Forgive me for pointing this out, Gotcha, but this isn't going to win the "Most thrilling rumour of the year" award

I've heard that all the moneybags Wire players are fed up of being the bridesmaids. They have found a legal loophole whereby they can join any other team on peanuts and their wives/girlfriends/significant others/mums mate Shirley can still pick up their whopping salaries doing their 2 hour a week shifts in the Wolves shop. its just a rumour mind

Also heard a rumour that someone has found that Rangi Chase has infact got English heritage. Apparantly his childhood pet Bouncer cam from a litter where the grandmother bitch was from Kippax

I know, what the hell. The one somebody mentioned today was Shontane Hape. How can I get this to be clear that this is not me saying it, or putting any crededence to it.

If this was 2005 that would be an awsome signing. I still think he has something to offer, but he'd probably not have the impact we'd expect

I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of players currently at the RWC decided to give league a go at the end of the tournament. Hape seems to have found himself odd man out in England's midfield, with the emergence of Tuilagi and the continued insistence on picking the talentless nerk that is Mike Tindall.

I'm struggling to think of any more than maybe half a dozen players from the home nations who would convert well into league and still have enough time left in their career to do it justice though.

Maybe Jamie Roberts? Gordon Darcy would have been a good one IMO but is the wrong side of 30 now. Delon Armitage?

To be fair, Tindall is past his best now, and it's hard to see what he offers, but in his prime he was a great wrecking ball centre, and one of a pair of options for different game plans (the other being Mike Catt) that served England very well in the early part of this century.

But to business. Armitage and Foden are good runners of the ball. George North has all the attributes you'd want. Not sure where Roberts would fit in RL, perhaps at 11 or 12? Perhaps RU could keep Hape and we could have Tuilagi instead?

The big switch potential is in some of the ball-carrying back rows. Sean O'Brien is one who springs to mind immediately. James Haskell could go quite well too. Elsewhere in the pack, Courtney Lawes is a physical freak who could do well in either code.

However, when you start to think about what it would cost to bring them across the divide, I doubt they'd offer enough to justify the expense.

Haskell's fairly recently gone to Japan for what I suspect will be megabucks, and is contracted to come back to Wasps in 2012-13 I believe.

See what you mean about the likes of O'Brien though (see also Tom Croft), although I wonder about the ball skills of your average union back rower.

I personally would see Roberts playing as a wide-running second rower. Hits the ball really well, runs intelligent lines and isn't afraid of the physical aspects of the game. The latter is the aspect that would worry me with Foden. A rugby league full back can be really isolated, is he tough enough to cope?

The one that I've seen at the kicking tournament who looks the most natural RL player (other than Sonny Bill Williams) is the NZ scrumhalf Piri Weepu, who could play 7/9/13 or even centre at RL. Imagine the NRL will be more attractive to any converting All Blacks though.

Gilmour started his pro career at Wigan in 1997. I don't have any positional stats on his total career but do have the positions he has played when opposing Leeds, which he has done on 37 + =#0000BF11 occasions.

Gilmour V Leeds 1997 to 2011:

Wigan (1997 to 2000): Winger 1, Second Row 3, Loose 1, Sub =#0000BF4

Bradford (2001 to 2003): Centre 5, Sub =#0000BF6

St Helens (2004 to 2009): Centre 5, Second Row 16, Loose 1, Sub =#0000BF1

Huddersfield (2010 to 2011): Centre 1, Second Row 4

Sonny Bill Williams is the one we should be talking to.

He has indicated he will consider a return to League and is happy to play in Europe again. He doesn't want to commit to a long term contract and is keen to further his boxing career (UK would be good for this) He is flexible as he turned down 1 mill pa from a French club to play for the All Blacks on 250K. He will be out of contract after the RU World Cup.

He earns a lot from outside sponsors and IMO in the UK would earn more from these sources + boxing. So GH get on the phone!

sonny bill williams would be able to resurrect his shoulder charge when he moves back to league too,that hit on marcus bai was a beauty

It was a good shot on Bai but a shoulder to the head of an opponent should have been outlawed long ago.

I've never quite understood how such a tackle can escape punishment when using any other part of the arm would be an automatic penalty ...... if picked up by the officials.

Because it would be ludicrous to give a penalty for a high tackle against a player who keeps his arms by his side.

That and it is a tough skill, in a tough game played by tough men.

Is the object of this skill to make contact with the head of an opponent?

It should be fairly irrelevant which part of a defender's body makes contact with an opponent's head. Any contact above the shoulder should be off-limits and pretty much an automatic penalty.

I’ve heard from a very reliable source that Rangi Chase is signing for Leeds.

Here we go again

No the object of this skill is to execute the tackle. It would be ridiculously difficult to try and effect a tackle which deliberately targets the head of your opponent without raising your arms, which is why it so rarely happens and why we remember a hit when it did for so long ago, when it likely happened more by luck than judgement.

$Bill singed to play for the All Blacks to improve the $Bill Brand - the All Black brand (and it is a brand) is worth more in the long run (sponsorship, after dinner speeches, etc) rather than a quick shot in the bank from one French RU club. He thinks he is a boxer but has only fought chumps.

Actually, a shoulder to the head [ishould[/i be a penalty...



...the problem is that it's very hard for Ref's to tell where the initial contact is and then decide if the contact with the head was intentional/reckless/careless.

Take the Biffa jaw break the other year, I've seen numerous replays and yet still couldn't really determine with certainty where the initial contact with. IMO that was at least a careless tackle and should have resulted in a 1 match ban (the RFL kangaroo court doesn't agee with me though [urlhttp://www.therfl.co.uk/disciplinary/item?2177[/url)

The SBW-Bai one on the other hand I always thought was a pretty spot on execution of a legal shoulder charge - IIRC the contact was with the chest and it was the whiplash/Bai head hitting the deck that left him dazed.

BTW on the subject of the RFL disciplinary - I see that this week Clarkson and Kylie were up for review respectively for taking his "feet off ground in concerning manner" and "getting into the ninja position"




(both have no case to answer)

Nice to see Coley and Lima on the list yet again. Suprised O'Loughlin isnt on it yet again

[url=http://viewtopic.php?f=17&t=510350/urlNew Clean Thread started for 2012[/url

Nice start to his SL career for Tony Tonks too, sitting out the first two games after his ridiculous charge in the brawl in the Championship GF on Sunday.

What were the other bans handed out for that fight?

Kirk Netherton, Joe Hirst, Tim Bergin, Greg Worthington, Dane MacDonald, Quentin Laulu-Togagae, Misi Taluapapa - 1 game and £50

Andy Kain - £100 fine, no suspension

Mitchell Stringer didn't even bother to attend the hearing for his cowardly assault on Tom Saxton, and picked up two games in his absence plus £100 fine.