Completeley irrelevant

Has Soliola got his visa yet?

If the eastwood deal had gone through i think it would of been.
That was taken out of our hand's and now we have this squad(for the time being) to support and get behind.
Whatever the reasons this is the hand we have been dealt and despite what many detractor's think there is enough quality imo to retain another championship!
Too many "fans" think we have a god given right to win every match,sign every top player available and jump in to have a dig at GH and co without knowing the FULL details of what's happeneing behind the scene's.
Afterall GH along with caddick have built this club from almost oblivion to where we are now.
They have delivered 3 championship's,1 cup and 5 other finals, a new carnegie stand,graham murray,tony smith and bluey mclennon.
On the playing side we have seen the like's of Harris,Godden,Glanville,carroll,senior,donald,Webb,peacock and buderus to name a few.
All the talent that the acadamy has produced.
I agree there have been disappointment's along the way,i.e lance,clyde,mullins and ben walker to name a few.
Seriously do you honestly think that GH and caddick are doing nothing to keep improving the squad and club????
Let's just wait and see where we are in september,if we have another 2006 so be it bang yer drums and rant away and do the "told you so" post's.
To do that now make's no sense we lost the wcc and the cc match's to the better team on the day it happen's in RL and there's no evidence whatsoever to suggest another forward and another centre would have prevented that.
We still have a good chance of winning the title and i'm sure if the right deal is out there it will be done,afterall weren't the bulls supposed to be signing ellis and saint's or wigan signing Ali??

That's what everyone said about warrington!!!

+ 2 x WCC

I would jump in and help you rhinoms but your fighting a losing battle against the mighty ed.

Cheers mate!!

Kapow.

Great post

but we have had 2006 already, we saw it happen, it happened, why do we need it to happen twice in 4 years to prove they arent infallible?
why were they better? we beat a better saints side and a better melbourne side the year before, if not the losses in personel and lack of recuitment why have we gone backwards
we have a good chance yes, we would have a better chance with a decent centre and another prop,

if caddick and gh want my money, they put together the best squad they can, not the worst they can get away with,

bloody well said. I think cos we've been used to so many years of being the most under achieving club ever given our size and therefore being a laughing stock for many a year, some of our own fans are quite happy to accept a bit more underachieving...

Not at all just realistic and see the "bigger" picture!!
We don't have a right to win every match nor sign every player available plus re-underachieving this squad is still quality and good enough to win the title.

Oh yes agreed re the right to win every match. But that's not what i am saying or what smokeyta is saying. We have underacheived so far this season and there is no good reason why we should have. It's very typical of Leeds.

I am not so sure that was the point been made, and you appear to have missed it.

Unless I am mistaken the poster was saying that "paying spectators" have a right to see the best team it can put out on the field within the rules in place. We are currently below the cap (rule in place) and therefore could if desired fill that position (if someone was available) with an improved player. We have chose not to.

What is the "bigger" picture other than making it sound nice? Who mentioned anything about a right to win every match?

They'll have their work cut out to top the one you've just vented.

Feel better now.

Eastwood isn't here. We missed out on him as a result of not investigating his circumstances sufficiently.

Scruton had 4 years first team under his belt. Ambler is one for the future and not ahead of Burgess like Scruton was.

Again do you know what's happening behind the scene's??
As other's have pointed out we don't know the full implication's re-contract renewals or signing's for next year!!
It's easy to say we haven't spent the full cap so we should go out and sign this or that player if only it was that straight forward!!
I agree paying spectators have the right to watch the best team the club can possibly provide who say's this isn't the case???
Like i've said many time's i trust what GH is doing and his policies.
Just because we have had an average start to the season it isn't imo because we haven't signed someone,it's more to do with too many player's off form,low confidence and other teams being better than us on the day.
There's nothing to suggest that the club aren't trying to improve the squad just because we haven't announced any signing's doesn't mean there isn't any or that they aren't aware of what needs doing to continue the club improving.

I do mate, i just think the power's that be deserve a little more faith than many are showing!!

it is that straight forward, it really is

if it is, the step backwards we have taken this year highlights incompetancies somewhere in the organisation

you trust GH all you like, ill trust what i see

and why are these teams now better than us, why do we look soo far behind saints this year?

nobody has said it does,

If it's that straight forward answer these questions

1. How much are we under the salary cap this year.
2. Will Eastwood come over next year.
3. How many of the pllayes out of contract at the end of the year will be offered new contracts.
4. Given the above how much salary cap will we have next year.

If you answer don't know to any of the above then it isn't straight forward.

bar Q1, all those questions are irrellevant to our recruitment for THIS year, not spending SC money THIS YEAR helps us naught for next,

and whilst ill readily admit to not knowing the exact amount left on the SC we have at least eastwoods salary + whatever we were offering Soliola, which is more than ample for a forward and centre who would greatly improve our squad

yes there are, but the specifics of the individual contracts arent the argument


you act as if poor form and low confidence cant be dealt with or there arent reasons behind it, and that its out of the clubs control

his record shows he is infallible does it?



why? this squad of players has yet get close, they have also yet to show their top form, how do you know how good it is?

I also trust GH's policies but you have to accept that this season we have a smaller squad than in the last two Championship winning seasons and he is ultimately responsible for that.

Signing a high quality eighty minute NRL hooker diminishes Diskin's role in the side. Once 'Bedsy' beds in the impact hooker role might as well go to McShane. Diskin is left to cover injury or plays a role that's alien to him and he's not suited to.

Eastwood - Unlucky with the tightening of the Visa application rules in Canberra but he was deemed a neccessary signing. What has changed since the application was turned down to make a replacement not as neccessary? Who has now replaced the world class Ellis?

Soliola - A target for a position within the side that was viewed as a weakness both within the club and externally since Toopi was paid off.

Scruton and Tansey's replacements?

The failing I see is having no plan B or in Eastwood's case no plan C (as Plan A was probably Pritchard)

If you identify areas for strengthening but fail (for whatever reason) to do so then that's an issue of concern for 2009.



So when Gary Hetherington says something like 'we have a squad that can reach our goals for this season' how should that be interpreted?

THe questions are relevant. You can't go signing a player without klnowing how it will affect the squad next year. If they have to spend 20k in upgrades for players next year, then they need to factor that in for any signings, whether they be this season, or next. They will still fall under next seasons salary cap, unless we are looking at a loan.

There is also no point signing someone for this season who plays prop/second row, without knowing the finer details of the Eastwood situation as an unbalanced squad will cause problems

The question is this - what benefit do the owners of the club get from an under-performing team - nothing.

Has GH done everything he could to strengthen the team - I would say yes - he tried to sign a centre and a second row forward - both internationals - neither came to fruition - GH must take some of the blame.

What can he do then - sign a lesser player or wait until the correct player comes along - I personally would prefer to wait.

Lee Smith who has never played centre in his entire career is now the preferred right centre - sometimes it pays to be honest - you can fool some of the people!!!

Is this squad capable of winning the comp - sure is - adding a test centre/second row it would have been a certainty.

Revenue will be down this year the real crunch will come with season ticket sales for next year - a poor showing this season will adversely effect revenue for next.

One things is for sure there isn't a shrewder CEO in SL - whilst he is charge the club will not go bust nor will it break the salary cap - nobody gets it right all the time but on the whole GH has been a great boss who deserves a bit of latitude for lack of team strengthening this year -especially as we are not party to all the facts.

What? so GH should not have signed him because he had a speeding ticket, the tightening of the visa process started after we had signed him



Planning for the future, tut tut, how dare he