I didn't say the signing of Obst was a joke. I said a 2 year deal was a joke and I stand by that even if he has played better than I thought he would.

we have all got our opinions.im just happy we have obst next year.whoever we sign as no 7 next year,obst is ideal back up as well as hooker.last year when long was injured we had no adequate replacement.now we have.

I don't what you mean Robbo.

Quota

O'meley
Fitzgibbon
Phelps
Obst

Non fed

O'meley
Fitzgibbon
Phelps
Lauaki
Moa

If Lauaki doesn't get a new contract we would have had a full quota non-fed spot available.

The simple fact is that the second year to the Obst deal will limit our options for recruitment next season.

I've explained above.

How does the residency exemption rule work, Obst seems to of been in the UK for a long time. Wonder if the club have something up their sleve with his registration for next year.

If Moa and Lauaki leave then yes we have a full spot available, the chances of them both going would be slim, we could also bring in a player with a kolpack or eu passport eg Ben Roberts.

He's proved me wrong. A great signing who has injected pace & enthusiasm into the middle of the park.
His tackle, when he drove someone into the ground, was superb in the second half. You could hear the collective amazement of the crowd when we realized it was him that had made the tackle.

if we do set our stall out to get an aussie no7.who is realistically available?

Tim Smith and Brett Seymour.

Would Seymour get a Visa ?

cant say ive seen alot of seymour,but smith seems to have a decent pass and kicking game,but doesnt seem to run with the ball much.

Can't see why not, I don't think he's got a record.

yes have to agree with you was amazed when realized it was obst such a great tackle drilled into the ground for such a small bloke wish we had him a few years earlier so energetic

Think it was Andy Lynch who he dumped on his jacksy. Great technique combined with a low centre of gravity.

Proving me wrong also...i was underwhelmed at first but watching him play i would not have long walking straight back in although i do think he had a good game against cas until the red card...obst looks a great signing 4 me..agars a legend! Ha.

obst was always a player i rated,i couldnt understand the indifference to his signing.a lot of so called top class aussies have come over here and been half as impressive.

and he's been a good signing/improved us as a team straight from the off. Always been the type of player that doesn't have many(if any) bad games and looks to put a lot of effort into his game.

Does he still count as non fed even though he was here before 2008?

Why?

We have Lauaki, Fitz, and Phelps all likely to leave which will free 3 spots, Obst could play as back up hooker to Houghton.

I think he must not count on any quota / non fed due to the 2008 reason.
We have Moa, lauaki, o meley, fitz and phelps which fills it.

I did think though that once a player moves clubs, it no longer counted?

Obst is Quota but not Non-Fed as he was here before 2008. Sheldon posted the two lists earlier in the thread.

The exemption stays with a player for the rest of his career, regardless of how many times he changes club.

Lauaki is the opposite to Obst, he's non fed and non-quota. The Obst signing simply means we might not be able to replace both Lauaki and Fitzgibbon with quota players, ergo, has limited our options. Robbo's right on this.

I think we might lose Moa.

Obst only prevents us signing someone who is quota but not non-fed. So basically, Lovegrove.
He hardly limits our options, any Aussie signed now counts on both lists so even if we didn't have Obst we would still only be able to sign 3 due to O'Meley and (hopefully) Moa counting on our non fed list.
Robbo's not right on this.

(Hopefully) to O'meley aswell