So I presume that he's federation trained then?

He's Irish.

Hansens first International cap was for England.

Still too many.

The ones who were already here before they changed the rules still count as federation trained - i.e. Feca, Carmont & Bailey. The only 3 non-federation-trained (and also the only 3 on the overseas quota) are Roberts, Riddell & Phelps.

There's a good explanation of the quota/fed-trained rules by Ian Lenagan somewhere on the board, but I can't be bothered looking for it now...

I agree that we have too many over seas (forgetting all the clauses crap)

IMO only Roberts and Richards are worthy of their Quota spot. We need to start signing overseas players like these two instead of Mr Averages because lets be honest, we could do alot better than what we've got. Feka, Carmont, Bailey, Phelps, Leuluai and Riddells wages could get us at least 3 world class players from overseas- Fullback, Scrum Half and a Prop. And Carmont, Bailey and Riddells positions can be given to the wealth of talent we have in the reserves, or look into super league for british replacements.

.....and am I right in thinking he's played for both NZ and Samoa since then?

Yes. Although his NZ cap was that nonsense game against England at St Helens when it was just kiwis based in England playing.

I agree that we really shouldn't bother with average overseas players, but the problem is that world-class players cost too big a chunk of the cap. A truly world-class player would be in the region of £200k+; three of those would only leave us with £1m to split amongst the other 22 in the squad, which is an average of about £45k each.

Ian Lenagan has already said he wants a more balanced squad in terms of salaries, and I think he's right.

You're way out on this. Phelps is on peanuts. Bailey took a massive pay cut at the end of his last contract and Carmont came to us on peanuts but got a raise at the end of his previous contract. He wanted a 2 year deal this time and, I believe, we got him for good money this time round by offering him that based on appearances.

To balance that out we have more youth/academy players coming through the ranks than any other side and we all know that the majority of those aren't on good money. In fact, some are on terrible money as the Chris Ashton case clearly shows!

The only 'over priced' players that I'm aware of are Fielden and Feka. I'm pretty sure that IL has stated we aren't even [uup to cap[/u at the present moment....and that's before we get into all the players we have or have been out on loan!

One of these players was offered to another Super League club last year but they couldn't afford him as he would have been their highest paid player - strange but true.

Don't tell me that Gleeson is on peanuts too, the players wouldn't come from overseas if the money wasn't decent. Look, I'm not saying you're over the cap, but I'll bet, like most of the teams in SL at the moment, you're right on it.

Which player / which club?

You don't need to know that.



He's a Warrington Fan, It must be true!

I mean when we speculate it's all rubbish, when they do the same it's FACT!

Hodgson is a good capture for Wire if he stays fit. Hes got a lot of ability but one thing that goes first is pace and if he loses that at FB hes going to get exposed. Given he will be 33 he we be getting slower and takes longer to recover from injuries. But if he stays fit he will do well.

But if i was a Wire fan i would be concerned at the amount of players who will leave within a 12 month period at the end of this season and next. Way too many players are near or the wrong side of 30. We had this issue a few years ago and we almost got relegated and its taken best part of 3 years for Brian Noble to get us stable. We have been extremly fortunate that so many youngsters have developed together at the right time. Prescott, both Tomkins brothers, Goulding (most improved player in SL), Mossop and Liam Farrell has been impressive in what ive seen of him all look decent SL players and are in the main tied down to decent contracts.

It takes a long time to recover if they copy the old Wigan way and tbh thats what they are doing. Im not gutted that we did not get Hodgson far from it. We have Roberts at FB and on form this season hes the better of the 2. And more important much younger.

If Richards is an Australian who can play for Ireland then Hansen is English but can play for NZ/Samoa.

When older players like Morley move on we will have cap room to replace them so am not bothered at all, Morley can still do 80 mins so nothing wrong with him, the players that are 30 soon are all class players its not like we are just carrying them.

We have some great young lads in the first team Cooper, Harrison, Riley, Myler the likes of Atkins, Louis, Bridge and Grix aint old, Matt King is 30 next year but started Rugby late on in the top level.

We have the likes of the Evans twins coming through Smith has already said Hodgson will be working with young players as well in coaching them as he did for Sydney Roosters in the summer.

Roberts turns 30 this year so he isn't much younger.

That's quite some spin! He's 3 years younger which is considerable at either end of the age spectrum. There's a massive difference between a 16 year old and a 19 year old and the same applies at the back end of careers too.

Having said that, I believe he could be a god signing for you if he stays injury free. That's a real cause for concern with a player who'll be approaching 35 by the end of his contract. However, the experience he brings could be a major consideration if utilised in some sort of coaching role. Not sure if that's the plan or not but it should be.

Like Wellens you mean ?
He had a race with 2 snails and came fourth

Roberts is 3 years younger and he has the pace of a gazelle. The only time that guy will be slow is when he is six feet under.

Difference is a prop matures later and carries on playing for longer at the top level. So your comparison is not exactly the same for a 32 year old full back. You do have a decent set of youg players problem your going to get is that they will want a bigger wage to stay. Its great now as some are not on that much but they will want the top money and that will bite. You will not manage to keep them all if you go and pay big wages for the new Morelys and Kings of the world.

If he gets as slow as Wellens then even Vaeliki might fancy a comeback.

Likewise with Wigan's young players and any club bring young talent through.

Its about finding the right balance Leeds have shown it can be done.

Sad but not very suprising to see Mathers slowly fall down the pecking order. The injuries he's suffered in Aus seem to have affected him, and he's also a confidence player who probably underestimated how much better he played alongside his mates at Leeds.

As for the Leeds squad, I suspect we'll see a couple of changes at the end of each of the next few seasons. Leeds will certainly have to manage the eventual losses of Senior and Peacock in partcular.