Interesting point with Leigh , looks like they arnt paying there players all there owed which is a breach of contract , if this is correct we could pick one of them up for free , gotta be worth a punt over the dross we have there at the moment

[i7. RYAN BRIERLEY
Profile

In many peoples eyes Ryan was the real stand-out player for the Centurions last year when he joined the club on dual contract terms from Castleford Tigers. A quick thinking halfback, Brierley made seven starts and appeared a further 20 times from the bench where his eye catching pace, and eye for a support run, used against tired defences proved a potent combination and he grouded twenty-five tries and booted five goals.

After being released by the Tigers, Leigh pounced quickly for his signature and he followed up the agreement of his new Centurion deal with a well taken hat-trick in a late season home win over Keightley Cougars. The impact Brierley has on games also seems to lift the crowd and while Ryan like many players may have the ultimate goal of stepping up to Super League, he will be looking to earn more gametime in 2013.

Prior to signing with Castleford, Brierley previously played for Westhoughton in the amateur game and had over in Yorkshire for a couple of seasons where he impressed for both the Castleford under-18s and under-20s.

Career Summary
Castleford 2009-12 No first team appearances
Leigh 2012-date 7 appearances, 20 sub, 25 tries, 5 goals[/i

And if were looking at Leigh , whats Thomas Coyle like? He cant be any worse than Howarth surely

Sounds like classic Nosey parker - a guess.

We are desparate for a couple of top class signings to augment our youth.

We need the level of intent when we signed Newlove and Sculthorpe.

Someone was saying look at the pies support when relegation was a possibility.

They acted and went out and bought fielden. He didnt bring his Bradford form BUT it showed intent.

If you are a player with a choice of clubs were back in the pack now.

Make a statement Saints.

Wigan brought in Fielden, Dobson and Noble - effectively buying their way out of a relegation spot. Salary cap is more closely are monitored in real time now so that level of buying power isn't possible. I don't think the is a quick fix answer, it just remains to be seen whether Brown wants to stick it out for the long haul and has the necessary strategic nouse to rebuild the squad.

Beggars cant be choosers. Saints seem to be beggars at the moment. We lose the right to say that he is good and he is bad when we dont have any in the first place. He has ups and downs like any good halfback but i and many others are crying out for a kicking game and he seems to have one much better than any of the current crop.

I trust he is being thoroughly scouted/discussed and the final decision should come down to Brown giving the yes or no.

I'm a fan of the idea of aquiring a "proper half" from the championship, of whom a few names have been mentioned. It is worth noting though, that its core skills that need to be analysed as much (or moreso) than star quality.

There's a scrum half who ripped it up at Leigh now plying his trade for Cas in a fairly anonymous fashion (according to their fans). There is a step up to be made, what we need to ensure is that if we get a man with the skills needed, we put him in a position that he can use them - meaning our forwards need to pull their finger out.

There is no 100% certainty with any player NRL or SL.

Sia came as a centre (still wears 4) played 1 or 2 games there but has been fantastic at 2nd row.

Perry came as a SOO prop, outstanding signing, pah it terms of value for money.

Lyon had retired from RL and was playing for a minor side in the outback.

Sean Long came with a bad rep.

Chris Joynt where did that outstanding buy come from? Was it Oldham at the time?

You can go for a dead cert and buy a nag, you could get a trouble maker who will settle and become a legend.

In the end so long as there is some effort in the recruitment I'm not going to critise. Shenton just did not work for us. Lance and Laffranchi where wrong buys, we did not need another FB or 2nd rower. And we certainly did not need them to play prop and halfback.

Those two fall on the club, perry and Shenton are just down to luck.

Shenton was silly by the club IMO. He's playing very well for Cas again and was for us until his injury in the Grand Final. He's a far better player than Turner and I think Brown could have got the best out of him.

I don't think you can say with much conviction that Shenton is far better than Turner. They are probably the same standard of player, but Turner is a bit younger with a lot more pace and will probably not be on as much as Shenton was.

Therefore, a good deal for the club IMO.

I can say what I want

Shenton is better than Turner. Better defensively, better with the ball, a better natural centre. There I said it.

Re signing players from the championship to fill the halves.

I would be very wary of such a thing as in general there is a reason why they are lower division halves, and thats because they are not that good.

