How harsh can you be on a player? Stop letting your bitter predjudices get in the way. Like I said, I don't care about Kyle, I just think Gaskell, he of the hospital and behind the back passes and knock ons on Friday could do with having the pressure taken off him occasionally. While we've got Kyle in the squad, we should use him.

People forget what Kyle Eastmond is capable of in breaking down defenses. Personally I think his agent got inside his head and events followed on from there.
The odd few minutes we have seen him play his body language and temperment has changed for the better, would like to see him at half back and give him the opportunity to pay back the team and fans.
Like I,ve said before short term Gaskell will be the substitute back, when Pryce comes back he will partner Lomax, when Lance turns up next season he will partner Lomax.
We need at least one experienced head in at half back and I should imagine this is how Royce will see it.
Wigan, Warrington and Huddersfield have been able to negate our half back combo of Lomax/Gaskell, Wheeler and Eastmond provide more unpredictabilty and off the cuff plays.
And I still think an in form Eastmond/Pryce partnership is far superior than an in form Lomax/Gaskell one, but will we ever find out.

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Not if the rumours about Catalans being in negotiations with Saints about Leon being released this season so he can replaced Ben Farrar in their squad are true. We'd be utterly stupid to let Leon go, despite his injury this season.

Not just because it would leave us without our best attacking player, but because it would mean Paul Wellens would have to play fullback for another 12 months, something we cannot contemplate if we want to be competing for trophies.

When Kyle still appeared to want to play for Saints, I used to dream of seeing him and Gary Wheeler in the halves as I thought those two combined would be fabulous. Gary Wheeler is one of only a few Saints players who have guile and a real rugby brain. It is so sad that Hoffman and his dirty play have taken him out of the game this season. A dislocated shoulder can happen to any rugby player and so I don't think this is a typical Wheeler injury. He and Pryce are both still about 3 weeks away from returning.

Since Kyle is now going, Lomax and Wheeler could also turn out to be a great combo, with Gaskell as our back up guy who will undoubtedly have benefited enormously from his unplanned season as our first choice halfback. I would hate to see Hohaia force out Lomax or Wheeler even though I also acknowledge that we need experience in the halves. Trouble is, we need it now. We might not actually need it next season!

Eastmond does not look interested at all and has disrespected your club unbelievably. Simmons should have stuck him inthe under 20's until he goes playing kick and clap.

Or perhaps treated him like a grown-up and any other player who is leaving at the end of the season eg Graham rather than making an example of him.

At the end of the day its Saints who have lost out. They have dis-enfranchised theri most potent attacking force whilst still being obliged to pay him. More fools them.

At least the fans can boo him like a pantomine villain when he returns to RL for another club and rubs Saints noses in it.

You're sounding even more of an idiot at present than you normally do.

Whilst you are on another blatant trolling mission I agree with you in part. The club should have handled it better. When he was refusing to sign with us, the club should have set a deadline. That avoids any linger doubt as to whether he's staying. When it was clear he was off and didn't want to know, why did he play? IMO they played him to give him a hard time with the fans, to punish him. They must have been able to see where he was at from his behaviour in training? Take him out of it, we probably wouldn't have lost those opening games had we handled it better.

That would be the James Graham who appeared on local news belittling RL and Saints, the Graham who made "a gesture" to the saints supporters, or the Graham who has looked completely uniterested in playing for us since the turn of the year (before he announced he was leaving)?

Moving to pastures new is something that happens, treating the club you're at (and who helped make you the palyer you are) like a bunch of chumps is a different matter, especially when you've still got a year to go on your contract.

On the subject of Eastman and Union, does anyone else think he will end up playing 7s, travelling all over the world while he learns the game? The 7s game is perfect for him bags of room to play in etc. The fans from other teams who come on here having a dig at James Graham make me laugh, they would all welcome him at their clubs like a shot.

personally think he is a great young talent. People tend to get on his back when he knocks on occasionally but jonny lomax will do exactly the same error and it'll go un-noticed. The one thing he needs to improve on is his decision making near the line of when to release it and when to go on his own, that will come with experience though.

