Bateman

[josie andrews]

I didn’t suggest that we should throw Junior to the wolves

I hope you didn’t mean that literally! Don’t you think the wolves have enough of our players

[Gerrumonside]

Because keeping KPP is short-term thinking. There is little point in letting Bateman go if we are not going to recruit.

We've got a year to make the right decision on recruitment, because KPP is a good option next season. Why is letting two players go instead of one and overplaying a junior to their detriment (i.e. losing 3 players in the long term) long-term thinking? Its a straw man arguement - no-one is suggesting we do that sort of thing. No need to say that any is.

First of all, I didn’t say anyone did. Obviously, if a player is only here for one season then by definition that cannot be long-term planning. I didn’t suggest that we should throw Junior to the wolves, if you look back I said that we should keep Bateman or, if he is allowed to leave, sign an equivalent replacement. Just where you would get one from I don’t know but I am happy to be advised. By the way I like KPP but if Bateman goes then we lessen our chances of being successful. If you are happy with that fine, I am not.

A further note to the Bateman/KPP thread is we are assuming KPP will nail down the 2 nd row all season once Bateman goes, but he.s still young and may suffer inconsistent form or carry injury and be not quite at the level Bateman was which I believe is where Charriots is coming from. If we are to challenge for the title we need quality and depth in the squad.

[jaws1]

Looks like Bateman a done deal Jackson Hastings being shown the door.[https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pr ... 523e964af

[southportcdm]

Looks more likely that John wants out so do we really want to force him to stay? We've had this situation many times and I think the club treats each case individually. Do we really want one of our highest paid players only staying because he's under contract whilst his Aussie partner wants to go home? I don't think we'll get a 'world class' replacement at this stage but we need somebody to cover for injuries/loss of form etc. We can't realistically expect Nsemba to play more than a support role next season. I'd be happy if we could sign someone in the "better than Isa but not top class" category whilst re-gaining a marquee spot for use elsewhere.

[nathan_rugby]

At least we would have got some recompense. Why haven’t other clubs seen a player drain? Saints seem virtually immune from this, they retain key players and that is probably why they are currently the top dog. We can’t keep letting talent go and replacing it with inferior players, especially those from down under, if we are to close the gap. SL is there for the taking, it is a second rate competition, but you still need the best players and coaches.

They manage to keep the core together very well so when players are coming in they’re filling in positions that aren’t too influential. Benninson on the wing this year for grace, Hurell at centre but they’ve always kept walmsley Roby lomax while we have a new fb new halfs every few years. Frustrating but with smith we’ve at least got something to build on. Shame we can’t say the same about oneil

We should have retained Williams and paired him with Smith.

How?

He wanted to leave for the NRL.

We offered him Wigan's biggest ever contract on his return. Warrington offered even more than that.

What more could have been done?

[Charriots Offiah]

They manage to keep the core together very well so when players are coming in they’re filling in positions that aren’t too influential. Benninson on the wing this year for grace, Hurell at centre but they’ve always kept walmsley Roby lomax while we have a new fb new halfs every few years. Frustrating but with smith we’ve at least got something to build on. Shame we can’t say the same about oneil

We should have retained Williams and paired him with Smith.

How?

He wanted to leave for the NRL.

We offered him Wigan's biggest ever contract on his return. Warrington offered even more than that.

What more could have been done?

Biggest ever contract? Tell me what he was offered? Anyway, we should have given George a new contract to stop him going to the NRL, George is a home bird and anyone who knew him was aware that his NRL venture was never going to last. But, unfortunately, the club thought he would just come running back which he didn’t. We have a propensity to make poor decisions regarding lads who come through the ranks, we think we can pay them less than inferior Australian’s but that doesn’t work. If you are going to invest heavily in juniors then you should build a team around the best of them and pay them their worth.

[Charriots Offiah]

I didn’t suggest that we should throw Junior to the wolves

I hope you didn’t mean that literally! Don’t you think the wolves have enough of our players

Only because we allow it to happen. Rads needs to keep his eye on the ball.

[Charriots Offiah]

Looks more likely that John wants out so do we really want to force him to stay? We've had this situation many times and I think the club treats each case individually. Do we really want one of our highest paid players only staying because he's under contract whilst his Aussie partner wants to go home? I don't think we'll get a 'world class' replacement at this stage but we need somebody to cover for injuries/loss of form etc. We can't realistically expect Nsemba to play more than a support role next season. I'd be happy if we could sign someone in the "better than Isa but not top class" category whilst re-gaining a marquee spot for use elsewhere.

I am not suggesting we should force him to stay but it is unsatisfactory that the club should be put in this sort of position, it makes forward planning almost impossible. You are spot on, recruiting a replacement of equal standing is almost impossible unless we are willing to pay a high transfer fee. Poor planning has ensured that we have clogged up our non-federation quota with too many average players and consequently that will prevent us from signing a suitable replacement from down under as things stand. For some reason, other teams are not experiencing similar situations, particularly St Helens. We should be asking what are they doing differently.

[Charriots Offiah]

We've got a year to make the right decision on recruitment, because KPP is a good option next season. Why is letting two players go instead of one and overplaying a junior to their detriment (i.e. losing 3 players in the long term) long-term thinking? Its a straw man arguement - no-one is suggesting we do that sort of thing. No need to say that any is.

First of all, I didn’t say anyone did. Obviously, if a player is only here for one season then by definition that cannot be long-term planning. I didn’t suggest that we should throw Junior to the wolves, if you look back I said that we should keep Bateman or, if he is allowed to leave, sign an equivalent replacement. Just where you would get one from I don’t know but I am happy to be advised. By the way I like KPP but if Bateman goes then we lessen our chances of being successful. If you are happy with that fine, I am not.

A further note to the Bateman/KPP thread is we are assuming KPP will nail down the 2 nd row all season once Bateman goes, but he.s still young and may suffer inconsistent form or carry injury and be not quite at the level Bateman was which I believe is where Charriots is coming from. If we are to challenge for the title we need quality and depth in the squad.

Correct, otherwise we are going to be relying on Isa and Junior.

[doc]

Junior is a stand out performer at Reserve and Academy grade and needs to be getting the odd first team appearance. If we farm him out on loan or get in a more experienced player to cover Bateman's loss we potentially lose another prospect like we did with Nicholson by blocking his progression. Not ideal, but I think we should rely on Faz, Isa, KPP and Nsemba.