[quote="DSJ1983":3vlrgop3]Good to have Balmforth signed up, said it seemed like a big gamble for me letting him start the season able to negotiate with other clubs, if he started the season well we’d have been in a battle to keep him. Also been confirmed by Matt Shaw that clubs have been given quota dispensation to sign Salford players. Don’t think it’s that relevant for us, Cross was the target and if they do sell think it will only be Leeds now with the Sivo injury.[/quote:3vlrgop3] I'd go all out for Marsters if it happens, still no cap exemption, so we would be a strong position. Still don't think Salford will sell anyone.

[quote="Jake the Peg":2zwp7lgf]I was surprised myler spoke positively about smith in that interview. The guy has done a huge amount of damage to our club[/quote:2zwp7lgf] He did a poor job but honestly think you'd have to be a miracle worker to get much out of the players, finances and facilities we had last year. Main thing in my judgement was who signed the players was it Smith or Clark? Or both in combo? Whoever it was they did a good job finding Ese Ese then lost use of their eyesight for the rest. But anyway that's the past, it's expensive spot on recruitment from now on

[quote="UllFC":2fjrq787]Disagree on Connor he was unfit and lazy in his last years here at a time when we needed our expensive players to step up and lead the team. Also in fairness to Smith I'd imagine you get earache listening to Jake all week.[/quote:2fjrq787] I disagree, I never saw Connor as either of those, he was a bit slow for full back and got frustrated, but I don't think you could fault his effort. His last season he basically stopped us from moe or less stopped us from having a season like last year, won us game on his own. I've also heard he is a great kid off the filed and liked by teammates.

[quote="Dave K.":1drgigat]I disagree, I never saw Connor as either of those, he was a bit slow for full back and got frustrated, but I don't think you could fault his effort. His last season he basically stopped us from moe or less stopped us from having a season like last year, won us game on his own. I've also heard he is a great kid off the filed and liked by teammates.[/quote:1drgigat] We will have to disagree, he did nothing at Huddersfield after he left us and is now in last chance saloon at Leeds in terms of big contracts.

Agree on the last chance saloon. He has undoubted talent but he needs to mature on the pitch. That try he gave away in the giants v saints match just summed him up, too busy moaning at the ref. He had years at fc., it’s time to move on. Wish him well at Leeds but can see it going ti*s up.

Chan going to Salford is an interesting move on a few levels.

[quote="Dave K.":35fxoth0]Chan going to Salford is an interesting move on a few levels.[/quote:35fxoth0] Might suggest that the Salford ‘Trading’ of players has commenced…..

[quote="Jake the Peg":228iq7cd]Just quota or quota and cap?[/quote:228iq7cd] Only mentioned quota in the article.

The Salford situation is making a mockery of the sport.

[quote="Dave K.":2rfg27t4]I'd go all out for Marsters if it happens, still no cap exemption, so we would be a strong position. Still don't think Salford will sell anyone.[/quote:2rfg27t4] Agree, I’d love us to make a big play but I don’t think we will, we’d only be in a strong position if we could offer him a multi year deal and that depends on who we’ve got our eye on for our likely only quota place next season. Also agree with Salford not selling, I think they’ve got something sorted and don’t think they’ll be a ‘fire sale’ as predicted, but it will depend on if the new owners are willing to run at a loss for a couple of years or want to steady the ship straight away. It was always said that they’d prefer to sell the overseas players hence why they pushed for quota dispensation and have rejected bids for Sneyd and Cross. I reckon eventually they’ll try and move on one of the big earners in Marsters or Macdonald like they did with Croft last year but keep the bulk of what’s a good squad together.

