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| Quote ="Roofaldo"If he can prove his fitness(after all, how many injuries has he had since he moved to union?) and came at a good price then I'd be happy for him to have a last hurrah with the Bulls.'"
I think that, with his knees being as they are, the last thing he really needs is to play on hard summer grounds. He left as an icon of the game, a true star and to return now, like a boxer who doesn't know when to quit, would be a sad coda at the end of a brilliant symphony; let it be.
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| Quote ="Bully_Boxer"I share the concerns about his fitness and he almost certainly wont be as good 3 years on but could I bare seeing us face him with him up against Sheriffe? We don't exactly have much quality on the wing and I'd back the big man to be better than most in SL right now. Quota would appear to stump us even if we wanted unless his eligibility for England creates a loophole.'"
How bizarre that he could play for England yet still be classed as overseas. It's a funny old world...
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| I saw him training at Hartpury college pre-season in 2008 and he looked absolutely buggered. Unfit and looked cumbersome, was a real shame. I was thinking he might be returning from injury but it was pre-season and they all looked a little behined and he was doing full contact work and all the drills with the main squad so not sure why he was so off the pace.
Although given that we still have Sheriffe, there is still a spot for him in my team!
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| Heart - yes
Head - no
Just as long as he doesn't save his best performance for Odsal! That would be just like him
All the best with your future decision Les but I think another tilt at Superleague is a mistake. I'd like to remember him as he was - at headingley, 7 against Hull and making Karl Fitzpatrick fill his pants when he cocked his arm! Bet Calderwood is still bricking it though!
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| At the moment I would ask anyone to consider the question, if a half-fit LV played against Sheriffe, who do you think would come out on top? I wish Rikki well, and hope he improves leaps and bounds, but if I were picking the team, I'd pick Les every time.
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| I'd take him over Sheriffe With wooden legs, nevermind dodgy knees. If he wanted to come back and was fit enough then i'd take him, Wing is our weakest area in the team atm imo.
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| Let's not forget the popularity factor in all of this, Lesley returning to Odsal would certainly increase the numbers through the gates.
I expect McNamara has a reasonable idea of just how bad his knee's are and whether he has a couple more years left in the tank. If he isn't asking silly money and is in decent condition then I would hope we would give serious consideration.
Perhaps I am just desperate to see a new winger!
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| But he wouldn't be a new winger though! (Ooops I'm sounding like Tigertot!)
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| Heart no head yes (at the right price, salary cap and quota permitting). I'd rather see Les a shadow of himself in his glory days but doing a job we need doing than him doing that same job for someone else.
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| Quote ="af"Heart no head yes (at the right price, salary cap and quota permitting). I'd rather see Les a shadow of himself in his glory days but doing a job we need doing than him doing that same job for someone else.'"
thats the obvious block to any talk of les returning. AFAIK he left for union a year before the new quota rules and the cutoff date for him to re-classified as federation trained. He had to be playing in SL when the quota rules changed as I understand it. so if he came back he count as a full overseas quota player. Doubt anyone would use a full quota spot on a player with LV's injury record and age.
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| Can anyone realistically see Les playing for anything like an affordable package? Given the money available in Union?
The only way you'd get Les, I suspect (and assuming quota space...) is if you got some friendly "totally unconnected" business to pay his personal service company megabucks for his image rights, and as a result he'd be happy to play for a small package. (No...really...).
That is not impossible given Les' very high profile and marketability, so for anyone signing him I'd worry less about the cap space and more about finding this unconnected third party - which would surely be a bit tricky given there is supposed to be no connection...
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| Wakefield Trinity keen to bring Lesley Vainikolo back to Super League
[urlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jan/18/wakefield-trinity-lesley-vainikolo[/url
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| Well, I'd rather have a new winger than a new whinger.
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| Quote ="Mission"Wakefield Trinity keen to bring Lesley Vainikolo back to Super League
[urlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jan/18/wakefield-trinity-lesley-vainikolo[/url'"
This smacks to me of PR by the Wakefield club? If Kear knows it's unlikely Les will even contemplate such a move, believing he will already be well on with tying up his next Union deal, then why raise the possibility at all?
Remember that Wakey still have the adjourned winding-up hearing to get through and all that. It hasn't gone away, you know.
Methinks this may be Wakey spin to suggest to the world that they have no financial worries and are dead ambitious and can swim in the same pond as the sugar-daddied clubs?
In any case though, Kear's comments allude very much to a short-term deal over the Union close season? That could be practicable for them if they have cap space and can get a sponsor to stump up?
Don't suppose we put any contracts in place with Les so that if he returned to League it had to be to us, and if anyone "cohersed" him away we'd be in line for some serious compo...?
