It's all about how Brown uses them as to whether this is good or bad. I don't think Brown has had his hands tied, if he did not want them we would not have signed them.

There has to be a hand over of the mantle from Wellens to the next FB, but I can see Brown doing this, we all say great things about those who could replace, but if we got rid of Wellens and played them and they were all a nightmare then how silly would we look. If we just play Wellens every game then it's not a great deal.

Meli is as devastating going forwards as he is at slip ups in grand finals, but again it's about where Brown will use him. Jones Turner Meli Garder gives us some grunt in the centres and some speed outwide.



Clough as our key prop this would be a bad deal, but we have no idea what money, he is getting paid and quite frankly his stats don't lie.

Who's the top try scorer this year?

Excellent news. Gives us depth in the backline, and we retain one of our top metre makers. There isn't much on the market at the moment anyway, and I hear we're still after couple of new signings to go along with these.

I'm sure that Brown will be giving a youngster a chance from time to time at full back next season regardless of this news.

Stop asking awkward questions that the doom mongers really don't want to answer.

And you, stop that, you are being sensible.

Who is this Wello fella regarded as a bad signing, we have a Paul Wellens who has won Founder Member Player of the Year.......Runner Up For Player of the Year........Top Try Scorer this Season.......................................... can't be the same bloke.

You're a scout then are you? Because unless you are, you have no idea what is 'on the market' at the moment and so are not in a position to say whether any of these signings are better than what is out there. I bet you had no idea that Josh Jones even existed, except perhaps as a name in the u20s section on the Saints website and yet here he is, full season in the bag and although still defensively very dodgy he is shaping up well in attack.

Who was the top try scorer last year?

To be fair they did also think Makinson was young player of the year...

This announcement demonstrates how far the club has descended since 2006 and reflects how finances have been directed towards the stadium rather than player budgets.

Do you honestly believe that? I can understand the desire to insult me, I've made the point a few times too many and can appreciate it may get annoying, but really? Wello has scored a lot of tries this season, but he could do that until he's 40 at least, he knows where the breaks are made and will be there to fall over the line off someone else's work, but he contributes nothing to the attacking line and it's like we attack with 12 because he's just not a threat. He doesn't have any of the attributes a modern fullback should have and taking the sentimentality and the name away, there is very little left. I'd argue he's now amongst the weakest fullbacks in Super League defensively now, simply because he's never where he should be. He doesn't miss as many tackles because he doesn't get to the tackle, he doesn't drop bombs as much because he's never there so other players catch them or they bounce.

Watch the play offs and the start of next season and see where Wello is when the opposition are scoring. Most of the time he's just not quite there.

Happy for Clough.

I seem to remember Makinson playing fullback against Wigan on Good Friday and having a mare, and his failure to deal with any kicks that Warrington threw at him the other week was a real worry. LIke it or not, Hohiaia and Lomax are our going to be playing 6&7 and how you can judge that the untried Gaskell or Swift would be a better option is beyond me.

Like I say, until a better player comes along, and who knows, they might do, then the retention of Wellens for another year (it's hardly like he's signed a long term deal, by the way) is the sensible solid option that gives us the best VFM.

I'm of the opinion that Meli is one of the best centres in the league. Its suited our team change around to get him back on the wing, as we were playing with two shrimps out there, which wasn't getting us any momentum at the beginning of the set. This strategy worked in Rush's first game against Leeds, which is when he finalised his strategy for the rest of the season.

Get Meli in the centres and stick either Ade or Turner in the vacant wing position to give us the size.

Clough? Great move in my opinion. Won't command mega bucks, but has shown statistically that he can make the yards, makes few mistakes/penalties and has little problem holding his form against better teams (for instance, he had a great game in our last fixture against wire). Have you seen moneyball? I reckon Clough would be top of the list in a yards per £ analysis.

Wello, the real talking point. Playing better now that he was a couple of years ago and making the most of what he's got, but our attack as a whole is predicatable and having a pedestrian #1 (alongside a disfunctional half back pairing) is a massive reason for that.
We are a club that, 5 years ago, was winning trophies. Now we're not.
We need to improve, and just because players contribute, doesn't mean they can't be improved upon.
There was a couple of games last year around August when wello was injured and Eastmond played #1. The difference in attacking threat was marked, the threat out wide, the knowledge that a "nothing" kick or a bad chase, the ability to create something out of very little.
Now, the younsters we've got, whether it be Swift, Ashe, Makinson or even Gaskell may not have the raw attributes of Eastmond, but they do have ability and,given a decent chance running in a decent attacking system could help make our team as a whole a lot more challenging to defend against.

I don't think it's nailed on that Hohaia will be playing 6 at all. Nathan Brown seemed pretty shocked that Saints were doing that on the BBC, saying he's a world class player but not a half back.

I'd like to think Brown was consulted over the decision, but I reckon he probably wasn't. You and others keep rolling this 'until someone better' phrase when we've already got a handful of better players. Better players move every season, we just don't ever sign them.

McManus has always been terrible at building a squad and he's going to lead us well away from trophy winning if he genuinely believes this is a good decision and not just a purely sentimental gesture. If Wello is on good money, it's a horrendous decision.

Dont often post, but have to on this News. I think I'll pick and choose my games next year rather than re-new the season ticket.

Yes I'll go along with the budget restraints of the Salary cap but the facts are there to see, Saints are no longer fun to watch and those 3 resignings dont offer any hope of that changing next year.

Utterly Underwhelming.

I could rant and rave about this but our recruitment for the last 5 years has been awful.

If Wellos on 50K then he effectively costs us nothing on the cap. I would like to see him as Club Captain and Roby to Captain.

Melis done enough for another year and like for like harder to replace.

Clough is part of a bottleneck of average forwards we have. Hopefully brown can rediscover something.

Does any of these signings take us forward. NO

If anything they hold us back.

If Wello is on £50k, he's costing us £50k. Roby and Gardner are both eligible for the £50k exemption, so that's no excuse.

Have I been watching a different Clough this season? He does the hard work. Not every prop can be Paul Gallen.

He's made more yards than any of our other props/2nd rows excluding LMS, and he's done so with generally less game time and carries.

Every team needs a player like Clough, he is top class at what he does - making metres.

Every club does need this type of player but he's to quite for me.

What else would you like him to do?

Can somebody check the rule book, and see if loudhailers are allowed on the pitch.