That would be in your opinion and thus not bound to be correct.

Isaac John may not yet be SL standard and I have to admit I had serious doubts about him last year but I still think there is potential there. Perhaps a spell at Doncaster would be beneficial?
In any event wrtiting him off before the season has started is unproductive.
He may well prove a valuable assett as the season progresses.

I don't really understand the need to get rid of him.
Not everyone in the squad can play in the 13/17 but we have all said that if anything happens to Tim Smith we would be stuffed so having a better quality backup at half back is actually quite valuable. And something most teams below the top 4 don't have.
If we ever decided to move Sykes to another position as he is quite capable, I wouldn't be dreading John playing again. He has skills there is no doubt about that, he just has some holes too.
He can pass a wide ball as well as anyone. Cockayne benefited on a number of occassions.
He got some of his criticism for his goal kicking last time and that will no longer be an issue to him either so he can concentrate on just playing.
Going out on DC is an option but he will be a massive asset to a lower league team if he does. He is quite capable of playing Super League, just not one of the best players in Super League.

I'd also say that with Agar and Webster as coaches, I'd like to think his game has improved in the off season. I guess we'll see.

dont think he was I recall RA picking him up when he went down under pre season

Not being in anyway racist but, if he wasn't a quota player, he would be an excellent player to bring on.
The only issue is whether we could, or would, bring another overseas player in, if such a player was available.

Cant really see him getting any game time unless we have 2 or 3 injuries,so will be interesting to see if he is still with us at end of year, our run of form did coincide with him being replaced by sykes. Personally would prefer to see us developing local talent rather than bringing in development players fromn overseas.

issac certainly as skill, his problem is pace ,for a stand off he hasnt any ,but i agree with some on here im sure he could do a job for us if called upon, its just this lack of pace which stops him from being top notch

Agree.

This case is typical of he twisted logic applied by some fans.

They wet themselves at the prospect of Brad Singleton joining the club on loan - a ONE SL game player. Who judging from what I have seen will be a 6th choice prop. This is fair enough because he's young, inexperienced and not really quite ready for SL.

Isaac John is in exactly the same position but is derided as "crap" by certain poster - yet he is no better or worse than Wildie or Singleton or most 20 year old players.

So why pick on him, what is his crime. Being a foreigner as far as I can tell. Whether the club were right or wrong to invest in an overseas youngster is debatable but that's hardly Isaacs fault as he is probably exactly where you would expect him to be at this point in his development- about the same or slightly better than Wildie.

This is very unfair on the kid - he's a Kiwi but that doesn't mean he's instantly a superstar - he has been burdened with a level of over expectation that comes with being an overseas player, unfairly imho - he needs the same time to develop as any English player of similar ability.

I'd pretty much agree with all of that.

I think he can do a job for us if given a chance, but I would say that I think quota spots should be reserved for players who are going to do more than "do a job for us" when called upon.
The quota players should be regular starters for me. How many other teams have quota players that don't even make the 17 regularly when fit??

As I stated the decision to sign him was debatable - a long term gamble that may pay off. But then that's the case with all youngsters.

I suppose if it had payed off straight away Henry Paul style we'd be hailing the club as pioneering. Over all OMHO worth a punt but I like you am not convinced it's the best use of a quota spot.

However that isn't Isaacs fault.

he was nowhere near our worst player during the early part of the season but his position was unfortunately the obvious sacrifice when the fact we didnt have anyone who could kick a goal from anywhere but in front of the posts finally hit home.

To criticise him based on his goalkicking was unfair as he was never a regular kicker in the first place and to be fair to John, i think the missed goal kicks affected his overall performance/confidence and he never really got a chance once Sykes was established in the team and Smith actually started playing well.

I thought some of his touches were promising - i don't think he great overall but he was playing in a new team that was playing pretty poorly at the time, so it would have been hard to have been oustanding (unless you are Paul Aiton).

I think this is the problem Vasty, he was announced with a fanfare, acclaimed to be a top young Kiwi player and because of this, the expectations were too high.
We have always "oversold" our new signings, partly to excite the masses and encourage spectators to turn up but, the downside is that if players dont turn out to be superstars (which they rarely do), then the are set up for a fall.
Maybe the answer is to sign new players without a fanfare, unless they are proven at the highest level.

He was only ever acclaimed as a top young kiwi player on this board. He came over here as a 23 year old having played just 9 NRL games. Francis Maloney, Shaun Johnson and Brett Seymour were all ahead of him in the first grade team. In his last season at NZ warriors he wasn't even an automatic pick at stand off in there second string side, he started a few times at loose forward. I think expectations of him were a little high, he was always going to be a bit of a risk. Maybe the mistake was giving him an initial 3 year contract.

I don't think he makes the grade, have seen a fair bit of him in both first and reserve sides and i just can't see what he offers.

Its a shame for him and like a few have said he's taking up space/cap that could be used elsewhere.

The club took a gamble and its not payed off but i can't blame them for trying.

He's older than I thought, 22 when he signed so at 24 he should be hitting his stride - make or break season I suppose.