[quote="UllFC":1f0veybh][quote="Jake the Peg":1f0veybh]I was surprised myler spoke positively about smith in that interview. The guy has done a huge amount of damage to our club[/quote:1f0veybh] He did a poor job but honestly think you'd have to be a miracle worker to get much out of the players, finances and facilities we had last year. Main thing in my judgement was who signed the players was it Smith or Clark? Or both in combo? Whoever it was they did a good job finding Ese Ese then lost use of their eyesight for the rest. But anyway that's the past, it's expensive spot on recruitment from now on [/quote:1f0veybh] Think in regards to Mylers comment he was referring to Smith from when he was coached by him. Don't think it was a coincidence in timings that Smith was sacked and Myler came in. Smith in the most part did well early on but is certainly now one of those coaches that has let the game pass them by as its evolved. You have to wonder how much he really was committed to the cause given the level of training the players did as financial aspect aside players should have still trained under a head coach full time not just a few hours a day. At the end of the day what is clear is that with the new owners in Thirkill & Hood backed by RM & JC they are all very much in it for the long hall and on the same page. What was also telling from some of RM's comments are the club is now staffed with good people in the relevant areas and he's just a conduit is getting the best out of all the people, not running every dept himself, which is how it should be. It does genuinely seem as though the attitude and atmosphere with the club as whole has also lifted and maybe the lack of this in previous years was part of what was often referred to as a cancer in the club. I like, Wilf certainly believe the club and all involved have earned some time and patience from us all, even if we don't get off to the most positive of starts they at least deserve our support and the time for the club to adapt to the raft of change that as swept through. Said it before but I don't think I've looked forward to a season more since we signed Gaz or the 2017 season after coming so close in 2016 & the CC win, I just hope we finally see the breakthrough in terms of improvement and the structures in place.

[quote="Rugby Raider":2cd7m8zx]Might suggest that the Salford ‘Trading’ of players has commenced…..[/quote:2cd7m8zx] I didnt think they where allowed to register anyone..

[quote="Blackandwhitebigdog":8cwokvg6]The Salford situation is making a mockery of the sport.[/quote:8cwokvg6] To be fair I don’t think anything’s really changed in the last week or so. All that’s happened is that clubs have agreed for quota dispensation if the situation arises that they need to sell, Salford still seem pretty insistent that they won’t need to sell.

[quote="DSJ1983":284tfcp9]Good to have Balmforth signed up, said it seemed like a big gamble for me letting him start the season able to negotiate with other clubs, if he started the season well we’d have been in a battle to keep him. Also been confirmed by Matt Shaw that clubs have been given quota dispensation to sign Salford players. Don’t think it’s that relevant for us, Cross was the target and if they do sell think it will only be Leeds now with the Sivo injury.[/quote:284tfcp9] Wouldn't that put us in a better position if we decided to make a move for Lafai, McDonald or Marsters? We need a centre and have cap space unlike a few other clubs. The dispensation allows an extra quota signing on a 1 year contract. Lafai is only on a 1 year deal at Salford so I guess he might accept a similar contract if we offered him one. All hypothetical. I'd rather Salford secure the investment sort the mess out and avoid a fire sale.

[quote="DSJ1983":1o9wfo4s]To be fair I don’t think anything’s really changed in the last week or so. All that’s happened is that clubs have agreed for quota dispensation if the situation arises that they need to sell, Salford still seem pretty insistent that they won’t need to sell.[/quote:1o9wfo4s] But the rfl put them in special measures and stopped them signing/registering players if I remember rightly?

[quote="Blackandwhitebigdog":2f04nzm2]But the rfl put them in special measures and stopped them signing/registering players if I remember rightly?[/quote:2f04nzm2] Yeah I was assuming you meant the latest development in that clubs have seemingly now granted dispensation to sign quota players from Salford, just don’t think there’s a lot in that and the situation is the same as it was the last week or so, Salford are looking to get the takeover finalised.

[quote="mk_fc":1hrhkhn6]I didnt think they where allowed to register anyone..[/quote:1hrhkhn6] I was meaning that Chan may be on lower pay than some of the highest paid Salford players and him arriving might signal the start of others leaving to clear the £700k cost deficit. After all, if Salford aren’t bought and need to sell, they still need to put a team out every week, so some lower cost players will be needed.

