coley has come on alot in last couple of years. even though i myself a wire fan, he gets looked over to often

Not many, i reckon. Gidley, Cunningham, Meli & Fozzard are leaving. Wellens (who's 30 this year, by my calculations) and Flannery (who's about the same) are considered by most to be coming to the end of their tenure.
Apart from front rows, I think that's about it. Who's the oldest after that? Pryce maybe.
I don't think an ageing squad is something we need to worry about.

Aren't 4 of your props OOC this year. if Faas was leaving as rumoured, I'd be interested see if we could pich Prescott off you, he seems to have really come on in the past couple of seasons.

we'll have, with their ages next season, Wello (31), Tony P (32), Perry (30) and if they are retained Flannery (31), Maurie (31) and Meli (32)
and leon turn 30 next October too!
not bad at all, i'd suggest we'll have one of the youngest squads in the league?

Im not saying your telling porkie pies brian but can you prove that carmont and gleeson have used their wingers more than shenton ?

Obviously it is difficult to prove but the fact that Wigan have the highest scoring wingers in Superleague should be a decent indication.

What I will do however is ask on the Cas board whether they think that Shenton is a "wingers" centre.

Playing centre for Cas and playing centre for Saints would be like a whole new ball game for the lad.

Perry is just about the right option for us. He's a big guy who can play the centimetres game and, importantly, will help block off the ruck area in defence. Age isn't a concern. The guy is in his prime (or should be) and I'm sure he won't be embarrassed alongside the pantheon of experienced Aussie props who have performed sterling feats in St. Helens colours (Britt, Fairleigh etc.)

If we get Shenton I'll be more than happy. He has all the attributes to mature into an excellent centre and I'm sure he would combine well with our core group of youngsters.

If the deal falls through it won't be the end of the world. The NRL is overflowing with three-quarter talent and I'm certain we can come to an agreement with a quality player.

How good was Apollo, do you reckon? Before graham came along I rated him as our 3rd best superleague prop behind thise two. However, sometimes I wonder whether back in 96-98 the standard of props wasn't as good... ... ... but then I remeber how hard he could tackle!

I don't think Apollo was in the same category as Fairleigh & Ward. But he was definitely in the outstanding class directly below - perhaps alongside Britt (who misses out by a smidgeon, if at all).

You know, when you said Fairleigh and Ward, i was a bit worried you'd made a typo (or had gone mad).
Kevin Ward was just before my time.

Kevin Ward was by far the best prop i have ever seen and that includes the Kiwis and Aussies.

I believe you. Barry Ward on the other hand was the biggest waste of a shirt since....
since....
well....
Bryan Henare?

You never saw Brian McTigue, Cliff Watson etc then?

No i did not see them Rogues so i stand by with what i said.

We can't all be 87, Rogues.

From when I've seen pies this year they score a lot off kicks.

Check the stats for assits from gleeson and carmont, you will see it's obvious they didn't give final pass on to winger as often as you'd like to think brian.

Kevin Ward is my God.

Cliff Watson - My friend and I used to call him Legs Watson

I loved watching him play. I was only a youngster then.

Great though McTigue, Watson etc. were, they would be tossed about like rag dolls in today's game. Let's not forget that there are bigger WINGERS in SL & the NRL.

They say the pension years should be the flurishment of life, yet having to watch karl pryce, brady malam, Jordan James and mick cassidy over the last few years has left our pie friend in a state of undiagnosed rugby fantasy!

It's true, poor brave Brian has been left with just age comparison, and has not seen a winning side in years. We love him, because he loves us...

IMO Apollo was by far better than britt, britt was getting on to be fair but Apollo was big, strong, done 80 mins, as fit as they come, hard in defence and was faster than some wingers! This guy could score 60 meter tries!

It's hard to rate fairleigh against the likes of Apollo, graham and ward as he wasn't here very long.

1 - Ward

2 - graham

3 - apollo

4- fairleigh

Considering he was right as the end of his career Ward was the best prop I`d ever seen in saints colours.

But in the last 2 or 3 years James Graham has for me eclipsed Wardy`s performances.

We have done pretty well in between with props like Britt , Fairleigh , Apollo , Cayless in his first year, Baloo but for me those two are a step above.

I agree we have always had a good prop and cayless was awesome in his first year. Maybe next year will be first time in long time that we will have two top class starting props in jammer and perry.

I think in terms of playing prop forward, i'd disagree. I think both Fairleigh and Britt were ahead of Apollo.

However, what Apollo did have, which has probably helped make your decision was a (in top trumps terms) a [ihero[/i score of 100.

You'd watch him play and he'd smash one of the oppo props in the tackle, then later on he'd take in the ball and they'd smash him, but he'd get up, smile and say "Good tackle, mate." (I think it was Barry McDermott that retold that story, once) and you'd see him give them a little thumbs up.