Yeah, defo want to see Atoni signed especially. We need his size and would be an absolute menace in that League. Similar to Croft, a year building up his confidence and skills under Powell will do him the world of good. Also, Bowden would do a really good job in the Championship and imo we need a decent-sized pack that can bully sides to open up our attacking threat. We need to get Tanginoa signed for the next couple of seasons as well. He was a proper handful in SL so imagine him in the Championship, obviously last season he only managed 7 games, so as long as his injury is managed and assessed going forward well, he'd be one of the first names on the team sheet IMO. As I already mentioned last season was a bit of right off for him but on the whole, he's been a really reliable player for us clocking up 87 games in his 5 seasons so far and he'd still be 29 when next season starts. I also wonder what's gonna happen with Kershaw because I think he'd score a bucketload in the Championship with the right attacking structure and Centre.
Matt Ellis has said he's gonna basically close to a full cap hasn't he, so I'm interested to see what overseas he's gonna bring in, or at least Powell. A signing like Brenko Lee would be a great eye-opener to lots of RL fans and he's a top player. Cade Cust would have been a top signing but we're covered in all the positions he plays and probably wouldn't come down a tier. There's been a couple mentioned earlier in this thread that would be very interesting if we could tempt them over. Ateotd there have been some good overseas players played in the Championship, particularly when Clubs have had the money to spend on them. We just have to narrow the guys that want to make the move over here the best ones we can afford, and make sure they're the right fit for us and us for them
As for Brits, Luis Johnson would do well in the Championship, still only 24 and a fairly local lad, also a decent-sized guy at 6 foot 3 and nearly 100KG. At one time I'd have jumped at James Greenwood but god knows what's going on with his body these last few years, he's been robbed of his prime years just about looking from the outside. Has Dan Norman definitely been signed by Leigh for next year, I know they were interested in having him over there full-time after his short loan spell but can't remember if he's signed, he'd be a great addition for us, but maybe at his age he see's himself in the SL.
Just a point of note, Ellis hasn’t said we’ll be spending full cap this coming season, only that it will be a ‘healthy budget’ and Ste Mills has stated ‘the budget will be one of, if not the strongest in the Championship’. I think we need to be realistic about our recruitment this year. The spending will increase if/when we are back in super league.
Just a point of note, Ellis hasn’t said we’ll be spending full cap this coming season, only that it will be a ‘healthy budget’ and Ste Mills has stated ‘the budget will be one of, if not the strongest in the Championship’. I think we need to be realistic about our recruitment this year. The spending will increase if/when we are back in super league.
Correct, but the other side of that particular coin is, if you come out and state "we will spend full cap", "biggest budget in the Championship" etc, the agents demands go up 20%.
Correct, but the other side of that particular coin is, if you come out and state "we will spend full cap", "biggest budget in the Championship" etc, the agents demands go up 20%.
Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey.
Very true, although with some players we will likely have to pay a premium to get them to drop down to the championship. It’s likely to affect squad size as much as anything.
Very true, although with some players we will likely have to pay a premium to get them to drop down to the championship. It’s likely to affect squad size as much as anything.
Not sure about premium unless you’re talking in demand and first team regulars. I would hazard we are mainly looking at fringe players but we should be aiming for some good SL talent where possible. Potentially signing for a team looking to win the league and challenge for trophies would be appealing to some players. I would hope we learn our lessons about paying overs for players too and have a well balanced team and sign players where required.