What about Frodsham how long is he going to be out for?

He is definately capable of filling in for a few games.

But there shouldnt be hysterics - so long as we only have to play a few weeks with Graham, Puletua, Hargreaves and Clough as our front rows we will be okay - dont want to see those 4 for all of the season however

well we had to let someone go so jake went.

Graham has torn ligaments in his wrist, no surgery though - will play on through the pain till it heals.

Maurie's is confirmed on the club site.

The term cock comes in to mind.

www.saintsrlfc.com/news/1923 10-12 weeks out....by my reckoning, that is it for the season. Cayless not due back until mid-August, then needs time to get fit. Clough and TP need to get stuck in up front again.

www.saintsrlfc.com/news/1923 10-12 weeks out....by my reckoning, that is it for the season. Cayless not due back until mid-August, then needs time to get fit. Clough and TP need to get stuck in up front again.

Then we're really in the mire. Even if by some miracle we manage to keep Clough, Graham, Puletua and Hargreaves fit for the playoffs, they'll be running at reduced effectiveness because of the extra workload.

The club cannot afford to fall down on producing young talent at prop forward - as we did in the 20/30+ years before his arrival. I'm not saying every kid should be another Graham - that's clearly impossible. But we MUST ensure that in crisis situations such as these we AT LEAST have a couple of average+ big guys waiting in the wings. The same has helped Leeds on countless occasions.

I find it hard to believe that we currently have three classy backs champing at the bit but not one prop of similar worth. When you consider that good backs are harder to find than forwards this is particularly annoying.

Totally agree if we think Frodsham is the answer to our injury's well were fecked

Frodsham may well develop into a good player, but he's nowhere near that yet. I feel a bit sorry for the kid because forwards - especially props - need another two or three years of meat on the bone before they become similarly effective.

He's certainly got the right physique - tall (even lanky) with plenty of capacity for muscle, but it's a long-term project.

The truth is ever since Graham was promoted to the first team we've taken our eye off the ball. We lost Bracek - which subsequently turned out to be less of problem than it appeared at the time, but that should have been the signal to step up our efforts in looking for classy front row talent.

And things aren't about to get any easier. Various reports put our academy front row strength at anywhere between average and modestly above average. That doesn't suggest a bumper crop. But even if it did - we'd still have to wait three, perhaps four years to harvest it.

So we're left in the crappy position where we have to recruit from the lower leagues or spend considerable sums on NRL talent.

I should also add the back row to the above. Whilst Dixon & Ashurst look like good solid pros - who at the very least will have a SL career ahead of them - neither are going to make Sam Burgess look over his shoulder for a GB shirt. And THAT is precisely the standard we have to be aiming at. It almost seems as if the club's been too busy applauding itself over Clough (and Graham) to think about making sure they aren't islands in a very wide ocean.

Which means in order to maintain a top level forward pack we're going to have to spend big in a number of positions. And that's not healthy in the Salary Cap Age.

We aren't allowed to sign anyone else until mid 2010 for the 2011 season. Rules is rules.

Frodsham is not ready to play super league yet. I think he may well make a good prop but he just not ready.

He's getting killed every time he takes it in. It's not worth risking his career just because we got no props.

We will have to go with graham, tony p, bryn and clough until cayless gets back.

Calm down!

TP, Graham, Hargreaves and Clough is still a big front row, we just lose impact from the bench with Maurie which is a blow. In the summer months, our pack isn't as much an issue as our pace around the ruck and mobility outwide will help us win plenty of games.

Jason Cayless plays a crucial role when he returns. If he is fit, he'll be a big player in our end of season run in exactly when we need the big guns back, when the weather get's worse. Hopefully Maurie will heal quickly like he did last year when he picked up a bad injury and return with a few weeks of the season left.

I said same thing on anther thread.

Cayless is going to play key role when he returns.

If we get thru until cayless is back we will do fine.

Can't moan with cayless, graham, tony p, bryn and clough.

No, he's not. Cayless hasn't played a solid run of games for more than a year, he's going to be rusty and will probably take a while to get going. Considering Potter has said 2nd or 3rd week of August, if we get to the Cup Final he won't play.

Cayless will get back to full fitness around the end of the Playoffs, especially if he gets pushed in at the deep end with no reserve game time.

Who mentioned signing someone now? The (big) question is a long term one. Do the sums. Right now we have an excellent pack. In order to maintain it we either buy in players of the same standard or promote - with the same potential - from within.

Whilst we have plenty of excellent backs making their way through, our forwards are less impressive. At this moment I do not see a potential GB youngster in any of our academy forwards. Which means for the next two or three years we're not going to be exchanging like-for-like. Our pack will steadily become weaker.

To counter this we have no option other than spending. If we don't we don't win anything. Simple as that.

It used to before this spoiling around the ruck/floor! That killed us at halfords last week and Hull KR earlier in the season.

I'm not one for panic buying but i really believe we need to bring somone in!

is that why your chairman has been texting Andy COley?

Our chairman doesn't text anyone. He has a secretary to do that sort of low stuff.

whereas IL would fly to austrailia for two weeks and be told to "rack off" by everyone he approached

Interesting that Leeds have chosen to take a punt on young props Jay Pitts and Kyle Amor for next season. I'm not suggesting they'll be anything spectacular, but when you consider the likes of Burgess and company already coming through, their pack could be nothing short of immense.

Meanwhile, ours seems stuck in reverse.

Do we ever look to the Championship for potential?

Luke Burgess, Jay Pitts and Kyle Amor result in a pack that "could be nothing short of immense"?

Who's "Burgess and company coming through" anyway? I can't think of anyone particularly handy coming through in the forwards at Leeds and their academy/reserves are poor.

There's little to suggest Pitts and Amor will be any better than what Saints have in reserve.

Wilkin, Gardner, Higham . . .

Worrall is a cracking kid. Plenty of size and mobility. And if reports are correct there's money in the pot to strengthen. Academy results aren't a reliable indicator of quality, anyhow. I've seen championship winning academies produce few first team players and mediocre ones sending up two or three belters.



A chance of a good player is better than no chance at all. And it's not like we're producing great props at this moment. We aren't.

Kyl;e Amor played for Wigan reserves last season (it may have been the season before) and looked very good playing centre.

How has he managed to "grow" into a prop forward in such a short space of time?