Hi everyone, finally got around to posting this from Rugby League Week. I didn't think the club's denial was very convincing. Luke Walsh's St Helens Getout Clause stevemascord.com/2013/07/13/luke ... ut-clause/

Hi everyone, finally got around to posting this from Rugby League Week. I didn't think the club's denial was very convincing. Luke Walsh's St Helens Getout Clause stevemascord.com/2013/07/13/luke ... ut-clause/

Brilliant.

Who let him have that included?

Most overseas have these sort of get-out clause. I find it strange that he's talking about it though, he should be keeping his mouth shut about his contract.

Exactly.

paraphrased my mates have had a good time in Blighty , but a reminder to NRL clubs, please don't forget me
if your star HB get crocked,arrested or moody and you need a steady 7, you know where I am.

\doesn't sound that committed.

Only Saints and their signings have the ability to take the edge off good news stories.

Still think Miller at Hull would have been the better option.
He's hungry and he's here.

NRL star going back to Aus after a couple of seasons. That's never happened before!

Absolutely fantastic again for Penrith this morning. Kicking game is probably the best in the world at the minute.

The difference in him now compared to signing for us is unreal! He looked like a player fed up of rugby. Now he looks like a player really enjoying it.

If he can bring this form to super league, he will be one of the best 7s in super league, if not the best but that's if he can repeat this form.

He's certainly deadly with the boot.

I don't think anyone is worried about him going home after a couple of seasons. The possibility of him going home after 6 months is another matter, though.

Or 6 days!

He will be coming in the cold, snow a s rain. That must be big culture shock for most Aussies.

Odd that both the player and club would say something quite explicitly, yet contradict each other.

He'll come next season, but if he keeps his current form up and plays well over here we may have to look for another 7 for 2015 or, more likely, 2016 when he has an option on his deal.

Or he might love It and stay longer.
Just a thought.

I don't care how long he stays if he plays for us as he has been playing for Penrith. He was a one man crusade for them today. Flippin brilliant. If he brings that form over with him it will be a joy just watching him play.

What if he only plays one game?

If this clause was correct, then why would he have asked Saints to release him from his contract when St. George enquired about his availability?

If this clause exists then why didn't he activate it at that point?

More inclined to believe the clubs version who state no clause exists!

The fact that he has asked for saints to effectively cancel the contract
within weeks of it being signed is the concern.

Then I will have had more joy from watching him in one game than I have experienced for a whole season this year of watching Saints and for that I will be grateful.

We really need to get behind Luke from day one. Welcome him with open arms from the terrace. Make him a fans favourite. This guy can be our talisman.

Give over, the guy doesn't even want to play for us, he sounds like a right fool.

He was playing appallingly for Penrith and they made the decision to axe him. They signed Jamie Soward and told Walsh to find another club. In typical McManus fashion we then steamed in with another 'whatever Ts&Cs contract you want' contract, just like we did with Lance Hohaia. He accepted that and with his future sorted and knowing he was leaving Penrith, the pressure he wasn't coping with was instantly lifted.

That pressure being lifted from his shoulders meant he was able to play a more natural game and that is where his impressive form came from. It only took a month for another NRL club to realise they could do with him and he was asking Saints for a release before he'd even got here, if the reports are true. What it sounds like to me is Walsh now regretting signing for us and trying to get it out there that this clause exists and trying to force an NRL club to make an approach

Saints have publicly stated he's coming for two years. They need to sit down with Walsh and ask him if he's committed to that. If he is, great, looks like we've got a decent player. If not, he should be let go. There is absolutely no point signing a player who doesn't want to be in the country let alone play for us. We'd be better off with Gaskell than a sulking Walsh.

To be fair to Saints, the last paragraph may have already happened. He may have confirmed his commitment, but if so, they should ask him to release a nice PR piece about that, and not let him continually be quoted saying he can walk whenever he likes.

It's the 'anytime' bit that bothers me . If he had a release at the end of each season option and a window where he has to tell us by then fair enough but anytime suggests he can pack his bags mid season and we are looking down the barrel of another appallingly bad season like this one.

Could it be that he can go at any time but with an early release fee. A bit like my mortgage deal . It's fixed but if I want to go elsewhere a fee must be paid. So asking to be released would suggest that it would be a high fee reducing over time.

You have missed out part of the story here though. Walsh said that he didn't enjoy the pressure and that there would be less pressure over here. In the context of his overall comments, the pressure he was relating to was that of playing in the intense spotlight the NRL is under, which of course does not exist over here.

That his decision to come over here has released him to play better certainly looks to be the case but that could just as easily be a positive. If he brings that form with him then we will have a cracking scrum half in our team next year.

At least he isn't coming over for the challenge.

At the end of the day, he's signed a two year deal which Is a good length on both parties. He's in terrific form. He's just what we've been looking for.

Lets stop moaning about him and be happy we've addressed our major problem for next year.

His mention of too much pressure is a similar one to Jamie Lyon. I reckon it will pan out in a similar way, 2 seasons and he is away back to OZ.
Unless Brown has one of his "rabbit out of the hat" moments and plays him at second row then make that 2 weeks.