was virtually starved of the ball when playing outside of him (so we did not see or get the best of KP). I am sorry but TC still has a lot to learn but shows little sign of improvement.

This thread again shows how closed minded so many supporters can be, if we do not agree with then we must be the ones that are wrong and be members of the Chubb Fan Club.

I applaud the signing of Tony Chubb, if he has failed to develop then I put that down to the coach!, the only future we have as a Club is to develop our own young players, Tony achieved a lot and I still feel he can do the same, it will be sad to see LMS leave, but can you blame him?

So what have I said that is so wrong?......I am a long term supporter who just happens to have an opinion and wants to see the club improve from our present dire position, but in the space of 2 postings I have become a `boo boy` and have a `closed mind`.

Yes it is great he is a London lad and home grown but at this present time in his career his defence and positional play abilities need significant improvement. Yes it will be a shame if LMS leaves (another home grown London lad), but it will not be because he is unhappy with comments from the fans.....it will be because;
1/ A players career is short and he is offered a better deal somewhere else.
2/ He probably also recognises that his game is beginning to stagnate (and his England chances disappearing) if he continues to play for a club which is consistantly at the wrong end of the table.

For what it is worth I wish LMS every success wherever he goes.......if he does have more success the kudos will also be good for other London wanna-bees.

As I say, a players career is short and TC needs to improve his game quickly and you would have thought that BM has the ability to help him.

He makes mistakes, it doesn't help that he's spent much of his short career being rotated between winger, second-row, and centre; nor does it help that probably his best position is probably as an attacking second-row in side which just doesn't play that kind of style, but a lot of these problems are not Clubb in isolation. The biggest problem he unfairly gets the stick for is that we are defensively weak down the right hand side, this is especially noticeable when Purdham doesn't play, that leaves Clubb isolated as JO'C (and Penny during his spell) are both weak in defence. Clubb gets blamed because he defends on the weak side, but realistically it cannot simply be him, because he can't cover the whole of that side.

I also think the way he is playing is something he's being told to do, I get the feeling he'd naturally be more comfortable coming inside and then running wide as a second-row, but he's being coached to hold a particular shape, but the lack of quality around him means that it just doesn't work. So I just don't think Clubb is the problem here, we lack quality at wing, in the forwards, and in the halves, put him in a side with a more competitive pack, with halves that can create a bit more and we'd probably be able to use his strengths, rather than leaving him exposed and with limited opportunities to shine.

I updated the contracts, we have a small number of players contracted for next year.

Expiring in 2011 (icon_cool.gif
Ellis, Andy; 2011
Clubb, Tony; 2014
Gale, Luke; 2012
Howell, David; 2011 (overseas quota)
Melling, Chris; 2011
Purdham, Rob; 2011
Randall, Chad; 2011 (overseas quota)
Wilkes, Oliver; 2011

Expiring in 2010 (13)
Bryan, Lamont; 2010
Dorn, Luke; 2010 (overseas quota)
Esders, Ryan; 2010
Jones, Ben; 2010
Jones-Bishop, Ben; 2010 Loan
May, Luke; 2010
McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Louie; 2010
Orr, Danny; 2010
Sharp, Will; 2010
Temata, Karl; 2010 (overseas trained)
Ward, Danny; 2010
Williams, David; 2010
Williamson, Luke; 2010 (overseas quota)

Unknown (3)
Golden, Jason
Kaye, Ben
O'Callaghan, Jamie

Now for some truths, half truths and idle speculation…
Ben Jones Bishop will definitely be going back to Leeds.

Louie's destination changes by the dayOrr to Cas is another persistent rumour and it makes sense he wishes to finish his career at his home town club.

Think it is unlikely Ben Jones, Ben Kaye, Dave Williams or Luke May will get new deals as they are the forgotten men. The fact that May and Williams are home grown and each club needs a certain percentage in the squad may come into play though.

Ward and Esders — who can tell? I am pretty ambivalent about giving either a new contract.

I think Williamson would likely retire although his form this year has changed my opinion of him and if we could persuade him to stay around another year it would be beneficial, especially as going by past experience he'd probably be replaced by Fred Jones from Swinton. If Temata wants another year then, as with Williamson, I don't see why not unless someone significantly better is lined up (ha ha).

Jason Golden and Lamont Bryan should definitely get new contracts, as should Will Sharp. I think it is likely Jamie O'Callaghan will get at least another year as well.

As for Luke Dorn, without going over old ground, I would say what we do with in the decision making positions (halfback/hooker/fullback) next year will be pretty vital to the success of the season.

So it looks like we'll need to do a fair bit a rebuilding, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think this season has put to bed any notion that we have the basis of a championship winning side in the making. If McDermott is going it would be nice to know sooner rather than later as I think it would be fairer if a new coach were able to have a decent say in building the squad.

Remember we have to have a certain number of own trained players and Clubb is one of them. At least we respect the rules and principles of licenensing unlike som of our northern friends who keep trying to bend quota rules.