Yeah I'm under no illusions this is potentially a once in a lifetime achievement for a club like Salford and it's heartbreaking to see so many excellent players leave but unfortunately with our budget it's inevitable players will always move on. No-one could have foreseen where we'd end up this year although we showed enough early season to indicate we weren't going to be cellar dwellers. The problem is that clubs can talk to players early in the season and you're always gonna be tempted by doubling your wages if the big boys come calling.
Hastings/Bibby - Lure of playing for a big name club, lots more cash and for Jacko the chance to put himself in the shop window for an NRL gig.
Jones - Bigger club, lots more cash.
Tomkins - Apparently Leigh can offer him more cash which kinda shows where we're at financially!
Olpherts/Griffin - off to Cas. Griffin has been excellent recently but can be replaced and Olpherts has ability but is only ever a second away from a dropped bomb/handling error etc
For me the 2 big losses are Jacko & Jones - Pauli Pauli will give us plenty of x-factor in attack and Watto will definitely get the best out of him as he did on loan earlier this season. Kevin Brown will need to organise the team in Jacko's absence and let Tui (who obviously just didn't enjoy being at Leeds - who would?
) provide the magic. We've also got the likes of Rhys Williams & Luke Yates coming in from London who are Watto type players. Oh and not forgetting we're getting Dan Sarginson who is still young and an England international.
We should have an increased playing budget next year and Watto will use that to pad out the squad in case we pick up more injuries (we've been pretty lucky this year to be fair). We've also got the 2 Fev lads in to bolster numbers and by all accounts the #9 (who's name escapes me) looks like he could be a bit of a find.
We'll be fine, don't worry.
