What about him?

Being serious, given that Flannery is really no more than a squad player and a backrower, from the list I'd go for Elima. Francis Meli leaving opens up a spot for an outside back (Even if just a squad spot with Tmak coming in) I think Marsh, Sharp or Turner would do a good job.

We're short on geniune front rowers so one of Johnson, Emmitt or Cooper would be a good addition to the squad depth.

Another option is Gavin Henson playing centre. We'd have cover and wouldn't be relying on him, so it wouldn't be too much of a risk.

Seriously, what's to laugh at? He's the perfect rugby league centre. He's tall, big physically, his defense is fantastic and he has great hands and feet.

His off the field indescretions are his only real negative and if you could persuade him to behave, he'd make a fantastic league centre.

Flannery has been starting so he's more than a squad player.

I'd take enmitt or elima but wouldn't touch the others.

He got a worse lifestyle than Scott Moore. I wouldn't want him anywhere near our club!

Bit disappointed but I guess it's hard to think of too many better candidates out there at the moment. The only other options would have been another punt on an NRL assistant (I think we're off those for a while now), giving someone young a crack from the lower leagues (not bleedin' likely for a club like Saints these days) or going for an out of work has-been like Noble (eeeuuuwww). Just so long as he doesn't bring too much of that godawful game-killing grappling and can time our preparation right for the playoffs then he'll do for now I suppose.

I'd rather we signed a rugby player than some self-obsessed sub-Jordan media-whore if it's all the same to you... Plus he'd cost a flippin' fortune: way, way too much to ever justify being spent on a "cover" player. He'd be the ultimate ticking timebomb and we'd be lunatics to even think about signing him. Leave the circuses to Billy Smart and let's have RL at LP instead, eh?

A club like saints that invests so much in its youth cannot have role models like him, which is why Moore was binned as well. Leave him to the novelty clubs like hull kr, he'll make a great replacement for big willie

I think what replacing Foster and Makison with Meli and Gardner have shown us is that the go forward on the 1st tackle that a bit of extra size gives you goes a long way to a team gaining momentum. If Meli goes, I'd like sign someone who would keep a real pysical presence on at least one wing (one that can cope with kicks as well would be even better

)

Money, basically. I bet you anything he's getting considerably more than the invisible men were paying him.

I was screaming the exact the same thing for the whole last year under Royce - relying on Foster, Makinson and Wellens returning the ball cost us 10 yards every single drive last season and was another one of his frustratingly baffling selection policies (though admittedly injuries left us with not an awful lot of options). In the modern game the extra prop at #2 or #5 is an essential, especially if you've got no pace at #1 as we have. Meli, for all his failings, has always added a huge upside at #5 that far outweighs the occasional brain explosions we're exposed to when he plays out there, and he brings far more to the team than he can playing at #4, and far more at this stage of his career than Makinson does. Of course I've been widely derided for expressing this opinion on many occasions by the kneejerk brigade, but that's never stopped me from being right...