Why? He wont be at Leeds next season FWIR

HTH.

This time last year the whole of the British rl media, the fans, redhall, the players all thought saints were unbeatable apart fron the Leeds club and some of the fans!! Look how that turned out!! I would not be suprised at all if Leeds don't win the gf and you lot do!! I would go as far to say I wouldn't be too shocked if Leeds or saints arnt there!! You only need to clock off for ten mins or have a few dodgy calls go against ya or the bounce of the ball doesn't go your way and the dream is over!!

Looks a big strong squad does that for you guys. You'll be there or there abouts again. Only slight weakness is lack of pace.

It's not a slight weakness it's a massive one ! We need more pace through the squad but especially in the back line. Losing Gilmour in the pack is a massive loss and having a back 3 of Wellens,Gardner and Meli means we couldn't afford to give a RU vets team a few yards start and hope to catch em !!

Meli for all his faults is not a 'pace' winger so he can be excused I suppose but Gardner , the 'Barrow Arrow' is there for his pace supposedly but watching him run you'd think his boots were made of solid concrete

dont panic! Soliola will be in the pack and wheels at centre to inject some much needed pace, eastmond will be about with some pace as well.

Soliola is strong In defence but is not the quickest and his ball skills arnt the best but no doubt he's a good player!! I know a few Aussie pundits think he could be a better backrower than a centre but really he hasn't played that much backrow!! why sign a centre then play him in the pack??

i dont think anyone expected wheeler to do such a good job in the centres, is an answer, dont know if its the answer mind

Who is going to do your field and positional kicking?You look light in that department.

Put it one way. Soliola might not be the quickest but he is far and away a much better player than Brett Delaney.

your question implies we have that ability now?

Faasavalu

I'd imagine it will be Eastmond, with Moore doing some out of dummy half.

I think Eastmond is more than capable of kicking positional wise. A Wigan fan I was speaking to came up with a good one. He said he gets the feeling when Eastmond kicks the ball he doesnt aim and just hopes for the best, but it always seems to land in the right place. That'll do for me. Better than aiming and landing in the wrong place!

I thought Eastmond was leaving?

He's contracted for another year. Rumours are he's heading to Sale Sharks at the end of next season pal.

If he is we should ditch him now

One agrees. Next season is going to be tough anyway getting him to fit in and getting the team to gel with him as the central figure in terms of organisation and controlling the play. Then we let him go and have to do it all over again with whoever replaces him?

If he's going, and they will know by now, they should send him out on loan and not Smith.

where did I compare them?? Thats right I didn't!! But what I will do is not judge a players abiltity till I have given him a chance to become a part of the team!! but he can't be that bad if he has played 70 first grade games for a team near the top of the nrl!! It's not like he's been a part of the wooden spoon squad is it??

But I can tell you one thing delaney won't be playing in the backrow!!

That's the reason why, maybe Smith has gone on loan to prepare for the 7 jersey, while we get the best out of Kyle next season.

I for one, hope that Eastmond will be with us for his entire career.

I doubt it tbh - I would think we'd be giving him the pre season with us to help him bed in if he was the long term option. If eastmond wont sign a new contract we need to fire him off now , no matter how good he is and get a replacement in who we can keep for a least a couple of seasons.

If he is off, then I'd keep eastmond on board to use as a utility back (like when he played centre on sat) and concentrate on using one of the other youngsters at 7.

[iIt may sound a long shot, but when I've seen Wheeler at 6, he's reminded me of Danny McGuire, whom I prefer playing 1st recever than I do 5/8 (for what its worth).[/i

5/8 whoaaaaa...lets drop this galar chatter. Blindside flanker you meant yes ?

If it's like this year we won't need a kicker on last tackle.

We either lose the ball before 5th tackle or do the power play in our own half.