I suspect , Sam T may get the kicking job upon his return. He's kicked one or two in the past and looked tom as though, with practice could be fairly decent.


I agree that we should be looking to sign a recognised goal kicker. The question is in what position? For me it depends on the clubs and players future intentions. By that I meanifnfor example Burgess says he is going back to Australia at the end of next season then let him go and look for a kicking winger. If the club have no intention of extending player x's contract then let him go a year early.

after having a scan yesterday i found there was more kicking wingers than there are kicking centres

I wonder which team's run-on side he imagines he's going to stroll into? Souths? They have that lad Gray now who's going pretty well.

It's like all this talk there was about Williams going to the NRL (before he signed a new contract), and I thought, how many NRL coaches, offered the chance to dump one of their existing halves, and replace him with George Williams from Wigan, would have bitten your hand off...?

What's that got to do with finding a kicker. I just used him as an example, it could be any player. My point was if any of the first 13 had any sort of intention of leaving after next season I'd rather let them go early to bring a kicker than sacrifice a player who wants to stay long term

There isn't many great kickers around to bring in though, they obviously wouldn't have to be great to be an improvement on what we have but I don't think we will bring someone in because he can kick,Sutcliffe is the only one mentioned who we may have a chance of getting and would play. The rest are either out of reach or are poor players who can kick.

Sutcliffe only managed 1 from 4 yesterday but still a good shout.

If we had a backline of

Sam
Manfredi
Gelling
Gildart
Burgess

Games wouldn't come down to goal kicking.

[*

I see you've not included our current leading tryscorer

Probably because Manfredi and Burgess are still better players? No shame in that.

There really isn't many top kickers around at the moment, Sutcliffe is better than what we have but not by a great deal,I still think if we stick with Williams he can become a half decent kicker,he just seems to lose confidence after missing one.

They would if our middle defence continues at it has been. Scoring points isn't the problem, scoring 6 tries, whether converted or not, should always be enough to win.

I doubt Lenegan wants to dig into his pocket again. Plus we've taken up our two marquee player spots with Williams and Tomkins.

We'd have to release half the squad to pay another player that kind of money.

I see the rumour on another site is that we are after Lomax.

I'm sure if a player of their calibre became available there would be ways and means for the club to sign them, would a third marque player position be too much to ask the RFL for, i mean if every club had 3 marque positions you would be able to have a top back (wing/centre/fullback), a top forward and a top 6 or 7, making SL even more exciting and for those teams that can't afford to sign big figure players then it would give them more scope within the cap by adding their top earners in to those positions thus allowing them to bring through more youngsters, win win for all concerned

Tomkins is surely a waste of money as I can't see him playing again and if he does he won't be as good as he was with all the injuries he has had.

He's playing this week apparently against Warrington in the cup. Even if he's not as good as he once was, he's still got enough talent to be one of the best in the league regardless.

Trent Hodkinson from Newcastle Knights on the outer at the moment

The other team scored 8 try's and guess what they did not loose.

That's my point: our "normal" defence, prior to this season, would concede less than 20 points per game, on average. That's what needs fixing, not our attack.

Can't get a game for a bottom of the league side, then?

Would fit in well with the lads on the sidelines

Perhaps, but he still has a legally binding contract and we're obliged to pay him until the end of next year.

Yeh he cant get a game because of a dispute with the club. This forum was asking about options for goal kickers, I have given an option. He was Canterbury Bulldog number 7 and also was NSW number 7 when the blues last won the state of origin series.........so he aint that bad then

Newcastle would probably beat majority of super league clubs so cant really compare

Patrick Ah Van is a good man

Playing with a winger as a full back is a big chunk of the problem. Full back co-ordinates a lot of the defence which Tierney didn't seem to do at all against Leigh.