That's right. I said that we would have to look at Manu as an u20s player in order to assess whether our own stock had possibilities. That is what I said originally; it's what I said previously and it is what I'm saying now. You can't compare Manu now with a young gun, but that is what you were doing.

Meanwhile, we are Hull KR of the west.

I didn't say that so stop being devious.

Brilliant. Who is he?



Me too. I highly doubt he'll be a Manu but I'm sorry to see him go. Good squad player.

Is this the player you're suggesting you'd prefer lining up for us than Manu, though?



You need a balance of young, locally produced talent and genuine established (ie not just potential) quality.

Given the current market restrictions, when a top class player (and you've watched enough to know he's that, even if you're loathe to admit it) becomes available, you have to be interested.

Yep. And we are on 7 this season.

It's not Daniel Anderson I have a problem with. It is the Chairman who signs the deals, not the coach.

I loved supporting our mostly local team last season and at the GF it gave me - and a lot of fans around me - a real buzz to be supporting local lads. It's put me off imports for life.

im convinced. She's on thin ice

Never live by Dogma....

Practicality at all times.

No, no, no, no, no.

We weren't talking "possibilities".

We were talking doing a job for us in preference to Manu, which means providing that impact and talent in 2013 and 2014.

Can you name someone who can?

Hmm ...

Bedtime for me now.

So you can't name anyone who would be a better option next year and the year after than Manu?

Neither can I. Top signing.

You win. You argued me into a circle. That is what you wanted, and you won. Well done you.

I don't want Manu because he is an ageing import. I said that at the start and I'll say that to finish.

Very good, it's a reason, not a reason I'd have but fair enough a reason. It's just a reason that lacks reason.

Your Rugby knowledge really is limited isn't it? Just to clarify you wouldn't have signed Manu because we have Dixon in the academy ? That is just idiotic! Dixon may have had potential 4 years ago but he is now 22 and showing nothing different than he did then nor has he ever had the potential to be a Manu type player that we need for next season. After seeing us lose 5 GF's in a row I couldn't care less if we have 17 imports it's winning that counts. If Wigan want to do that full english team congratulate them on it but our youth system isn't as good as theres is yet so we would slip further down the table in trying.

I have no problems with the signing of Manu now that it's been announced that it's for two years and not three. He's a hugely talented player and I hope he can maintain the form he is showing now over the duration of his contract with us.

It would be a great shame if we do have to sacrifice Dixon though. He is being brought along just fine and looking at the age of our forwards and the changes we will have to make to the pack over the next 2/3 years we should have made his retention a priority. He's done nothing but impress me in the time he's played first grade, he may not be an international class player in the future but he's certainly someone talented enough to keep around long-term. He will be an asset to whichever team he plays for in future. Hopefully that will still be at Saints but almost definitely not from what I hear.

With all that said, rather than 'blame' the signing of Manu for Dixon leaving I would much rather question the decision to recently give Jon Wilkin a FOUR-YEAR contract, which was an absurd thing to do given his inconsistent form.

I think manu is a top quality signing. He's got something we've not hot in our pack, he can attack! He's a tackle breaker with good off load game.

I'm very happy with him and sia in the second row.

We just need a proper prop now.

I think he could well be the best signing of the season. I'm not convinced that we really needed another back rower, but when a top player comes along, particularly one who isnt taking a quota spot, you have to seriously consider them.

Except last season we got to a CC semi, third in the table and to another GF with a largely youth based team. So really your claim that playing the young players would see us further down the table has no credence.

And we started this season with all that youth and was rubbish.

I disagree. The young players comprised Foster, Gaskell, Lomax, Wheeler and Dixon. Wheeler and Dixon got off to a fabulous start; Wheeler was our best player on more than one occasion. Lomax was doing just fine. Foster and Gaskell were both looking shakey in three matches. They both needed a bit of time out because it was a second season for them after a GF appearance and so expectations of them were much higher than last year.

So far as I can remember, we had virtually a full team of senior players playing for most of the matches at the start of the season.

Stop the press

Ditto.

So you were happy to get knocked out in a semi final and fluke our way to another defeat at Old Trafford by an average team just because we had young english players ? That's ridiculous.

You keep banging on about young english players and in an ideal world we would have an all english champion team but in reality our youth system isn't producing star players so we have to buy quality players like Manu in to help us win silver. We have too many average players coming through our academy like Dixon, Gaskell, Ashurst and Foster and the quicker fans realise that we need to buy in because these kids are not good enough then the quicker they may start to accept buying oversea's players in is a must.

Best signing any team will make for next year IMO.

Apart from hull, I'd like to see Saints and Manu win a trophy as he really deserves to finish his career with a medal.

The whole idea of ramming a team full of ex-academy players is so naive, I can't believe people are still advocating it as a way of running a professional sports club as it's been proven time and again NOT TO WORK.

We were slipping dangerously into this mentality around 2009, when people were thinking the likes of Dean, Ashurst, Frodsham etc. were all going to make it and automatically slot in to replace the international standard players we were losing (Gilmour, Longy, Sculthorpe, Talau, etc.)

In reality, although these players can come in and do a solid enough job without letting anyone down, the vast majority of them aren't of the required quality to sustain a continued challenge at the top of Super League. Not only that, but throwing them all in at the same time is poisonous to their development, and the better players who do have a chance of being Saints/international class, the Lomax/Jones/Makinsons of this world need experienced, battle-hardened pros to play alongside.

It's all about squad balance so I'm pleased with the signing of Manu as he gives us something we don't have. If we lose Dixon, so be it. We're not very often wrong about the youngsters we let go and, although he's shown some promise, there's been nothing to suggest he'll ever be as effective a player as Manu is.

I agree and been saying same thing for long long time.