The front page of le claims gareth thomas has joined the crusaders. Can someone tell me what the article actually says? LE doesnt get to cardiff until wednesday.

Just read the article and it says that LE spoke to retout on thursday and he is still working on signing a big name union player and its going really well etc. He doesnt actually name thomas as such, its all LE saying that it will be definitely announced this week and he will be introduced to the supporters at the catalans game, which is interesting in that thomas is still contracted with the cardiff blues. hmm.

Surely to god even a club as desperate as the celtic crusaders wouldnt sign a 35 year old rugby union player who has never played the game??

Yes, I know it's only superleague.....but thats almost as bad as Castleford signing Dwayne Chambers!!





Mind you I bet he could have kept the Leeds game in Newport down to below 50

Mate there are professionals who help you back to normality. Call the Samaritans.

Alfie has played Rugby though unlike Dwain Chambers

God and people accuse me of being a troll


Barry Mackenzie, maybe ANOTHER one of jannerboys trolling log ins?

Said on Boots and All last night he's expected to sign on Monday.

Great signing even if it's only as a PR stunt but even at 35 he'll bound to see some action. He's not exactly your average Union convert is he? A former Lions and Wales captain with the record number of welsh caps. Hasn't been named world player of the year as well? He must have a bit about him. But like I said it's great publicity as well.

The 2 codes arent that different despite what all the negative 'flatcappers' have you believe.

I speak as a RUGBY fan of both codes.

Alfie Thomas has been outstanding not only for Welsh Rugby (Cardiff Blues and Wales) but as a member of the Lions.

If he signs for the Crusaders tomorrow (as he is widely expected to do) it will bring nothing but positives, not only to the Crusaders, but to Rugby league in general

hes signed

how can a 35 year old kick and clapper bring positives to league ???????

hell get flattenned and retire within 2 months, having taken the crus for a bundle of cash and tried to take the out of the greatest game.

bit dodgy in the showers after the game too, or so its reported

congrats on the signing. what a player he is think he can do your side some good all the best to him

Good to see homophobia is alive and kicking in RL. Get a life...


Good luck with this signing, I think you may have a winner there.

Feckit – you've had enough warnings.



bye.

Hey Barrie Mac , I can't remember Dwayne Chambers captaining the British Lions in New Zealand , being the most capped player to play for his country ( 100 Caps ) and scoring 40 tries for his country

Tell me cobber, anyone in Australian rugby league come close to that playing record ?

not being picky port Brian o'driscoll was tour captain in NZ until richie cheathoare put an end to it

Some english fans need to get a gripe with reality, that is bitter leigh, halifax and widnes fans crusaders are starting to work. Thomas signing is big, being a aussie it is like dally m switching all thoses years ago.

I hope it works out for all concerned. It'll be interesting to see how he goes, but after listening to the interview with him I would say that you're going to get 100% effort from him.

Good luck Gareth

You're very quiet Barry Mac............. you haven't answer the question about what your top Australian Rugby league player has done in comparison to Gareth Thomas's rugby Union record ?

strange for someone with as big a mouth as yours

As a piece of PR it's a masterstroke. No doubts about it. The cameras and two-pence hacks will descend on this story like piranhas - rabies-style. Lots of exposure. Just what the Crusader transplants need.

But actual first-team game time? No. Thomas will go down as one of the best players to put on a Welsh jersey in the last twenty years. Had he made the switch age 22/23 he could well have been as big a splash in SL. But for him to front up and compete at the age of 35 will take a miracle several orders of magnitude above sea-parting.

By all means use him as some kind of PR ambassador for the club. That I can buy. But throwing him in against hardened SL pros who'll no doubt be itching to prove a point is suicide. Where does he play? At FB he's too exposed. Ditto wing where the opposing kicker will smash all SL records for bombs into to the corner. At centre his lack of positional experience will be his undoing (I dread to think what guys like Gidley will do to him). I suppose he's big enough to be thrown into the pack, but at 35 I doubt he'll be able to last fifteen minutes without needing oxygen.

I can't imagine Noble harbours any serious notion about Thomas as a viable squad player. But then, this is the guy who allowed Iafeta Palea'aesina to waddle around with two stone extra on his back (thus halving his fitness and utility) for the best part of three seasons, so who knows ...

Well it even got almost a whole page in the sports section of the Daily Mail yesterday. i can't remember the last time i ever saw anything about SL in the Daily Mail.

It doesn't matter how well he plays, because it's a new club in a new area, and it will generate interest, which can only be good for the club. There's more to running a club than rugby on the field.

I expect he'll be very good though. He is clearly a very good player. The only real difference between the two codes for a winger is that maybe he hasn't been kicked to as much close to the line, but as a union player he'll be used to catching the high kicks, and he looks a big, strong player.

And maybe he hasn't been asked to return a punt a dozen times per eighty minutes. And maybe he hasn't been forced to defend his position ten to fifteen times per match - and then get straight up to defend it again, or act as the short side marker (when was the last time you saw a Union winger have to make up to twenty tackles per game?). And maybe hasn't been asked to go into the rough stuff toward the end of each forty when his forwards need some backup. And maybe he hasn't been carpet-bombed repeatedly because he's the suspect leak.

I mean, do you close your eyes when you watch either sport? Thomas was a great Union player in his day. But the moment he steps into SL proper it's a whole different game. Which is why the likes of Quinnell and Scott Gibbs (who is as good a judge of either code as you'll find) think he's living in la la land.

Gareth Thomas obviously was a fine RU player, but at his age, 'was' is the operative word. Now he thinks he can cut it in RL so he must have a pretty poor view of our game - as must the people who are signing him.

If he only plays 3 or 4 games this season for the Crusaders then he will have done his job. It will be great for publicity for RL in Wales and maybe bring in 1 or 2 good RU players. Its all about giving RL a much higher profile in Wales nothing more.

It'll be nice for him to get a game so that all the pointless "predicitons" (extreme guesses!) can end and he can be judged on what he HAS done and not on what cyclopean "experts" feel he MIGHT do.