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| If Vainikolo can demonstrate his fitness to be able to cope with RL and be better quality than what we already have then we should be interested. However if he's wants a large amount of cash we have to balance that against the needs of the team and whether it would be better spent developing one of our own or looking elsewhere. Like Adey I doubt whether we could afford him and making the effort to try and bring him back might be difficult given the need to attract sponsorship and the danger that it could bring up cap and tax issues.
Personally I'd say no. I think that boat has sailed. Les was a great servant for us but we had his best years. I doubt it would be good for us to bring him back when he's older, slower and more injury prone, even if close to the line he'd offer more of a threat than any other winger we have at the moment.
Better we spend any cash we have on finding the next Vainikolo rather than bringing back the old one.
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| Not many RU players come across and are fit enough for TGG imho. Big Les, for all the respect (as a person and player) and what he helped us achieve, wasn't in the best of nick before he left us. . . . so I'd have to say no . . . . unless he's v. cheap, fit, injury free and able to fit within any prevailing restrictions (and not necessarily in that order)
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| Quote ="Adeybull"Methinks this may be Wakey spin to suggest to the world that they have no financial worries and are dead ambitious and can swim in the same pond as the sugar-daddied clubs?'"
That's exactly what I thought. But fair play to them - it seems to me half the battle of being a big club is hyping yourself up to be a big club even if you're not. From then on its like a snowball rolling down a hill until you actually ARE a big club.
That made sense in my head.
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| Quote ="Shaggoth" From then on its like a snowball rolling down a hill until you actually ARE a big club.'"
Surely you'd be a big SNOWBALL?
But it made sense in my head too, which is distinctly worrying...
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| I think all the talk of Les coming back as a winger seems to be ignoring the fact that currently he plays in the forwards at union so will almost certainly not have been doing any speed training. It would be very very difficult for him to regain even some of the pace that made him so formidable before he left(I think we can assume he still has the bulk ), of course he could play prop perhaps? Even then the harder summer grounds would take their toll on his knees. It all sounds a forlorn hope to be honest.
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| Quote ="Bullseye"I doubt it would be good for us to bring him back when he's older, slower and more injury prone, even if close to the line he'd offer more of a threat than any other winger we have at the moment. '"
That's the crux of it. I don't think he'd offer a threat from anywhere else these days - not ideal for a winger.
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| Quote ="Bulliac"I think all the talk of Les coming back as a winger seems to be ignoring the fact that currently he plays in the forwards at union so will almost certainly not have been doing any speed training. It would be very very difficult for him to regain even some of the pace that made him so formidable before he left(I think we can assume he still has the bulk
), of course he could play prop perhaps? Even then the harder summer grounds would take their toll on his knees. It all sounds a forlorn hope to be honest.'"
He's been a winger in all of his union career, it may seem like he's been in the forwards as he often get brought into rucks he's not been in a lineout or scrum. He may not be scoring the tries he was doing in league and lost a bit of pace but he can still run through and bounce off defenders with ease and is still Gloucester's first choice winger. What im am saying is he is not completely spent and does still have a lot to offer, Lesley as a forward would be very appealing. I don't know what he would class as quota wise but I don't think any superleage club can afford him TBH and see him playing union in south of France next
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| "Sorry Lesley but you looked out of condition yesterday. Menatlly you are great for the team but after every run you looked like you were not fit enough."
Quote from a glouscester fans on their forum following a defeat earlier in Jan, its only one quote from a game I have no clue about, with no idea about context and form but it brought back some images of Les looking knackered on the wing for us before he left.
If he's looking that unfit in kick n clap now, I dont see how returning to league will do him any favours I'm afraid.
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| Quote ="leedsmetbull1"He's been a winger in all of his union career, it may seem like he's been in the forwards as he often get brought into rucks he's not been in a lineout or scrum. He may not be scoring the tries he was doing in league and lost a bit of pace but he can still run through and bounce off defenders with ease and is still Gloucester's first choice winger. What im am saying is he is not completely spent and does still have a lot to offer, Lesley as a forward would be very appealing. I don't know what he would class as quota wise but I don't think any superleage club can afford him TBH and see him playing union in south of France next'"
I think he appears far too early in the teamsheet for that. I`m not completely certain about the numbers in union but, I do know they do it the other way round and the first eight on the list are forwards. As for the south of France, with his knees he'd be better off sticking to the softer, muddy grounds of England, though he was such a great for us (and a smashing bloke as well) I have to wish him well in whatever he does.
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| Quote ="Bulliac"I think he appears far too early in the teamsheet for that. I`m not completely certain about the numbers in union but, I do know they do it the other way round and the first eight on the list are forwards.'"
He plays wing for Gloucester. Teamsheets usually start with fullback just like League. Les would usually wear 11.
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