It sure didn't go unnoticed on Friday night!

I haven't [ipre-[/ijudged Kyle in any way (unlike you, who, in slating nigh on every youngster Saints have bloodied in the last three years - including Lomax, Wheeler, Gaskell, Foster etc. - have knee-jerked so often you're probably in need of a hip-replacement). I've judged him on the strength of his performances (or lack thereof) and his unedifying position as the least professional player at the club.



You don't pick a player simply because he's there. You pick the player who'll give you the best return. Since the start of the season Gaskell - for his age and level of experience - has been outstanding. He makes the odd mistake - but he's learning and wants to be at the club. Eastmond's achievements (purely on-the-field) are precisely what? Don't feed me this guff about not having enough time. It was never a problem when he first emerged playing off the bench to cover Long.

In the end just be thankful that Royce picks the team.

Nice theory for an ideal world.

So you give him a deadline and he ignores it. What are you going to do - sack him? For what?
Or do you suggest we say "we are not going to renew your contract when it ends"?
Either way it would be pretty idiotic.

Having said that it was not handled well by he player which caused a backlash against him. I dont think the club did much wrong.

I agree totally. Kyle hasn't been interested and if it wasn't for our terrible injury run may well not have played again.

And also I agree Gaskell has been excellent for his age and experience and I truly believe he has got a bright future.

And anybody above who hasn't praised Lomax want's a serious talking to. I think these two are the future as I can't see Wheeler having a long term future in League due to his biscuit body.

I think the last couple of run outs, Kyle has look interested, such as the game he cam e on early after Ade got injured (crusaders?).

Mugs, forget Eastmond. I think Gaskell needs a rest now and then to ensure he doesn't drown in the responsibility he's being given. Not all players thrive on it and we could end up ruining a potential prospect.

If we rested Gaskell to aid his development, who would you put in?

We don't have anyone. Wilkin's playing very well where he is, so it'd be stupid to move him. Wheeler isn't fit, neither is Pryce, and Moore isn't an option at 6 anymore.

Keep Gaskell there. It's not ideal (I agree, him and Lomax would've been rested by now if we had bodies), but it's better than constantly moving players around.

He needs to stick it out for a few more games till pryce returns

I thought he looked a bit lacking in confidence against Warrington, a bit as he looked at the outset of his time playing for the first team. Ideally, he would be given a break now to take the pressure off him and for him to regroup. But we don't have an ideal situation and so hopefully he will find his feet again, learn whatever he needed to from the recent losses, and help the team through to a win on Friday. A win would do us the world of good, especially if it was a convincing win. We certainly [ineed[/i a win!

I don't buy the lacking in confidence against Warrington. He had his kick charged down by a good run from monaghan and he threw 1 lazy ball behind the team as i recall.

To me that is not a lack of confidence it's just good pressure from Monaghan and a lapse of concentration and experience on Gaskells part to watch out for the runner.

It was an obvious error/bad luck but this has been picked up as a sign of lack of confidence. He still ran at the Wire line, he still managed to run around the ball after passing to create the extra man at times.

He may need a rest, he could probably do with some rotation but the basics are we have no one to rotate him with other than Wilkin, but with Soliola out the pack covering shenton, LMS on leave this week and Pryce and Wheeler still another 2/3/4 weeks away there is little choice. I know Eastmond is there but he is obviously not showing enough in matches or training to bump Gaskell out. Royce in not one of us, he is not going to pick a side based on anything other than that which he thinks will provide the best result.

He is not in the Lomaskell camp or the eastmond camp or leon will save us camp. He is in the camp of I want to win and have a good performance from the side.

He dropped the ball twice. He hasn't dropped it once since the start of the season.

So he's only dropped it twice all season? I'm very happy with that from a rookie halfback