Exactly. Accusing Aiton of disloyalty is akin to suggesting the club was disloyal in not offering him a six year contract.

Maybe he is just greedy ? The debate whether someone is greedy can only ever be subjective. I think he is.

Whether or not someone is a moron can also be subjective.

How do you know it isn't greed Mr "up yourself" ? My opinion is just as valid as yours, remember that when you start acting all high and mighty.

Get back to Emmerdale you dateless get.

Oh, it appears it isn't subjective after all. Carry on.

It is arrogant to assume that a player should want to play for Leeds rather than Catalans.

Why do you think he is greedy - do you know how much GH offered him or how much the Catalans offered him the differential is probably large.

I take it you would reject a large salary increase!! Thought not

Logically no but if Catalans can get Carney on the pitch regularly they will be a force plus south of France or West Yorkshire know where I would rather live

They are losing both Whitehead and Zeb Taia from the 2nd row though so that's a significant loss for them.

I understand both sides of the argument going on here, but would stick up for Aiton in that when you are 35 / 40 and retired and having to retrain in a new job / career - that extra 15k a year (or whatever it might be) for 3 years you have taken from Catalans aged 30-33 will keep your family eating and a roof over your head a lot longer than a (potential) 2 CC winners' medals and a Grand Final medal (but 45k less) would.

Doesn't mean he is greedy - it just makes sense really.

i'm self employed plant driver and , not in a nasty way, you are a mercenary. if you have a good reputation firms chase you, so you move around a lot. always leaving on good terms but for more coin. you simply weigh up the pro's and cons.
if catalan are offering mega bucks then at 31 he would be stupid to turn it down. any sane person would

Another key thing too is length of contract. Aiton said that he and Leeds couldn't come to an agreement on a deal for next year AND beyond.

It might be that Leeds only wanted to activate the 3rd year option and didn't offer any extension or maybe just 1 extra year (as they might be planning on Robbie Ward taking over eventually perhaps?).....whereas Catalans have offered him 3 years.

I think that is the point precisely.
I would doubt Leeds would be offering him a 3 year deal and no I do not know that for sure.
But even for the same money and a three year gig compared to a 1 or 2 year gig then Aiton has done the right thing.
For some people whilst it is a dream to win tropheys for others at the age Aiton is it might be about securing a decent future for his family.
It`s not as if he is moving to a championship team or Salford/Wakefield!
He still stands a reasonable chance next year of winning something.

Quote ="chapylad" I would doubt Leeds would be offering him a 3 year deal and no I do not know that for sure. '" 'Gary Hetherington said, "It is not come as a surprise because Paul rejected a new 3-year contract from us' www.therhinos.co.uk/news/27061.php#.VcOLUa0mNEY

Quote ="chapylad" I would doubt Leeds would be offering him a 3 year deal and no I do not know that for sure. '" 'Gary Hetherington said, "It is not come as a surprise because Paul rejected a new 3-year contract from us' www.therhinos.co.uk/news/27061.php#.VcOLUa0mNEY

Quote ="Neruda"'Gary Hetherington said, "It is not come as a surprise because Paul rejected a new 3-year contract from us' www.therhinos.co.uk/news/27061.php#.VcOLUa0mNEY'" Wasn`t aware of that the greedy pig Therefore it does seem he has gone for more cash which like others have said who can blame him. Hooker nowadays is such an important role on the park and Catalan with space on their salary cap have probably thrown much more at that role than we have.

Quote ="Neruda"'Gary Hetherington said, "It is not come as a surprise because Paul rejected a new 3-year contract from us' www.therhinos.co.uk/news/27061.php#.VcOLUa0mNEY'" Wasn`t aware of that the greedy pig Therefore it does seem he has gone for more cash which like others have said who can blame him. Hooker nowadays is such an important role on the park and Catalan with space on their salary cap have probably thrown much more at that role than we have.

I think one thing that might have got lost somewhere, is that Leeds generally make new contract decisions on overseas players at the start of the season. Seems to have happened that way for a number of years.

Tad posted on here months ago that Leeds had made a cash offer for Houghton, and received the usual abuse for it.

From the timing of things above, I think Leeds did make Aiton an offer, but it was early, and without the hindsight of seeing the season he has had. Without the hindsight of how good a year he has had that offer probably was no different to the contract he was on. By the same token, Aiton probably made his decision without the hindsight of how good Leeds have been, no one could possibly have seen us as good as this, this year.

Then knowing he wouldn't sign the new offer, the club will have allowed him to speak with other clubs, and seek to make its own plans. Hence the offer made at the time for Houghton, which Tad was clearly correct on.

I don't think this development from player and club has been made in the last couple of weeks, but was made months ago. I also reckon both club and player will be regretting the course taken, and will learn from it. Had both known they would be such a good fit, I reckon Leeds would have done more to keep him, and Aiton would have seen his priorities change.

For me it is just simply a case of timing issues, and one again for me, that all party's lose from. The player does not deserve to be crticised for the decision made. He could very well, for this year at least, be the difference between winning nothing, and winning plenty.

I'm still struggling to understand the fascination with Aiton. He has been. Journeyman player all his career - he would be in the NRL if any team wanted him. You surround him with some good players and all of a sudden he's Cameron Smith. The key to the hooking role is go forward on attack and an ability to make 40 tackles a game. Replacing Aiton will not be that tough plenty of suitable candidates out there.

Like who?

Agreed.

I think it's probably more a concern that we'll take a backwards step and revert to Burrow at hooker. If we sign somebody then it'll be fine.

Much more likely to take a bigger step backwards if Sinfield isn't replaced. We cannot replace at the same level but no replacement would leave a bigger hole than not replacing Sinfield IMO

Leeds made Lunt look good they have done the same for Aiton plenty of his standard out there

It's alright doing the basics, but the key is finding someone who does those basics to a consistently high standard - low handling errors, good decision making, makes tackles, has a short kicking game, delivers fast, accurate ball from the ruck.

You'll probably find a number of hookers who do them to a decent standard and maybe offer some other things on top, but IMO Aiton has done these to a standard matched by maybe only one or two other players in his position in the competition this year. You could take the starting 9 from most other SL clubs and some NRL ones, and they would be a downgrade on the 2015 version of Paul Aiton.

I tend to agree Sal. We need a high percentage goal kicker and tactical kicker who can also provide some game management. Sutcliffe has great potential and should continue to be developed but we have a short term need now and a long term need for when Mags hangs up his boots.

We have made some excellent signings in the forwards and we have the best set of backs in SL so it would be a terrible waste if these players talents were limited by the lack of some halfback control.

Ailton has been very good this season but as I have said before this improvement could be as much to do with work done on the training field with good angles run by the support and of course the addition of Cuthbertson.

Assuming that we haven't got a replacement already signed then the task to replace Aiton is a lot harder than some seem to think.
Just look at how long it's taken us to replace Buderus. Now, I know Aiton, is no Buderus but, finding a quality hooker that fits into the way the team plays is extremely difficult.
I think Aiton has been one of the most pivotal players in the league this season. He's outplayed the opposition's hooker in almost every game and, I'm struggling to think of many games this year where he hasn't been at least 7/10.