Is Berrigan's arrival in Auckland likely to free up someone from there?

Really ?

Only in the sense of he'll play more games possibly , His form can be poles apart as well as his behaviour and I doubt Hethrington would have him back.

Did you get any Polish vodka for Christmas by any chance?

I would rather we got a good centre rather than another full-back

I'd still prioritise a 7 over a centre or a full back.

Agreed but I think I am going to be very underwhelmed whatever happens as I rate berrigan very highly and his ability to play so many positions to a good standard, I think we need at least 2/3 players of good quality just to replace him.

Not really, I would say he is a better player than Long these days. His form is erratic at times and you still have players with behaviour problems and have brought another one in this season who has been disciplined by his club a couple of times recently.

Nah, they lost Steve Price & Wade McKinnon Mid season, and the likes of Tate, Henderson & Ah Van for next season, So you would think they would have had a bit of cap space available, even after they resigned the likes of Vatuvei, Brown & Luck to new deals. Plus They've only brought in 3 new players for next year, too.

Albeit he didn't play that many games and his season was a bit stop start, Long didn't perform that well, showed a few glimpses that he still has his best asset that speed off the mark and he gave us a bit of direction, but he had some poor games and let us down in the kicking department.

If you are comparing the two on the field now It would take a good argument to make a case for Long in my opinion.

you signed willie mason remember(if he gets here)

I dont think we'll miss him that much. I've said a fair bit on here that i dont rate his performances at 9. I'm disappointed we've lost him as a centre but i firmly believe a mixture of Houghton, Washy and Tansey will be just as good at 9 as what we've seen from Berro.

But we dont highlight it as a major problem within our squad!

I agree to an extent but I still feel it leaves our squad thin and he had that bit of class, fair enough we maybe didn't see it too often but I remember him playing 7 against quins away last year and he ripped them apart first half on his own, and like you I was looking forward to him playing in what I think is his best position of centre!

I guess it leaves us more short of a 9. In the centres we'll see a combination of Yeamo, Whiting, Turner and Briscoe i guess. We're short of a halfback but i'd have still thought that had Berro stayed. Ultimately time will tell for me but if Berro going allows us to bring someone like Cronk in then no one will be disappointed.