At 22 he has 30 odd appearances for Bradford and has played international football.

My primary concern is that he is another prop / second-row forward. At 95kg he is too lightweight, and a little slow to play in the back-row.

At 6ft, he is no pocket battleship like Sam Thompson (looked as wide as he was tall from what we saw of him) so he can add the weight on. With Wilkes and James onboard we have two very mobile props to add to LMS, I just worry about the go forwards in the hard yards that a second tier super league side will have to make.

I think with the loss of Heckenburg and Haggerty to essentially their injuries we have assessed the problem and gone for a solution; guys who will be there every game. We did something similar when following the 2008 the coaching staff noticed that our back-row was defensively weak; the outcome was that we brought in two solid and robust NRL back-row forwards. This lack of sparkle in the second-row has left a number of fans asking questions.

My point is that the club has identified the issue of props being unavailable. They have ticked that box, unfortunately in their short-sightedness they have simply created another problem.

I hope to be corrected with the annoucement of the signing a rotund meter eater shortly. I'm not asking for Steven Price, but I'd be happy with a Jamie Thackray. The alternative is that grunt-work for Quins will leave us falling short in terms of meters made, then kicking from poor positions, and we all know how poor our long range kicking is.

I'm a little disappointed the club have not given Haggerty another year. Wasn't there some talk of this being a possibility?

I'm still waiting for the club to tick the 2 boxes of half back and utility back, but I won't be holding my breath.

If James can just work on his pace and strength a bit i think he could do a job in super league

Code13 (he tends to get the things he doesnt get wrong right ) said we've signed Bridge.

Tangi Ropati is coming down from Sheffield. From what I've seen he looks to have real quality in all areas of his game. He will come in at right centre.

Must use that line myself sometime

I suppose the signing of Ropati isn't as underwhelming as Wilkes and James. Yet to be confirmed though.

Because we don't have the cash.................is it that hard to understand? Really?
You are the most negative person I have never met and that really is saying something. You always post negative thoughts without ever offering an alternative. It is easy to criticise from afar, but not so easy to offer constructive alternatives and therefore, your posts like yourself are simply a waste of time.

We don't have any cash but we can afford to sign deadwood like Matt James. As I have previously said, the £25k+ given to James could have been added to a decent offer for a decent player. Such as a half back. Which is a far more critical issue than signing ANOTHER forward.

I am praying that the news of Chris Bridge is true and not just a wind up.

I was at first, but you have to look at it this way; limited resources on our part, he is an improvement on the knackered Gafa of 2009. Ropati is agile, strong, a good reader of the game. Anyone who knows anything about the Queensland Cup knows that the back-line play is right up there in terms of quality with Super League (big call!). I'd back Ropati to be a success with the Quins setup. Sheffield fans were raving about him all year, we were not the only super league club keeping an eye on him. I'm backing him to get double figures next year.

Deadwood? Seen him play have you, or are you just becoming Rupe2 for the heck of it?
Great....let's go down the Scott Hill route again and pray that he stays injury free as he sucks up a large chunk of our funds.


What Chris Bridge rumour????

I hope you are right!

is that in tries, appearances or negative reviews from Rupe 1 and rupe 2

I left it open because he also kicks goals as well. We have to keep our expectations on signings fairly low because they normally walk out [urlhttp://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/sport/wolves/wolvesnews/4634390.Fa_afili_cleared_to_return_to_English_rugby/?ref=rss[/url on a contract or end up back up players who only get a game when the first choice are busted. We normally get a few with the likes of Henry Paul in 2006, Rinaldi, Melling and Orr in 2007, Howell and Ward in 2008, the solid Golden in 2009 mixed in with the likes of Bannister, Barker, Grayshon, Nanyn, Tootill, etc.

Did they ever tell us what compensation we got for that? or did we just announce a signing before it was completed and get shafted?

A couple of times, yes. Looking forward to watching him again tonight, fingers crossed.

I'd love to see the club sign a player of Scott Hill's calibre once more. Its a risk worth taking IMO, rather than settling for steady medicority. It is ESSENTIAL we make an impact on the table next year, playing it safe with average and below average signings won't do that.

You are right we have never 'met' yet you charmlessly call me a 't' simply because I post alternative opinions from someone who from his posts appears to be sanctimonious, pompous and arrogrant.

Do you know the playing budget for this season and next? - No
Can you prove it is significantly lower than Wakefield and Castleford? - No
Can you deny that players like Orr, Williamson and Robinson are not overpaid for what they are and that money spent on their salaries could not go on other players? - No

If anyone deserves a 'ban' its you for your sheer self-aggrandisement.

Cash strapped QuinsRL vs cashed up Biarritz Olympique.

We decided not to pursue it.



Not a smarter word spoken. We were told we are close to the cap last season. The cap is the same, fixed level for every side now. Income doesn't come into it.

This season the wage bill from the likes of Grayshon + Nanyn + Gardner (mediocre players who hardly played and hardly make an impact when they did) should have been combined to secure one more top quality player who would add genuine competition for places.

We should have more faith in Golden and only brought one of Williamson and Robinson. That would have left room for another halfback.

We should use the reserves (and let's face it, the likes of Bryan, O'Callaghan, Williams aren't going to let us down) to add the depth and focus on building a core of quality players capable of winning silverware.

Leeds have shown this works. They buy the quality players they need (Buderus, Webb etc.) and then rely on their reserves to fill out the squad. All we need to do is copy that formula.

To answer your questions, no I don't..but neither do you. What I do know is that whatever budget is available, I contribute towards it with my attendance and spending in the shop and bar....something you freely admit to not doing.
Therefore, my arrogant posts are something that I have earned the right to write, as against your constant bitching about what you think should be done on the recruitment front or where we should play or what we should be called.
I have never denied I have an ego.....self promotion is part of what I do, but I always offer an alternative when putting down what I believe the club are doing wrong.
When you start posting a viable alternative to the signings we make, I may well listen. When you find a solution to the Quins tie up that means we don't go bust again, I will listen. When you stop reminiscing for days that you clearly recall with rose tinted glasses, I will listen, but until then, I will continue to call you what you are, which as John Cooper Clarke put it so well, is a TW@!
I have no particular personal beef with you rupe1. It is you who have a beef with the Harlequins tie up and you seem to get some sort of pleasure when the club fail or at least appear to.
For the record, in the last 4 years as the Broncos we averaged 3,681 as a gate. The first 4 years as Quins RL, we have averaged 3,689....so including you leaving, we have added 9 fans to our base.......so the hundreds of disgruntled league fans walking away would appear to be you and....er......you!
I could go on...in fact, I will.
We now have more UK qualified players than at any other time in the 14 years of Superleague. We have 2 capped Cockneys. We have stability on the financial front. We have a back office that appear to be moving in the right direction, we have a Chairman who continues to give us cash, we have a brand that is known Globally (Union is still the BIGGER game pal...sorry to burst your bubble) and we have a core of 2,500 + odd fans who will be back next year and who won't miss you one iota.
Hope that wasn't too arrogant a post for you.

I'm quite sure we are not close to the cap, but we were close to the point which we can afford to pay our 25 man first team squad.

Would be pretty amazing if we also sign Rick James

I find it hard to believe as well, but that's what we were told at a fans forum.

What else are we going to do to recompense our employees! Bizarre

I don't get it, I am saying we are spending within our means, and going to our limit, not the £1.65 million limit on the first team squad of 25. We may spend that as a business, but not on the 25.

I am still in shock

Performing seal