why weren't we aware or at least in with a shot at someone like this?

[urlhttp://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12196_5320612,00.html[/url

I'm sorry but Cusack was not a good signing. Infact he was a very poor one. He is exactly the sort of forward that we didn't need. Good at what he does but the exact opposite of what we needed in our pack.

The others are all good signings but we make far more poor retention and recruitment decisions than good ones. As for our coaching appointments, that is one big area where we should be using our significant financial advantage but we do the opposite.

I don't "blame the board for everything" Crocker is one example of that as I don't think that they could have done anymore but we can all see how our unbelievably steep decline has come about but, as long as pass and shirt sales are up, JR and KH will be happy.

Saints I guess will have been putting together this signing for some time now, we have been waiting on the outcome of the Crocker saga which tied up a fair chunk of our future salary cap.

Our requirements are for a SH, this should be the major priority and then after that depending on who we retain we may need a FB or a centre or a prop.

I'm confused. Is a centre our top priority for next season? Only I was under the impression that we desperately needed a Scrum Half.

So would people have been happy if we'd tied up a big chunk of cap space and a quota spot on a centre and missed out on a halfback?

With the correct player retention decisions being made this season and last, we would have enough space for a prop, centre and SH but our current coaching set up has neither the foresight nor the b0ll0cks to carry it out.

Our priority is obviously a scrum half but that alone will not be enough given the current mediocrity that blights our squad.

Well, yes. But we are where we are and we have to go forward from here, not from some hypothetical better position that we should have been in.

We clearly need more than a Scrum Half, but that has to be our absolute top priority. It should therefore be the first signing we make if at all possible so that we have the maximum funds available if required.

There is also the point made earlier - this signing will have been in negotiation for some time but the Crocker situation has only just been cleared up. Until it was, we couldn't have negotiated even if we wanted to.

Our priority has to me a halfback and as pleased as I would have been if we had signed him I would have been more P**sed off if we had signed him and missed out on a top class halfback.

You moan about the club not signing any top class players but the fact is that the last two season our board has signed two current (at the time) Aussie internationals.

If they managed it again for next season with a top halfback that I will be very happy.

But that is not the point Kosh.

The guy is a big name and we missed out again.

definatly could have done with soliola..

WHEN WILL WE ALL AGREE WE NEED AN OUT AND OUT 7 , for goodness sake

Gidley is in contract negotiations for next year so hopefully we will have Soliola on one side and Gidley on the other for 2010.

Then in 2011 Lyon is out of contract and he's already said he's coming back to Saints so Lyon and Soliola it is. Plus we'll be moving into our New OWNED Stadium in 2011 also



Saints youngsters are not ready yet at centre as we have Jamie Foster who is still only 17 and kicks goals for fun.

Wheeler,Eastmond and Matty Smith are all half backs with