Because nobody 'really' wanted him at leeds, phew!

Remember all those leeds threads stating how good mullally is and how much Leeds should go out of their way to sign him? No, neither do I.

Fair enough trying to save face, but surely in your heart of hearts you can't honestly say you prefer Mullally to Rapira.

Mullally is ok. I don't feel he's a massive loss to our club. He might kick on and become a world beater. If he does good on him, that's rugby. In reality he'll probably end up at Hunslet.

My Bad

I meant to quote the fart townforlife post that you were responding to in your post that I quoted in error. My unreserved apologies for any hurt to feeling or sensibility

Simply not true, many on here including myself were quite excited by the prospect of Leeds signing him, though there were notes of caution about the risk of signing him because of his run of injury, we've been there, done that and got the shirts with the names of single season flops who arrived in a blaze of glory.

As to no one raving at the prospect of signing Mullally before it was announced, that's probably because it came out of left field and no one predicted it

If we speculated on every possible player Leeds might sign, we'd get nothing else done

I'll let you off this time!!!

I'd have wanted Rapira if he came over to England with the right attitude to win medals and trophies......that he's signed for Huddersfield shows he isn't interested in being successful.

Ouch Printer went and dropped the Trophies and Medals bombs = Game Over thanks for coming Fartown!!
Fwiw i wanted Rapira and i hope it's a signing we don't regret missing out on but saying that we dodged a bullet with Ellis and his injury record wasn't as bad as SP's but time will tell.
As for Mullally well we've signed potential imo and the Giants are openly gutted he's gone but let's be honest the kid has ambition!
P.S. Lets not forget though Brough is the bestest HB ever ..........

^^^^^^^^^^

I agree Rhinoms i would have taken Rapira but there is a question mark clearly hanging over him fitness wise.I am quite sure if he stays fit then Huddersfield have a top class front rower giving them quality service for the next few years but thequestion mark is there for now.

I am satisfied with us getting Mullally TBH on the thinking another experienced quality front rower will be brought in to join him in due course.

Let's go back to the past re trophies and medals.

Maybe Rapira saw that this season is leeds last opportunity to win anything. Maybe he saw how poor you were for 3 games without Sinfield and realised it will only get worse when JP and Kylie leave.

Maybe laughed as much as everybody else when Rob Burrow got another 2 years.

I'm surprised leeds wanted him any way, he doesn't have many medals, therefore must be rubbish.

With regards to Mullally having ambition, that may be the case. Or the fact that he lives in headingley might have something to do with it.

You lot keep mentioning his potential and you might convince yourselves that he's a good signing!

Really? Really??

This rubbish from a fan of a club who every season are one serious injury away from being outside the top 8.

Your one man team is a joke.

Rapira probably choose Huddersfield over Leeds because the former offered a better contract than the latter. Leeds were rumoured to be offering him a one year deal whilst Huddersfield have offered him two years. Regarding Rob Burrow, he’s possibly on reduced terms and certainly won’t be earning the wages that he once did at the peak of his career. Two years is not a bad deal and whilst he's fit to play, he can change a game.

Leeds fans don’t need to worry much about the prop situation with Cuthbertson signed on for four years which will soften the blow of Peacock going. Mullally might not be in that mould but Leeds won grand finals with Kirke in the team so everything’s looking great from a fan prospective. Also Jordan Baldwinson will be back at Leeds next year since becoming a fans favourite at Featherstone Rovers playing prop.

Bookmark this comment because I can confidently predict Leeds will still do better than Huddersfield when Sinfield has gone. Yeah they might have a better goal kicker for a couple of years but that skill is hopeless if your team can only score three tries against their eight in a knock out game.

1 Go back to the past? OK remind us, in the super league era how many CC's, hub caps and SL grand finals have Hudds won?

2 Time will tell, but the transition looks to be going well from here.

3 I don't think there were many laughing and not as many as when Hudds gave Crabtree another go,

4 A lack of medals is no bar to consideration at HQ, hell its what attracts some of our best candidates. A questionable injury record however can put off the more risk averse

5 Your jilted lover view of Mullally, doesn't seem to be shared by the majority on your own board.

Time to let it go Fartown, if you're right and Rapira is the answer, we'll have missed out on a potential signing but there will be others. You could double, treble or even quadruple your trophy count, in a single season.

AND you will still be nowhere near the Leeds trophy count. So on balance I reckon I'll continue to back GH's judgement ref who we sign HTH

With Peacock and probably Leuluai both leaving you'd think a former international prop like Rapira would relish the chance to fill the void left by those two, not run away thinking the worst.

Sinfield of course is leaving too which is massive yes. But by the time the 2016 season kicks off Danny Brough will have turned 33 and will be 34 (the same age Sinfield is now) in the 2nd year of Rapira's contract. Huddersfield need to really start worrying that they can't just rely on the Danny Brough show for much longer themselves.

