[urlhttp://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/rugby_league/2790184/Leon-Pryce-and-Maurie-Faasavalu-eye-rugby-union-moves.html[/url

is chris ashton really on the verge of the England squad?

A couple of years ago Id be worried,cant say Im that @rsed now tbh.
Imo we need a more creative stand off and Leon didnt look intrested for most of last season. If he wants out I cant see us entering a bidding war for him at all.

The end of next season could see us changing about 10 players as things stand. The squad development at the club has been awful, simply terrible.

Keiron Cunningham, Leon Pryce, Maurie Fa'asavalu, Matt Gidley,Ade Gardner, Paul Wellens, Francis Meli, Nick Fozzard, Bryn Hargreaves, Chris Flannery?

None of those are players I would want the club to offer new deals to currently, unless their form improves.

The edited highlights certainly wont be from last season.

its one thing players eyeing a big money move to union.its another thing getting it.i doubt the union boys will be offering any more money to these two than they are currently getting in league.its the youngsters,ie eastmond and tomkins who command the big money.

Wellens? i think your being a bit harsh there. the rest though is quite fair and a big concern.

I'm sure he'll get a new deal, but it shouldn't be a big one. He's not an international anymore and his form is well down on what it was a few years back. His deal should also be very short term as we desperately need to bring a new fullback in who can contribute to the attack, given how poor our outside backs are.

again, can't really argue with that, but currently he's still the 3rd best fullback in the league after webb and hodgeson, IMO

Maurie will be no great loss.

We won't miss=#FFFFFF Leon Pryce much either.

An article by Dave 'Dosey' Parker.

It's bound to be wrong, however I doubt either are irreplaceable.

LOL.

Bryn was much lambasted last year, quite fairly, for not making progress.

What about Maurie. He had one good season in 2006, and since has just plodded along with the odd destructive run thrown in.

Both are i believe out of contract in 2011 so are naturally putting down markers.

I also suspect both know that with the kids coming through at Saints, there is likely to be some hot competition for places.

Any forwards amongst those?

I could live with that to be honest. Wheeler and Gaskell will both be in competition for the No.6 shirt and Maurie's been very average for a few seasons now. I'd have liked to have seen Pryce stick with us and move to 13 though, but it wouldn't be disastrous.

Both need to have good year's to get new contracts anyway IMO. Both players are very inconsistent and haven't progressed from a few years ago. They are both talented players, but go missing largely when it matters. The problem is, we're going to lose KC and Gidley, probably Fozzard aswell so losing two more would really hit the squad.

leon would be suited to rugger imo
he would make a very good full back,and could represent his country!
without being harsh on him,at least then when the game got a bit too physical for him,he could kick the ball and avoid the contact side of the game

I agree the clubs squad development has been awful over last 3-4 years. We have let too many players leave and not replaced them at all or with the class of player saints should be bringing in.

IMO the squad delelopment for 2011 is very very important as so many players are off contract and we dont seem to replace senior players anymore.

If the last few years are anything to go by i wouldnt be shocked to see 7-8 players leave with only 2-3 players coming in, with the likes of lomax,dixon and so on making up the squad.

Sir mac got a hell of a lot of work to do for 2011. I dont envy his job.

A lot more broken play and chances to get "friendly" too

Can't say I'd be too fussed.

In the same way I'd rather watch Eastmond than Long, I'd rather watch Wheels than Pryce. If Wheeler stays fit I wouldn't bee too surprised to see him at 6 before the end of the year anyway, with Pryce in the outside backs.

As for Maurie, meh.

If that was true then he would be playing for England, not Briscoe, who I don't think has enough attack in him to play the international game anyway.

Not necessarily, he effectively retired from the international game following the world cup I believe.

Wellens ended last season very strongly.

Maurie is turning into a better all round prop than he was and will be reasonably hard to replace with another home grown player. Especially as that's a position that we're not as strong as we could be.

Pryce? Well, we won't miss paying his salary, that's for sure.