[quote="Marcus's Bicycle":u3qlpqt5]Wouldn't that put us in a better position if we decided to make a move for Lafai, McDonald or Marsters? We need a centre and have cap space unlike a few other clubs. The dispensation allows an extra quota signing on a 1 year contract. Lafai is only on a 1 year deal at Salford so I guess he might accept a similar contract if we offered him one. All hypothetical. I'd rather Salford secure the investment sort the mess out and avoid a fire sale.[/quote:u3qlpqt5] Like you say it’s all hypothetical and nobody knows. If I had to make a guess I’d say Salford will push for quota and cap dispensation and force a bidding war for Macdonald for a five figure fee that Rovers would eventually win. They get a big fee and possibly the biggest earner off the books but still maintain a decent squad and steady the ship, like they did with Croft and Ackers the year before. Marsters was on the open market a few months ago when we had quota spots and we didn’t seem to make a play, nobody knows for certain that we didn’t but I’d have expected noise if we did. Lafai like you say is supposed to be heading home next year so could be an option. Nobody really knows what’s happening at Salford but I don’t think they’ll be losing lots of players now it looks like they’ll get a takeover sorted soon.

Pleased for Balmforth,like people say..he is still raw but there is a player in there…I wonder how Grix feels seeing that he used to criticise him and if he had his way,he would have gone.

Echo the thoughts of many, pleased to see Balmforth given a deal.

[quote="The games afoot":ielfa6mf]Pleased for Balmforth,like people say..he is still raw but there is a player in there…I wonder how Grix feels seeing that he used to criticise him and if he had his way,he would have gone.[/quote:ielfa6mf] You say he is still raw and then have a rant about a coach because he publicly said the same? Wasn’t the quote something like “Denvine had a solid game but still needs to work on a few things off the ball and in defence” sounds like good advice for a player that’s raw. Not only that some very wise coaches have always liked to keep young players feet on the ground. I have no particular feelings on Grix, he was an assistant coach thrust into a job that he didn’t ask for managing one of the worst squads assembled in SL history. Think it’s a bit strange that some of our fans have a bit of an obsession with him. Myler and Cartwright have been absolutely ruthless with contracted players like Adbull, Morgan Smith, Walker etc if Grix was really upsetting the players I’m sure they’d have let him go, all evidence points to people in the game thinking that he’s maybe a decent coach.

Grix was absolute garbage He allowed the poorest discipline ever seen and never corrected it End of story ! Garbage and garbage is what we watched under him Balmforth epitomised the same garbage Totally unfit and never once changed that and his coach didn’t make him get fit bit just critiscised him Both needed to leave at the end of the season

[quote="Tarquin Fuego":1mkpelx6]Grix was absolute garbage He allowed the poorest discipline ever seen and never corrected it End of story ! Garbage and garbage is what we watched under him Balmforth epitomised the same garbage Totally unfit and never once changed that and his coach didn’t make him get fit bit just critiscised him Both needed to leave at the end of the season[/quote:1mkpelx6] I do find these posts quite rude. Grix got a bum deal said nothing horrendous about Balmforth and is well thought of in rl community. It’s always easy to ascribe blame in the disaster of last season. There were so many factors some we don’t know of that contributed to not our worst season ever - we’ve been a division below- not least an assistant coach dropped right in it. Cartwright, who is the messiah until our first game,has seen nothing bad in him. It may be that he’s a natural assistant rather than head coach. I feel posters should remember coaching staff are working long hours and losing sleep which Grix was to turn this club around. To call him garbage is disrespectful.

John Cartwright is confident that the new owners will bring success. https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-league/ ... 45290l4pvo

John Cartwright is confident that the new owners will bring success. https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-league/ ... 45290l4pvo

[quote="Huddersfield1895":2llkl0rr]John Cartwright is confident that the new owners will bring success. https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-league/ ... 45290l4pvo[/quote:2llkl0rr] It baffles me why Hull FC churn out articles every year during pre-season, especially with quotes like that. Just let the action do the talking.

[quote="Huddersfield1895":2llkl0rr]John Cartwright is confident that the new owners will bring success. https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-league/ ... 45290l4pvo[/quote:2llkl0rr] It baffles me why Hull FC churn out articles every year during pre-season, especially with quotes like that. Just let the action do the talking.