Saw that too. This whole situation just needs resolving now. The whole will he/won't he circus isn't doing anyone any good.

You'll all be let down when nothing is announced. Why do you think Salford have moved their player announcement until the last game of the season, it's so Chase can continue the rest of the season without any mither.

The Rangi U-turn rumour defies logic for all sorts of reasons.

That said, surely it'd be better for all concerned just to put the whole thing to bed once and for all.

Or the thug has turned you down and it gives the venerable DR time to beg someone else to join.

I wouldn't get any hopes up Frank. He's be announced as a Salford player on 6th September - that I am sure of. I'll be glad when its over TBH. The whole Salford media attention grabbing circus is getting a bit tedious now and its disruping a lot of clubs this season when there is still something to play for.

To be fair to Koukash, he says on the official website that announcements of signed/signing players is delayed at the wishes of their current Clubs. I'm just as fed-up as everyone else with this prolonged saga, but it seems that Salford are not the ones to blame.

The only thing I find distasteful about it is how Salford have targetted players already under contract. Other than that I don't blame them for anything. Salford have struck gold by landing MK as benefactor.

Apparently last night Dave Mathews CEO, DR Koukash, Brian Noble and Rangi Chase went down to Leeds to sign 2 players. One of them mentioned was Tim Smith the other I do not know.

The thing is, if they approach a Club to ask permission to approach a player and they give permission, nobodies done anything wrong. I understand the possibility of unsettling a player but if everything is done to all parties satisfaction as these things obviously have done, I don't see a problem.

As a Salford fan we have been on the other end of it too. Where a Club is buttering-up a player soon to come off contract and that player loses focus and professionalism. Maybe nobody did anything wrong in the process of this happening but it sticks in the throats of fans who see it differently.

In the case of Chase, when it finally gets announced, the money injected into your Club should be the way that Clubs behave towards one another. I'm not a fan of 'Wealthy' Clubs trying to get something for nothing as has long been the case with Salford losing talent. If money flows between Clubs it can only strengthen the game as a whole.

First paragraph: No, on base principle, they aren't. If you think a "Super League contract" (whatever that means) dictates that "a player has signed for three years therefore he must play for three years" you are outrageously off the mark. To say that Cas have "got rid" of Chase, well, frankly that's a point I don't think needs addressing.

Second paragraph: You STILL haven't named any names.... What you are failing to see is that, from the NRL, anything but the top 3/4 clubs here is a massive step down. You talk about Dorn being over the hill, fair enough, but if you expect us to get a quality half back at the peak of their career, you are outrageously off the mark once more. We can either get a "Jamie Ellis young and unproven" type, or a "Brent Sherwin milking the sport for a pension" type. Agreed, I'd rather have a young player, but Ellis has been slated for not being good enough this year when he is only 21, so the club can't win really. Unfortunately, most young NRL half-backs would rather play Toyota Cup than come to a poor SL team. The other exception would be a "Tim Smith" type, who was at his peak but couldn't get into the Cronulla team and his career was passing him by

I think you're spot-on here.

There simply isn't enough world-class halfbacks in either hemisphere, regardless of how much money you flash. The best option from overseas is the fringe players who struggle to break into or back into first team sides. If you can tempt them away from the other side of the world. I feel that Cas will be damned if they do, damned if they don't. You'll be unlikely to get like for like when Chase goes, but that does not mean it's the end of the world.

we agree!?



....I think the best bet a lot of clubs over here have is to get players while they were young. I really like Ellis and at 21 he could become a really top half-back. OK he might not, but nobody has a crystal ball.

Like you said, to suggest we would get a like-for-like with Chase is lunacy, merely because we have his money freed up. That money could be better spent to secure the longer term future of the club, and who knows, one day we might be the ones with a big investor and that's when we can consider top players

It's obviously serious bromance...

Why would chase go to persuade a player to sign for you when you already had noble and the ceo go???? And if rumour of us havin an approach knocked back for tim smith is true then theirs no reason why you wouldnt have been knocked back too

We have a player on contract, how can he play for anyone before we say ??? What's even your point ??? That Rangi just need to say "i don't want my contract any more" and that's it ??? What's the point in transfer fees then why don't Salford simply say here Rangi have half what we are paying Cas to say I don't want my contract anymore.... You do know what a contract is dont you ???

Where have I ever put we should sign like for like to replace Chase ??? There isn't one available in the world that's why we had a valuable commodity and shouldn't have sold him.... But as he has been sold I'd like to replace him with either a good young talent scouted out from Australia or the lower leagues or a quality old head with experience for one to two years to give us time to find a long term replacement.....You know be sensible and research all avenues before chucking money at bottom SL players, taking us back to days before. Personally I'd take Fien for a year or 2 if available (giving us time to find a long term replacement) he is coming off contract, despite his age he is still a class act and his versatility in the halves would be ideal in a small squad such as ours.

Please explain why any other Club would get knocked back because Cas did?

Because they dont want to sell him???

Maybe your offer wasn't good enough?

maybe they didn't want to sell to a local rival?

How about Robert Hicks. He's fairly cheap, but very effective...

No logic in selling to a potential play off rival either

So the point is basically your opinion on matters?

The fact is, you personally have no idea why a Club would accept one offer over another. Making a claim that every Club should get the same response as Cas got is very naive.

So is assuming every player wilk want to go to salford and that every bid for players will be accepted

Wakefield have documented financial issues and selling their best player would possibly ease those worries,however they want to establish themselves as a top 8 playoff team,selling their best player to a rival wont make that happen

And yes this is all my opinion pretty much what fills these boards are peoples opinions

Thanks for those tasty morsels of insight you've provided.

I never stated or presumed every player will want to go to Salford. My personal beliefs are actually the opposite. It's fine to have opinions as long as you're prepared to have them challenged when they venture into 'patently stupid' territory. Your opinion was that because Cas got turned down by Wakey it was beyond your comprehension that another Club might get an offer accepted.

I'll apologize now on behalf of everyone else who's had to read this tripe for a page or so.

Before Castleford signed Rangi Chase from St,George, had you ever heard of him?, he was a total unknown, on the fringes of the NRL, not getting into the first team, then Cas took the punt & signed this unknown lad, who has played the best part of his carrier for Cas.
At Cas he has learnt his trade & turned into one of the hottest properties in our game, who knows Cas might invest in a new unknown youngster who does the job for us, only time will tell, but if Noble wants Chase to play to a structured game plan, he wont be getting the same player who's Maverick style makes him the great player he is.

I agree.

As a Salford fan, I've got to have faith that Noble knows what he's doing by going for him.