Jamie Ellis is a fine example. The ex Saints looked a superstar in the championship scoring 34 trys in 32 games for Leigh.

He was promptly signed by Hull and managed 10 games before being shipped out to Castleford were he has been pretty anonymous.

Interesting to note The Chiefs comments that Walsh plays on the right. This is the side of the pitch that Lomax vacated.
Having a genuine right sided player is something we have lacked, and its why in recent years i think our play has had a tendency to be moved to the left. Getting a more balanced left/right backline combination would make us far more threatening.

I have a mate who lives in oz. he's a bulldogs fan. I asked him about Walsh. He said he's one of the better players in a poor team. He's your average scrum half in the NRL. Nothing special and not rubbish.

It sure was! One of the best signings in the history of the club... Boy could we do with a player like Joynt at the present time. Calming influence, actions speak larger that words attitude. Great player and a great bloke.

I think we signed Tommy on at the same time as well.

I think we did.

Joynty was a rolls royce of a second row, quick, powerful, evasive , ran great lines and could tackle anything and do it all day.

Like all top players, he changed his game as he got older. When the legs had gone and he could no longer break the line, he changed to a tackling machine.

We sure did! The best 6 or in Martyn's case (20) never to play for GB.

In his last year at the club in 2004 I thought he was superb on the right. Tackled everything and played as a 3rd Prop.

The thing I remember most about Joynt was the run of three games-
Picked up his 2nd Harry Sunderland in the 2000 GF
Our next match was the WCC against Brisbane - MoM again after scoring the winning try.
Then we played Wigan in a CC game as one of the (if not the) first matches of the 2001 season. Joynt was again given man o' the match.

Absolute legend.

Joynt was without doubt the best Second Rower of his generation. An outstanding professional, A great athlete, A great player, called tackle all day long and make breaks and had the turn of pace to convert them breaks into tries. I remember his wide to west try he played 70 mins (due to being sin binned) still made 40 plus tackles and still had the energy to take the pass from West and beat James Lowes and score.

Tommy came about 6 months after Joynty. I've still got a very old copy of a Rugby Leaguer where where there's an article (it might be a Dave 'Nosey' Parker one

) saying that Saints are weighing up a bid for two Oldham youngsters, Chris Joynt & Tommy Martyn.

I remember Joynt being mainly a fast SR'er, his game based on his running game. Then he seemed to morph into a tackling machine but was a less effective runner. Then the two sides of his game came together and bang! One of the best back rowers ever at Saints. Didn't he play loose forward for quite a while?

Anyone remember a Lancs Cup Final at KR, us against the pies? Think it ended up 5-4 to them. Joynt was head shoulders the best player on the pitch that game and so unlucky not to score the winning try in the corner late one (scorebord end, stand side)

I couldn't agree with this more.

We are far better having a player stepping down from a higher level than stepping up from a very low one. Even a player coming from say Widnes or Castleford or Hull KR

would be making a big step up.

Walsh is a very good bet. People on here are just sitting on the fence so if it doesn't work out they can slag off the club. They can then say whatever second/third/fourth rate player they wanted, that the club would never dream of signing, was a better option.

Some people just like to moan.

Warmsley and Hill aren't turning out too badly.

I genuinely think Walsh is a dud waiting to happen. Nothing against NRL players who aren't Cronk or Thurston.
Just think a HB combo of Hohaia and Walsh (if he turns out to be a dud) would be catastrophic.

When you first watch other unknowns like dureau they make you sit up and excite you. This bloke
doesn't and there is a body of documented opinion in Oz that suggests he would be destined to be Lance Mark2.

If he got player of the year for the Panthers in 2011, that suggests he's got soemthing about him. We're not gambling on him changing position like we did with Lance, although he would have to cope with moving around the world.

I'm not one for sucking off everything NRL, but when it comes to producing halfbacks, they're streets and streets ahead of us.

i never said that you couldn't! All I said was that you couldn't say it with [umuch conviction[/u.

- hey I even underlined it so you don't miss it this time!

FWIW, Shenton is not better with the ball - I don't want to turn this into a Turner v Shenton debate so I'll leave it there

But Hill and Walmsley are both forwards. I think that says a lot about the differences between developing a HB and a forward.