Well that dispels all the guys who said Leeds and Wigan where fighting over signing the gazelle. Still a bankrupt club is a good option for the lad and I do wish him well and no I am not envious the pies have Smith far from it.

How do you come to these conclusions? He left Salford for a fee when Salford were skint and he left them to join one of biggest clubs in Rugby who were doing very well at the time. I'm pretty certain Salford were desperate to keep him but just couldnt compete

Fair enough, which is like the rumour that Salford offered Gaskell a new contract but Bradford offered more dosh.

You are of course perfectly entitled to not rate him for whatever reasons but my point is that he seems to be very much wanted by Bradford and their fans and good luck to him for the future.

Not more dosh. He wanted to play in the halves, apparently Bradford assured him he would. Salford have got the halves covered

Would seem a more likely situation to me too , I cant honestly see many teams outbidding Salford (especially not a team as skint as Bradford), at least not until the recruitment drive eases off a little. Anyways dont know if it's still the case but he couldnt even shift Ryan McGoldrick from the halves at one point so that isnt a great sign

Saints wanted to keep lee they offered him a contract if I recall but lee wanted see how season panned out it seemed to have backed fired and now lee is on to pastures new whether it be Bradford London Leigh or blackbrook even union good luck to the lad

Thats the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. He could hardly have expected a bumper deal coming off the back of a poor season where he was not first choice. For once the clubs dubious contract strategy seems to have worked.

Bankrupt club offer more than cashed up super rich Salford shocker!!!

If true, (I doubt) then Salford must not think much of him to be outbid by a club that can't even pay players wages.

He was highly thought of at saints and got a very good deal for a young lad. At the time he was on more than lomax and Jamie foster (Jamie was on fire).

His constant sulking as resulted in him getting to this point.

Wasn't sulking and saints if I'm hearing right still have offer on table for him

Both parts of that are wrong.

I'm not sure why Saints would still be offering him a contract considering that we've been in desperate need of a half back this year and have preferred almost everybody bar Stan Wall to him in the position.

Unless there's some way in which we would get compensation for him a la football if he is offered a contract?

If we offer Gaskell a better contract than he's currently on, but he goes elsewhere, we get 20K compensation.

This applies under a certain age in the early 20's but I'm uncertain on the exact age.

I think Gaskell is a more talented plyer than Smith.
They both have a mighty boot on them.
Smith is a good enough half to distribute from 1st according to a strong play book (wigan's structure is, as we all know, very strong and when at Salford, the Smith, Holdsworth, Patten combinations were really good), but he lacks any real vision or spark.
I'm not sure if Gaskell's distribution and deceison making is (currently) as good as Smith's, but he does have more ability to take the line on.

The fact the club have been so ruthless with him, even though half back is an area we are sorely short in, means that there's obviously something amiss with him (something more than just "his face not fitting" or petty personal differences), so I'll back the clubs decision.

I'm sure he'll make a decent SL halfback (or maybe full back).

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_transfer_%28association_football%29I found this[/url, relating to bosman transfers in football, which says 24.

24 I think - would make sense to offer him something then, maybe 50 pence more than he is on now

He might sign it tho

Have to disagree there, smith can lead a team round the pitch, precise kicking and a consummate professional.
For me he's much much better than Gaskell

+1

Smith only really developed that after he left us and got regular rugby at Salford, though. He's 26 now and I would be suprised if Gaskell isn't significantly better by that point.

Smiths a much better defender, mind.

Smith only really developed that after he left us and got regular rugby at Salford, though. He's 26 now and I would be suprised if Gaskell isn't significantly better by that point.

Smiths a much better defender, mind.

Used to be 24. Changed to 22 a year or two back.

Again, I disagree. He got us to the 2007 gf and then was dropped for longy for the final. Still a big mistake by us IMO

His short kicking game was atrocious at the time, though his long kicking game was good. He's a very workmanlike player, good at what he does but will never have that spark of brilliance.

Gaskell for me has a better all round kicking game, though possibly lacks the length of kick that Smith had at that age, has a better running game and is a better passer.

I'd agree on him being dropped in 2007 being a mistake, but I suppose hindsight has a large part to play in that.