www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/32321061

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/32321061

I can't see to many sides offering him first grade, but sure he'd get in somewhere at some level.

I've got quite an affection for Lance, it hasn't really worked out like it might, but I firmly believe he was a McManus panic buy and was harshly treated. He was clearly promised a role in the halves by the big man and then denied it by the coaching staff.

Royce Simmons was promising him a role in the halfs, and played him there too before he got sacked.

Nathan Brown obviously never rated him or wanted him, it would have been best for all concerned to end it all 3 years ago, when Brown took over.

Lance peaked years ago, but I wouldn't have said it's been a poor spell. He's had to play in several positions and at times lead the team around the pitch during the many injury plagues that have hit the club.

He's got a touch of class about him and he looked really good when he played alongside Walsh last season.

Hopefully he'll head home with 2 Super League titles to his name.

Could be a positive for both player and club, to get a gig in the NRL he needs to put in some good performances in the shop window.
I have a bit of sympathy for Lance being not used correctly at times by Simmons and Brown, he,s had to tough it out when being criticised yet he,s come up with some good performances when it was needed.
Lets hope he can get to some form in the No 1 spot and help us to more silverware.

He has had his moments, and towards the end of last season he began to look like a real half back (possibly because we'd forgotten what a real one looked like). But overall it's been a poor signing. Like Laffranchi, he was signed in haste, no doubt on big money, to do a job that he just wasn't equipped to do. I did think that with Walsh and Burns around he would get an extended run as our interchange 9, where I'm convinced he could be good for us, but the situation at full back is making that look unlikely now. I've never had any doubt about his effort, though.

I agree with that, he doesn't lack effort.

I don't think it's worked out with him (as I said it wouldn't from the day he signed). He was brought in to play in the halves with a handful of games under his belt in about 10 years of rugby. The halves is a position that requires a rugby brain and I don't tbink lance has one.

He's always the scapegoat when things don't work out. I've felt sorry for him at times.

He won us the grand final. He will always be in my heart

Regards

King james

When I saw the thread title my first reaction was completely unbothered, which is probably unfair. He's just not someone I've ever been able to get that excited about. Maybe he's been misused but I can't believe he's gonna give us anything more next season than one of the academy lads will do.

Sticking lipstick on a pig doesnt make it a supermodel and sticking the number 6 shirt on lance's back didnt make him a halfback .. sadly. As you say though can't really be faulted for effort

No... Tries from Sia & Tommy Makinson won us the grand final

Ridiculous comment

True, but it would help it to blend in on a night out round Wigan

sorry if anyone disagrees...wont bother me if he goes..one of the worst overseas signings saints have made..he's done nowt!

Imo, he's not in the worst class of signings ever (renamed the Perry class), I've never doubted his attitude or commitment to the cause - and I can always respect a player who tries and you can't deny Hohaia does.

Wrong person for the wrong job and personified our brief fling with a square peg round hole philosphy. Mediocre yes, but I can't ever remember him having any real howlers

Really poor signing. The guy is so slow with the ball (whatever position he plays!) it just makes me think how he ever had such a big reputation.

Thank god his wages can now be put to better use.

IMO, if we are to judge him purely on the fact that he is an overseas signing on decent money, then yes, he's not lived up to some of the stars we've had. However, if we take his overseas (and wages) tag away for a moment, we'll see a player who's always put 100% in for that shirt and played whatever position he's been instructed to, in a team that has been decimated at times with injuries.

I'll admit I'm being sentimental but isn't that part of being a fan? He doesn't deserve the dismissive attitude from us fans. He's our player until the end of the season, so lets get behind him instead of slating him.

COYS

I like Lance, grest attitude, very professional. However, he was signed as a halfback and he's a terrible one. He won a world cup at FB, but i cant see how as hes garbage whenever he's played there. He's on a huge wedge and is clearly not worth it

I don't think he has been misused, he's been handed golden opportunities to play in pretty much every key position on the field (due to our injuries) and hasn't taken his chance to grab hold of his spot and make it impossible to move him. The same happened with Wheeler, we had no half backs and it was his shot to prove exactly why he deserved a new contract in between his injuries and he went missing, particularly in key games.

