Please PM me the names. I'm in need of some truth.

And risk the wrath of saints?

I'll pm you after.

No wonder you feel depressed!

I don't think we are particularly doing it on the cheap, however we could show a little more ambition

He's been a fixture for the Kiwis for a few years and isn't past it, age wise.
We picked Meli up from the Warriors when he was languihing in the reserves after a loss of form (only a couple of seasons after winning their Player of the year) and, apart from the odd dropped ball, he's worked out a good signing. A new club can invigourate a player.

Perhaps full back isn't the best idea, but we need to get some kicking into th halves.

I reckon next year we may look better with lomax at 1 and Gaskell at 7 than Wellens at 1 and Lomax at 7.

Well Wigan are supposedly chasing Gil Duson. But seeing as Dudson's classed as a prop it's probably not him. I can't see Wigan pursuing another backrower, to say we're flush in that area would be an understatement. Perhaps if he has the ability to play frontrow then Wigan may well be interested.

I've no problem with any of the signings as players, hohaia is a good player and laffranchi is a very good player but it's the fact we've not replaced the out going players.

So that's a first team of seven overseas players, and only five who have come through the clubs academy (I'm discounting Moore as I expect him to be elsewhere)

Where are all these fantastic juniors that Saints supporters keep telling us about?

Do people think we're entering the NRL next season or something? We've finished 3rd this year without Pryce/Eastmond/Perry/Clough (NB both half backs and two props!) for most of the season, but because Pryce/Eastmond/Graham are off, we'll suddenly finish 5th despite adding Lance/Laffranchi/Flanagan to the squad and having Perry, Clough and Gardner back fit?

This team is EASILY good enough to compete for honours at a lovely new stadium in front of big crowds:

Lomax
Gardner
Shenton
Meli
Foster
Wheeler
Lance
Perry
Roby
Puletua
Soliola
Flannery
Wilkin

LMS
Laffranchi
Clough
Flanagan

Likes of Wellens, Makinson, Moore, Gaskell, Armstrong, Magennis, Dixon, Ashurst as pretty experienced back up, plus any of the kids that can step up.

Will there be a better pack and bench than that in SL? I'm not so sure. And in Lomax/Wheeler/Lance/Roby/Wilkin we have a very talented and exciting spine to the team.

I personally can't wait for 2012. What's to be down about? Not that we've finished with 2011 yet!

Carmont, Richards, Finch, Leuluai, Hoffman, Lima, Cross.

Jog on Rogues. Oh and if you're going to count Flanagan as overseas then I'll count Harrison too seen as Flanagan has only been there a couple of years.

And Roberts = 8. They even play him in the under 20s instead of one of their own "fantastic juniors". Now THAT'S what I call hampering development, signing overseas players for your youth teams.

Me too, me too! We're going to have a freshened up team in a brand new stadium with a coach who coaches a more expansive style of rugby.

But you'll be cold because the cladding won't be done and the team you'll be watching will be losing every week

We're getting a new coach?

I can't remember a Saints team making fewer offloads than this one, and we only play to one side.

Very funny.


Yes. That will be something to do with having young, inexperienced halfbacks. There is a whole off season ahead now and since Pryce will not be there or Eastmond, hopefully our coach will be able to develop our attack in the way he wanted to but has been unable to thanks in part to our youthful halves and in part to our continually changing game day team.

You don't need experienced half backs to offload the ball in the tackle.

No, but good ball distribution comes with experience, and that is what I was thinking of in response to the comment about going to the left.

Even at U15's I could pass the ball left and right, it's obviously a tactical ploy from the coach to target play down the left hand side. Whilst they're inexperienced at SL level Jonny and Lee have both been playing for at least 10 years and are able to distribute the ball BOTH ways should that be required. It's tactics going down the left, nothing more nothing less.

Meli
Hohaia
Perry
Puletua
Laffranchi
Soliola
Flannery

Looks like seven too me.

Apologies I missed Flannery. My point still stands that it's no less than you have right now.

Strangely enough I was discussing the very same think with my son in law over my birthday drink or three last night. We were taught too pass a ball off both hands when we were kids. I find it very strange that some modern day players find it a difficult skill.

Happy Birthday for yesterday then. But yes, it isn't that difficult to pass a ball proficiently of both hands, especially for a half back which is why I can't see past it being tactics rather than skill.

Won't be good enough for you to break the Wigan Wire top 2 of this season unless some serious signings are made.

Had we hung on to our half time lead at Wire earlier this season, we'd have been a massive 1 point behind them going into last weekends fixtures. That's despite all our bad luck with injuries.

This "gulf" between Wire/Wigan and us is nothing of the sort. We're a fair crack with injuries away from mixing it at the top of the table again. We may even knock one or both of them off in the play-offs if we can get players back and keep them fit (big if in recent years).

Our squad quality and squad depth has been decreasing for 5 years now. Next season will be our weakest squad for many years IMO. How many of the players in our squad would you class as star players? We're a solid team, with great work rate and some promising young players but I don't see much cutting edge in our squad. Hohaia and Lomax in the halves could go one of two ways - it could be exciting or it could be that two similar styles clash and doesn't work out. After that we have Gaskell (solid player - decent kicking game) and Wheeler (can't string any games together).

I'm genuinely concerned that we're going into a new stadium with one of our weakest SL squads, possibly one of the weakest we've had. Losing Pryce and Graham is a massive blow IMO.

Don't be fooled by all the " were going with youth " crap. That's just a disguise and really means were going cheap.

Longy, KC, gidley, pryce, eastmond, pryce, Graham and hargreves have all left over last few years and no way we've usd their wage to bring in new players.

Not a chance in hell we are spending to the cap.