I don’t think he’s SL level tbh even though I think he’s playing well. It does depend who is available though.

I think that rumour just sprang from someone not realising it was Oliver Russel we were chasing. Salford were similarly linked with Lewis Murphy just prior to signing Loghan Lewis.

That’s what I put it down to aswell. Before the Matty Russell rumour came out the Ollie Russell rumour had come out.

At the point in which we signed Olpherts McGilvery was injured and we were struggling for metres out of our 20. Olpherts came in and gave us some great carries out of the back field, then McGivery was available and DP had a tough choice to make. If I remember correctly, Walmsley was also under a slight injury cloud so Olpherts went to the left wing to accommodate McGilvery, to give Walmsley a rest and to maintain the yardage from our outside backs. Unfortunately for Walmsley Olpherts has done a superb job and is scoring try’s like they’re going out of fashion.
I don’t think there’s anything more to it than that

If it’s that Olpherts is scoring try’s out of fashion then didn’t Walmsley do the same on the left?

So not much between them in the try scoring yet Olpherts gets more yards from back field? I agree.

I'm told that both Russell's have signed for next season and that Matty knows he is only coming as back up

If he's only coming as back up why would we want him.
We need people who want to fight to be no.1 in their position.

Pretty sure he will fight for a spot, he covers full back and wing

Indeed. But that's not what FIL said.

It will be similar to Olpherts coming in this season, he would have known that he was coming as back-up to Walmsley and Jerry but has obviously had the opportunity to play more games due to Jerry's injuries.
I am sure that Russell will get his opportunities next season if Tom or Lachy get injured

The difference being you should be looking to play better not wait for an injury.
That's what Olpherts has done and I'm sure Russell will aim to do the same.
Walmesley is by no means guaranteed a place on his form.

I really hope there is no truth in the Russell rumour.

He has a half decent carry and that’s it.

He has poor hands and the main benefit of him coming will be the night time economy of the city as he’s rarely out of the boozer.

Russell's better than Walmsley. He'll start on the right in my opinion.

Don't really get this negativity about Walmsley.
He lost his place through no fault of his ownand had still managed to score tries despite playing out of position.
I'm not knocking olpherts but walmsley would have eaten the tries olpherts has scored.
He has certainly not lost his fformjust has a different style to olpherts but is just asprolific at scoring tries .

I don't think there is any negativity towards Walmsley. Johnstone will be on the left next season, and Powell has always liked a strong right winger to help with the carries (Carney, McGillvary, Olpherts). I think everyone would agree that he's probably the weakest of the three this year for carries, so he either needs to improve that side of his game or accept he's back up to Johnstone. The fact he's on the right again today makes shows that Powell probably feels the same and his giving him chance to prove himself there.

I think Walmsley carries very well. He regularly carries 2/3 players forward and makes post contact carries. Walmsley hasn’t hit any poor form, he’s playing well still and would have eaten every one of the tries on the left if the opportunity was there.

That said if he’s going to be on the right next season then I’m fine with him getting used to playing there. He was good on the right today and constantly shut Taufua down on kicks.

Someone said Russell is better but I don’t see it. I’d much rather have Walmsley on the wing and Russell will be experienced cover if he comes.

True. And won't take a quota spot.

Last winger from my perspective that deserved a quota spot on SL was Pat Richards...

Think you are massively devaluing the wing spot. Most coaches are now starting to view it as the most important position outside the spine.

Gone are the days of just putting the ball over the line.

Wingers are now responsible for getting the sets going with their first carries out if the back field. If they win contact and get a quick play the ball a team should generally win the arm wrestle in that set. I think that is the issue with Walmsley. Whilst he is a good finisher I’m not sure his carry is at the required level yet.

Players like Abbas Miski these days are a great asset to a team. Great carry and can finish.

Is he chuff, you really have no eye for talent imho.

He wasn’t out of contract when he signed for the Roosters, he dad just under a year to go when he did his ACL and the signing had been announced by then. It would have been an illegal approach so the Roosters will have had to go through the club, hence our ability to add a clause.

I don’t actually know if there is this clause but it’s utterly plausible.

I thought the transfer window rule only applied in Super League.

Russell signed for a NRL club at 20 and played most of his career in SL, Walmsley has never played above Championship level. Maybe you and your eye for talent are right and all the professional coaches were wrong.

There's no transfer window between the NRL and SL, only between RFL affiliated clubs. They were free to approach him whenever they liked.

It does (well, RFL affiliated clubs) and that's why a clause would be bizarre. There was no need for us to be involved in negotiations.