Views have been very balanced on here. Most edged with caution. It’s pretty much risk free with 50% cap exemption. If he gets anything like he was it’s a good move as he’s an X factor player no doubt. But if it doesn’t work out we’ve not lost anything.

Quote ="Trebor1"Ooof some bitterness here forums.redvee.net/showthread.php ... -in-League'" " how the mighty are fallen " ? Five in a row ?

Quote ="Trebor1"Ooof some bitterness here forums.redvee.net/showthread.php ... -in-League'" " how the mighty are fallen " ? Five in a row ?

Totally agree on the physicality point. Playing 12 in Union is ridiculously physical. He is 5’7 or 5’8 the average 12 in Union is a big ball carrier who will be 5-6 inches taller and despite eastmond being fairly heavy 10-20kg heavier than him. He would also get the traffic from number 8 etc going into the 10-12 channel. Playing 6-7 or 1 in league is also incredibly physical but I would say less so than playing 12 in Union.

All about his attitude, if he wants to play then he is a good player, not the same player as he is 10 years older but there aren’t many players with his skill set who are available and have a big cap exemption

People on here ain't stupid mate. What the signing offers is a Ray of hope.
We thought our season was done before it started. Loosing our most promising young player, and having no fit halves for first few rounds could have meant game over.
I personally think we'll be lucky to get 10 games out of Eastmond, but he just offers us a glimmer......

No doubting his ability, he was IMO the best passer of a ball in Union in the English game but was hardly given a fair crack at international level. He was brilliant on the England tour to Argentina had a superb game against the All Blacks but the team was thumped and he was dropped. He suffered because Stuart Lancaster couldn't select consistently.
History would suggest that he is very injury prone now but he may be able to manage that. He was wasted in Union, spending all his time trying to clear out 20 stone forwards.
Glad to see him back in his natural environment.

Are you sure we aint stupid??? Like.....really sure?

No. Meant I ain't stupid....!


My eyes are open to alot of things going on at the minute......

Take out Handley and where is the pace ?

Have to agree we are lacking pace. You would have to say Eastmond will have more pace than Lui however hard to say as not seen Lui run more than 10 yards

Spot on pal , not sure what everyone is expecting , he is never fit and lost most of his pace but i guess it is a cheap gamble and we are pretty desperate at half back due to injuries , ect

Newman to come in he's no slouch Hurrell probably the most explosive player in Super league that more than makes up for his lack of pace.Martin and Mellor are quick for second rowers.

Newman frequently got caught by other teams when he was in the clear last year. He's not as fast as Handley. Handley has good top speed but he's a straight-line runner - we need someone with a bit of elusiveness and a step as well IMO.

Sam Tomkins?

Tindall is the closest we have to pace + evasion.

We are becoming quite a physical side again but yes, could do with a couple of players able to finish from distance. If we can really play as a team though I think we’ll do well from this year onwards. We have some good players.

Take out the front line winger from any side and they will lack a bit of pace. Agree we could do with upgrading briscoe for another wing with genuine gas. Depending on eastmond at the end of the year we could also do with upgrading our 6 for somebody with pace who takes on the line. If he stays fit then eastmond is that kind of player.

If you took grace out from Saints then they have Tommy M on the other wing and maybe Lomax with some wheels but apart from that 1,3,4 and 7 aren’t blessed with pace.

You need some pace in your team but it isn’t the be all and end all. If we upgrade briscoe and lui next year that’s fine with me

Doubt we will get another half next year with eastmond on 2 year deal. Think we may see tindal a few times this year as well. Future's bright.

That wonder try effort from Tindall last year shows you quite a lot about him. Evasive, has a great step and pace to burn.

Really excited to see him develop. I hope they give him Briscoes wing spot eventually.

Rather than sign a winger I mean.

Very true. Well said

One of the declining elements of RL has been the overall pace of back lines. Ours is adequate in that regard.

You forgot Regan Grace, who is pretty quick. And Naiqama seems more dynamic than Hurrell. Percival is no slouch either. That's a much faster backline than ours. They've moved on from the days of statue Wellens at FB.

My beef with the lack of pace in the team is that in many games last season we were conceded a long-range try and none of the team were in sight to stop the break. Likewise on attack, it is easier for teams to telegraph deep passing moves when we only have one fast player who has the capability to go the length.

Remember when we had a backline of Hardaker, Watkins, Hall, Briscoe/BJB and Moon? Not to mention Burrow, who had explosive pace over short range. The current squad has nothing like the running strike of those days, although I don't want to be too negative - we seem to be going in the right direction with recruitment (slowly!).

He literally mentioned him in the first line?

I mentioned Grace in the first line, the point was if you took him out that was what was left.

Maybe hurrell isn’t as quick as naiqama but Newman is maybe quicker than Percival, Walker maybe quicker than coote. The issue is the second winger and some pace in the halves. Eastmond could fix one of those issues but longer term you trade up briscoe for a winger with more pace.

Pace is great, but the game had changed. Raw paced players tend to be more slender, and wingers are expected to be strong as an ox now ( we can probably thank our own Ryan Hall for that).
Players like Kevin Penny tend to be forced out of the game. Which imho is a great shame....

Given the choice I’d take a player who can break the line like Newman