Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri May 08, 2020 7:25 am  

100% Warrior wrote:

It thought that when I saw he was OOC. I don’t think he’ll be particularly expensive given his comeback from 2 knee injuries but therein lies a huge risk too. I think he’s worth signing but the price has to be right

This season will be a lossmaker for every SL club so we might see a reduction in wage bills around the league next season. Unfortunately it does not mean that we will be in a position to capitalise. Hopefully we will see some of the youngsters staking a claim around the league, if we ever get started. Already we had several out performing Greenwood.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri May 08, 2020 9:12 am  

Levrier wrote:

This season will be a lossmaker for every SL club so we might see a reduction in wage bills around the league next season. Unfortunately it does not mean that we will be in a position to capitalise. Hopefully we will see some of the youngsters staking a claim around the league, if we ever get started. Already we had several out performing Greenwood.

True I suppose. On the flip side we do have good young back row prospects coming through so in reality it’s not really a position we need to recruit in.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri May 08, 2020 1:07 pm  

100% Warrior wrote:

It thought that when I saw he was OOC. I don’t think he’ll be particularly expensive given his comeback from 2 knee injuries but therein lies a huge risk too. I think he’s worth signing but the price has to be right

Yeah I'd give him a basic contract with bonuses built in for appearances etc

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri May 08, 2020 1:52 pm  

If Greenwood goes and Lockers retires, I think there would be room (from a playing point of view, money would be another matter) for a back row forward. We’d have Faz and Isa as the experienced heads, Smithies with a season and a half at the back of him but then just youngsters. They’re very promising youngsters, with 3 or 4 in that position having top class potential but you need the right amount of experience around them. If he more than happy to take a punt on Currie if he were available. He looked to be building a bit of form up before lockdown. I’d take a back three of Currie, Farrell and Smithies with Isa jumping in and out possibly or him starting with Smithies on the bench.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri May 08, 2020 3:23 pm  

Father Ted wrote:

With the financial situation being as dire as it is I can't see the club spending big money bringing in new players.
When the season returns with probably two games a week club's reserves will be used to a large extent.
Seeing as we have the best youth set up in RL then I have a feeling that younger players on the fringe of first team rugby will be given their chance and I'm sure some will take it.
2020 will not be a good year to be OOC. All clubs will be cutting costs where they can and the wage bill will be the first place to find savings.

You’re not wrong,clubs will be cost cutting like never before and it wouldn’t surprise me if the cap got lowered either.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sat May 09, 2020 8:47 am  

hengirl wrote:

You’re not wrong,clubs will be cost cutting like never before and it wouldn’t surprise me if the cap got lowered either.

Sadly I could imagine many chairmen hoping that the cap will be lowered but I am not sure that it is the right path to go down. No club has to spend up to the cap and those that do are generally those with the most reliable income streams. As a sport the opportunities for players to earn are limited by the need to reduce the inequality between clubs.
We already have a terrible time trying to appeal to young players without a further reduction in what they could earn. A lot of supporters seem happy with us sliding towards a part time model. That worked in the past but today we would end up with those players deciding to spend their time elsewhere and the quality drifting out of the game.
We all know that money will be tight for the foreseeable future. It is not ideal to let some clubs buy titles but to allow the weakest teams to drag the rest down will not work either. Personally I think that this could be an opportunity for a reset. If we were not dependant on TV revenue I would be with Kier and look to increasing the size of Super League for several seasons to see which clubs floated to the surface before cutting the deadwood.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sat May 09, 2020 4:46 pm  

cap shouldnt be lowered as its paid for by sky

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sun May 10, 2020 9:25 am  

The only purpose lowering the cap would serve is driving the game backwards.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sun May 10, 2020 10:44 am  

Cap should be raised and extra money should be put forward from Sky so all SL clubs can buy a couple of big name signings from down under each thus bringing new excitement and enthusiasm back into the game after the current situation is finished

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sun May 10, 2020 10:21 pm  

Nial Evalds to Castleford for next season according to one of the FB pages, good signing for Cas if true and bad news for Salford.