I can see a lot of rumours like this going round with central contracts up for grabs.

You have to be an established international player to get one. He's not played for England has he?

Is Jonny Lomax an established international? Or Mike Mcmeeken? Has Ben Currie even played for England? I can't recall any time when he did, if he has I don't believe he's played in a major tournament, hardly an established international.

Jonny Lomax is a consummate professional who doesnt drink (unlike the wigan internationals), doesnt beat up students and eats clean, rescuing cats stuck up trees in his spare time or helping the elderly. Given all the bad press rugby league has had recently from domestic abuse to glassing team mates to drug taking, they want a face they know wont gather any bad press. Thats why he has a central contract.

Regards

King James

Is he the only one from Saints they could find to fit that then? Would've thought Percival or Walmsley would be better picks.

Plus he has a lot of free time, most weekends really. Good value for the RFL I say.

Those, and the points raised by Aardvark, are all questions I had when we first signed him on loan – especially after last year's "I don't want to play in the middle 8s".

However – he's not put a foot wrong this year (so far?) and Powell knows him of old, having brought him through as a kid at the Cappers.

And in Daryl we trust, at the end of the day

He's got a record of bringing out the best in players – but also having high expectations and getting shot of then pretty sharpish if they go wrong off field – or on.

Also – it's just nice to see us prepared and able to pay a £150k fee, rather than have to ask for one to see us through financial trouble

Given that Cas have effectively got Hardaker for nowt it's turned out to worl all rather well for them.

That Hardaker has had issues mentally I would expect the club to have some form of contractual clauses with regards to seeing a counsellor or having support suystems in place so that he and indeed any player can get help before things spiral down out of control. Being pro-active in this way is far better than trying to fight the fire after it's taken hold. Not saying Leeds didn't do this but sometimes a combination of multiple factors can just push people in a direction where they are totally out of control and do incredibly damaging things both to themselves and those around them.

That said you still need to take responsibility for your actions even if circumstances were piling on top of you, you might ignore/walk away from help and your responsibilities in life but you have to take the heat for that even if your mental health and how you are as a person meant you couldn't control it.

As a rugby fan I'm glad he seems to be in a good place ATM and for him personally long may that continue.

I hope he does well. lots of what went on leeds went unreported, but he became a nightmare and he had to go. i'm not sure it was a mental thing more hanging around with the wrong people and a bad attitude.
he's englands best full back by miles and I hope for England and hardaker he's turned his life around

Salford sign Derrell Olpherts from Newcastle.

Updated
Manu Vatuvei to Salford Red Devils

They haven't effectively got him for nothing though have they. They've spent the Solomona money on him. They effectively got him for 150k. They got Eden as a Solomona replacement for nothing though which looks like excellent business.

I wouldn't mind betting St Helens helped pay quite an amount of the Hardaker fee in the cup game at Cas from that huge attendance of roughly 5,500 give or take 2 or3,000

Eden was signed first before Zak's "availability" primarily as replacement for Luke Dorn. After we lost Solomona to RU the idea was to sign Zak and move Eden to wing. Good business all round though.

They made their money back on buying Hardaker through Solomona, meaning they've spent no money to complete the deal. They've actually got £50k plus Hardaker and Eden.

I just think it's a bit of a fallacy to say that you signed him "effectively" for free. You still paid 150k for him. The best example is Liverpool fans claiming to have effectively signed Andy Carroll for free because they sold Torres. Or Spurs fans who justify wasting nearly £100 million on the likes of Soldado by talking about net spend from the Bale fee. It's a minor gripe, just annoys me a bit when people say it.

The Broncos have announced they've signed Savelio on a 2 year deal from next season. Interesting to see how he goes.

No doubt he will be in the England team ASAP then.

Hes made no secret of the fact he wants to play for NZ and not England

Regards

King James

I'll be bold. Out - Widnes, In - Hull KR.

we hope in hull KR but I also think it might be Leith out us in

What effect do you think it will have if you don't get promoted? Would your crowds drop significantly if it's a second season in the Championship? How much money would Neil Hudgell still be willing to put in if they did drop?

Jordan Lilley has signed a new contract at Leeds.

What was the net balance after getting the money for Solomona and paying off leeds for hardaker?
You 'effectively' got him for free with money you didn't have before.
There's a difference between completely free and effectively free, Cas made a net gain on the whole deal in fact and gained a better player to boot.

We did a good job of holding onto the support for season 1 but a second season may well start to see some drop off. It is a worry as the longer you go, the harder it gets. This year is our best chance and I'm sure the staff and players are very aware of that. If we don't get promoted then I'm sure I'll be saying it was good experience to go on and achieve it in 2018.