Agreed but I just can't see GH spending money on best of british.. epsecially with the new south shed/stand



I wish we were able to though...

We missed the boat on that when Shenton and LMS went to Saints last season. (I wrote this before I saw Gotcha's post).

Other than that, who is the best British talent in the positions we need to strengthen? Prop: S.Burgess, Graham. SR: Ellis, Westwood. Scrum Half: Brough.

Do you see why this isn't practical?

Below that, looking at unformed potential, there are players like L.Farrell, J.Tomkins, Patrick, Watts, Harrison who are also for one reason or another going to be near-impossible to get away from their clubs. Of course we'd ideally be signing Adam Blair and Jonathan Thurston, but with the NRL TV deal "best player in the position" is dreamland, and if anything it'll be more of a battle to stop *our* young talent (Burgess and Watkins as well as any British players we might be interested in) going over there. Hohaia is about the best anyone is going to get for next year.

Has Adam Blair tied up his move to Wests yet, or is he still potentially on the market?

Would be ideal to bring some mongrel and a bit of ability with the ball to the forward pack.

Two issues with trying to prise the likes of Arundel, Owen and Patrick away from their current clubs:

One - they are going to demand substantial transfer fees or players in exchange. As we saw with the Ellis to Bradford deal, the sticking point there can be convincing a player that he actually wants to move to another club bringing the whole deal crashing down. IMO Leeds don't have the cash to be throwing around the sort of six-figure fees plus clauses Castleford and Huddersfield are going to want.

Two - why would any young player necessarily want to join Leeds if the club they are currently at is in a better position to challenge for honours or just about to move to a nice new stadium which will help take that club forward? Playing for Leeds is not the be all and end all of a career, particularly for those players brought up in areas where Leeds isn't the most popular of clubs to start with.

Agreed on all those players. I'd take Huby as well. And Chase, obviously.

In fact I hope the GH masterplan is a denial of the Cas franchise and an evil asset strip.

He actually didn't say "best" british talent. He said "best possible", that's a big difference to be fair. If the next best, or even next after that, is better than what we have then there is no problem with that.

You are unlikely to be able to fit the "best" in all over the park anyway, due to salary cap restrictions. So you identify where it is needed the most and go for that one / those.

There's sod all chance of Cas not getting a franchise. If that is GH's "masterplan" then he truly has lost it. Sadly, the most likely losers come July have already been asset stripped and there's nothing left worth taking.

Even if Cas did lose their franchise, I would expect a lot of their young players to stay loyal to the club that has given them their chance.

Huby is no surprise to me, and for those that have been posting a few years will know that well. I have long had digs at me for saying we should have signed Huby back in 2002, and I have always countered back that had Huby been playing in a good team he would be a star player.

What you are seeing now is Cas playing well, and Huby standing out. I accept I have not been "proven" correct yet, but I am sure I will be in time. More importantly would have been proven had he moved earlier in his career.

I should have put a smiley face after my post. Of course Cas are going to keep their franchise.

Hwo long were the "stupidly long" contracts given to Senior and Ali? 12 months werent they?

I'd imagine Senior has "been allowed to stay on" because the club didn't have a better option at left centre as the season opened.

Makes you wonder how hard they looked (if at all) and when they started looking.

Our recruitment policy should focus on young british talent with foreigners who have funny names, i think Siuatonga Likiliki should be our #1 foreign transfer target!

It's already been said by others they got very far down the line with both Atkins and Shenton but both went elsewhere for, no doubt, a larger contract.

If that is the price you pay for our much publicised and hugely succesful salary policy then so be it.

This signing doesn't make me envious - a steady player who has been fortunate in the balance tipping between Australia and New Zealand.

