There were bits and bats on twitter last night regarding he hasn't played this season, injury prone etc etc. Leuluai was contemplating retirement before he joined us all those years ago and look at the service hes given.

If Rapira is anywhere near the ability of Leuluai its a great signing. Weve always been quite successful when it comes to Kiwis and Leeds Rhinos. Toopi aside. He wasn't that that bad was he?

Good Rapira was far far better than Lueluai at his peak. Kylie right now is no great shakes so it's pretty much nailed on Rapira will be step up.

My only concern is that Rapira is likely to be on lot more than Kylie. In an SC sport value is more important than ability and Kylie gave us a lot of bang for his buck but was a pretty limited player. Rapira is better but has suffered with injuries and hasn't hit the heights of a few years ago, but will probably be on a fair whack.

Will be a boom or bust signing in my opinion. If we regularly get 75% of the Rapira of maybe 09 to 13 then he will tear it up, him singleton and cuthbertson are a pretty exciting front row rotation. If we get the Rapira of the last couple of years we will have a lot of cap money sat in the stands

I just hope he stays fit and plays well (if he signs for us), I trust the management at Leeds to allocate the wages responsibly so that's not a concern that I would have.

It's not just Kylie's wage but Peacock's as well that will be gone from the front row next year, If this happens I would be surprised if we brought in another prop as well as Rapira.

Eastwood?

Rapira has a very good pedigree, but he's really struggled with form and injuries in the last 4 years, he reminds me somewhat of Stuart Fielden in a sense.

Good replacement for Leuleuai but I would be disappointed if he was coming in to replace JP.

It's a genetic thing we at Salford had his brother Steve last season.
Had more bandages than a chemists shop

Although the Wariors were pretty ordinary this morning, Rapira came off the bench and was their best forward on the park in his first game of the year.

the imminent signing of rapira was rife at stanningley ages ago,
surely the posters on here that regularly frequent the academy games must have heard that in our clubhouse?

With such a shortage of good quality props in SL Rapira will be a top end player and a welcome addition to the competition.

Lots of interesting talk about rapira 'replacing' Kylie etc.. always strange the way we compare a player coming in to any that are leaving.

As best I can tell rapira is not like either peacock or kylie.

What I think we need is a bit of experience to singos rawness and a bit of bang to Cuthbertsons clever handling. It looks like he offers both those things.

Next question is. Who will be the fourth prop?

Quote ="Fallon" What I think we need is a bit of experience to singos rawness and a bit of bang to Cuthbertsons clever handling. It looks like he offers both those things. '" He certainly runs it in hard. bigpondvideo.com/NRL_Warriors/59 ... ighlights/

Quote ="Fallon" What I think we need is a bit of experience to singos rawness and a bit of bang to Cuthbertsons clever handling. It looks like he offers both those things. '" He certainly runs it in hard. bigpondvideo.com/NRL_Warriors/59 ... ighlights/

With plenty of SC space freed up next year could it finally be the year we sign Fielden, maybe along with Willie Talou to add some cover/competition among the backs





(PS as a testament to JPs incredible longevity to note that he's 2 years older than Fielden...how long ago does it seem since Fielden was the stand out SL prop)

Fielden was a bit of a freak in the mould of Sam Burgess in that he was a stand out front rower in his teens (Who can forget his battles with Barrie??) where most props don't start really making their mark until mid twenties.By that time Fielden had probably become the best prop on the planet, highlighted by the wonderful 2 try performance against Wests in the WCC in 2006.It all came crashing down that same year though with his move to Wigan, His mother passing away and a mullering from Willie Mason in the Tri Series. After that he was a pale shadow of the dominant player he was and he never got it back.Like you say, hard to believe that is nearly a decade ago now and in that period JP came tous, moved to Front row and has been the main man in that position in SL since.

To continue derailing this thread...When you stand back and look at it JP has had the equivalent of 2 excellent careers...

Second Rower/Bratfud- 200+ appearances, 3SL titles(+2 finalist), 2CC (+1 finalist)

Prop/Leeds- 250+ appearances, 5SL titles, 1CC (+2 finalist)

I don't think I can think of any player who even comes close to that achievement.

Fielden's early form was sadly overshadowed by what he became in later years. He was superb against Australia in the home series (2003?), and was great when supported by other good forwards. I think his upright running style eventually told against him, as probably did simply slowing down as he got older and being virtually the sole big forward meaning he'd run with a virtual target on his forehead. He got hit really hard too often and seemed to end up gun shy.

He's one of those players who people seemed to quickly forget had been more than just good for a while.

He didn't win much (a Challenge Cup & Aus Winfield Cup) but Kevin Ward excelled at Cas, Manly & Saints. Admittedly 3/4 of that was at Cas.

Kevin Ward was another that Leeds missed out on as a junior IIRC.

I just read that rumours of Gallen to Leeds seem to be growing as well. The guy's a prize prat as far as I can tell, but he's certainly a very good player. Having said that, you'd also want to make sure he only took one drive in attacking sets - he's a major ball hog.

Gallen a prat you say! Are you saying that as an adopted QLDer (read $hithouse)

? As an adopted New South Welshman I think he is a top bloke. Honest and a warrior. He is a proper ball hog.

We will be losing JP, if we need someone with the quality and appetite for the ball to do the filthy stuff.

Of the 2 which one would you prefer in 2016? Gallen at his best is one of the best players in the world, but at 34(?) will he offer more value for money than Rapira?

Why not both? there must be a fair chunk of cash freeing up at end of the season, and with the marquee player coming in it is surely possible.Rapira, Cuthbertson , Singleton, Gallen and JJB. That would be a great rotation for the next couple of seasons and hopefully the likes of Mulhern and Baldwinson will be on their way to being ready to step up by then.

According to yesterdays RL press the vote will be very close, and they're still not sure how it will work if it's brought in so I have serious doubts as to whether it will be voted in.

I don't see why we would need the Marquee rule anyway. JP and Sir Kev are two of the highest earners at the club plus Kylie is almost certain to retire as well. Im quite sure a fewer of the younger players may end up released as well.

Gallen will probably have a list of SL clubs he would join Leeds Wigan &Warrington will be at the top, Realistically only us and possibly the Wire could afford him. We could have them both really as they would be the only players coming into the club, its the only area we need to strengthen .

I would be a very happy Person watching this Team play nxt season

1.Hardaker
2.Briscoe
3.Watkins
4.Moon
5.Hall
6.Sutcliffe
7.Mcguire (c)
8.Cuthbertson
9.Aiton
10.Gallen
11.JJB
12.Ablett
13.Ward

14.Burrow/R Ward
15.Delaney/Achurch
16.Singleton
17.Rapira



Admit it, Looks good

There's no doubt Gallen is a great player even if he'll be way past his best when he comes to UK (and he's out for a couple of months with injury at the moment - the shape of things to come). But the problem with signing him is that we'll be back to the JP situation of needing to replace an aging star prop in one or two years and won't have solved anything. What do we do then? Get Matt Scott over for a year and repeat ad infinitum?

....not necessarily. Anything might happen in the couple of years period....somebody with more miles on the clock could become available; one of the younger lads might step up; another Burgess type might materialise. Gallen would be a stop-gap yes, but if it solves the problem of replacing Peacock for a couple of years until a possible longer term answer manifests itself then good: sign him.

As always my main concern would be can the new signing slip easily into the so far maintained excellent team ethos that pervades at the club. Just look at how successfully Cuthbertson has done so.