surely it depends on who the clubs are, if it were say salford or hull as with jordan turner it's not surprising he picked hull. each case is different, I don't think living in hull has anything to do with being able to attract players, salaries offered, possibilities of silverware or even the prospect of nailing down a regular start or a longer term contract is far more important to players imho

He did love it in hull but he did mention it was voted the worst place in uk to live.

So as long as we can out bid salford well be fine!

I dont think Hull is that bad tbh, some lovely places to live here, swanland, kirkella etc, and the city centre isnt any worse than other cities!
I dont think the city is the problem, just an excuse that gets wheeled out!!

i lived in hull for 14 years but now live 30mins away but i have no problem with the city and having been into york many times i would say hull was a much better place!

Er, no he wasn't, Wilf was closer. The Roosters wanted to keep Tansey for the following year but Leeds had already agreed to sell him to us for this season. Roosters spat their dummy out and dropped him, saying he wouldn't play for them again, which then allowed us to take him earlier. HTH.

I guess that was a fairly obvious example! but each prospective signing has to be on its own merits, long signed for hull because he wanted a 2 year contract that no one else was willing to offer, each pursuit of a player is different and no two clubs bids are ever really the same. At this moment in time you might struggle to compete with wigan or warrington for a top player if you're both in a 2 horse race for the same player (brett finch and rovers is a case in point) due to their current standings and form in the comp, but lets be honest at the risk of upsetting our friends from lancashire, wigan, warrington or st helens aren't exactly highly desirable places to live either and there are always ways of edging someone else in the pursuit of a player

[iWe[/i know that, and so do people like O'Meley who've experienced it first hand and can pass on recommendations to such as Mason.

But to people who don't/have never lived here, perception (accurate or otherwise) is a strong influencer. Something that's always bugged me.

However, I'd not want to live in the $h1thole that is Leeds, for example. Just my perception from my visits, of course.

Your right worminhand, to us its a great city, maybe the club should send a couple of us over to Oz to sell Hull, id go, they'd have to really beg though




Im the same as you, hate Leeds, and thats only from visiting, i find Hull a much friendlier place than most cities, but as you say, its how we see it!!

i honestly believe a lot of players dont want to come to hull because of its reputation as tough area when in reality we are just like any other city (not as bad as some), negative press like the worst place in britain list and hull as a regular feature on traffic cops doesnt help either. thing is, those that make the move usually like the area but its getting them to come here in the first place that is and has been a problem for a number of years now.

Just wonder when we will hear some retention news ?

Don't worry, Kath got her water pills as prescribed.

In [iThe Idler[/i in 2003 and on C4 in 2005 neither of which I'd give too much creedance to.

No they aren't but they are awfully close to Manchester, Liverpool or Chester which has some very desirable places to live and must influence those coming from the other side of the world knowing that you will be in a good area for living, schools and shopping etc especially to those who have a family and along with the quality of the contracts will definately play a major part in where a player chooses to go

I'd disagree with you there.
Hull isn't as bad as it's press, but York is one of the nicest cities around here.

I don't.

Hull City centre is very comparable to big cities across the whole of the UK; a good variety of shops, entertainment & eateries plus great history & views all in a fairly compact zone. I love coming back home to wonder around the town.
Comparing all the other SL teams city centres, Hull has far and away the best offer overall and I wouldn't mind living in some of the outlying villages to the East or West either.
Unfortunately bad reputations are hard to lose & with certain TV programs focusing on the negatives along with the actual every day problems with certain aspects of the city, this will always leave Hull with ground to make up.
On top of that Hull is geographically challenged, this will always be a factor when it comes to recruitment as well as the other things I mentioned.
Sad but true.

We do do an outstanding line in scummy toothless betracksuited scallies though, ideal for TV.

Wheni said contracts I didn't just mean the wage, I meant lengh as well.

Jut to let you know. Wigan pulled out of the "hunt" months ago, as they were not prepared to pay his wage demands.

I think this is a direct result of our youth system's inability to produce enough top quality players who are always going to be cheaper than bringing someone in from somewhere else. Our most successful time recently was when thed team was built around a couple of top quality half backs who came through our system. Other than wire, the other "top" teams have many more quality players in their teams who have come through their own academy systems. Realistically, this season we've only had houghton, briscoe, washbrook and yeaman. You could include horne (who hardly seems to have played so I haven't) and radford, who had his best years elsewhere. Everyone else has been brought in at a premium somewhere either in terms of length or value of contract

Good balanced post to be fair.
I think the issue with the city is that those of us who know the area love it and feel comfy here however programmes like that one with the ginger bird ex squeeze of prince andrews who came to preston road and similar programmes just make the area look so really reallybad, however i have friends that came over and thought the centre was as good as anywhere they had been and thought Beverley and Cottingham were delightful so its ying and yang i guess.
However all cities are very very similar and use Liverpool for instance, which has more scallywags per square inch than the rest of Europe collectively , the area looks like a war zone as you drive in but has it seems a better perspective to outsiders for some reason , similar to manchester and leeds...
Even York as was mentioned has some tasty areas so its all down to the eye of the beholder i guess.

another reason hull may suffer is because of its location at the neck end of the M62 , your either coming to hull or your not, its not a "passing through" senario..however from OZ travellers will know that Sydney and many other areas have shiiite holes that make Hull look like kensington palace so i doubt that has much sway or why would folk move to Wigan or wire??
Money and team mates you will be playing with or may already know talk in rugby , like MO being willie masons best mate!!

I think its more a problem with Hull City getting players than rugby players signing. Though they earn a good wage its pitance compared to these nancies and where could a multi-millionaire footballer spend his cash in Hull? Nigh out down "Prinny ave"? Hire out the whole of the Deep? ermm.... No shops of note in HUll except the chain-stores nothing of anything really..

Dont get me wrong I'm Hull through and through, but after travelling the world for a couple of years, Hull has very little to offer. As for O'Meley and Fitz passing on good comments about Hull to Mason. They can't like him very much! Agreed, Townsville aint a great place but comparing Hull to Sydney?

no you miss read my meaning, i didnt compare Hull to Sydney what i said if you re read is that all places have their shiite holes and sydney has its own fair share but did not at any point compare hull to sydney

Sydney is a major World city that has hosted the Olympics, so you are setting the bar pretty high.

Also, I don't know your circumstances, but generally people tend to have a tourist bias - as there is big difference between living somewhere and visiting a place. I lived in Oxford, which pulls in massive numbers of tourists for its size, and it is a nice enough place - but there are scuzzy bits. Tourists though, only see the square mile or so in the centre, around the older colleges. When I've been to visit people rather than places in London, it is mostly like walking through a quiet scene in The Bill. New York, outside of Manhattan, seems fairly humdrum.
Sydney is more than the harbour. A fairer comparison would be Hull vs Newcastle (NSW), or, as you say, Townsville.