I really don't understand why Huddersfield persist in signing a new prop every season when it's clear that it's their lack of creativity and cutting edge that's their biggest weakness, players like Grix, Wood, Ellis and the current version of Luke Robinson are middle 8 SL players at best. If Brough were to be injured for a significant period of time I doubt they'd win a game.

That was my thought too. They seem very insistent on continuing further and further down the same track with their gameplan. They seem determined to simply rely on the speed of the ruck plus Brough to get them through games.

I think they're crying out for a bit of variation in their play. They've got a good centre in Cudjoe plus a good winger in McGillivray yet don't utilise them properly. Get them running onto the ball and they'll cause problems.

I reckon they need another good centre plus somebody in the pack who offers something other than just hard work. An offloading Ali/Cuthbertson type second row/prop would transform them in my opinion.

I'm not naive enough to think we'd not be knackered if Brough got injured.

I also recognise we need a new 7 and put Connor in at 1. I've posted about all that on our board several times.

Folk keep refering to Rapiras questionable injury record.

He has averaged 19 games a season over the past 9 years. That's two thirds in the toughest league in the world. That figure has been massively effected by his current hamstring injury. Prior to this he has generally been fit. So I'm not that concerned.

With regards to Mullally I have said he was an alright player who probably deserved more game time. If he had signed for cas or Hull KR nobody would really pass comment. But as I also said, I'm not that bothered about him leaving.

We have had numerous threads on this subject. You are right. We need a plan b and c. Please refer to the Anderson thread.

Wardle is hopefully our future in the 2nd row. He runs great lines and brings us something different. We just then struggle for a centre. We have Connor, but I would prefer him at FB.

Just catching up as I've been away and reading this thread I don't see anyone getting too excited about Rapira when we thought he was heading to Headingley so gloat away. It's a big risk so only time will tell whether he's a success or a dobber.

Everyone seems to suggest that the reason Rapira signed for Hudds rather than leeds for a lot more money or a lack of ambition- I would suggest that the fact that hudds have been the nearly men for a few seasons would pose a bigger challenge for a man whos already won the biggest trophy the sport has to offer- and more besides but on the bigger stage-
I also suspect that a huge professional and friend in david faiumu, who is still at the club behind the scenes, probably had a massive input into his choice. But leeds fans can't accept a recommendation from someone who's already made the difficult choice to move his family half way around the world has more pull than winning something that probably means little to him- like it's guaranteed....... This is a job nothing more. I suspect having his family happy and settled in nice surroundings that remind him of home with good schools for his kids and people he knows nearby is more important to him as a person.

I don't think your argument is bad, and I certainly don't agree with fellow Rhinos fans beliving they have a better deal. However, the true position is that Leeds were only looking at a one year deal, where Huddersfield offered longer, therefore meaning Leeds didn't take it further. Can't blame either party, but' that's real reason.

I would suggest it has absolutely nothing to do with "ambitions" and "challenges" and everything to do with who offered the better deal in terms of finances/time (indeed, we don't know if Leeds even did offer a deal). Having a network/personal contacts might also help, as you say, but if you're moving 12,000 miles it hardly matters which one of two places 20 miles away from each other you end up in working at.

Good luck to him. If he stays fit he should be a good signing for you.

I'd say it does matter if you live anywhere within 20 miles! I'd certainly have a preference between moss side and Alderley edge!!!
An ex boss relocated his family from Surrey after being headhunted and found himself living in chapeltown.... I suspect he was intending to live in chapel allerton,

found himself in negative equity and was stuck for a while.....

I'd certainly take advice from someone I trusted in the know if emigrating to the otherside of the world!

That wasn't quite what I meant. Rapira could live right next door to his old pal in Hudds (assuming that's where he lives) and have less than an hour's commute to almost any club in the league. That's nothing to a back-country New Zealander. If the choice was between Hudds and Leeds the at either club he could live anywhere in West Yorks that his contacts recommended. You'd do well to convince me his choice was to do with anything other than money, but that's fair enough.

Yes he will have a short commute. Whilst his wife and kids are in a strange town knowing no one. He will be at the club with two ex teammates, his wife will know someone and so will his children. Think how many players have gone home because their wives couldnt settle.

I would suspect that Mullally has signed for Leeds because of their record of reaching finals and winning things and a chance to be part of a new look squad over the next few years.

However most Hudds fans seem to think his decision to join one of the very top teams in the competition is based on being able to just roll out of bed to get to training in the morning as he lives in Headingley.

Works both ways

MOst signings can be spun a number of ways by administrators and fans alike. For reference look at the press releases for the signings of O'Neill, McAvoy etc