rubbish ritchie. he was a world cup winner and played well for the kiwi's.

Exactly. Well said. What a stupid post by ritchie...

Why do you think your statement there refutes mine?

to be fair he wasn't a world cup winner when he "signed" and who'd have seriously thought he would be? he's a quality backrow forward thats plain for all to see, i don't think he'll be playing for leeds next year no matter what hetherington say's.

There are 30 odd good international players who would greatly add to the squad in the world of rugby league. How do they differ to Eastwood then? Why didn't we sign those in the offseason?

We are missing the steel of Ellis right now, so a direct repalcement for him would be vital IMO.

who was available?
who wanted to come?
who did the coach want to come?

we can speculate all we like but leeds wanted him, he wanted to come and thats what happened.

almost

'"

We have a replacement for Ellis. It's Ablett, joining a four man second row package of Ali, JJB and Kirke.
Ablett's move to the second row is facilitated by the use of Smith at centre and emergence of Watkins and Gibson's recovery from long term injury.
Now, whilst injuries force the occasional re-shuffle, that shouldn't lead to the panic buy of a player who won't have a long term beneficial effect on the team and the club.

Errr.. because Mclennan wanted Eastwood...

I'm pretty sure he'd have liked Lockyer in this team too. And half the rest of the players that played in the final. So why didn't we sign those?

"Hello Salary Cap"

Which makes us weaker than last season in the pack. Eastwood was being brought in to replace Ellis GH/Mclennan said so them selves.

Why did we sign JP? Why did we sign Ellis? Why did we sign Webb?

Because there damn good players that Heatherington and the coaching staff have got right.

Why are you questioning Blueys ability to sign a decent replacement for Ellis?

We're getting there, slowly.

Back where we started then:

As were Peacock, Ellis and Webb.



I'm not. What makes you think I am?

No it doesn't.

What on earth is your point ? Eastwood was sought out because he is a good international 2nd rower, obviousley at the right cost, also a good age, and therefore would have improved the team, which is the point of the origingal post, along with the fact we need another top drawer back. we must surley have room in the cap If eastwood was being brought in, were we not also on the verge of signign Soliola?

and who would we let go in the team to free up the space to sign these players?


Its nice to say we could sign this and that player but it disrupts a side

Ellis was voted International 2nd Rower of the year in the World Cup. How can you replace a guy of that calibre with Ablett? It simply cannot happen and that is contributing the lack of quality we are seeing from the Rhinos at the moment.

Yes it does.

Exactly. How can losing Ellis not weaken the pack ? Ablett has not been signed this season he was here last year, he is also not as good as Ellis. The losses from the pack have been Scruton and Ellis with no replacement brought throught the youth system or bought. There fore the pack is weaker.

So now you agree with me. Glad we got there eventually.



Why do you think that? You think a backline of Webb, Donald, Senior, Smith and Hall, with Watkins and Gibson in reserve isn't enough? Isn't enough to beat the likes of Salford and Bradford?

I think we may still have to wait for any signing to be made for a number of reason's.
A.We have been implicated in the guardian article re-the image right's investigation.
B. We have a number of player's off-contract this year so until any negotiation's are complete we won't have a clear figure of how much cap space is actually available.
C. The south stand needs re-building and in the current financial climate i'm we'll need every penny available although the carnegie team confirming promotion may help raise some of the funding.
There's plenty to consider when we call for a new signing here and there and the fact we haven't sent the full cap doesn't fully cover why we should have more than enough to spend on player's imo.
These are testing times and many of us remeber the "dark days" and whilst i fully accept that these performance's are worrying and not good enough we have to support the team and get behind the player's we do have rather than screaming for new one's!

Because he's the best available, at the right combination of cost and quality.
Did you think the same when we have seen other experienced players leave to be replaced by the likes of JJB?