That is the key point. Who would be in for Hampshire? Salford, HKR, Hudds, London? Hardly an upgrade.

That's why I had to question Belly's assertion as it's clearly not true. As Lennon said about Ringo, 'he's not even the best drummer in the Beatles'. Those four have nailed their positions, Rocky hasn't yet and he's had a few chances. Not saying he won't be but not yet.

I didn't see the word 'blame' mentioned by DC, he was just stating the facts as they were.
I think it would be very naive to think that once an offer is made by the club, then you can sit on it for as long as you wish. Rocky is an adult, advised by his agent ( and please don't infer he is not aware of the time that should be taken to respond to an offer, even IF Rocky isn't) quite clearly if an offer is made then it is up to the player to respond in a reasonable time. I say all that and stick by it but I want Rocky to sign!

Think the issue about rocky should be the least of our issues/worries at moment.we are in big danger of losing more than him. Relegation is very much a possibility if not a probability at the moment and should it occur it wouldnt make z bit of difference should he sign now or not as it would be void along with many others

I suppose a question also has to be how long do we wait for him to make his decision? If we won’t or can’t offer more the club needs to set a final date otherwise we run the risk of messing up other areas of our recruitment, including potentially a replacement for him.

The club set a date and it has passed.

You may be right but, you would also expect that it wasn't a pay cut ?

From the outside looking in, it appears that he didn't sign because he thought that he could do better and that now, having probably been offered to other clubs, he feels that Trinity may still be his best option, for now, but, the deadline has passed AND maybe because of the lack of commitment, we have signed a different FB (Walker) for next season ? Is this similar to why we signed Reynolds last season ?

If he is reluctant to commit himself and hasn't responded in 70 days, how does that sit with the article in LE where he allegedly claimed that he was very keen to stay with Trinity? Or has there been another avenue that he was exploring that has suddenly gone sour on him?

He can't win can he.
It would be unprofessional to give any details.
The 85 day thing is already in the public domain as the RFL rules mandate it.

It's just as hard to believe that a player can attend the club almost every day and never sit down with anyone to discuss his contract.
I'm sure we'd all be calling out DC if he waited and didn't sign anyone only for Hampshire to never sign and leave us with a big gap in the team.
We all know the process because DC explained it on here.

Maybe all these with inside knowledge of Rocky's intentions and his contract details on here should have had a word with him.

I seem to recall Rocky left it late to sign last season.

He puts himself in that no win position when he comes on here!

He didn’t give any details, that’s part of the problem, he just threw Ryan under a bus and left, no context at all.

If you offer a player a new deal when he still has 7 or 8 months of his current deal remaining maybe that player doesn’t feel the urgency to jump up and sign it immediately. Some might but others won’t.

DC didn’t explain anything other than Ryan’s had a contract offered and he hasn’t signed it fast enough.

I didn’t throw Ryan under a bus. I explained the truth. He had an offer in writing with a deadline date on it. And neither he nor his agent came back with anything? Should I have chased him before the deadline?

IMO, you shouldn’t share any of those details on here and 100% of your negotiations should be held in confidence between the club and Ryan.

This is a fans forum, fans will gossip while rumours will come and go 10 to the dozen. It was always that way, before forums it was at the local over a pint or in the canteen at work.

Again, only my opinion, but you don’t need to come on here challenging or correcting rumours, they’re harmless and part of being a supporter let people do it.

They aren’t harmless though are they? You can tell that by looking on here or the Facebook page. Because the entire thread makes it sound like we’ve done nothing to keep him.

And confidential works both ways as well!

I don’t read Facebook so can’t speak to what’s on there or whether it’s different to on here or not.

What I’ve read on here re Rocky hasn’t seemed malicious to me either toward the club or toward Rocky. To me it looks like nothing more than fan speculation, you can go on just about any club forum from any team sport and see similar rumours, criticisms of clubs or players etc, it’s fans blowing hot air to other fans. Next week it’s fallen to page 5 and nobody reads or comments on it.

I agree with you that confidentiality goes both ways but that too ought to be dealt with face to face with the player or agent leaking details.

It's Hampshire's "mates" who seem to be continually stirring the pooh. It helps the rest of us, who presume these guys are in the know, to get a little perspective from the other side.

Avenger/Daddycool
You should leave it there now I think.
You've both made your point. I can only see it getting out of hand from now on.

To all
I've stopped other people trying to give details of contracts, whether made up or truthful so I need to be consistent.

In this case posters need to remember opinions are ok but when you starting posting opinion as facts from an insider or even making facts up, it reflects on both Hampshire and Carter, and for some strange reason Chester and that does go against the AUP.

DC he is not that good a player to warrant all this attention and you worry and waiting
move on
look elsewhere

Yep it’s getting silly I’m afraid and is so ofton the case when someone we know puts their kneck on the line and is shot down by someone protected by their annonimity.

Avenger you may have a point but this isn’t on because it’s an unfair contest. MC corrected me, I accept it because I have to believe he knows more than I do, you should do the same. You simply can’t be privy to what MC is and worse still you do now look more and more like your attempting to bully a man who has one arm tied behind his back.

Personally I’ve never really agreed with him coming on here because of exactly this. However because he’s up front as to who he is then I believe we owe him some leeway. My advice is drop it as it's doing Rocky and the club no favours, and ditto MC.

MC has saved the club, he’s had a good run but now the tough times are back and imo he deserves our support. He’s not above criticism especially if he chooses to post on here, but he does deserve some understanding, he’s clearly trying or why would he even bother coming on here?

Just my opinion by the way so feel free to ignore, most do

Good post fc , personally don’t think players , club officials , players family members should come on here to express opinions , IMO this is an extension of the pub or terrace and is all about gossip , opinion rumours .

If they do come on and make it obvious who they are then it changes the very purpose of the forum . Am sure that it’s galling to be criticised by the fans if you or yours are in the firing line, but provided it’s not illegal slanderous etc so what. Personally think all this fuss over Hampshire is pretty baffling, big issue is not getting relegated - in fact that’s the only issue the club etc should be worrying about .

If you really wanted him to stay DC then yeah or followed up after the deadline passed, I imagine if it was Dave/Bill etc you would have chased them up?

It sounds like more could been done to tie down a young, versatile player who has played every game this year.

It is just a little worrying as a fan to see that we are potentially going to lose a player like Rocky and then apparently sign older players like Atkins, Westerman and recently linked with Ferres.

I am not meaning to come across as a critic, you saved this club and I trust you have the club's best interests at heart. I also appreciate and think it's great that you come on here from time to time and put the record straight.

Well why hasn't Hampshire even responded ? 1 would assume he'd been trying to get more elsewhere which is fair game but what are trinity meant to do without even a response. You'd have thought Wakefield would be the perfect fit, club he supported , playing his best / most consistent rugby , good long deal on the table but didn't even have the dignity or integrity to give a response for over 2 months. If I was MC I'd be a little frustrated and bewildered.

This is so typical of that type of post that escalates and results in MC having to come on. I'll save him the job this time. We've "apparently" signed Alex Walker to replace Hampshire.

I'm well aware of that.. what has that got to do with my post? Would still rather have retained a known quantity who can/has covered halfback, hooker and the wing.

Do you not find it slightly worrying that we are linked with these older players who's best years are most likely behind them?