explains why nathan brown wouldnt let us sign him

We have 27 games to experiment a bit and see where Gaskell fits in in the greater scheme of things - I wouldn't read anything into where he lines up in the friendlies or for how long at all.

Sign who

Mate... Let it go... That nasty horrible evil Mr. Brown won't ever be able to hurt you again, I promise...

i would reather see him playing as a second hooker coming on and mixing it up a bit, what would you do with wello if he played at full back??

Excellent news

A coaching role

problem with this is last year we lacked leadership, more than anything even a good 6/7 partnership, so to lose wello and not replace the experanice we could be lost

Apparently he is a 1 or
a 9 or,
a 3 or,
a 6 or,
a 7,
"which is great".

What would we do without him?

“It is a team effort. Lee kicks the ball as good as Danny Brough."

Really?? Gaskells a good player but his kicking game is no where near the stanard of Danny Brough, onless he has had one hell of a pre season, but its still different to put a ball on a coin in a real match

Gaskell could look like the best kicker in the world in pre season when browns watching the rest of the squad kicking game because he the only one in the team anyway near a kicking game

He's probably talking about technical ability which Gaskell has, what he is lacking is experience - Brough is pretty much the finished article Gaskell has a lot to learn. Hopefully he will and he will have a long and successful career at Saints

Excellent news about Gaskell. Also sounds like he really doesn't know what to do with Lance. Maybe see if a club in the NRL wants him back?

Lets see how he fairs tonight with game time he gets

Gaskell was great tonight. Had he not been wasted in the u20s for a season his kicking could now have been looking more like Brough's. However, in spite of hardly getting any first team game time during 2012 he stepped up and IMO didn't put a foot wrong. He was strong in defence, made good decisions in attack, passed with pace and put in some good long kicks (although he needs to find the grass more often if possible).

It was a real joy to watch him and Lomax. Lomax was like a lad reborn. He was so different from last season, and in all the best ways.

Thought his tackling was spot on !! His not everyone's cup of tea and I no it's only one game but that's what everyone's problem with him was his defence

I dont think gaskell tackling is too bad it's just sometimes he can get caught out of position

If u look at posts to do with him they all say he shouldn't play cause lance is better defensively that's there opinions

I've never had a problem with any of Gaskell's play, defensive or otherwise. All he has lacked is a bit of experience to aid his decision making and if that time had been afforded to him last season we (well, me at least) wouldn't be sweating on this contract business.

I would be gutted if we lost him.

Gaskell is a player we need to keep hold of. He has a good organisational and kicking game which is a rare amongst emerging halfbacks, it tends to be a lot more orientated around a running game.

Ditto.

Thought he played really well last night, linked up well with Lomax to put Wello over, and his defence was superb. Wilkin took a lot of pressure off him in relation to his kicking game, allowing Gaskell to focus on other areas.

He does have a great understanding with Lomax, they understand each other extremely well and bring the best out of each other.

I hope he starts the season at 6, and has a cracking season. He is the sort of player who if we sold, could come back to haunt us.

Agreed

Decision making's his only real shortcoming for me. I wouldn't call it greedy, but there're times when he should let the ball go and doesn't. It's easy to see from the stands or on TV, but I think if Gaskell improves his decision making, he can become a very good stand off.

Agreed, which is why I was very frustrated by the end of last year as his decision making would not improve in the under 21's as there is no need to if you can beat the man.

You can only improve by making the mistake and learning from it.