Building for the future

[jinkin jimmy]

I post the following not as a rumour monger but to pose a hypothetical question.

I heard recently that Saints were struggling in their negotiations with Roby in that he wants £140K and they only have £70K available. Quite interesting when you consider that we have £140K available!!

The question I have is this - would signing a top quality player make sense when we already have adequate cover for that position and a need to recruit in other positions?

My opinion is that if such a player became a possibility for us we should take it and give a long term contract of 5 yrs+. I know this will unbalance the squad for next season but it will give us something to build on for the following years to come.

BTW I don't know if there is any truth to the rumour but if Saints have got themselves painted into a corner with Roby they could end up regretting it for the next 10 yrs.

:eusa10:

[GeoffN]

jinkin jimmy posted:
I post the following not as a rumour monger but to pose a hypothetical question.

I heard recently that Saints were struggling in their negotiations with Roby in that he wants £140K and they only have £70K available. Quite interesting when you consider that we have £140K available!!

The question I have is this - would signing a top quality player make sense when we already have adequate cover for that position and a need to recruit in other positions?

My opinion is that if such a player became a possibility for us we should take it and give a long term contract of 5 yrs+. I know this will unbalance the squad for next season but it will give us something to build on for the following years to come.

BTW I don't know if there is any truth to the rumour but if Saints have got themselves painted into a corner with Roby they could end up regretting it for the next 10 yrs.

:eusa10:

Personally, I don't think Roby is worth that much to us. Decent player, yeah, but not that good (despite his MoS). For a team that needed a reserve hooker, yeah, but I'd say McIlorum is much better value for money.

He has had good games, but he went missing in the last 2 he played (the GF & the NZ game)

[DaveO]

jinkin jimmy posted:

The question I have is this - would signing a top quality player make sense when we already have adequate cover for that position and a need to recruit in other positions?

I would not be averse to all the £140K going on one top quality player but I don't think Roby is that sort of quality.

For me McIllorum has shown enough for him to be one of the few (if not the only) players from the U21's who can step up to a regular first 17 place next season. So I just don't think we need Roby and it would send a pretty poor message to our U21's when one of the best players in it is denied progression by such a signing. The others (in the U21's) aren't good enough to have a legitimate complaint in that regard IMO. So say signing a top centre with that £140K may put Gouldings nose out of joint but he isn't ready yet.

Dave

[Fraggle]

GeoffN posted:
I don't think Roby is worth that much to us.

Given his age and still relative inexperience, £140k is far more than he is worth. Maybe for his next contract, but not at this stage of his career. It might also put him above our first-choice player in that position, which then would cause more problems in terms of other players looking for more money.

£140k for a player like that is ridiculous - if all our players wanted that we'd only be able to have a first team squad of 11 players! He's good, potentially great but not there yet and not yet deserving of such a massive salary.

[jinkin jimmy]

Fraggle posted:

GeoffN posted:
I don't think Roby is worth that much to us.

Given his age and still relative inexperience, £140k is far more than he is worth. Maybe for his next contract, but not at this stage of his career. It might also put him above our first-choice player in that position, which then would cause more problems in terms of other players looking for more money.

£140k for a player like that is ridiculous - if all our players wanted that we'd only be able to have a first team squad of 11 players! He's good, potentially great but not there yet and not yet deserving of such a massive salary.

But when do you go for the star player? If you don't get him young enough he isn't going to be around for the next 10 years to form the backbone of your side in the way that Long, Scully and KFC have done for Saints. Also, just because he wants $140K doesn't mean it would cost that to get him if his current offers is only half that amount.

[JIMH]

I would have him, he is the only player i fear at st helens, when we play against them i dread him coming on. BUT i woul doffer him around the £85k-£90k mark that enables us to get someone else as a squad player.

[LKC29]

I heard quite strong rumours that he has signed for leeds for next season plus i don't think we need another hooker as our biggest shortfall is a top quality centre at the minute

[right cross]

there's no new signings NO MONEY :sly:

[jinkin jimmy]

LKC29 posted:
I heard quite strong rumours that he has signed for leeds for next season plus i don't think we need another hooker as our biggest shortfall is a top quality centre at the minute

This is the whole point of the question.Irrespective of the current playimg staff if a top class player became available that could be one of the spine of your team for years to come should you look past your immediate requirements and sign him?

Re the Leeds rumour and Roby it would not surprise me at all. Diskin needs all the help he can get.

[lucky 13]

jinkin jimmy posted:

LKC29 posted:
I heard quite strong rumours that he has signed for leeds for next season plus i don't think we need another hooker as our biggest shortfall is a top quality centre at the minute

This is the whole point of the question.Irrespective of the current playimg staff if a top class player became available that could be one of the spine of your team for years to come should you look past your immediate requirements and sign him?

Re the Leeds rumour and Roby it would not surprise me at all. Diskin needs all the help he can get.

Leeds won the league if they are to spend £140 grand on Roby I would imagine they were at full cap so would lose one top of the range player or two average ones so we could take whoever becomes available if it's the rite player and price .