I'll cry.

He's not as good as Orford and I doubt we could offer enough to stop him retiring.

Not sure where u get tht from.....basically same age and same position but brett has played MUCH more rep footy....i know it doesnt definately mean he is better but it points to it! i hope he comes back cos we only got cain as a half!

I'm not voting for either. They're both a bit specific for me - we don't desperately need him but if he does go his wages will probably have to be sent on a replacement at SH so we won't benefit that much.

I'd like him to come back but only if he wants to - the last thing we need at the start of a new decade... a new era (copyright Bradford Bulls 2010) is a player who'd rather be elsewhere for whatever reason.

I'd also like to think that if he doesn't come back it's due to something understandable such as homesickness, rather than not wanting to play for the Bulls.

A big loss for this season without him, i`ll be glad to see him back in a RAB Shirt next season.

Certainly from the point our coach was known to be leaving, results collapsed alarmingly.

Yikes.

He's got similar abilities to Orford I would say they are very closely matched and judging by reports of him this season has been fairly good for him stats wise. Although I probably agree with you about not being able to offer him enough to tempt him out of retirement!

The real problem wouldn't be him deciding not to come back, now into September, it would be the timing of it, and to be honest it's [ialready[/i too late to find a replacement. It's fine having the money to spend, but not if there is no one suitable to spend it on.

As yet, we have no new stand off announced, so either Potter has decided to carry on with Kearney, or there are still some loose ends to tidy up. If we don't get a regular stand off [iand[/i Orford does decide not to return, then, imo, we're already up the same creek as last season, before we even get any injuries.

Who says we don't already have an announcement lined up?

The day after the transfer window officially opens and it's already too late? Umm, no.

Dunno, certainly not me. Let's hope we do!

Oh dear. Sorry mate, but there is no 'window', just a totally ignored, rule about not speaking to contracted players before September 1st, however, back in the real world, clubs, players and agents have been at work sorting out who will be where in 2011, since not much after the start of the season. Everyone knows this, and every club is involved, rules or no rules.

You don't seriously think all these deals are conducted in two or three days, surely?

He could always be thinking about playing Ah Van at FB...

We're a bit short in that department after all... (?)

And move Kearney to SO...

To be honest, I don't know why they bother having the rule. As you say, every club ignores it and just speaks to players covertly. Why not just scrap it and let the talking that's already going on just be legit?

If the current squad was the final one (even if we included potential signings of Elima & Dowes), I would expect Kearney would be the first choice 6.

Plenty of deals are secured before the first, but none will involve players that clubs are determined to keep. Look at what happened with us and Solomona when we signed him from Wakefield.

Either way, claiming that the start of september is too late to sign a player for the following season is ridiculous.

I won't mention the clubs or player involved as I wouldn't want to incriminate anyone, but I certainly know of one case.

John Smith (an assumed name of course) agreed to sign for another club, well before September. He signed the contract and it was put into a safe until September came and it could be announced. John then changed his mind after that due to a better offer from his current club and signed that too. The current club then announced he had signed a contract extension for them.

Of course, because the contract he signed with the new club was against the September 1st rules, it pretty much just had to be ripped up, because if the new club had come out and said "hang on, he's already signed a deal with us", they would have been in breach of the rules.

I know it happened in one case and I'd be amazed if that doesn't happen quite often every year with loads of different players and clubs.

We don't just want to sign 'a' player.

Of course there are lots of players still out of contract but the better ones (like the ones we might be happy to have as a replacement for Matt) will have pretty much been sorted, either with a new deal at their present club or with a new club, by now. Unless we were to drop lucky with a signing (on the back of another deal going wrong, perhaps) we will be snookered now. If you can't work that out it's not me being ridiculous, mate.