But.....

If we keep a player who is going to leave (albeit he will still be on his old wage level) it could cost us the, say, £50k, plus the loss of a potential transfer fee of, say, £100k - that's a cost to the club of £150k for the one player, for one year, and for someone who is looking to move on and will not have the same motivation as others.

That £150k could buy you 2 decent players in today's market.

I would love for Danny to stay, but he has to want to stay - for the right reasons (which include money, but shouldn't be the only factor), but if we cannot come to agreement, then I say, for both parties sakes, move on!

Monetary terms in makes complete sense to let him go (if he wanted to) I just don’t think the club will benefit from losing such a pivotal player.

Sure you could use his wage plus transfer fee and replace him with two decent or possibly one great player (if they wanted to come to Wakefield in the first place) but that could’ve been said with when Ellis departed, by rights Trinity should’ve had £200K to spend but for whatever reason that didn’t materialise (more then likely it went on paying off existing debts).

As for Brough’s attitude, when he knew he was leaving Castleford his performances seemed to excel, certainly more so then at the start of the season.

It’s a tough one to call and whichever way it goes there will be positives and negatives.

I think if they cashed in on broughy...they'd have to replace him with someone like Lockyer/Cronk if affordable/avaialable for me because southernwood not ready yet and there is nobody else around in super league...

Im in the 'make him a final offer with a timescale to accept and then sell ASAP if not agreed. The loss of money by keeping a player to the end of his contract is not worth it.

You would also have to consider his efforts to the cause if negotiations broke down.

Nope im totally against this method, 2 players of what standard wilkes is on 100k, scrum halfs are few and far between there's certainly no english players good enough which means another Aussie.

How about its too late in the day to get 2 decent players for 150k, this is far-fetched i know but we have a very strong squad this year with real quality in brough, he could be the difference between a challenge cup final / play-off appearance and then how much would that cost us???? in gate receipts, increased crowds etc more franchise points on having a average 8th place finish.

BIGGER PICTURE.

If he wants to go, let him go now and at least cash in - failing this we are risking having a player (with a track record for reported behavioural/attitude problems) who doesn't want to be with us. The potential for damage is too great to risk in my opinion.

Firstly - with the money - make sure we cannot get the likes of Ratchford to come to us. If we cannot, then look to the lower leagues - somebody like the lad from Barrow who played for Ireland at the weekend could be interesting. If not, we run with Jeffries and Obst - whilst not ideal its far from the worst combination.

Just need to make sure the kicking department is covered.

for as long as I have supported Trin we have lacked the financial clout to keep players attractive to other clubs. In the past 5 years we have lost 2 of the finest I have seen play for WTRLFC Ellis and Solomona. On both occasions I felt the club could only move backwards on their departure. Whilst this may have been the case in the short term or indeed in their particular position when one considers the bigger picture all the evidence is that the club has improved during this time both on and off the field.

I appreciate that this might have been very different but for one result against Cas I think that season was more about an underperforming coach rather than the gap left by Garath Ellis.

Basically I'd love DB to stay, I love seeing him in a dreadanaught shirt. I don't think however that his staying at the club and our continued success are neccesarily dependent on one another. Would Jefferies and Obst be a significantly poorer half back pairing than Jefferies and Ellis who got us to 6th place in the McNally era? I don't think so.

In terms of Cas, Sherwin is also out of contract next season. Like for like replacement and Cas could put a very competitive deal on the table if need be.

in all the years i have supported Trinity we have never being able to keep our better players we are so near yet so far away
David Smith
Tervor Skerett
Keith & Kevin Rayne
Andy Kelly
Colin Maskill
Jacko
Brian Juliff
Gary Spencer
John Lyons
Garath Ellis
David Solomona
Peter Fox
etc etc

You have no money left have you? If you couldnt keep hold of Boyle because you spent up on Ryan Clayton how you going to attract DB.

DB wouldn't go anyhere near cas whatever money was offered while matterson is there. its more likely that he would play for board and lodgings at york acorns.

Absolutely, categorically, almost violently dissagree...


the contract system here in Australia seems to work as it should... almost all players (unless sacked for breaches) complete their contracts with clubs before moving on or re-signing...

We signed Brough for three years and the fans deserve to see him play for the club for that time...

If he stays after that then great... if he moves on then we will have had another year to bring through the younger players on our conveyer belt.


I agree with the poster that selling Ellis (especially with the timing) set the club back two or three years in our development... almost resulting in relegation...

I think the RFL should change the rule to stop the sale or exchange of contracted players between clubs, only players who are out of contract, (or released from contract AND pending approval from the league) should be allowed to change clubs.

Brough-McGoldrick swap deal on the cards?

Understand what you are saying, but if the player is unsure about his future and the club has a limited income (less than their competitors), then I think all angles have to be considered.

In the old days, the purchase of players was THE way of re-distributing money through the game - nevere had a problem with it then and I don't now - personally

I guess my point is that the player is unsure because the system allows that...


for me we either have a contract system or a transfer system...


I am still not sure if we have moved forwards, backwards or just stayed still this closed season... and that after so much optimism about the players joining the club...

From where I sit... (at my desk in a tower block overlooking the northern suburbs of Sydney!)... how the club react to this situation will say so much about the club... if we sell it WILL be because we have to!.. I dont see any other explanation...


oh and ps... when did Diane come back to the club... I thought she left to have more family time and was replaced by Steve Ferres and then Francis Stephenson... I didn't see any announcement of a change to the management structure nor did I see that the job was vacant and advertised....

I get what you're saying but, on balance, I don't agree.

Diane has been back for a couple of years. The position was not advertised nor widely reported, but I can assure you that she is doing a fine job and, in many many ways, is stronger than SF was - albeit we now have others who provide the rugby decisions required.

sell him and pay the bills immediatly, the clubs more important

very strong action is needed for the loss of Danny is minor to the club than not existing at all, I don't know of the financial situation at the club but if its needed I will still back the club
survival is paramount

Brough is just a greedy little . He knew what he was to be paid when he signed his contract and he should stick to it. He has been moaning that the club wont allow him to leave, and that is FACT. I would love to keep him at the club but only if the club can afford him and that doesnt seem to be the case.

brough wants to leave and is only pushing the club to see how high they will go and if we are stupid enough to over pay him then he will take it. last year we started the season without brough and played very very well. if he doesnt take offer then sell him pay tax debt which will keep tax man and rfl happy. Brough is holding the club to ransom (the club that restored his career) and although he is a quality player he aslo brings problems and if put him on a pedastel his ego ill cause more problems. make last offer, if he rejects then sell and we will see if the grass is greener.

What must be a concern now that the financial predicament of the Wakefield club has been "leaked" is that any club who would want to buy Brough will probably know they can get him for a knock down price.

WELL IF WE HAVE NO MONEY LEFT YOU MUST BE TOTALY UP THE CREAK NOW THAT THE TAX MAN HAS CAUGHT UP WITH YOU, BUT I THINK YOU ARE RIGHT HE WONT BE AT CAS NEXT YEAR BUT I DONT THINK HE WILL BE AT WAKEFIELD EITHER, HAPPY DAYS

shouldn't you be playing with your sparklers

What are you shouting for? Have the fireworks made you go deaf?

sorry mate i will put this one in lower case, you probably can't afford capitals now the tax man has got you anyway.