Matthew Rees to C Blues?

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3825_8310539,00.html

This has been rumoured and I think its a good move all round, the Blues need to strengthen, Owens needs gametime and he stays in Wales.

Looks like a good move..

Scarlets have Kirby too, he and Owens will be great for Scarlets going forward.

There's another thread on this

https://www.606v2.com/t37911-blues-looking-to-bolster-pack-for-next-season

Good move for all, Wales have the three top hookers playing regular rugby, Scarlets have cover and strenght in this position.

glamorganalun wrote:Good move for all, Wales have the three top hookers playing regular rugby, Scarlets have cover and strenght in this position.

Except when (as inevitable with Wales) they call up both Owen's and Myhill, leaving us with just Phillips (or play both when not fit and injure them for the whole season)

Rees to Blues???

What a stupid move by the Blues, IMHO Rees is firmly behind Owens and Hibbard in the pecking order for Wales, he isn't the same guy as last season, and won't get any stronger, with Breeze actually playing quite well (without the ability to scrummage) and Dacey struggling for gametime anyway this is just thrown money again!!!

thebluesmancometh wrote:What a stupid move by the Blues, IMHO Rees is firmly behind Owens and Hibbard in the pecking order for Wales

Surely that's a good thing, if he is then he'll be at the blues throughout the season and will provide good value for money?

one of the qualities that danny wilson goes on about with smiler is his influence off the field. passing on his experience to samson lee, myhill, phillips etc.....think he could do the same with andrews, hobbs, darcey etc ..he's still probably the strongest scrummaging hooker down at the scarlets. also think he's ahead of owens in the pecking order for scarlets and wales. as gcblues states it's better if he's not involved with wales. personally i think he would be a good signing for the blues, depending if you can get him at the right price (contract)

His price won't be small at all, and he will offer little to the blues team next season, he's in decline and scrummaging is his only real good attribute left!!

IMHO Hibbard and Owens shouldve been ahead of him in the AI, Owens has played more at club level!!!

You don't sign a player for what he can help other players, thats a very small side to what older players bring to the party, and Rees brings little and takes far more to a Blues party!!!

What I find amazing is at junior (U16-Academy) level the Blues have 2 teams (north and south) to every other regions 1 team, and generally one of the blues junior teams are dominant over the rest of the Welsh regions yet they are unable to transform this into regular playing quality.

thebluesmancometh wrote:You don't sign a player for what he can help other players, thats a very small side to what older players bring to the party, and Rees brings little and takes far more to a Blues party!!!

In fairness Smiler is a step above anything the Blues ahve in his position, and even now is probably far superiour to anyone the Blues ahve had for a while. I don't think his international days are over just yet, and think he will probably be involved for another season or two (maybe retiring internationally after the RWC), and I would not be suprised to see him touring with the Lions. So he would bring a fair bit to the team on the playing feild other than the leader figure.

I would also argue with a team that have lost a fair few of their leaders, and that are looking a bit lost for leadership, the management team should be looking for players who can inspire/command the team on the pitch. Rees is definately one of those people.

I'd say Rees has been ahead of Owens this season for the Scarlets due to some pretty good performances from Rees and Owens' not kicking on from last season.

I'd also say he is far above all the Blues current hookers.

But saying that I would much prefer the Scarlets to keep Owens - as I only see him improving, and think he could make the Wales jersey his own for a long time in the near future.

If Rees is to keep playing Int rugby that makes the deal even worse!!!

I grant you he is above Marc Breeze (who I quite like in the loose but needs to scrummage better) but Breeze is going nowhere and Dacey is an exciting prospect who will have another hooker to stay ahead of him.

My problem is with all the Blues problems a hooker is the least of our concerns, Why spend money on Rees when if we could offload a few of these NWQ players and throw a punt at Lydiate, taking the pressure off Pretprious.

Or maybe Even look at 1 of the Scarlets props Lee or Rhodri.

Davies is doing what he has at every other club, signed players for the sake of it, and what he considers big names and big mates, Rees 2 seasons ago would be a very good signing, Blues were a power in Europe and we could look to build around Jenkins and Rees front row, but today we are trying to stop the rot and signing 30 yr old Hookers will not help!!!!

In fact I'd say Rees lacks dynamism around the park and his lineout is ropy, so we are signing him for his scrummaging ability alone? Why not invest to a much lesser extent in a scrum machine and decent forwards coach?!