We have either been given an exemption for Widdop, or the RFL have increased the quota for all clubs. Otherwise we couldn’t have registered the new guy.

With regards to the lateness of the signing I have a vague recollection ( as most of mine are these days ) of Duckie talking about 'waiting for a visa' for some player, think it was Latu so there may not be too much of a delay on that front

Some people are already questioning this signing but for me we needed another prop and he has shown ability and knows some of our players so with a bit of luck he will settle in quickly and do the business

I have to say i find it poor planning by the club. Two weeks from the start of the season to bring someone in. He's missed out on a full pre-season with us. He's missed the team building opportunity in Portugal to get to know the players. I am not sure when the NRL started there pre-season but there season starts later than ours so i would think they were only just at the start of it.

How long to get a Visa? When does he arrive? I wonder if Holbrook has rang saints to say ive done you a favour for next season by offloading a duffer to us. I hope he does well.

Hopefully he's not another Roy Asotasi!

According to the Warrington Guardian he is due to fly in this Sunday.

He can come in on a tourist visa, just cannot play until he has a work visa. Not sure if he can train.

My understanding is that you can't train either (from what I remember reading about the situation at other clubs). Of course he can still get settled, the club can give him a fitness programme to follow etc

At least the advantage of not getting a game in Australia is that he should be joining us injury free.

Tricky things those airplane steps.

Sounds like the next Windrush scandal.

The Home Office are probably demanding he produces a million pieces of paperwork and proves that he is crap at rugby before recognising him as being British.

I think many tourists do swimming and physical activities without problems.

That's not what 17.4m voted for..

I do seem to be confusing you a lot recently, I should make more allowances for you. I meant train with the club.

To be fair unless someone from the RFL is following him all day how would they know if he trains with the Squad or not. We have loads of behind the scenes training sessions so he can still train with the team, he's more than likely already got his Visa as we've not just signed him over night. We will have been working on this for a while and we've clearly kept the number 16 open for him.

I suspect it is exactly this, signed subject to visa, could only be announced once visa granted.

Clean slate for the player and a fresh start... I certainly wont be judging him on some past signings we have made.

As someone pointed out... There have been many players that didn't set the NRL on fire, that have come to SL and looked very good... lets hope he falls into that bracket.

Whilst not exactly thrilled about this signing I'm going to be fair to the lad and the club.

We were in the market for a prop and we've signed one. According to reports, he was talking to a couple of other clubs, so we had to put up a decent show to get his signature. For all the slagging off he's getting on social media already, about 'not being good enough'; if he had gone elsewhere we'd have all been ranting about how we let a prop with a decent amount of NRL experience slip to another club.

The best forwards that come over from the NRL tend to be those that arrive with the least amount of fan fare. He's a big lad that can come off the bench and that's all we need.

Exactly, unless the Home Office has an agent at Padgate campus we are probably OK.

Exactly. We can only judge him on performances for us. He cannot be any worse than Asotasi and I bet on a lot less £

I think he'll do well, i can see him being a proper enforcer for us. And i love that he's an out and out Prop and not a second rower/Prop. He's a big unit and we've been screaming for a big bulldozing prop for a long time now. And not forgetting Sammy Kibula, he's a big out and out prop and looking a lot fitter than any pic i've seen of him before. Potentially we've now got 2 big boppers in the team that can steam roll us forward for a change. If that happens we're gonna smash some teams this year, if we can get back to the playing style we had at the beginning of 2019. And it will allow us to rest Hill and cooper more and not have them have to do such long minutes, which can only be a plus for us and getting them back to top form.

With you.

To add...
He's not the usual 31/32+ years prop pedigree that is often Wires downfall.
He's under 28 and every player we sign ought to be regardless of quality...the risk increases.

That means we miss out on a few good ones...

Les Boyd was 29 when we signed him.
Adrian Morley was 30 when we signed him.
Gareth Carvell was 29 when we signed him.

If they are good enough they are young enough.

The truth is we will have no idea until we see him play. Seems he was highly rated before going to GC and not once he got there, suggests he has the potential to do well.

This is true.
I stand by my post.

Sometimes the signings that aren't brought in to a big fanfare are the best ones. Wire have made big prop signings in the last few years and none of them have pulled up any trees. Not even Cooper. You have put your eggs in the Widdopp basket and everyone knows he is quality but with huge question marks on fitness. Latu has the pedigree on past form but not getting game time at the Titans must be a concern. They are a middle table SL club at best.