Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 1:13 pm  

Magic Superbeetle wrote:

Really confused by the comment that Wigan won’t miss SOLs leadership but Saints will miss Graham’s as both of them will have had far more impact off the field than on it, and Graham was only here 6 months.

I think given his little SOL has played in the last few years his only field influence hasn’t been missed as much as it was 3 years ago.

We looked lost without him at times in the past this last year particularly we seem to have transitioned away from that.

Not sure if it has been confirmed yet but I am sure SOL will be staying with the club where as Graham isn’t staying with Saints.

I think you backroads will be of similar strength losing 2 quality players and bringing 2 in as long as they settle.

The question is really about the middles and how they cope with another year on the clock had how Passi settles.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 1:17 pm  

jonh wrote:

Saints have pretty much replaced like for like in their secondrow.

They are settled in the backs.

It’s the “middles” and hooker positions that will see if they can be the force they were this year. Some of their lads are at the wrong end of their careers and another year older. Roby is a wonderful player but how long can he keep performing at the levels he is? To be fair he’s not showing too many signs of dropping away just yet!

Passi I’m not convinced by. He does the eye catching stuff but don’t think the 6 again works in his favour.

Still have them as joint favourites with us, if we had one more quality prop available/signed then I’d have us as favourites.

I'd say their main weakness is the lack of pace in their playmakers. None of Coote, Fages, Lomax or Roby are going to be major line break threats whereas we have French, Field and Hastings. But they've previously been able to cover that up with their the quality of their forwards and good link up player with the outside backs.

Grimmy wrote:

MadDogg wrote:

Always uncertainty with NRL signings but I'd be really surprised if Joel Thompson doesnt work out very well for them. Ultra professional and highly rated over there - could turn out to be Hoffman esque. Less sure on the other two but if Paasi turns out to be half decent we're in a similar position in that our better players are at risk of being wasted due to our front row being over matched.

I think it's an absolute must - if we dont recruit before the season start then I think the need for one will become even more obvious once we've played a few games and particularly once we've played Saints. Saints clear favourites for me without front row improvements and it would be a real shame if we dont make that last push to maximise the talents of French/Hastings etc. It might be the last year that they're available to us.

Joel Thompson has just come back from a serious alcohol-related injury. I don't know loads about him though so I'll defer to you on that one, just saw the age and the booze-foolishness.

I'd prepare yourself to be disappointed if you think and forward of note is walking through the door before the season kicks off. This pack very nearly won the GF though! I can't remember a season (bar maybe 2011) where we didn't want just one last signing. That's how it is under the salary cap I suppose, although we do clearly have a lot of deadwood at the moment.

I think a mid season signing may be more likely, particularly if the weakness is exposed further early in the year.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 1:59 pm  

Magic Superbeetle wrote:

Joel Thompson quit drinking after the accident and is by all accounts an absolute model professional now, and his community work is as highly rated as his performances in the NRL. Taia will be a loss (especially the pat back on the inside ball) but Thompson should add a different type of impact. Between him, Bentley who came on leaps and bounds last year, and Mata’utia (conveniently not mentioned above on our pack signings as he’s 24) the back row is going to be highly competitive for us next year, something we havent had in a while thanks to Paulo being a complete flop.

Saints big question at prop is whether having a proper off season will finally see Lees fully recover from his injury at the end of 2019. Missing the off season seemed to really impact him and he seemed to lose a lot of weight and a lot of impact as a result. Paasi has been signed as a direct replacement to Graham in the front row, and has been sold to the fans as a wrecking ball style prop with an offload, which will complement us very well if it turns out to be the case. I know he was highly rated in the NRL, but that doesn’t seem to mean much for successful signings at prop and does come with an injury prone rep. If both Lees struggles and Paasi flops were down to LMS and Amor who aren’t as terrible as some of the props on the league but not who you want to be depending on.

