I have 2 Sons playing at Salford, if they asked for my advice, which they probably wouldnt, i would definitely advise them to stay put, i can only see exciting things happening at Salford over the next few years, with the new stadium, the seemingly new fab coach and all the great coaches at the academy. Maybe Steph is a little too old for this and wants too fast track now, my boys are younger and i beleive are going to benefit massively by the new adventures ahead. I wish Steph all the luck in the world and thank him for his services during his time with us, there are plenty of lads coming through to step into his shoes. Onwards and upwards, only good times ahead.

When he was with the England squad...what do you want Smith to do, just speak to Warrington players??

Or potential Warrington players...

I'm sure Tony Smith is professional enough not to go on the tap, but it does make you wonder.

spoke to Myler as well

[

Spoke to Ryan Atkins from Wakefield , he was a veritable pied piper during his time as National Coach.
can't blame him ,

Cheers! hopefully they see it as an opportunity ,from the academy -18 games I've seen plenty of promise ,

I think we need to put things into perspective, Ratchford feels like he wants to challenge for honours and to be fair to him at this stage of his career he would be foolish not to go with his ambition. Its disappointing but to be honest i don't think he will be missed that much he is an exciting talent but by no means the finished article. For me i want players that are busting a gut to pull on that red shirt and has the passion and desire to take us to greater heights, anybody that wants to coast along can go now. I hope MP can change the philosophy at this great club because i for one am sick of seeing players sign for one last pay day i want hungry ,ambitious and honest players not tired old carthorses or greedy young things. That is the only way we will progress.

If you think Tony Smith never tapped players up whilst he was England coach then you must also think that the Crusaders owners are good for rugby league and the people running our game at the RFL are all stand up honest chaps lol.

What he said.

Good luck Ratch, sorry to see him leave but we move on, just like we've done many times before and will do many times again. I just hope to god that our own numpties don't start with the abuse and boo's. This move isn't about greed, it's about ambition and the chance to win things and better himself. No ill feeling towards him whatsoever.

What were you saying about integrity?

[iI firmly believe all Salford City Reds fans will wish Ratchford the very best of luck when he moves on to his new club.

But the fact remains we have lost another decent young player and in my opinion the fault is down to the board because you will remember over at Leeds Rhinos they made sure this sort of thing can't happen when they tied up some of there young players on five-year contracts a few seasons ago.

Hopefully in the future if we get any future young stars at the club the Salford City Reds Board will make sure if a player is poached by another club then it will cost them plenty if they want to plunder our playing rosta again..

BEST OF LUCK STEF.

[/i

Eh? It's an idiom meaning good luck.

Maybe the club did offer a longer term deal, but it's easier to get players to accept a 5 year contract when you are Leeds than when you are Salford.

And yet we have Jodie Broughton, Ashley Gibson and now Danny Williams, all ex-Leeds youngsters that they chose to release, you can't tell me that Ryan Hall is a better (or faster ) winger than Jodie. It's all swings and roundabouts as far as I'm concerned. I wish Stef all the best but he still remains to me a bucketful of unfulfilled potential.

Why did Myler get loads of grief and Ratchford get's patted on the back?

Beacuse Myler behaved like a spoilt child and stopped trying in a red shirt as soon as he got back from England duty, the change in his attitude was there for all to see, my 11 year old would have behaved with more decorum.

Because Stef has done it (in my view) with full respect to Salford. When Myler left he had a year to run on his contract, before the deal was done he was already going to gigs etc at the expense of Moran. His heart clearly wasn't in the remaining games he played for us and the effort just wasn't there from him and he was quite rightly dropped. In the game we played at the HJ (Another drubbing you gave us) he was patting your players on the back and laughing & smiling with no care in the world.

There's ways of doing things with respect and Myler clearly didn't have any for Salford. Offiah didn't help with his 'kings ransom' comments to be fair. It's similar to the Hodgson & Robinson moves. Before we were relegated Robbinson was having his picture took in a Hudds shirt, Hodgy had signed his contract with them at a similar time but waited til the end of the season before announcing his move.

I don't ever begrudge a move a player want's to make to better themselves and win trophies but there a ways of doing it, for me Ratchford has done it the right way, Myler clearly didn't.

Jeez, is there no-one the Welshman wasn't boning?

Ha! Good catch!

why does Coley get loads of grief even though he carried the pack for 7 years?

I agree that Rachford has done the same as Myler. Myler was far more influential so when he didnt do something brilliant then the fans turned on him. Rach probly touches the ball 10 times a game at centre! he did nothing when he went to 6 against Quins!

simple really because in his final year he did sod all and took the p155, he knew he was going and just went through the motions at the willows. again a player who went to an England training camp didn't get picked but came back with a very bad attitude to playing for Salford.

Sorry but am I on my own in finding it strange that Ratchford is playing in the first team?

He had made his choice to go play for Warrington and I fail to see what as a team we will benefit from him playing again.

I don't doubt he played well last night but for me it is just plain wrong he played at all.

[iI agree with you 'Michigan red'

I also think it would be better now if Ratchford plays in the reserves from now until his contract is up.[/i

So that should apply to cashmere aswell then and anyone else who is leaving at the end of the season.