Whereas at Hull we only really have one top prospect (Williams) who can play at 7 and he is nowhere near ready. Two years of Sean Long allows Hull to develop the young lad further and for him to learn from Long as the Saints young lads have done. In two years time he could be ready but a lot can happe in two years either way.

It looks a good deal for both sides from where I am sitting.

If he can keep fit

Whilst I think Long is a good buy, I find it hard to believe a club like Hull with such a vast catchment area is currently unable to promote a scrum half of some description from the juniors.

Going back a few years both Saints and Hull were talking up Scott Moore and Tommy Lee respectively as scrum halves with bright futures. Since then both have enjoyed mixed fortunes - Moore's lack of explosive pace was the reason he was moved to hooker (where he played okay-ish at Cas and better at Huddersfield). Lee's star appears to have diminished significantly to the point where he could well leave Hull.

The thing is, Saints took the hit and worked hard to produce a new crop of kids. What happened at Hull?

Why would I give a sh[ii[/it?

Pretty much every player signs for the club that offers him the best deal. This is no different.

We have some cracking kids coming through, Burnett, Houghton and Briscoe have made the step up this season and there are others who have very promising futures too. It's just that we don't seem to be producing much in the way of halves.

There's producing scrum halves (competent, at the very least) and producing [igood/great[/i scrum halves. A club can't count on the latter, but it should ALWAYS possess the former. If not there is something seriously wrong.

And we do have in the likes of Tommy Lee

I thought he'd been crucified.

Clearly

Nah, been a bit more appreciation for him this season.

A bit like Moore has found his role at 9 now.

Washbrook is a good 13 or 6 too and is still fairly young.

As I've said on here before, Thorman virtually never makes a decision with ball in hand. Every time he gets it, he's already decided where it's going and it's noticeable that the majority of the time he hits the wrong runner, particularly on a wedge, when the other runner was obviously the right option. You can see that he just doesn't look at how the defence is lining up. Most of the time, it's not even a last minute decision for the tackler to go for the man he does, and yet Thorman still doesn't bother to wait and have a look.

He's been one of our best players this year, and has done well in previous seasons. Don't let a few (a majority of?) idiot fans disguise what actually happens on the pitch.

Unfortunately, a large number expected him to come in as a 16 year old and be the best player in the team. That was obviously never going to happen and yet that is the source of the antipathy for pretty much all as far as I can tell: he didn't live up to unrealistic expectations placed upon him by those who didn't/don't have a clue.

For a team without a scrum half, such as Hull this is an excellent signing.
Provided you have someone lined up for two years down the line.

Paul M's comments seem to indicate that this is the case. So it could be a very good move, with Long providing experience for the young half back at Hull to learn off.

Long hasnt got the pace of old, but he is far more intelligent a footballer than in the old days, and should be able to lead you around the park well.

He isnt a great punter of a football, but his short and medium kicking game is deadly.
He hates goalkicking, but despite that has kicked 1000 for Saints.
These days though he is very much a big game kicker. His kicking has been awfull in matches against so called lesser opponents, but strangely when he comes up against the big guns his ability to pull kicks from the gods out of his bag of tricks re-appears.

My main fear for Hull is the fact Longy is very much a home town boy. Its been stated on more than one occasion, lastly by Daniel Anderson, that Long hates travelling.
His infamous GB walkout was based around homesickness.
It will therefore be interesting to see if he settles, or if the travel, or change of scenery is too much for him.