Quote ="Winslade's Offload"I would love to know who decides when to buy players and which one's. Is it mainly SJM or TS ? Who thought England would be a good punt for instance. They had to rebuild his shoulder, then introduce him to SL standard fitness, take out the Championship rough stuff, iron out his one 60 mph drive (after which he was exhausted), try to get him to use his feet, and he still has not made it. That's a lot of extra effort after paying £30k transfer fee. How about Asotasi ? Surely they took advice in Oz about his likely attitude, and didn't the alarm bells ring when he failed to turn up for the World Cup ? Then there was Wheeler, well we don't need to go into that one. But there is a strong theme developing here, someone seems to love a 'bargain'. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the Joel and Sandow bargains because we know exactly what is under the bonnet, but with SJM's dosh do we really need to go for so many 'punts' ?
We were unlucky with Clark (who needs an op), but he is the quality of player we should be aiming for. Also Lineham and Gidley. Yes, even these players can fail to perform and are something of a gamble because of the amount of money we ( sorry Simon, I mean you) have to put up. But at least the odds are far more in our favour at this level. We need to stop visiting the Pound Shop and then wondering why the hell the goods are faulty when we get back home.'"
I totally agree with your sentiments, and the majority of your post.
However, I am a little uneasy with the Gidley signing, & sincerely hope that he doesn`t end-up being our Asotasi equivalent, playing in the backs.
Like Asotasi he has had a great playing career in the NRL, but Old Father Time is catching up, or has caught-up with him.
We will find out next season.
Thankfully,we have learned one lesson from the Asotasi fiasco........ Gidley has only been allocated a one year contract, with a further option, which will be taken-up or not, based on his success in his initial season.
