I agree with that - he's also pretty brutal in defence.

For me, I wasn't at all disappointed with either siging, but I'm a bit disappointed with the value we've got from them, which I guess has happened for various reasons.

Southern was mis-used as a prop early in the season in my view (out of necessity) and ended up busted as a result. Mellars is a winger and from the limited times I saw him play there for Crusaders, looked like a good one.

I'm with you on this. That comment IMO is from someone who has decided that Southern has not offered what we were expecting and has refused to actually see what he does give when on the field (sadly, that hasn't happened often enough).

Agree with Vasty. He puts us on the front foot making easy yards but the best part of it he usually doesn't get put on his back and gets up quickly which gives you a massive advantage.

Agree.

As for Southern when he's on the park he's quality, one of the best defenders in the side and makes yards with a quick play of the ball. Problem is we just haven't go the game time out of him we should have, it'll be interesting to see how things develop for next year.

I think he's only surpassed in that by Andy Raleigh, which could be a function of being trained under Nathan Brown when Shudds introduced their hybrid of RL and WWE to SL a few seasons ago; he dominates in the tackle and leaves the attacking player upside down, facing the wrong way - in attack, he wins collision and finds his front more often than not, making for a quick ptb or a penalty.

It's not pretty, but it's a big factor in the modern game.

Agree with the majority. If someone had the stats i would Southern would be top of the list percentage wise for landing on his front and as a result i guess he would be near the top for speed of play the ball (get Clarkey on it). Thats not even taking into account his very strong defense.

As Bren says, i dont think either have been terrible but i wouldnt say we have had what you would call good value from them. And before anyone starts guessing how much they are on, nobody really knows do they??

After seeing Mellars look class against us last year, i was quite excited by his signing but he just hasnt really lived up to it. Southern has looked decent imo but we just havent seen enough of it. Be that his fault or the coaches.

Danny Cowling seemed confident of the Overseas players salaries last Monday, and some were at odds with what we were told by the CEx recently

He wouldn't lose the collision in the 2nd row at prop he goes down like a sack of spuds what game do you watch?

You keep asking me which game I watch, when it's obvious I watch the same game most other posters seem to!

Do you ever realise you are in the minority usually?

Finally who are these giant props you refer to who are so much bigger than their S/R counterparts? Take a look at our S/R's at least two of them are bigger than some of our props. As your missus will tell you, size isn't everything.

For NGBC fan club, I'm only replying

Landing on your front doesn't mean you've won the collision it simply means you've been tackled round the legs and flopped to the turf like a sack of spuds, I'd like to see the stats for him on breaking tackles, granted his defence is solid. I do hope to see more from Southern but from what I've seen in either position so far hasn't been good IMO. The pack seem to have improved no end in his absence. Doesnt that tell you something ?
Throw Aiton into the mix and Southern won't get another chance unless we get injuries.

In what circumstances did Danny Cowling pass this information to you?

Bet Danny Cowling's gonna love you!!

When people use terms like "sack of spuds" all credibility is gone for me.

He doesn't know me, maybe he should be more careful about what he says in a packed bar, he will not be able to 'get me' from Down Under anyway!!

Dear me