Well said mon ami, totally agree with you 100%

There is only one person who's posts could be described as "silly" on this board.



If you knew half as much as you reckon you do about the players in France, you wouldnt have had to ask that question.

I'd know very little.
This does not change the fact that Bosc, Raguin and JPB took two years to become key players in the side. There is no reason why we could not do the same again, or do you really reckon that the LER only contained two SL quality players and has been tapped out?
Silly boy.

I have it on good authority that a 24 year old aussie half-back is signed and sealed for next season, due to be announced in 2-3 weeks!

Hello Cala!

This half-back...his name? Scott Dureau
He played at Newcastle Knights, when Trent Robinson was the headcoach.

He can play hooker, and I hope he had been signed to play hooker. Because it is very sad to let Brent Sherwin go out. B.S. is a monster

Edited for accuracy.

If were going to go about things, as you seem to do, childishly.



I know the LER has players who could improve vastly if they were at the Dragons. This is obviously because of the higher level of competition in Super League and also because of the better quality imports that can be recruited in Super League.

It does not mean they are ready to go and sitting on the LER shelf though.

Oooooh, handbags. Can we both stop being childish now?

I'm sure Henderson will be a great player, one that would be a great addition to any club, but my concerns are:
1. It's a continuation of our club policy of signing the best players available, not the best players available to fill the gaps we have.
2. He's replacing McGuire, when Bently should be replacing McGuire and we should be looking for a replacement for Bently. If we can afford to lavish that much cash on Henderson, then great, however ...
3. We can't afford him. We know this because Elima is rumoured to be leaving because of his contract renewal and we can't afford our first choice of replacement for Walters.
4. Elima/Bently again. If we want to compete with the big teams (Leeds/Saints) we need to develop like them. Sign big players when needed, but sign the coach to take the team we have through, promote academy players and select the nucleus of a squad that we can build around for years to come. I would suggest that the spine of our club that we need to build around are Bosc, Mounis, Elima, Bently (with Raguin and JPB vital but not as essential). This means that
a. our first recruitment/retention policy has to be to retain these players, not sign big name replacements.
b. we must ensure that our academy players see a chance to make it to the top, not a dead end occupied by an etranger.

Saints replaced long with Eastmond, they have an academy player shining on the wing. That's what makes them a great club. If we rely on etrangers to stay at the top we are doomed to fail. That's the policy that we have followed from the last two years and that has yielded us nada, despite having a theoretically better squad. In that time we have also successfully brought through zero players (one if you count JPB, though he was started before then),

So, by all means, let's sign Henderson to replace McGuire but only after we have successfully replaced Mogg and Ryles/Chan, after we have retained our key players, after we have retained/replaced Greenshields and after we have obtained the best possible coach who might be able to do something with the squad.

wise words belgianxiii and good to see the childish bickering has stopped

a couple of days ago I had a call from a Championship forward,an etranger (can't give his name at the moment,you'll just have to trust me) who says he's been approached by the Dragons - he's a young lad with some potential who would probably be seen as a replacement rather than a first-choice player
it would be great if he had been a french lad tho' or is this just another 'dead end' ?

(coming from a naive standpoint) Surely the best Etrangers are those who come in to improve the club and not just the team?

Looking at what a shambles we have been at times this season I am making the leap (and someone with inside knowledge of the corridors of Dragons power might be able to pick me up) that Greg Bird was good at organising on and off the pitch.

What we need are Aussies or Brits who can make the academy players better, bring the UTC players into the first team squad and make Barteau, Gigot et al superleague players.

Its about that mix... too many French untried players will be a disaster, too few and we have an identity crisis.

It's a good point, though has any player developed us as a team like Jones did?

of course we need the mix with the idea being that the french lads learn from the 'etrangers' and consequently improve the general level of professionalism & performance in all the french leagues
as a fan,I love seeing great players performing and i'm willing to pay at the gate for the privelege - what I don't want to see is negativity such as at TO13 due to outdated coaching techniques whether it be by a french or foreign coaching set-up

If it's the same bloke I've heard about, I don't think we have too many worries.

Hendo is a very good player so i dont know why you all are complaining
younger than Mcguire and has a bit more pace
your halfback may well be James Maloney

We aren't, I am, for the [imany[/i reasons listed above, that and TR's choice to release probably the best young prospect in the club.

Better than any of the hookers you currently have. Quality player, will improve you.

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sp ... rench-club Looks like that one could be going through. Good player from what i remember from his Bradford days.

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sp ... rench-club Looks like that one could be going through. Good player from what i remember from his Bradford days.

Done & dusted last week!

Henderson is the future of the Club, according to TR.

I sincerely hope that Guash slaps him upside the head for that comment.

henderson is the type of player that can turn a game and thats what most of you are failing to realize
a replacement for mcguire .....a player on a reasonable wage you couldnt have signed any one better

Great player is Henderson. P's all over Bentley. You've signed a very good player and under rated at that.

Will see how he goes against Bentley in Euro cup before making a statement like that

bentley is good ......i do like him but hendo is a country nile better
one of my favorite players to wear the red amber and black

I don't think anyone is arguing about Henderson's ability. We all know what he can do. The question is more why we're sacking off a really good, young, homegrown product in order to sign an extremely similar player from overseas.

Kane had at least two better offers that I know about so why not go for the pot of gold when the chance arises ?
Personally can't wait for Hendo to liven things up a bit