[urlhttp://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/b/new-idea/9065/craig-wings-brotherly-love/[/url


The new Robbie Paul? He's even a good guy as well as shown in this link.

That's the deal dead in the water then if they've let Dave Craven know about it.

If we are actually offering that much, we could probably look at signing someone better and younger. He is a quality player, but i'd rather sign somebody younger.

If we did sign him, would we be playing himat 6,7 or 9? I could see Macca letting Jeffries go and using Wing 6 Deacs 7, but i'd much rather see Wing and Jeffries as a half-back pairing. Oh well, he would certainly add improvement to what we've got now.

He is hardly past it! I think we would get at least 3 years of good service from him. I wouldn't pay too much notice to the figures quoted either, more likely a number plucked out of thin air.

I know and I shouldn't look too much into age either - Look at Beaver!

It's likely both would be retained IMO.

We certainly need three halfbacks for cover and competition. With Wing also able to cover 9, he seems like a good option

Well it definitely means we won't have Rinaldi next season then. So maybe 6.Wing 7. Deacon 9.Newton

When Newton needs a break:
6.Jeffries 7.Deacon 9.Wing ?

Jeffries on bench?

Personally, I would have on current form (and presuming Rinaldi goes at the end of the season):

9 Newton / Godwin
6 Wing
7 Jefferies

With Deacon being used as cover for 6 and 7

As much as I would like that I can't see Macca dropping Deacon and using him for cover. It should happen, but imo it won't.

I reckon we'd be best off retaining Rinaldi, signing Wing and letting Jeffries go.

That surley would be the cheaper option.

6. Wing. 7 Deacs. 9. Newton. : Sub. Godwin. : Cover. Rinaldi.

I'd rather see Deacon no longer an automatic choice for a start TBH.

Didn't he play well against Warrington, keeping the scoreboard ticking over with his kicks?

Not according to those in the know he didn't.

that would be my option, although as a lot have said cant see macca ever relegating deacon to a cover spot



maybe an argument for keeping rinaldi instead of newton if newtons asking for too a long a deal although think rinaldi would take an overseas spot meaning we'd have to release someone else.

Whatever happens retaining Deacon at scrum half isn't going to improve the team at all.

Erm retain Newton who has been inconsistent and let our most dangerous playmaker this year go? Not sure I agree with you here. I'

only reason for retaining deacon is as cheap cover for halves. If he didnt already have a contract for next year he wouldnt get one on this years form. we cant afford a half who misses 1/4 of season with recurring injuries which deacon has this year and last. As 50k of his wage doesnt count towards cap then hes good value as a cover player but to improve we need a better starting halves option. Jeffries has looked more effective at halfback whenever he's played there imo. if we can pair him with a class standoff like Wing then we'll improve massively.

Wing is twice the stand off Jeffries is. Newton is twice the hooker Jeffries is. Newton's nationality is also in his favour. We can either let a genuinley class hooker go and have a long hard look for a replacement that we might not find, or we can pursue this Wing as a straight swap for a stand off that he is clearly twice as good as.

Seems a very easy choice to me. If Deacs was out of contract then it would be him out of the door for me, but he isn't and we are highley unlikley to cut him.

simple - keep him as backup ala robbie paul after we signed harris. We shouldnt be guaranteeing a players starting spot just because he's in contract. Form determines who gets the starting spot. Jeffries is a much better halfback than he is a standoff so play him at halfback where he did well earlier in season against leeds and saints.
or to put it another way platts under contract for next two years, halley is OOC so by your logic thats halley on his way.

I don't understand what you are saying.

Is Newton really that classy nowadays? I rate him as a good hooker but I don't think we've consistently seen Terry at his best in a Bulls shirt unfortunately. For me, it would very much depend on the sort of money he was looking for as to whether we retained him or not. I certainly wouldn't want us to get into a bidding war to keep him.

I doubt Jeffries would be asking for huge pots of gold to keep him at the Bulls and his form this year has been on the whole very good. If we bring Wing in but left Jeffries go, we're still in the same situation as this season. We need options that allow us to have something other than Deacon cemented into the no.7 jersey. We should be retaining Jeffries and looking to bring someone else in. If we're to keep Rinaldi then I'd rather it was for a hooking role than back up scrum half.

I think Terry is classy, he's one of the best in Super League and he would be a real struggle to replace. Godwin or Rinaldi as our first choise hooker? Seriously?

I reckon Ben is probably a relativley high paid player at Bulls, I cant see him being cheap at all, and this time around he will want more. Plus he is not that good, he's been better this year, but he's not all that is he, he doesn't have that class we have been missing, where as Wing does.

If we got Wing, I don't think we could keep BJ as cover, he'd cost way to much for a cover player I reckon, which is where Rinaldi comes in in my books, as he would be a cheaper option and he can cover more positions than BJ.

you said if he was ooc you'd prefer deacon to go but as he's in contract jeffries must go and deacon retains starting spot. i.e. a player whose out of form retains starting spot purely because he's already under contract for next year. the comparison I made was platt who's not playing well but in contract for next year against halley who's playing well but ooc of contract. following your logic we'd retain platt because he's under contract and allow halley to leave.

I don't see the problem with retaining jeffries, whose the form half this year and signing wing keeping deacon to cover any injuries. we cant go into a seasn with just two halves, especially an injury prone one like deacs is now.

which of newton/rinaldi to re-sign is a difficult one. theres arguments for and against each although overseas spots could end up determining it. I'd edge towards newton as he's a good leader on the field. My ideal would be to retain newton and godwin and let wagga go but that would only be a short tem fix as tez and rinaldi are both at back ends of their careers.