Quote Frosties.="Frosties."1. Brent Webb (2011) 4. Keith Senior (2011) 8. Kylie Leuluai (2011) 10. Jamie Peacock (2011) 14. Ali Lauitiiti (2011) 16. Ryan Bailey (2011) 17. Ian Kirke (2011) 18. Luke Burgess (2011) 31. Callum Casey (2011) Questionable for Burgess now that Souths are interested, retirements of Senior, Lauitiiiti are a definate imo, maybe Leuluai aswell. NRL off contract players can be found here: nznrl.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/o ... yers-2011/'" Forget recruiting from abroad, lets source the best possible British talent and lets put the marker down and show some intent. If we do sign someone from overseas,it should be literally the best possible player available in the position we which to strengthen, foreign players are a luxury not necessity.

Quote Frosties.="Frosties."1. Brent Webb (2011) 4. Keith Senior (2011) 8. Kylie Leuluai (2011) 10. Jamie Peacock (2011) 14. Ali Lauitiiti (2011) 16. Ryan Bailey (2011) 17. Ian Kirke (2011) 18. Luke Burgess (2011) 31. Callum Casey (2011) Questionable for Burgess now that Souths are interested, retirements of Senior, Lauitiiiti are a definate imo, maybe Leuluai aswell. NRL off contract players can be found here: nznrl.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/o ... yers-2011/'" Forget recruiting from abroad, lets source the best possible British talent and lets put the marker down and show some intent. If we do sign someone from overseas,it should be literally the best possible player available in the position we which to strengthen, foreign players are a luxury not necessity.

I would agree with that if it is possible.



For me we made a mistake not getting Shenton this year, I would like to think we will not make the mistake again. Arundel is better than Shenton and will be a future start, I would love Leeds to sign him and play him with Watkins in the centres. I would also love us to make it a double signing from Cas by getting Owen with him.



Patrick from Huddersfield would be a senstional signing for any super league side.

Of that list I'd try and retain Peacock, Bailey, Leuluai and possibly Burgess. The latter may want to go to Australia but will they want him? No point letting him go to another SL club. Can Buderus really do another season?



Despite his quality passing Webb still isn't the player we signed, and Lauitiiti isn't either. Along with Senior this should give Leeds space to bring in some quality players - maybe a proper right centre if Smith doesn't work out, and a big impact forward in the mould of Eastwood.



What about this for a backline of homegrown players:



1. BJB

2. Hardaker

3. Smith

4. Watkins

5. Hall

I never mentioned it in the post but I was also thinking along the lines of Arundel and Owen, I'm not sure what nationality Ratchford is but I would look at him for cover in the half's. I see as an overseas recruitment someone like Junior S'au is off contract and would be a good replacement for Senior imo, although Arundel and Watkins should be the future.

Agreed but I just can't see GH spending money on best of british.. epsecially with the new south shed/stand





I wish we were able to though...

We missed the boat on that when Shenton and LMS went to Saints last season. (I wrote this before I saw Gotcha's post).



Other than that, who is the best British talent in the positions we need to strengthen? Prop: S.Burgess, Graham. SR: Ellis, Westwood. Scrum Half: Brough.



Do you see why this isn't practical?



Below that, looking at unformed potential, there are players like L.Farrell, J.Tomkins, Patrick, Watts, Harrison who are also for one reason or another going to be near-impossible to get away from their clubs. Of course we'd ideally be signing Adam Blair and Jonathan Thurston, but with the NRL TV deal "best player in the position" is dreamland, and if anything it'll be more of a battle to stop *our* young talent (Burgess and Watkins as well as any British players we might be interested in) going over there. Hohaia is about the best anyone is going to get for next year.

Has Adam Blair tied up his move to Wests yet, or is he still potentially on the market?



Would be ideal to bring some mongrel and a bit of ability with the ball to the forward pack.



Two issues with trying to prise the likes of Arundel, Owen and Patrick away from their current clubs:



One - they are going to demand substantial transfer fees or players in exchange. As we saw with the Ellis to Bradford deal, the sticking point there can be convincing a player that he actually wants to move to another club bringing the whole deal crashing down. IMO Leeds don't have the cash to be throwing around the sort of six-figure fees plus clauses Castleford and Huddersfield are going to want.



Two - why would any young player necessarily want to join Leeds if the club they are currently at is in a better position to challenge for honours or just about to move to a nice new stadium which will help take that club forward? Playing for Leeds is not the be all and end all of a career, particularly for those players brought up in areas where Leeds isn't the most popular of clubs to start with.

Agreed on all those players. I'd take Huby as well. And Chase, obviously.



In fact I hope the GH masterplan is a denial of the Cas franchise and an evil asset strip.

He actually didn't say "best" british talent. He said "best possible", that's a big difference to be fair. If the next best, or even next after that, is better than what we have then there is no problem with that.



You are unlikely to be able to fit the "best" in all over the park anyway, due to salary cap restrictions. So you identify where it is needed the most and go for that one / those.

There's sod all chance of Cas not getting a franchise. If that is GH's "masterplan" then he truly has lost it. Sadly, the most likely losers come July have already been asset stripped and there's nothing left worth taking.



Even if Cas did lose their franchise, I would expect a lot of their young players to stay loyal to the club that has given them their chance.

Huby is no surprise to me, and for those that have been posting a few years will know that well. I have long had digs at me for saying we should have signed Huby back in 2002, and I have always countered back that had Huby been playing in a good team he would be a star player.



What you are seeing now is Cas playing well, and Huby standing out. I accept I have not been "proven" correct yet, but I am sure I will be in time. More importantly would have been proven had he moved earlier in his career.

I should have put a smiley face after my post. Of course Cas are going to keep their franchise.