Same place any teams ends up - If Pryce is worth a new deal when his contract expires we ofer him one , if not he gets replaced either internally or we bring someone in. Pryce isnt a proper standoff but he might do a job at Fullback if Lomax isnt ready or just doesnt make it.

He's drunk two pints of try and a half of assist so far today.

Edit - make that 3 pints of try.

Edit edit - make that 4 pints of try.

For those who went to the Bradford match and thought Wello shouldn't still be our first choice number 1, has today changed your minds?

He was excellent in support play, and I think he only had to make one tackle as we only had one clean break.

Now that was the Wello of old. Shows for me just how poor his performances have been for the last year. Strange that he doesn't attract the kind of criticism players like Pryce and Wilkin get.

Keep it up Wello.

He was much better today but like saddened said this goes to show how poor he has been. The big question mark now is can he be consistant again or was that just a 1 off? unlike some people I wont judge off 1 game against what was pretty poor oposition.

FWIW I was also impressed with Lomax - some great catches under pressure

we win and he scores some tries, mostly from two yards out, so now he is a good fullback again. you fickle lot.

i'm all for succession planning by the way, but that was never the argument. wellens is first choice fullback and he is worthy of another contract.

Hardly strange. Wellens is a local lad who has the club running through his veins. He's also an unquestionable trier. Short of planting a St. Helens flag in the centre spot of the DW you can't BE more appealing to a fan.

Pryce isn't a local lad and in recent times has achieved performance levels that are below what his natural talents promise. And that's the nub of the issue: All but the most fickle fans can accept a player having a stinker - provided the EFFORT has been there.

As for Wilkin, he suffers from the unrealistic expectations of bread-headed fans who think any player described as "a talented footballer" ought to be making eight busts per game and 200m+. He's just not capable of such.

Based on 1 game and his form 3 years ago? I like Wello he is Mr St Helens and there is no doubt he has been great for us and loves the club etc etc but for me he needs to prove he is worth a new contract over the course of the season and if we do offer him one it should be on realistic terms (he isnt an International anymore) and it should only be for 1 year.

Lomax looked good against Bradford and he looked very safe - if he's ready for the number 1 jersey full time next year keeping Wello would just be sentiment and a potential waste of cap space.

I think you have it spot on there but some people I think can be a bit harsh on certain players. Wilkin is not a local lad but he has been at Saints along time and for me has always put the effort in even when things havent been going his way. He is no doubt a talented player but he basically suffers from not being Paul Sculthorpe in many fans eyes.

no, based on his current ability, his general fitness and what he adds to the team. which fullback(s) in super league would you swap him for?

of course his new contract won't be as lucrative as his current one. i doubt he would expect it to be.

The criticism of Pryce over his effort is just stupidity by blind people. Ineffective doesn't mean lazy. Watch how hard he works defensively.

You're right, but he isn't paid to be ineffective.

Very true, pryce gets thru a ton of work in defence and also takes it up well but doesn't make breaks like he used to.

I think pryces form has been down to not having a ball playing scrumhalf as longy missed a lot at the back end of the season and Kyle is still finding his feet.

It's a funny situation at halfback as I feel Kyle is missing a good ball playing stand off and leon is missing a good ball playing scrumhalf.

Well, it goes without saying that asking Pryce to be the only genuinely experienced "strike" player is doing him no favours. You put that kind of responsibility on just about anyone's shoulders and you're likely to hit the buffers. Also, I do think that Potter hasn't quite got to grips with getting the best out of Leon. But then neither has anyone else - including Anderson. Some players are just that bit too unconventional I suppose.

So yes - Leon does have excuses. Quite a few of them. But compounded them is that nagging suspicion he's just not as motivated as he used to be.

and thats the worrying bit, when's his contract up? i thought it was the end of the year

Brent Webb and Clint Greenshields.

With either we'd have been closer to winning the GFs of the last two years.

Neither of those are as good as Wello.

Webb is a crock, and Greenshields tends to do a Meli in big games.

For me there isnt a player in SL i would have over Wellens at this time.

However there are umpteen NRL fullbacks i would have.

Give over I would have Hodgson above him too. Hes still a good un though. Cant blame Wellens for last weeks short comings your entire team was poor. Now they stepped it up and give him a platform to play off.

Cant believe you all had a fit over 1 game. You guys will be there or there abouts at the end of the season, as you have a winning mentality in the team.

For those who are saying Wellens's form over the last year has been poor, i disagree. His form towards the end of the season improved a lot and he put some top drawer displays in.

I understand that people want to usher in a new and exciting age of attacking rugby with the youngsters we've got coming through, but we've lost Long to age, Cunningham is going at the end of the season, we've never replaced scully and (even thought he's not in such a pivitol position, his experience must be a massive boost to the squad) Matt Gidley's coming to the end to the line . You need to maintain some stability and experience if we want to stay at the right end of the table and if we're also looking at Pryce leaving, I would say letting Wellens go at the same time would be very risky.

I agree with this, wello will add some stability at the back for a couple of years at least, I'd put lomax on Gardeners wing for those two years and see how we are going then

If pryce did leave (which, given his wage demands compared to his form, sunday aside, is a possiblilty) and Gidley retired or was released, given the boards ponchant for not buying in replacements but forcing the use of kids, we could well end up with Wheeler at 6 and the centres having to be filled by the likes of Lomax, Gaskell, Armstrong and Dean (assuming that Soliola is playing in the back row).

If that left funds to get a monster enforcer prop in, i'd be happy with that TBH

I think most agree with this, but doubt how long he can last at full back for, hence people looking for other positions that he could play within the team.

On your point about using kids, I do think that the club are looking at primarily using youngsters, but we can't do that continually without bringing new players in. I'd expect at least 1 new signing each year, possibly 2 when the stadium is finished and (hopefully) our income increases.

I've always thought the idea of moving him to 13, which seems popular, is ridiculous. Given his wage demands, you could get someone just as good at 13 for alot less (or some one better for the same amount). I can't see him making much of an impression from other positions on the feild, so its no 1 or nothing imo.

However, I'm not as critical of his form of others. Following his omission from international duties last year, his form was exceptional, and I remember he was (IMO) in the running for MoM during most of the games I went to or watched on TV at the business end of last year. He's still got a lot to give a team (imo more than Long did at the end of last year), and if we don't retain him at the end of the year, I don't think he'll be struggling for a decent contract.