I know the club have come out previously and stated that he'll be back but the continued rumours are doing nothing for fan confidence. Why not come out and say what's happenning and if he is looking for release that we're looking for appropriate compensation and are already searching for a replacement, Alternatively say that he'll be back (again) and we're not interested in releasing him.

The silence is deafening as they say.

As I said on the other thread I expect the club are working through all the issues such as compo and finding a replacement and it will be a changing scenario. I doubt they're going to give a running commentary in the media. We're just going to have to hope for the best. It's not going to get sorted overnight.

I do think we do need some sort of signing that captures the imagination a bit. Now Menzies has gone we're lacking a crowd favourite. I'm hopefuly that the new lads will provide some impact but non of them are going to capture the imagination immediately. In fact some of them will take time to bed in. I'm thinking of Walker in particular who's coming back from a serious injury, and even before then wasn't exactly world class, see his stats on the SL website for details. Ainscough will be great going forward but has defensive issues and Ah Van I have no idea but will hopefully add some flair.

We've made some promising signings but losing Orford (and I'm resigned to that now) is a massive blow if we can't get a decent replacement. Names mentioned include Leon Pryce (under contract) and Sam Obst (hopefully just as cover and not on quota). However many people on here have been massively wide of the mark with the other signings so it just shows how "out of the loop" we are!

dont think obst is a quota player, thiunk it was mentioned when he was linked to us last year.

Would a pryce/obst pairing be such a bad thing, particularly if club emphasised that it was a short term measure and gave addy/southernwood as much gametime as possible without over-exposing them too early. plus we'd have a quota spot available, and I'd guess quite a difference in the amount of cap used by obst relative to orford, to stenghten in another area such a or impact prop which people keep seeing as our weaknesses.

Think it could turn out to be a better option long term in that it removes someone from dressing room who's on a significantly higher wage then everyone else and the resentment that brings. We saw how disruptive that could be when harris arrived. Could be helpful in getting us back to playing as a team instead of as a group of individuals.

We could keep Beaver or try and get a huge impact forward from Australia.

I wouldn't be too miffed about losing Orford if we get Pryce, but if we have neither next year we'll struggle.

Possibly but I don't expect Leon would come cheap. We'd need to pay a hefty fee and he'd want top dollar as it'd probably be his last big contract.

That's assuming Saints even let us talk to him. Why would they let him go early? They may have Lomax and Wheeler coming through but ideally they'd keep Leon till his contract ended next yeat surely? I know they made a big financial loss this year so that may play a part in their thinking but still, I'd be doubtful of us getting him for next season.

Now a move for Luke Gale or Sam Obst or someone of that ilk I could see as more likely. It doesn't fill one with anticipation but owt's better than nowt if there is no class halfback available.

tbh think pryce on his own would leave us slightly worse than this year. Dont think addy or southernwood are quite ready to step fulltime yet ( plus think addys future is more in the loose forward than halves). If we got Pryce and a recognised halfback then think we would be slightly better off than this year. If we got Pryce plus a halfback plus a reasonably well known player on orfords quota spot to strengthen another area then it would be a good bit of business.

the thought I had in that regard was that they may know a bit more than us about his injury and not want to take a risk on him (although potter would presumably be in the loop on this and steer us clear if it was a concern). The other thing is with saints being on the road next year and losing a fair bit of income from having to pay rent to widnes,combined with losing cunningham, they may see it as an opportunity to lose a big wage and treat next year as a rebuilding year before they go into new stadium in 2012.

That's kind of my thinking. They may let him go to free up some cash or because they feel they don't need him if they have HG players who will be able to fulfil a similar role. I don't think we will or should pay a fee to release him from his contract.

To be honest, I think Potter would know the extent of his injury and whether he's worth signing and with what's looking like a three month layoff, he wouldn't be back in training until November anyway.

What would Leons value be if hes already making it perfectly clear to Saints that he intends to leave at the end of his contract. It would make much more sense for them to cash in now and recieve at least something than lose him for nothing next year.

I can see where your're coming from, but I can't agree with your logic.

If Leon is commited and playing at his best, his value to Saints is likely to exceed what they could get for him on the open market. He could be the difference for them between a GF win and a fourth or fifth place - worth much more than the £50k or so that we would pay to release him.

I don't think we have the capital Matt to have Pryce and a recognised halfback.

For mine it's one or the other, going on the lines we'll have to pay St Helens compensation for his last season.

But if Leon doesn't want to play for St Helens anymore with his mind set on a return to Odsal, surely it's in Saints best interests to cash in now before he move son a free next season to us anyway?

Perhaps he is more loyal than Orford & will respect his contract?

I think he'll want to play for Bradford as and when Saints don't want him anymore which will probably be at the end of next season if their replacement half back is ready to take over. I'd be very surprised at an earlier release to be honest. He really has nothing to lose by seeing out his Saints contract.

Matt Orford needs to grow some balls and let the world know WTF is going on with him. He is losing professional credibility by the second with the wall of silence.

While the truth is obvious to those who choose not to be blinkered you can't blame Orford for his silence, if you look at it from his point of view.

If he comes out and says he wants to go, but then has to come back, his relationship with the fans is going to be under a cloud.

If he comes out and says how much he loves it here and that he is desperate to return, then ends up signing for a club down under, he looks bad.

Not saying anything is the best option for him to take, then whatever happens he hasn't contradicted himself to one set of people or another.

That won't stop many teams clamouring for his signature though.

Better to remain silent and let the world think you an idiot than open your mouth and remove all doubt

mick when I say a recognised halfback I dont necessarily mean a big name one. Just someones who actual position is halfback so we dont get in similar situation to this year where we've had a fullback,hooker and loose forward all attempting to fill the gap at halfback and being played out of position. Surely someone who has played there on a regular basis and understands the position is going to be a better bet than someone out of position.

Sam Obst is a hooker isnt he?

Started as half in this country at Whitehaven.

Like Obst partnered with Pryce ? Would allow Southernwood another year of learning

God I'm confused, so many permutations of what we could end up with

that was what I was thinking with proviso that we give southernwood/addy as many games as coaching staff think he's capable of. Problem from developing our own player POV is that if we have 2 top class halves like orford and pryce then our developing players arent going to get any gametime unless one off the big names is injured. If one of the first choices isnt as big a name theres more chance of us giving the youth a chance imo. plus as obst is a decent hooker too it gives us opportunity for some rotation in the hooking role to keep things fresh. Not saying obst is the ideal target we should be looking at, far from it, but he would give us some interesting options.

Sykes and Obst *shudders*

I am pinning my hopes on the fact that the board are entirely wise to the fact that we aint getting in the playoffs without Orford or a replacement half back. None of the other halfback options presently at the club get us in the top 8 in 2011.

Is that fair?