I think given current personnel. Wheeler is first choice 6. Lance second choice. I'm not expecting a 6 this year but if wheeler does not stay fit then I'd expect to see one in 2015. As for Walsh nice to hear there is an extra year option.

I for one am not jumping for joy over this signing, he has been poorly coached by Elliot and ended up a one trick pony (cross kick to the corner). He lacks an all round kicking game and his organisational skills are limited, he is also shy to take on the line. I sincerely hope he proves me wrong.

How much have you watched him? He has a good long kicking game and organises quite well.

Great signing

Happy it's been confirmed now, we can hopefully move on and announce some more signings.

Some props would be nice!

Really happy with this, he'll bring the sort of organisation and kicking game to the side we haven't had since Longy left.

Just because a coach does not allow you to utilise your full range of skills, does not mean they are not still there. He will be playing to a gameplan reinforced by what the coach believes he is capable of. Matty Elliot started a chain of events which led to the Luke Walsh we see. Start coaching him properly and allow him to try things and we may see a much better player than NRL commentators give him credit for. He was very highly thought of at Newcastle and they admit it was circumstance which meant they didn't see the best of him.

Let the guy come over and play some games then we can all make our judgements.

He's in fine form! If he brings this form to super league he wil be top class for us.

This is a joke right? Far better than Dobson or Smith? Do you even watch the NRL? He's an average HB, nothing more, he can organise and find the floor on the 5th tackle kick but that's about it.
Don't get excited, there's a few far better HBs already in SL, you've named 2 already.

You think Walsh is average ? You should see what any neutral NRL fans says about Dobson and Scott Dureau. The Newcastle fans think Dureau is the worst half back to ever play NRL. Yet he goes quite well in SL.

Matty Smith is a awfull player yet goes very well in a structured Wigan team.

Ask a neutral NRL fan? What? I just watch Walsh play most weeks, Panthers want shut of him as they've signed Soward.
Walsh has never kicked on or done anything, and he's playing in a much better team in the NRL than he will be in SL.

He's actually played better since soward signed.

He's exactly what we need, and probably the best option out there at the moment.

What im trying to say is Dobson and Dureau never did anything either and both rated alot less than Walsh. Yet they have both done well in SL, maybe Walsh will aswell.

Matty Smith did nothing for St Helens which was a much better team than the current Wigan one, yet one again in a structured system he is doing quite well.

Nobody knows how this signing will turn out, all i will say is that id rather have Walsh than Matty Smith anytime of the week.

Or maybe he's played better since he signed for us, knowing that he's going to get a fresh start? That can invigorate some players can't it?

I've learned my lesson from bigging up Lance Hohaia prior to him coming over here and so I'm not going to be one to drool over this signing. However, he is a 7, he can do stuff that a 7 does (I've watched him each week), we don't have anyone at the club just now who can do what a 7 does at first team level and so I'm happy with the signing. I hope he does a good job for us next season.

The first positive is he is a 7.

So that beats our current 2nd rower, fullback combo.

The 2nd positive he's comes full ready to play, he has experience so we are not starting at year zero like we have with Lance, Gaskell, Smith, Eastmond. It's nice to have fresh legs but not all at once.

3rd positive

He's performed well in a better competition.

It all bodes well, the only unknown is the Perry effect. It's hit other aussies before and cant be pre-determined. Although a warm welcome and having mates out her helps.

I agree with this. By the sound of things he could turn out to be either a brilliant or an underwhelming signing, but in either case he will be a significant improvement to the side.

I think this is the right way to treat it. He's a round peg for a round hole, so will be an improvment. Whether he's a good, bad or indifferent scrum half for us is yet to be seen, but he's a scrum half, which is the start we need.

Glad it's all sorted, and a good signing for us. Natural Scrum-Half who knows what he is doing, and is without doubt an improvement on what we already have in the side. Whatever happens, he is an improvement in what we already have, which is a positive, and I think he'll do well at Saints. Quality half-backs aren't easy to come by at the minute, so I think the club deserve some credit here.

Depends on how he plays. His recent surge of form has made people think this is a decent signing, as has some of the stuff written about him a few years back when he broke through and was singled out as a potential international.

