3 names should be on Moran's hitlist for 2010

Benji Marshall
Darren Lockyer
Karmichael Hunt

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With Gleeson's salary cap space freed up, possibly Briers leaving as well and other imports like Rauhihi, Hicks and Anderson off contract, we should target at least one of these big names for 2010. I hope Moran pulls out all the stops and offers them a package they cant turn down. A 300k a year deal, sponsored car and house in Stozza Heath should clinch it!

Hunt would be my first choice, he is younger and we need a full back desperately.

Either Marshall or Lockyer would do to replace Briers. Marshall has time on his side though and Lockyer would be a short term fix, but the most likely to be tempted over.

Thoughts?

They are 3 names i would avoid to be honest, Darren Lockyer has had a fantastic career and he will go down in history as being one of the best players ever to set foot on a rugby pitch but at the age he is now along with his recent injury record i would stay clear. Maybe 3 years ago but not now, certainly not fotr the money he would command.

Benji Marshall to me had one fantastic season at Wests and has done little since, he is another player that has a poor injury record and considering our recent history with injuries then its these sort of players like Darren Lockyer and Benji Marshall we should stay well clear of. The Benji shuffle doesn`t seem to fool many people these days, he also had a very quiet world cup and the kiwis won the world cup despite him and not because of him.

Karmichael Hunt is a player that has obvious ability but he doesn`t seem to be kicking on from all the early promise he showed, its like he is still at the same stage as he was a few years ago which is a raw, exciting talent that still makes mistakes. William Zillman would have been worth chancing before he signed for the Titans, if he is over his injury then he is one of the most exciting, attacking full backs in the NRL after the likes of Slater and Stewart etc.

Surely you mean Stocky Heath, ive never heard of Stozza Heath before

Benji Marshall looked back to somewhere near his best in the recent WC.

He has been a walking casualty department (and that isn't Des' menswear at Grace Brothers) for the duration of his short career. Surprised you have put forward his name (and I can see the qualification but that can be said for any player with an injury history) considering your previous views on signing players with a history of injuries.

The Benji Marshall i watched during the world cup made numerous errors, the amount of times he lost the ball due to a loose carry or a fumble where he knocked on was a frequent occurance. Even the controversial Kiwi try against Australia was down to Marshall having a loose carry where he lost control of the ball in the tackle and it went to ground, the ball went forward but the officials claimed the ball was stripped and awarded the Kiwis a try.

I would watch the kiwi games again Mark and i`m sure you will come to the conclusion that he was nowhere near back to his best, in my opinion he is a shadow of the Benji Marshall of old that ghosted past players with ease where the Benji shuffle worked back then.



I said if he was over his injury which kept him out for the majority of last season, the Titans seem to think he is over his injury and if he is then the Titans have a high class full back. He is young enough to bounce back from an injury like that where as Lockyer is at the age where niggling injuries will probably be the norm from now on. I`d rather chance someone like Zillman than Lockyer or Marshall. I`m not into chancing players with a record of past injuries but with quality full backs who are available a bit thin on the ground then thats why i would have chanced someone like Zillman, anyway its irrelevant as he has signed for the Titans.

I would agree with you here, I think Fien was the one driving the Kiwis forward.

And Isaac Luke, both had very good world cups. Like you say, Fein was outstanding and was the main driving force.

Jamie Lyon would do for me.

thats wot i heard

I dont beleive spalshing out on so many world class players is the answer in the modern game, every team needs a superstar to be one of the best, but IMO its much better to have an all round squad. We also dont realise what effect it must have on the dressing room when one player is on £50,000 more than everyone else.

Ben Roberts, Sam Burgess and Manu Vatuvei

I assume "the modern game" refers to the years since Wigan's salary cap was reduced to the same as all the other clubs.

I would like to see us look to sign the best youngsters if we are going to spend big.

These players can then form the backbone of the team for years to come. Paying big money for the likes of Lockyer is all or nothing. He will play for two years and leave, so the nvestment is limited in that you have to win something in those two years.

The likes of Ben Westwod have been a fantastic investment for Warrington, and perhaps we need to target the likes of Shenton, Westerman etc.

Can Moran afford Kaka?

Exactly.

In fairness to the club this is probably what they were thinking when they signed Bridge and Bracek, but they haven't turned out to be what was hoped. It is a hard job because there is a limited amount of young English talent, and once the talent is on the books of one of Leeds/Saints/Bradford it is hard for a club like us to persuade them to let the player go. I can't see us getting a positive response if we enquired about signing Roby or Graham, or Sam Burgess.

That leaves signing targets outside the big clubs (eg Westerman, Shenton) or more likely to get the right players when they are still schoolboy age. I am sure the club is thinking on these lines hence the appointment of John Bastian. And to be fair they've put a lot into local junior development so the effort is going in.

The idea was probably to complement this long term strategy with 'loading from above' as Cullen put it, bringing in established internationals to immediately lift the standard of the club (and help us attract the best young players). Sadly this didn't work, some of the players weren't the right ones, and the limitations of the coach mitigated against us too.

Twice.

Its all about getting the right world class player. Look at Saints with Lyon and Gidley. Wigan got Barrett, Leeds with Webb etc.

No matter what anyone says Benji Marshall would be a sensation over here. He would be the best Kiwi import in the Super League bar none.

Lockyer would still be the best player in the Super League, even at his age.

Hunt is better than any full back in Super League also including Webb, Wellens and Greenshields.

No, no, no. I'd rather have Webb than Marshall or Hunt. Webb is what we want Bridge to be at full back.

If we are going for the real thing, we should go for Slater and/or Thurston.

I'd be happy with pretty much UK recruitment really, maybe get a prop from the NRL, there's plenty in the Bulb/Rauhihi school, somebody who's tough & uncompromising and hard to shift backwards. You could probably throw 30 names on here. Assuming the others stay, ie, Hicks retained etc, I'd be cool with that. Or even one of those french lads, Remi Casty or someone like that, harness his aggression like.

Jamie Lyon being the exception to the rule, if there's even a whiff that this guy will be playing in the UK in 2010 we should pull out all the stops to ensure that it's with us.

I'd be pleased if our recruitment was something like, and this depends on injuries, extensions and such, and others clubs performing and being willing to sell etc, if Huddersfield go well, Wild obviously wouldn't want to leave.

Michael Shenton [Gleeson
Rob Purdham [V.Anderson/PJ
Steven Wild [See Above
Richard Owen [Utility
Louis McCarthy Scarsbrook / Andy Lynch / AN Other Prop [Rauhihi

ferriol.

Yeah, he's a big bugger. Providing the others stay fit, you could limit his gametime and really tell him to rip into the opposition. I just think he gets overused at times by them, I'd just like to see him in 10/15 min shifts just scatterihng people.

I like that Casty, I just think he's too aggresive sometimes, needs to learn hot to channel it, can't half put a hit on, same for that Fakir.

Dan Carter; Sam Burgess; Kirk Yeoman.

First two fairly obvious. Yeoman can be the best centre in the competition if he got fit and back to the form of 2007. May just need a change of environment. Can easily fil the boots of Gleeson though, and we can't rely constantly on overseas players. We have to buy british at some point.

apart from yeamen is a left centre.

if you can play left centre, you can play right