Who was the last player Saints sold? PROBABLY Gary Connolly in the late 80's (can't exactly remember). Big Mac has [unever [/usold a player and anyway if you listen to St Pete we dont have any players the wolfs would want. You at the all stars are going to make some difficult decisions over the next 2 years like replace piggy, your entire front row and full back - good lucK

Good posts Steve.


I think Saints have managed our transition very well. Granted, we probably need another mature prop (as opposed to a young up and coming, who will hopefully get a chance next season as well). But other than that we don't need anyone else for next season.

we need to put our transition in context. Wigan nearly got relagated, the bulls are struggling to get in the 8, leeds struggling for top 6 and we're 4th after being decimated by injuries in key positions and the eastmond afair leaving us without our first choice halfback pairing yet this season!

Gleeson,and Brechek(spell?)

Ok.

Bollox we're spending the full cap.
We've space for another couple of players, I don't doubt that.
I remeber before they announced Gidley being convinced it was too late and thinking they we're going to move Hooper into the centres to save money. We often announce a signing quite late on, I think Perry was the same.

perry announced 15th of june last year, but as you say its far from too late for a significant signing, LMS was only announced on the 3rd of september last year

I think everyone knew that lms was coming a good few month before 3rd September. Same with Gilmour and fozzard, we knew they was coming but wasn't made official until September.

My point is, we was being linked with players but at the moment we are not.

We could be spending up to the cap!

This does not mean we are spending £1.7 or .6 million, what ever that is at the moment. The cap is about 50% of revenue as I recall as well as the £1.6 max. Well revenue from the fans is definatley down this year, whether that means revenue from sponsors and sky and marchandise is enough to make £3 of revenue I don't know.

Personally I just think we are a bunch of panic monkey's who cannot cope with the cycle of sport. The nature of SL makes it a cup competition not a league competition, so even in years where we have done relatively well during the season, ie finishing top, we have still come away without the title as it boils down to one off games in the playoffs.

Our last trophy was 3 seasons ago now. Yet in each of the last 2 seasons we have finished above the cup winners. 2009 by some way 2010 by points difference. This year we are behind by some 3 matches on Wigan and Warrington, in a season where our biggest earners have bearly been on the pitch. Pryce, Eastmond, Perry, all been out of the team for lengthy periods and could easily be pulling down £300 - £400 k between them.

Effectively we did invest in our halfbacks and we did plan ahead, but I've yet to know a season where the primary half back pairing have been unavailable to the team for 90% of the season (if not more, I've not done the figures). Perry was our big forward signing for this year and basically has added very little mostly due to injury.

I think Pete has a point over the centre position but that's about as far as I would take it. I think Saints where hoping to replace talau from within, the young lads where given oppertunities but no one had the quality to step up. The centre position was trialed with verious 2nd rowers, then last season we invest in an international centre and he goes and gets knackered 2 games in for the whole season and by the time he returns , he's suddenly a 2nd rower.

You say that saints wanted to replace talau from the youth team but it didn't work out. That's the risk with going with to much youth. If wheeler, makinson, lomax, Gaskell, foster ect don't make it, then where do we replace them from?

It's great we are bringing young kids thru the system and it would be great if we didn't need to sign players and all players was replaced with youth but it's not that easy. For every 10 or so young lads I bet only 1 or 2 make it.

Just for info from 1 - 17 first team games this year, our 1 - 17 have played 237 games between them, Eastmond has played most of his as a sub.

Warrington 1-17 have played 262 games all season

Wigan's 1 - 17 have played 268 games all season (that includes Gleeson sold mid season and Fielden out injured same as Pryce)

You can make up what you like about stats, but for me our 1-17 have not been on the pitch enough to win those 3 games that we are short on Wigan and Warrington. If you could take the money for Eastmond and Pryce and buy 2 more half backs, that where not learning the trade then we may just have have had enough about us to be a game or 2 further on. Certainly in the Warrington games our half backs where our weak spot.

Lomax and Gaskell have done well, but especially for Gaskell it's a rookie season and to better 90% of the half back combinations in SL in your first season is no small feat. So they are not finished articles like Finch, Deacon, Lululi , Briers, they are a couple of seasons behind Myler and look what he did last year to this year.

I for one don't think the board have been slacking off on recruitment, I just think it's been a year where we've not been able to deploy all our assets as much as we would like.

We tried youth for Talau for 1 season Tyer and it did not work out, that was it, after that it was Gilmore and Flannery and then we bought Soliola, who then got injured (go figure).

Gaskell was not a plan for this year, neither was makinson, Lomax and Wheeler would have had spells ideally this year. But lets not say we are replacing with youth when that is basically untrue. They are filling gaps created by injury to in Eastmonds case an unwillingness to play.

How many youth players in our 1-17... there is 1 Wheeler.

You can moan that after the 17 are youth players but that's the same for every team it's the rules. You must have 8 players trained from within in your squad so most of the 18 - 25 are going to be from within the Saints youth structure, the difference is we are using them alot more due to injury where as the likes of Wire and Wigan can put 1 in for a few weeks and see how they go.

Sorry Pete I think you are seeing replacement by youth were as I see we are coving injury with youth. Lets not forget Foster did not get a game for the first few rounds until we had to move everyone around.

vinnie anderson

Gleeson?

Didn't sell him - he left at the end of his contract after he didnt make the CC Final or GF team of 2006.

Pretty sure they paid 50k for vinnie.

We did sell Gleeson - however the slight disciplinary issue he had during 2004 may have had some impact on that decision. I think his record since leaving sts suggests that getting shut was a good idea.

We didn't sell him to raise funds to buy another player.

Pretty sure they didn't his contact was over.

Bracek (??) went because he wasnt prepared to wait for his chance for 1st team football. We therefore got shut - his career subsequently has found its natural level in the NL. Again history will show the decision was not about wanting to raise funds.

Why you banging on about selling to raise funds? Nobody has suggested this.

Beacuse the Wolfs fan was trying to suggest that we are selling players because we need the money. Still doesnt alter the fact that your suggestion that we need half a dozen new players because of our recruitment over the last 5 years is absolut tripe.

I said we need a fullback, winger, centre, halfback and prop. If we keep pryce we don't need the halfback, if lance plays fullback we do t need a fullback.
In that case I think we need a centre, winger and prop.

Anyone who thinks we don't need fresh quality players are kidding themselves. We've got a centre playing wing, we've got a winger playing centre. Next year we will only have perry, lms and TP who are props by trade so I'd say we need a prop.

Our backs lack strike players, wello, shenton, foster, makinson, Gardner can't beat a man to save their lives.

Do you think TP, perry and lms is enough to play the whole of 2012 ?

Do you think having one centre on the books at saints is ok?

Do you think wello is good enough at fullback for 2012?

Who do you think will be the other winger with foster?

Double post

You've done pretty well out of us. if you include scully as well.

errr, back oin subject.