BUT, there are glaring deficiencies in his game that could easily lead to him becoming a big hate figure for the fans. Kyle Eastmond was mercilessly dealt with for not taking on the line, yet he did it far more than Luke Walsh will.

Hopefully the move to SL and a move open (Lower standard) league will give him the confidence to really kick on and dominate games. If he's as good as Dobson or Dureau then it'll be great. But this could go the other way very easily, particularly if the club doesn't continue to strengthen. If you put Walsh behind a pack with the likes of LMS, Thompson and Laffranchi as starting props next season, he'll be slaughtered and we'll be no better off. The club HAS to get rid of the dead wood, especially in the pack. Any new deals for the likes of Wellens, Laffranchi, Perry or Flanagan simply cannot be allowed to happen, or there is no point signing a half back.

Realistically the above isn't going to happen. We'll hand new deals to Gardner, Wellens and Laffranchi and we'll be a mid table struggler again next year.

As I say, he is a natural half-back who so capable of performing there, and is without doubt an improvement on what we have at the club. That makes him a decent signing in my book, and unlike Hohaia, his kicking game is a major strength, and is one that will be important for us going forward.

As for Eastmond, it was only in his final season where he was critised for that part of his game. Best thing about Eastmknd was his ability to take on the line, and his ability to run out tired forwards up the middle and cause problems. For whatever reason, he failed to do that in his final season, but that's was his main strength really, and why he was considered to be as good as he was. You could argue that it was his distributional and organisational side of his game that was the worry. What we need is a 7 capable of controlling a game, and we have that in Walsh. Again, an improvement on what we have.

Like you say, we need to sort the pack out before next season. Without a decent set of props laying the platform, it's tough for any scrum-half, and I think that could turn out to be Walsh's main problem. If we sign a couple of props, then we'll be alright, but if we don't, Walsh will struggle, and will ultimately end up taking the same amount of stick that people give Hohaia. With a good pack in front of him, he will do well, and as I say, I think he is a good signing for us going forward. And a much needed one.

Walshy has had games where he hasn't been tackled once, despite playing for 80 minutes at scrum half. If you read the criticism of him this season (And there is plenty) it's focused around his inability to take on the line and commit the defense and his complete lack of a running game. I remember someone quoting a stat that at the start of 2011 he had been tackled twice in 8 games. With no quality at all in the 6 shirt next to him and such a weak pack meaning he won't be spending the game putting grubbers and cross field kicks in, it's highly likely that this will be an issue at Saints next season.

Talking of confidence, it really does worry me what will happen if we're not in decent shape in the pack next season. He seems to be very much a confidence player, awesome when he's feeling good and anonymous when he's not.

It was the comment about eastmond not running with it that confused me.

You're right, we need a 6 who can perform (who is our 6 at the moment?) and run at defences. We also need a pack that can lay a platform. If we trade in Laffranchi and Perry for a couple of decent starting prop, then we should look alright on that front.


However, what if Walsh gets injured? What if Roby gets injured again?

I really think this taking on the line thing is a huge red herring. Like I've said elsewhere there are very few halves in the whole of SL who have been the complete package. You just don't get a halfback, who can take on the line, organise, have good footwork, have a long and short kicking game, an ability to put people through gaps, have pace to burn and tackle like a prop.

Long was the closest to this that we have seen, but for years he was not the best long kicker in the world. He added to his game as the years and the coaches passed through.

If you look at Leeds, Maguire a fantastic support player. Burrows can take on the line, but neither could really kick for toffee. Sinfield took on all the kicking roles, with some help from fullback.

The 7 does not have to do everything, he just needs to take on the roles that we are sorely missing. That is kicking and organising. Lomax can take on the line all day long, Wheeler too brings other weapons to the party, but lacks durability.

Expecting a 7 to be all things to all men, just does not exist. Briers does not do it all, neither does dobson or Dureau. They all have their foils that can take on the additional tasks, just as long had Martyn and Sculthorpe.

One man does not make a team, but one halfback makes a hell of an improvement on zero.

The most important thing for is the kicking game he brings, something we've been missing really since Long left. If he gets us around the field and kicks well, we'll be much improved on this year.