There's plenty of other stuff he's said where people have got hold of the wrong end of the stick and then beaten him with it.

As for the comment you quoted, until our recruitment is finished it could still turn out to be accurate. If not then it will be a salutary lesson for AP in the vagaries of the RL transfer system and the paucity of talent available.

Very true, I don't disagree with that.


Yes it could still turn out to be accurate, but pre-season is less than a month away and there's only two teams left in the comp. So unless the rumours about Burrow or Myler are true, and I don't think they match AP's description anyway, it leans towards us having nothing sorted.
As I said yesterday, my hope is that the calling off of the Chase deal means we've maybe agreed to someone else, but I still don't think it will be a player of the calibre AP was alluding to in his press conference.

The guy I trust sticks with the chase deal is not dead but im not very confident myself .
I think the back up player whos name has slipped my mind is/was the 30 yr old st george sh who has just retired , he was state of origin last year , any names anyone who watches the nrl ?

Hornby didn't play SOO last year, you maybe getting him mixed up with Soward.

Ben hornby

I'm leaning towards us not having someone of the calibre AP wanted, myself. But then I was sceptical that we'd ever manage it. At the time AP came out with his statement I went through the likely options and it's scary just how few of them there are.

Chase was our best chance and I think that the amount of time and effort spent on trying to get him here clearly shows that we didn't have anyone else of a similar standard lined up. The mistake I think AP made was in assuming that RL transfers and Visa applications would work the same way as they do in soccer. Not a mistake he'll make again I imagine.

Welcome to the world of RL Mr Pearson

Thats the guy .

Why would any body want Hornby?

They like trains?

Also if we have signed McDonnell like everyone reckons, why the delay on anouncing it?

Another misinterptretation...

"When I look at the young players we are bringing in, plus Gareth Ellis, I think we will have a team to be feared next year," Pearson told the Mail.

"We have six new players sorted for next season, but obviously we can't announce who they are at present."We are extremely pleased with the players we have got coming here and the calibre of them.

"They are predominantly young, predominantly English and will be England internationals in the future.

Who are these 6 players then? It doesn't include Ellis, Pitts, Watts or Arundel as they were already announced at this point. So there's Crookes, Johnson and Holdsworth as Ben Galea was definitely not "in the bag" at that point and is certainly not young and English. You defend him all you want but please don't say people are misinterpreting him.

I'd also add there's more chance of signing Benji Marshall then there is of Crookes and Johnson becoming England internationals so that's another load of sh&te...

I'd think that as a Rovers and City fan you'd have enough to worry about without looking at what's happening over here.

dear dear dear the jealousy and spite in that post is simply overwhelming...
Lets go through the current HKR squad and denote all the internationals amongst the ranks... erm i will go wash my hair first

You understand the meaning of 'predominantly' I assume? Just in case you don't - it's not the same as 'exclusively'. A lot of people seem to have made that mistake - a misinterpretation, if you will.

Can you expect to be surprised?



Juggling Chase, the alternative and offloading Seymour must have been a logistical nightmare. At least things are simpler now.

Better than Seymour?

Looking at the other 7's in SL, who is realistically available?,AP stated, he would pay a transfer fee.

Wigan - No chance.
Warrington, Myler - no chance.
St Helens - no chance.
Catalans , Dureau- good player, massive fee i'd imagine.
Leeds - no chance.
Giants - Brough. - Rumour is/was £800,000 fee.
Wakefield - Tim Smith, fee req'd. Better than Seymour - Imo.
Bulls - Luke Gale?
HKR -Dobson, massive fee, HKR need the money.Sell to us - doubtful
Salford - none
London. Gower- better than Seymour. - fee.
Cas. Chase visa issue, also a massive fee.
Widnes. Hanbury - no improvement Seymour.

Hornbys finished mate, that's why he's retired.

Wonder why scrum half has been a problem for us for a long time? Either past there best, not good enough or injured.

Unless I'm missing someone Tony Smith was the last decent/fit/not passed it number 7.

Rumour is here,Seymour has a chronic knee condition., regarding young NRL 7's,
only available would be an EU/UK passport.,and Seymour would have to go,salary cap.

I think, due to the last regime's signing of high profile ex test stars, (which were not pivots) to boost season ticket sales.
instead of signing a 7,who was not a big name.

On the basis that there are no 7's available we could use Heremaia at halfback and look for an experienced short term back up hooker. Players like Ben Fisher or Luke Robinson could do a job for us similar to what Deacon did fo Wigan. There are more solid 9's around that we could get for sensible money for a year to give us time to get the right halfback the following season. More experience around the middle wouldn't go amiss. Of course that would man Seymour going and how that can be done I don't know unless his injury allows him to retire and take the insurance money?

If we ever had to play Heremaia at halfback, I think that we would be expecting Danny Houghton to be playing 60 minutes or so, and having Nicklas or Cunningham (depending upon whether or not he's on dual-reg) spelling him for 20 minutes.
I wouldn't really want Heremaia to be our first choice halfback because I think that he is a very good Hooker and is inconsistent at Halfback (although generally decent).
I don't imagine that we'd go for Luke Robinson. If we were to go splashing cash around at Hudds I would want it to be for Brough, as he is the style of player that we are really missing (great kicking game + first receiver).

Seymour had a knee issue before coming over here, iirc he had an operation on it whilst with NZW.


The pack is sorted for next season, and I'm pretty happy with our threequarters too (I think that Briscoe, Yeaman, Crooks/Arundel, Lineham is strong). We just need to sign a halfback and a full/utility back and I'll be very happy.