I keep hearing reports of other SL teams strengthening their squads for next year, letting players go and recruiting replacements but yet still havent heard anything from Leeds. I know in the past we have always been late and usually stuck by the policy of not revealing until 1st Sept, but it always seems that every other team has completed their recruitments well before us.
Im assuming, that since Seniors injury had compounded the decision not to offer him a new contract, that we already had his replacement in mind ?? and with all the talk of Darrell Griffin as a replcement for Burgess/Cross, these replacements would be the absolute minimum we should be expecting. Even if we sign Griffin and a suitable replacement for Senior, this just leaves us exactly where we were !!! i.e. "not a top 4 side" and this is not acceptable for us.
Any replacement for Senior is unlikely to be as good as he has been for us !! and Griffin is just an average front row forward, so where is the spark, the leadership, the breaks going to come from ? because Burrows has been a one-trick pony for ages, and it hurts me to say but Bailey has been our best forward for a while !!!
Some earliar decisions were baffling !! to renew Webbs contract was amazing when we have BJB who in everyones assessment is a star of the future is remarkable, and Leuluai beggars belief !! what he brings to the side is beyond me !!! I wouldnt have the cheek to hold out my hand for my wages when we have Paeacock alongside him doing twice as much work in metres gained and tackles and times on the field every week !!!
Time for some announcements GH !!!!!

Someone clearly exceeded their exclamation mark quota.

Leeds have a new stand to build, a full time RU side to fund, falling season ticket sales and an owner with no liquidity - what do you expect?

Yeah I know!! Then he was all like this!! And I was all like oh my god!!

You don't have to pay big transfer fees to build championship winning sides.

How much did the core of the squad that won four Grand Finals in six years cost in transfer fees?

Whoa there champ.

Whilst I agree BJB has a bright future in the game he is not the finished article. I may not be Webbs biggest fan but he is a god role model for BJB and having both of them gives us good cover at FB and BJB can also play on the wing. BJB will get plenty of game time so his development wont be affected.

As for your assesment of Kylie! Him and JP are different players doing different jobs. Kylie is still very good at what he does which is sucking tacklers in and wearing them out and he has at least another year in him.

Yes we need a few new faces next year but we also need to be careful not have a knee jerk reaction and go for wholesale changes. With Cross, Burgess and Senior now gone and it looking likely the Ali will also go thats quite enough for me. At least for Phase 1 of the upgrade to the squad.

We have some good youngsters but they need experience around them and also to not be worn out by being played week in week out when they aren't ready.

Ha. Says it all.

Tony Martin, Lincoln Withers available. Be careful what you wish for.

Agree with a few points raised above, but I would just point out that GH's recruitment judgement has not exactly been great this last two years, (Eastwood and Cross!), so I also think simply going out and buying anyone who's available just to fill the gaps is a pointless exercise. We need to find and source quality replacements or give our own youngsters a chance to step up and prove their worth over the next few years. GH has been on the lookout for new faces apparently, but maybe even he realises that the last two imports we brought in did not, ultimately work out, and doesn't want to make the same mistake again?
No need to rush things, and lets see what GH can come up with in the next few weeks. There is presumably space on the salary cap with Senior, Cross and Biff Burgess gone, so lets be patient and see what happens.

Bit harsh holding Hetherington responsible for Eastwood being an injury prone, homesick, obese baby.

Only bit I might hold him responsible for is not checking for potential visa issues first time around, but then again nobody knows what the player did and didn't declare to the club before he signed the contract.

NO!!!
WE SHOULD JUST BUY EVERYBODY!!!
I WANT TO SEE A NEW FACE!!!
AN EXPENSIVE NEW FACE!!!

You are me from 2006 and i claim my cake.

OK maybe GH didnt see the problems that arose with Eastwood, but recent past events show that Bedsy was the last decent import we brought in, and that was 2 years ago. If we cannot find any quality replacements, my point was that there's no real benefit in just filling our salary cap/quota with any old player that comes along.

Yawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Am hearing rumours that we are signing Richard Moore!!! If so.............oh dear!

Regarding potential signings some clubs dont even know who is coach yet

Wasn't Keith supposed to be going to Wakey the week before Kear left ? Now Morgan going too from KR who knows what they had in mind regards signings, GH could just be waiting to bullet BMC and JL and let a new coch make his own signings :-p You can only hope

Regarding potential signings do people not think it would be a good idea to post their opinion on the rumours/2012 squad thread? Just a thought like.

I agree.


Regards,
Lee 0.83 Smith.

In youth development costs - I would suggest more than any transfer fees.

I am not for one minute suggesting the club should pay any transfer fees - I doubt Saints paid any transfer fees for their imports, I bet Wigan didn't pay Melbourne a penny for Hoffman, Lima and Finch.

As you said you don't have to pay big transfer fees to build championship winning sides

You, as ever, paint such a bleak financial picture of a succesfully run Grade A Licence SL club.

Is the finance for the stand not in place, including a thumping great cash contribution from the club?
How are the Rhinos funding a RU side that is slashing and burning its costs and seems to have settled for life within its income and outside the Premiership?
What is the trend on season tickets over the last 3 years, and how does this compare to other clubs?
Which owner has no liquidity and how is this relevant to a club with the biggest turnover in the game?

To answer your questions

The finance will be in place for the stand but it needs to be paid for - i.e. interest - given a capacity of 12k max during renovation revenue will be down
Last year the Rhinos loaned the Tykes 1.7m - that was with premiership income with a cheap squad!! In the lower division a squad of 30 will not be self funding.
Season ticket sales have fallen over the past three years - given the economic situation I doubt that is likely to see anything but a continuation
Caddick is commercial property developer - do you see much commercial property development going on? logic suggests he will not have the liquidity he once had.

So go on you paint your rosy picture - I prefer a realistic view

Woah! That's all you're basing your accusations that Mr Caddick is not liquid on?

Bit of a leap isn't it? I'm sure it's very likely that turnover is down, but that doesn't necessarily translate to instant cash-flow problems does it?

I've applauded Richard Moore for his efforts against us this season. He has been more than a handful. Great aggression with ball in hand. Seems to be displaying the signs of the potential from a few years ago. His health issues won't have helped him. Is he a player that would make that much added value? Probably not. But is he a better prop than the ones we let go (Cross/Biff) ? Yes.

Yes, the loan element will have interest payments. What is it in the current financials, or the track record of the company in wiping out the historic debt, that suggests to you that making those payments will be an issue?

Yes capacity will be reduced for part of the year by the 6500 capacity of the southstand, do you think the clubs cash flow projections will not allow for this?



Despite your conspiracy theories regarding that loan, did not Mjm explain to you that the inter-company loan from the cash rich Rhinos was secured and would have to be repaid, and given the RU mob receive parachute payments and have been supported by Caddick to the tune of millions over 10 years there is no reason to expect it not to be repaid. Would you not think that cash was earmarked for the southstand, and would be due back in sooner rather than later?



Your speculation may be correct.



Your speculation and "logic" isn't really relevant is it; as Caddick doesn't plough cash into the Rhinos, he ploughs it into the RU, although it appears he might have had enough of that black hole given the departure of everyman and his dog from the RU side after the latest relegation fiasco.



I don't mind the realism at all, I fully expect Leeds to cut their cloth accordingly over the next couple of years, but to me I see that having a negligible effect on the playing side given a near £12m turnover and enough cash to half fund a southstand rebuild and provision 500k towards the HMRC issue.

In a sport with a comparitavely low salary cap Leeds are not going to be at a significant disadvantage compared to the competition.

What I do question, is the conclusions you draw from some of your wild theories.