Westerman is a good player but to be fair last season he wasnt very impressive for cas whether or not going to hull will make a difference only time will tell and cant see Rangi Chase jumping ship unless there is something going on at Cas that only the players know about very imnteresting.........

Whiting is possibly the best utility player in SL. I personally don't consider that to be a 'bit part'.

Get a grip!!!!

RL is a sport where transfer fee's are few and far between, 150k for someone who only has 1 year to run on his contract is alot of £££££'s imo.

I like Westerman and hope he does well, but if things don't work out for him pretty quickly then that transfer fee could be an issue for both him and the club.

Absolutely cracking signing. When we first enquired and Cas wanted a big fee i honestly thought we wouldn't stump up. Well done Rule/Kath

So, where will he play? I've got a feeling he'll be our back up half for this year whilst covering Fitz at 13. Then taking over in 2012 from Fitz at LF, although i hope it means Fitz to prop. There's also the option of putting Fitz/Westerman in the second row and moving Lauaki up to the front row.

What does this mean for Washy/Whiting? For me Whiting will be our utility back on the bench as i see Houghton playing 80 mins more often than not and i'm sure Whiting could spell him if needed. If Whiting is happy doing this, which i think he is, he'd be there week in week out for me.
As for Washy, well, can't see him getting another deal tbh. It's a shame really as our style of play and injuries over the last 2/3 years has brought his development to a stand still. Still a very good 13 IMO, maybe the best thing all round would of been for us to offer Washy in the Westerman deal and drive the cash outlay down.

Rangi Chase of to leeds doing a swap with Burrows............

Potentially a good signing for Hull, no doubt about that. Although they'll put a brave face on it, on the back of losing Shenton, it isn't good for Cas. £150k is a drop in the ocean compared to the costs of a stadium. If they lose 400 off their gates, about half of it will disappear anyway. Still, Smokey approves of their model.
No reason you should care, just thought it'd be a bit cruel to put it on their board at the moment. Off to the Wakefield board now - my word the franchise system is morbidly fascinating.

He's not first choice for shirts 1-13 and will be in a scrap to be 2nd choice for most of those roles. I'm not questioning his utility value but ultimately been 2nd or 3rd choice for shirts 1-13 makes him 'bit part' imo.

Why? We can afford it pretty easily.

On the positive side:
1. He's young
2. He's Super League standard (and potentially international standard)
3. He's British
4. He's another goalkicker

On the downside
1. We really don't need another back row forward now (although we will when Fitz retires)
2. There are question marks over his attitude/temperament

Did anyone notice that in the club website article it twice refers to his experience at stand-off? I hope he isn't going to be our back-up half back but it makes you wonder when you think about the fee we've paid and the fact that he's likely to be on a good contract.

Sorry if any of these points have already been made but I can't be @rsed to read all 5 pages of the thread.

I noticed that. He may well be our 1st choice half back!

That's one way of looking at it. The other is that he's 1st choice for the utility spot and will likely be on the bench at least most games. No to mention the interest from McNamara for the England squad based on that unequalled utility value.

I'm not so sure he'll make the bench. I think our bench will be 2 props, 1 SR and a hooker.

Great signing !! Also, a sign of real intent and ambition from our club to pay a fee that most clubs could only dream of paying. (It seems they do have some on-field ambition afterall )

Not only a genuine 13 and a very good young English player, but he also gives us the opportunity to improve our front row with Fitz or Lauaki after the two recent underwhelming retentions.

All in all, a very good bit of business for all concerned !! Well done JR/KH/RA/BOD etc...

A good 6/7/9 type player next and maybe 2011 won't be quite as bad as I, and many others, were predicting.

Well i've predicted a top 3 finish for the last 3 seasons, i wont be making any predictions for 2011!

Pleased with the signing and hope he is signed as a 13, Would liked to have seen Whiting given a go .