Jesus, shows how opinions differ. Graham is a million miles above all of them. Huby was the best prop in the competition this year until his injury, and would have been a certainty for the exiles match. He is still only 26 and has a lot of aggression and far from overrated. Ferriol has exactly the sort of agression we need. Mason on his day is far better than Griffin.

Huby was the most talked-up prop and was in Eddie's England XIII by Round 4. Carvell has been excellent this year and is not as far off Graham as you make out. Mason and Ferriol are both big aggressive men but I don't think either of them offer much more than Griffin.

I would agree that carvell has been very good this year, But regardless of Eddie over hyping him I think Huby was having a good year

Pedant mode

Huby is under contract till 2014 and is planning his testimonial, and he has just turned 25.

Yes I know he is under contract now, but he wasn't two months ago which is why I said would have been out of contract at end of season. Carvell, Ferriol and Mason are also now not to be out of contract due to new deals signed.

Sorry misunderstood.

Huby i doubt he would have left anyway i went to school with him and it was always his dream to play for cas and he wants to have a testimonial with cas.

It be a great signing for you. Better than anything else you got. Peacock's passed it. LeuLai's good in bursts. Really does add to your pack.

Griffin - an astute signing within 3 days of course if true - a solid, aggressive, go-forward, no-nonsense forward who will do a job and add some necessary steel and backbone to the rhinos pack and make the hard yards. Just what we need like. Neither an overwhelming nor an underwhelming signing but just fitting nicely and cosily somewhere in-between. And if he was a signing from Australia who is getting on in years, I'd also add he could be a Glanville/Furner type of player but he's not, so I won't.

Well done GH... if true.

Careful that sounds like a 'pro-Leeds' post.

I think he used the wrong account by accident

Aaaaaaah. Figures.

Sounds exactly like the first description we had of Ben Cross...

Assuming they've extended their current contracts (sorry but I don't follow these things very closely) what was the point of including them in a list of potential signings if they were never on the open market?

It's important to retain a positive outlook during demandingly ordinary times... if only occasionally. Signings like Griffin should help Leeds maintain a league position ahead of the rabble, at the very least.

if true im sad to see griffin leaving

cornerstone of our pack, top player

But he's not a rookie (played probably twice the number of games Cross has), still young, not a journey man and is decent.

But apart from that.......

Was Burgess on the open market two months ago? Well why did everyone assume he was going to Australia?

Was Ratchford on the open market two months ago? Well why does everyone assume he has signed for Wire.

Was Peacock on the open market before September 2005? Well why did everyone knew he had signed before Easter of 2005.

You get the pattern here. The players I included were players approaching the end of their contracts. Those contract end dates are not secret and therefore clubs plan to speak with those players if interested. They don't wait until September,they do it earlier. Therefore, two months ago these players were indeed on the open market.

Or are you saying tvoc that players coming out of contract one year never speak with prospective clubs before September?

Are you still peddling this man crush of yours on Craig Huby that's been going on since he was 16/17?

He's a shorter/fatter Chris Feather who can kick goals. If he's seriously one of the top four English qualified props in the country we're at a lower ebb than even I thought possible.

If you're going after forwards at Cas I'd take young Walker first - comes off contract at the end of next season and will still be only 23.

Surely nobody thinks we had a chance of signing Graham? It was always Saints or Australia for him

Accepted, it's took some time for him to develop. So can understand your comment. But I always did say if he was at one of the bigger clubs.



You need to get away form the one club supporter Andy and open your eyes to the rest of the game. The lads developed into an extremely good player, and your opinion is so far off the mark its laughable. Get yourself down to Cas and watch a game when he is fit again, and I challenge you to come back with that same comment. He was easily the form prop in Super League until his injury.



He's a good prospect but years behind Huby, and will never be as good as Huby has this year.

Probably because he'd let it be known he wished to join his brothers in the NRL in 2012.



I'm not assuming he has.



Because they took a punt and it proved to be correct.



They are not on the open market until they are free to negotiate with other clubs. There is a deadline in place for that to happen. Before then clubs would need to seek permission from their existing employers to speak to individual players. If they don't they are in breach of RFL rules.



I doubt the players would do that. Agents/managers might.

The point remains those players were contracted to their clubs and if they have now extended those contracts they were never on the open market. The employing club is entitled to negotiate with it's existing players if they wish to retain them.

Did opposition teams miss out on Sinfield, Hall, Jones-Bishop, Watkins and Clarkson when they extended their Leeds contracts earlier this season?

__________

I agree Craig Huby would have been a welcome addition.

would have signed Feriol in a heartbeat had he been available but Griffins come a long way at the giants

You think I'm knocking him because he's not a Leeds player?

I see plenty of players from other clubs thanks, both live and on TV. Huby is a long way behind those who are currently in the England squad IMO. His offload game is good, but he doesn't make the yards per carry you get from the likes of Graham, Morley, Carvell, Crabtree, Griffin - even Lynch and a half fit Jamie Peacock.

His footwork in defence is suspect - he gets put off balance too easily by more agile players and loses the collision as a result, leading to a quick play the ball (much like Luke Burgess used to do).

I'd summarise him as a grafter, but nothing more. Is that what you think Leeds really need right now, another one of those in pack or someone with a little more mongrel about them like Griffin?

Look at it another way then. This thread is about Griffin. Is contract does not end until end of season. He is not on the "open" market as you put it. How have we managed to sign him then, as so many think.



Well of course they did. Sinfield on his last two resignings with Leeds has made no secret of the other opportunities he has had. Even made a speech about and the other players after the 2008 GF.




I don't think Gilders seen him play for quite a while.

That's a tremendous moving of the goalposts, or be honest you didn't really read what was put previously did you?

Only one player have you named there who I was making comparisons with on the earlier page. And the comparison was to Griffin, not even to any of them. I already said Graham was a million miles ahead of the rest.



I'd put him down as a ball playing forward with great hands. A player who was well ahead of the competition in the tackle busts, before his injury. A stat that I would still guess he would be above on in comparison to some of the players you mentioned. Tackle busts is very important for a prop.

You see a different version of Griffin to me. Cross, Ferriol, Morley, Lima, Graham, they have mongrel, Griffin is more of a running prop than having mongrel.