Lance has been a consummate professional in that he has taken whatever has been throw his way selection wise without throwing his toys out of the pram, but that's probably a little easier to take when he is likely to be one of the top earners at the club.

People say he is good because he can play in several positions, but he is crap in all of them.

It wouldn't surprise me if Lance is picked up by an NRL club fairly quickly. He falls into precisely the same category of players which also gave us Chris Flannery and Laffranchi. All three were/are not just regular NRL first teamers - but established rep footballers with numerous caps at either State of Origin or national team level.

The average fan would have you believe all three have failed to some lesser or greater degree at the club. I won't comment on the other two but I will say that Lance has never given anything less than his best in a Saints shirt. Throughout his time at the club he has been the one player who was prepared to do the kind of scrappy, niggly work all sides require if they have aspirations for success. When a break has just ended and the team needs time to get back onside, until this season with the arrival of Burns, Lance has usually been the man holding the player down. When you are under pressure and desperately require possession Lance has usually been the player attempting to steal the ball. When your opponents are playing a physical game and you need someone to return the favour Lance has usually been the player shoving the ball player's face into the dirt. None of these tasks are ever likely to live long in a fan's memory and yet someone has to do them. Prior to last season there have been far, far too many players who've been happy to play Hollywood but show no interest when we're really in need of a bit of Coronation Street.

It's unfortunate that Lance arrived at a time when we really didn't seem to have a clue what direction we wanted to move in. The Eastmond fiasco set the club back three years. The two guys we chose to shoulder the tactical burden after Kyle departed were out of their positions (and out of the club, in Gaskell's case) within eighteen months.

If ever there was a bad time to purchase a utility half-back who is more utility than half-back it was surely the day we bought Lance. It didn't help the player. It didn't help Saints. For the entirety of his contract he's been moved more times than possibly any other player. This made the problem of getting the best out of Hohaia exponentially more difficult. I'm absolutely certain had we decided to bite the bullet and nail down a role for the lad he'd have performed far better. Instead he's been pitched about like a cork bobbing on the ocean which just isn't conducive to the long-term development of any player. Especially a veteran.

If Lance is a failure then it's as much the club's failure. The only real criticism I have of Hohaia is his non-existent support play. Bear in mind that one of the main reasons he was bought was his pace. I recall watching Hohaia as a teenager tour Britain with the Kiwis and he was quick. Whilst opinions differ on his merits as a stand-off few seasoned watchers of the NRL would deny Lance could shift. The club itself made a big hoopla of him being in the top two or three quickest players when he arrived. Which makes his non-existence on the shoulder of every Saints' player making a break over the last three years all the more baffling.

A guy with his speed should have made a killing in SL. Whilst it takes all manner of complicated skills to be a top player - backing up is something which you can teach in a few minutes. Ultimately it's more an issue of fitness and determination than anything else. You've got to WANT to be on the shoulder of the next break. And you have to have the lungs and legs to get you there.

Whilst Lance is lacking in one or two departments I don't think he's a freeloader. Looking back I think it's pretty clear that not only wasn't Lance the player Saints figured he was - he wasn't even the Lance Hohaia he used to be. Whether he was done in by a bad injury - or the cumulation of smaller ones - Hohaia's best days were two or three years prior to the club's interest.

The above said, I still think he'll find a home in the NRL because every club needs a grafter who can turn his hand to pretty much anything without presenting much risk of catastrophic failure. The Australians really do value utility players who if lacking in raw talent make up for it with graft, guts and a sprinkling of luck. Coaches tend to be risk averse cynics. And guys like Hohaia (and Flannery) are manna from heaven.

On a value for money scale he has been very very poor but as a player we have had much worse. I respect how he always puts in a shift even if he is lacking ability wise

To be fair - we really have no idea what Hohaia is earning. I mean, it's assumed that because he arrived to something of a fanfare he must be earning a king's ransom. But we can't be sure of this. After all, McManus hooked Jamie Lyon at bargain basement rates. And if ever a player gave value for money - Lyon was he.