Have to agree - I haven't been impressed with many of the 'big name' Aussie signings this season; Lima, Hoffman & Finch have looked pretty ordinary, Mason is a joke, Patten is here to steal money and Cross is a neanderthal who seems to make a habit of getting knocked out.

For me, the quota should be drastically reduced over the coming 2 seasons and all the chicanery that goes on around dodgy passports should be stamped out; young, British players are being denied first team places thanks to the Antipod mafia that rules our game and as long as it's allowed to continue, we'll never compete interntationally.

That is so true, but in the plus side the Super League will have an array of shining new stadia for England to get beat in.

IMO George is already far and away a better RL player than Kevn Penny will ever be. so whilst I can see the logic in Murphy playing centre instead of George, I can't see why you would leave George out of a team that still included Penny.

I agree with you on this.

Exactly my thoughts, even though I was impressed with Penny's efforts on Sunday against a player much, much bigger than him, he's no where near the player George is.

Correct, you'd have to be insane to drop George at the moment - I'd go further and say he has played better than Murphy so far this season.

I'd drop Penny and put Murphy on the wing, which IMO is a far better place for him to prepare for his future position as F/B. Blaymire stays there for now.

George has his faults but did you not see the number of tackles he made or the number of breaks - one of which led to our best try IMO or the way he supported the man with the ball. George made one error as far as I recall, Penny made a shed load and the only time he ran forward was to chase a Lee kick. He tries but that's about it, he will get killed against Saints.

I don't get it, this thread is about a player who may be joining us who we don't know and who could be a total lump (not the first Aussie to let us down) and some are creaming themselves. George was picked up for nowt, is not a big earner, has come back from a possible career threatening injury, probably has the best strike rate of any player at the club, is exciting to watch and he still doesn't get any support. This despite the fact that were he an Aussie he'd still be considered a rookie over there yet if he was joining us we'd think he was the messiah. George will get better - Penny probably won't and Hickey will come - take the money and go.

If you really feel the need to single out a young british player at least pick the right one

Really? Penny should be nowhere near the squad if Johnson is fit let alone any other players. George and Murphy are centres, Blaymire is a full back and Penny is not up to it. Why not just play players in their own positions, when possible of course!

I get the feeling that Kear hadn't made his mind up about Johnson as he still has some faults that need sorting so decided to look at Penny again - I suspect he's made his mind up now.

Can I ask why?

Blaymire is a very solid fullback who although he may not be spectacular does a very good job especially defensively. I am going to put my neck on the line and say he is the most solid fullback we have had in SL.

Probably is.

Absolutely spot on, the only issue here as vasty says, is whether Penny gets in over Johnson.