Our full prop list Walmsley, Lees, Paasi, Amor / LMS, Norman, Batchelor

Really confused by the comment that Wigan won’t miss SOLs leadership but Saints will miss Graham’s as both of them will have had far more impact off the field than on it, and Graham was only here 6 months.

From the outside looking in, Graham seemed to be on the pitch a fair bit last year and raised the guys around him, you could see he was pushing everyone on and they really wanted to win him that medal after so many losses. Lockers just wasn't out there at all for the most part. Off the field Lockers is still here in the coaching staff, is Graham still involved at Saints? Fair enough didn't realise Thompson had been off the beer for a year.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 2:53 pm  

You never know with NRL signings how they will turn out. Plenty of big name ones have flopped and lesser known guys have ripped the league up. I know pretty much as little about Saints three guys as I do about Field. They’re three ‘decent’ NRL players, certainly not top end but not reserve graders either. They can’t be as bad as Paulo but they’ll do well to bring more to their side than guys like Thompson and Taia.

I’m confident enough in the direction we’re heading in to just concentrate on us. We’ve signed one of the best back rowers in world rugby league, we’ve retained our best players and we’ve got some unbelievably talented youngsters who’ll be a year further on. I think we’ll be better than last season when we finished first and lost a Grand Final on a sequence of events in the last few minutes of a game that you couldn’t make up.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 3:22 pm  

An 80/90m per game prop would be the icing on the cake, getting away from our goal line is our Achilles heel and is what ultimately keeping Saints in front of us at the minute.
If by some miracle the specialists Burgess is seeing can sort him out then happy days if not we're probably looking at Byrne to step it up, if he can improve the way Bullock did last season that would be a massive help.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 4:50 pm  

apollosghost wrote:

An 80/90m per game prop would be the icing on the cake, getting away from our goal line is our Achilles heel and is what ultimately keeping Saints in front of us at the minute.
If by some miracle the specialists Burgess is seeing can sort him out then happy days if not we're probably looking at Byrne to step it up, if he can improve the way Bullock did last season that would be a massive help.

Maybe have a word with Andy Murray, he seems to have gotten over his hip problem now.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 4:58 pm  

apollosghost wrote:

An 80/90m per game prop would be the icing on the cake, getting away from our goal line is our Achilles heel and is what ultimately keeping Saints in front of us at the minute.
If by some miracle the specialists Burgess is seeing can sort him out then happy days if not we're probably looking at Byrne to step it up, if he can improve the way Bullock did last season that would be a massive help.

Havard was making that sort of ground and more most weeks prior to his injury. His injury and absence from the run in has probably been under hyped in all honesty due to his age and inexperience but we lost plenty when he left the side. You’re right on Byrne as well and I think he can step up. He was excellent pre covid but it clearly effected him and his fitness once he came back and hopefully the effects of that will be behind him going in to pre season.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 5:45 pm  

hatty wrote:

Maybe have a word with Andy Murray, he seems to have gotten over his hip problem now.

But his is a non-contact sport.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 5:47 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Havard was making that sort of ground and more most weeks prior to his injury. His injury and absence from the run in has probably been under hyped in all honesty due to his age and inexperience but we lost plenty when he left the side. You’re right on Byrne as well and I think he can step up. He was excellent pre covid but it clearly effected him and his fitness once he came back and hopefully the effects of that will be behind him going in to pre season.

They are both top prospects who have got a lot of development in them. We shouldn't expect too much to quick.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Dec 28, 2020 5:57 pm  

Sweaty Betty's wrote:

They are both top prospects who have got a lot of development in them. We shouldn't expect too much to quick.

Absolutely agree but the facts remain that Havard was smashing numbers out. I looked at the first three game of his I could find either side of lockdown and he’d
made 120, 128 and 145 metres in those three games. We need more from more experienced guys like Burgess, Clubb, Clark etc but ultimately it’s unlikely we’ll get it but we’re very fortunate to have a kid like that. I’d look to manage his minutes and give him the odd week off but there’s no two ways about it, when he does play if we need a guy to bang 100+ metres out then he’s got form for it.