I would like to see a team with no more than 3 overseas but those 3 have to be top quality. We need to bring the youth through e.g. McShane, Watkins, Clarkson, Singleton, BJB etc and if possible sign an odd british players e.g. Tony Clubb, Johnson at Wakey etc

Andy is correct why would any young player want to come to Leeds over Warrington, Wigan, Saints, Huddersfield - where there is an ingrained culture that will be very difficult to fit into/change anytime soon. Why should you earn less so the likes of Senior/Ali can continue to play two years beyond their usefulness?

Agree plus whilst i think there's need for "outside" reinforcements i think there's still plenty of potential to come through the ranks in the shape of Singleton ,Wilson ,Chisholm ,Hood and Stewart and that's not taking into account others that have started well in both the u20's and u18's.
On the departure front i would'nt be surprised to see Webb ,Senior ,Kirke ,Burgess(if the nrl come calling) and Kylie possibly going.
I also think that Leeds is still an attractive proposition for ANY young player despite our recent lapse in form.

Explain to me why that's the case.

Unless you've some emotional attachment to the club from childhood, what makes playing for Leeds that much more attractive than say Warrington, Wigan, Saints or Huddersfield?

Because Leeds give more first team opportunities to young English players than almost any other club in the league?

Add to your list Ali & Buderus

It doesn't, they are all the same. So we are competing against others, is that a problem? If Leeds want a player then it is up to them to sell the club to them if they end up competing with the other clubs. But what if the others are not in for them? Leeds is still a big attraction for ANY player, whether it is the be all and end all is irrelevant, it's still a big attraction.

Which is matched by Saints and I'm sure some other clubs.

What G1 said plus despite all his critics GH has shown a commitment to most of the youngsters that have come through and kept the core of the squad together plus despite their current well earned rise in the SL Leeds are still a much bigger club than Wire and Huddersfield and are equally if not bigger than Saints and the Pies.

Surely you would not be signing an established young player from another club not to play him - it is more about chances to win things and further your career through playing in a top team.

Do Leeds fit that description? - to me Leeds are now reaping what the sewed to win the 3 GFs - now you have an ageing side that is owed a living due to financial sacrifices made years ago. The core of which will not change for 4 years.

If I were a top young player would I want to play in a side that will contain the likes of Sinfield, Burrow, McGuire, Hall, Smith, JJB, Ablett, Bailey, Kirke in 3/4 years time - not a chance.

Leeds cannot compete because they have so much of the cap tied up in the core e.g. Sinfield/Burrow/McGuire/JJB etc. all on long term contracts

Forgot Ali but re-Buderus i think he's here next year aswell.

Well, to be fair, the reason our young halves are going so well is thanks mainly to James Roby (who has taken on the role of leading the team around the park) and Paul Wellens (who has been given the task of third halfback by Simmons) as well as a supportive team environment. If they'd been thrown in without that support, things may have been much worse. They also played together in the youth leagues, so that's a bonus. If you remember our situation last season when we had Moore and Wilkin in the halves, you can probably appreciate our deep joy at having our present arrangement in place even though it is probably proving to be a lot of extra work for some of our senior players!


That will no doubt have come into it, but he will be a starting halfback when he arrives next season, that has been made clear in press statements. Whether at stand off or scrum half will probably depend on whether Leon Pryce (a) can ever get his groin to stick back together, and (b) re-signs with the club.


Whereas ours is in the halves. If he can settle in then I think he will be an asset, and our young guys will have had a large chunk of this season to gain extremely valuable experience that will hopefully turn them into our first choice halfback pairing in the future.

Really?

If they were all fit, Leeds would be lining up with Webb, Delaney, Cross, Buderus, Leuluai, Hauraki and Lauitiiti in their matchday 17 every week leaving just 10 places to be filled by home-grown players.

Castleford have five overseas players in their first team squad (Youngquest, McGoldrick, Chase, Isa and Widders). Huddersfield have just four (O'Donnell, Fa'alogo, Faiumu and Simpson). Which of those three clubs is offering the best opportunity to young British players, other than by reason of its overseas contingent being frequently crocked?