and "Players who played this year and are still under contract are likely to play next year"

Haha. Spot on.

"Players that were not deemed too young to play this year, won't be deemed too young to play next year either."

Whooooo!!!! GO US!!! WE ROCK!!

nothing new in this but it begs the question if youth is to be given a chance why have we brought in Griffin and Moore. Both very respectable forwards but we have let Armor return to Wakey after more than impressing there and having a very good game against cumbria. Discribed as a tackling machine and having come on leaps and bounds by the league express writer. Ambler, Singleton what happens to them, oviously they will get very limited chances in 2012. You can't fit them all in but surely as C Clarkson has proved if you are good anough you are old anough.

No need for drastic change IMO. Would have been nice to see a little more experienced cover available in the backline, but otherwise wouldn't be too disappointed to see Leeds go with what they've got.

Was discussing the Moore/Griffin signings with someone the other day, and I wonder whether these are more signings for 2013 and onwards. At the end of 2012 Leeds are likely to lose both Leuluai and Peacock IMO. If no props of the required quality were available come the end of next season, Leeds would head into 2013 with Bailey, Kirke, Ambler, Singleton and maybe Amor as their front row options.

By signing two decent SL standard props now when both were available, while Leeds have given themselves a selection headache or two for 2012 they've also got some insurance against losing two front line props at the end of the year.

Ooooo... ooo.... me Sir! Pick me! Me Sir!! Pick me Sir!!! I know this one!!!!


*Puts hand down* *Clears throat*

Because they're cheap.

Given he's got a three year deal which starts in 2012, that would suggest he's going to be here for both 2013 and 2014 would it not?

Yeah I know, it was tongue in cheek. A joke at his age. Wasn't disputing the contract length.

Just humour.

Cheap, cheerfull, tested at super league level, creates competition for places and cover / rest periods for other props. Whats not to like? IF and i do say IF we had to bin them for a reason, then it wont create a massive furore will it?

Look on the brightside, we WERE a team of second rowers (allegedly) now were a team of props!

Happy days indeed.

i think its been mentioned earlier on within the thread but obviously i dont know what he would qualify on besides possibly overseas, but i wouldnt mind us trying to sign sika manu from melbourne storm.

obviously hes a prop but can play second row and could be a possible replacement for ali now that hes gone, in my opinion hes big and strong and i only watch the nrl games when i can but from what ive seen he could be a good player for us.

no doubt others on this forum can find out what he would qualify on and prove me wrong but i think he would count on the 'kolpack' ruling as being a member of the tongan squad and now new zeland, dont think hes signed with another nrl club at the minute or re-signed with melbourne but as i said someone will prove me wrong or come along and state that it would be a stupid/crap/waste of money signing.

just my 2 penneth but what the hell, couldnt really do worse that him could we?

Not heard anything regarding the above, not really sure if I would be happy if we signed him or not. Agree Ali type player needed IMO, but not really seen enough of him to say if he could fill Ali boots or not

someone stated that they wouldnt mind us signing sika manu i didnt mean that we were rumoured to be interested or had made an offer, sorry if this caused confusion, i just meant that like you said you hadnt seen much of him to make a judgement just small bits of him playing, i dont think he would be a like for like replacement for ali as those types of players are hard to come by, but i wouldnt mind if we signed him as he can play either prop or second row so could cover and if he was good he could move up and possibly take peacocks place if he was good enough, no im not stating he is as good or comparing him to peacock, by this i mean hes young and could offer a long term replacement and a good option for the forwards in a few years.

I'm not so sure that we will be losing JP after next season, i can foresee him playing for at least two more seasons

Could these extra front row forwards that we now have in our squad be used to rotate the side when needed and If so could JP be used "selectively" throughout next season in order to prolong his career?

Agree I can see JP going on for more than just next season. The extra props could well be used to prolong his career

in my opinion i can see peacock doing what hes currently doing for 2 more seasons then for a third and possibly last season, doing what kylies been doing, become an impact prop and making a big impact for a short stint then getting a rest, wether this happens or not or he thinks he could do 2 or 3 more years and his body can take it, pr if the coaches see it like this who knows, i think this might be the best for him though and also brigning the young forwards through a lot more and getting them more experience wether on loan or at leeds, and also keeping an eye out for a peacock mk2, similar to the senior statement earlier in the season

Just because Peacock looks in good shape now doesn't mean he'll still be up to it in 3 years, or even 2. He's on the edge (at the very least) of what for most people is a sharp decline in athletic capability, and even he'll have to face that eventually. If anything he and Senior are more exceptions that prove the rule. Rotating him will undoubtedly help with wear and tear, but it can't put off forever.

Adam Cuthbertson has signed a three year deal at the Newcastle Knights.

Would have been underwhelming anyway. I wouldn;t be surprised if we did sign another overseas player, but it looks like Lenagan's comments on the Australian market are broadly right.

Tell that to Beaver Menzies...

Not sure if signing players based on their shoe size is the best recruitment policy.

Another who is the exception rather than the rule. Just because some players do play into their late 30s, doesn't mean they all can. The other thing to consider is that, although he may be up to 2 years, a serious injury in that period could call an end to his career, where a players earlier in their career could make the recovery. To be honest, with a good number of frontline props in the squad for next year, I'd hope we'd be less reliant on Peacock, both to help prolong his career, and also to prepare us for when he's no longer around.

Considering the comments attributable to kirke that have been posted on here, I presume that includes changing his mindset and training regime from a short period stop gap to a frontline contributor to the matches.

If our coaching team can transition Kirke into having a frontline role in the side I'd be impressed. I think we'll have to look elsewhere for a sucessor to JP, if thats what you're alluding to there

If Kirke ends up playing a frontline role I'd be somewhat worried about the effectiveness of our secondary forwards.

Big offer from Superleague club for SBW confirmed... www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all- ... a-drags-on

Big offer from Superleague club for SBW confirmed... www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all- ... a-drags-on