You're losing faith in Walsh ... Even though the club said he'd be back the second week of April ... It's not even April yet?!?

Lomax is a very awkward situation. I want him to return and wouldn't want to lose him, but 2 injuries since his last contract, he can't command the same salary ... And we need to it to bring the cover in ...

Unless we're looking at someone like McDonnell in the lower leagues in Aus, I'm not sure who we could even go for ...

On Walsh, I think it's because his return has been a moveable feast. The club has given several dates for his return which have come and gone, with the date then being pushed further back. When something like that happens, it's easy to lose faith.

On Lomax, don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely gutted that he was starting to show genuine threat and talent consistently before his first knee injury. But notably he didn't show anything like that in the few games he had this year, and now he's had a second really serious injury, I just don't see how he comes back. Pro RL is not a forgiving game, and even proven great players like Sculthorpe, Farrell and O'Loughlin have shown that when injuries mean your body can't do it any more, it's not so much a gradual decline as a cliff-edge fall. I do remember when Sculthorpe developed his serious back problems, and there were people on here saying that he just needed rest, while the club put out a cloud of chaff about how he'd return "110% fit". But he was done. You can't play pro RL with a wrecked back. You can't play pro RL with two wrecked knees either. Hopefully the club have top notch insurance policies to ensure the player is looked after. But I think it's over.

It's tough on the player but he would be able to claim insurance I assume if he was forced to retire on medical grounds? Maybe the club could give him a non playing role and then let him go through the full re-hab without any pressure on him and see how he feels in 12 or 18 months. It's going to be a tough call for the club to make but by this being a salary capped sport there is no room for sentiment, at least not if you want to succeed.

There should certainly be a salary cap dispensation for injuries caused by foul play. We are now without Burns for a major chunk of the season, having to pay his wages and have no leeway to bring in a replacement - none of which is Burns or the clubs fault.

If the referees and judiciary are not going to protect players and their clubs from foul play, then there should be some financial "benefit" to being on the receiving end of incidents such as Fridays.

As an aside, a player who didn't have the ball sustained 3 fractured bones in his face, and the referee only deemed it to be a penalty?!?! James Childs certainly leads a charmed life at the RFL for whatever reason.

The irony is Scully did feel better with rest .... alot of it. His problem was his age though , he couldn't just take a couple of years to recover then come back. Lomax does have time on his side though. Although not rugby , take a look at the case of Craig Gordon the Celtic goalkeeper , he looked finished but after a long break has made a successful comeback.

Daniel Vidot from Brisbane isn't wanted there and has been told he can leave this season, so if we could fit him under the cap he'd do a good job allowing Makinson to play at full back. Stuart Mills is another, but he's also a winger. I've got no idea what other players are available to play in the spine though, so we'd have to look at reserve grade which I have no idea about.

People like you really wind me up. No wonder the Internet is full of rumours and nonsense. It's because of idiots like you.

The club have explained why the dates have moved for Walsh.

Id seriously consider throwing the pies game and go for a win on Monday agsinst hull. I don't see the point of risking roby, greenwood, wello who are already carrying knocks.

Points are going to be to come by now and 2 points over Easter is a must now.

You're right, of course. Anyone with an opinion you disagree with must be an idiot.

I wish I was as insightful and infallible keyboard warrior as you.

Too much negativity on here, if Wellens and Roby are available we should definitly be going for a win.
Dawson and Jonesy in the centres with Turner at 6 as per last season.
Our pack still good enough to grind the wigoons down, complete our sets and cut down our errors and we will be very much in this game.

Id say having lomax, percy, burns, walsh, vea Defo out and wello, Roby and greenwood serious doubts pretty negative.

We've already got flash putting his hand up to play when he shouldn't be playing as well.

Two points from Easter would be good Imo now.

Not a keyboard warrior at all. I just cannot understand people like you who are given an explanation by the club and then simply ignore it and make up your own version of events.

They've said he'll be back by 2nd week in April, it's now 31st of March and you're saying he'll never play for us again.

Get a grip.

Going to have to have quite a few Guinness before this one judging by the possible XIII's been put on here!

Just have to get behind em and if something doesn't come off don't get on their backs about it.

COYS

You should try reading more carefully before throwing around personal insults. I did not say Walsh will never play for us again. I said I was getting more concerned with every delayed return.

As for the club's statements, I'm touched that you see them as commandments written on tablets of stone. Clubs get things wrong; they indulge in wishful thinking; they are tripped up by developments beyond their control; and they occasionally deliberately mislead for a variety of motives. The club also said Walsh would be returning several weeks ago. That was wrong. I think it's not unreasonable to be concerned that they may be wrong again.

Burns and Walsh will be back, so whilst it's incredibly frustrating were without them, I don't think we need to be looking to move anyone in - it's only Lomax we could replace.

Vidot would be a great move imo, especially if we think Makinson is the long term fullback/ second choice - I'd prefer to keep him as a specialist winger, but if we can't find a quality fullback, vidot would be very good. Surely a subsidised deal until the end of the year would surely work?

They shave explained what happened!! What they announced at the time was correct but they then he unforeseen setbacks. What's difficult about that?

Is it time to start considering the possibilty that Lomax's knees arnt up to it? yet another season out. Wouldnt be surprised if his insurers werent getting a bit tetchy.

You're right. I for one am surprised that on a 4 page thread nobody has yet thought to discuss the possibility of Lomax having a career-threatening injury.

I'm sure people said that about Tommy Martyn?
Let's also not forget the knee problems Sean long had?

Only time will tell with Johnny, for me our biggest problem could be not planning ahead, with Wellens possibly hanging them up this autumn who plays full back next year if Lomax gets injured again

Rock & a hard place springs to mind on that one for Saints. Got to stick by the lad for now though

Nothing. One of us accepts that the club has in the past released statements about Walsh's return which have proved inaccurate. One of us doesn't. One of us, as a result, exercises reasonable doubt about the accuracy of future statements. The other acts like a fly banging against a window, being equally surprised every time it gets cracked on the head.

Are you being deliberately obtuse!? They have explained why those statements turned out to be inaccurate you muppet!!

Superb.



I'm with you in your growing skepticism (even if I spell it differently). I think Saints have now made three announcements on his return, two of which have proven inaccurate for whatever reason. It would have been better had they said nothing other than 'he's making progress' given that we were all prepared at the end of last season for him to be out for some of this season too.

As for Lomax ... it would be a real shame if his dodgy knees meant the end of his rugby career, especially given the courage he showed after his head injury as a youngster. But on both occasions of his injury to this knee it just gave way under him without any challenge so clearly there is a real problem there, whatever it is. Either way the club will be making back up plans I'm sure.

Makinson looks good at fullback and it was his position of preference. It's easier to bring in a young back on the wing first than at fullback, and we won't be able to find anyone externally at this stage of the season I shouldn't think anyway. Given that Wello has already suffered an injury I'm not sure we will be able to rely upon him to cover as we did last season. I'm not sure we should either; we should be seeking to move on from him as he won't be on the field next year anyway.

I think, for the second time on this thread, you haven't discerned the meaning of my words. We'll leave it there. You should perhaps be a bit slower to throw around personal insults when all someone is doing is offering a perfectly reasonable alternative view to your own.

I'm thinking some people will believe what they want to believe just because when it comes to Walsh, regardless of empircal evidence is put in front of them.

Walshs current return date is the second week in April. Yes, he might fall in the shower tomorrow and re-break it leading to another 6 months out. That doesn't make the first statement any less true, it just means new circumstances. I'm not sure why that's hard to follow...

What do we as fans want? Club statements that read more akin to legal papers?