Silly Season transfer rumours.....

First topic message reminder :

Well its that time of year...pushing for new contracts...the rumour mill starts to fly...

Any you hear...post them here.....

The first two I've heard...

Priestland to Bath
Carl Fearns - Bath to Falcons.

I watch him every week, he's not that good. His limit is impact sub as he has a good 10/20mins of scrummaging in him.

Past Wilson, Cole, Thomas, TH is not a strong position. I'd 100% have Thomas ahead of Brookes.

Sgt he's still as good quality TH and English and only 24.

We'll see how he develops.
Yes we have Scott Wilson who is coming on nicely and Tomashyk who on his day is tremendous...but hes so hot and cold when hes cold hes awful.

Orlandi gives us another TH hopefully will prove decent.

Its not that Saints have taken him. We do the same quite often to Leeds and the champ clubs...it happens. Its life. Tigers do it to us....as do Saints. Players are ambitious to play for the best clubs... I respect that.

Its more the case when he was getting his A$$ handed to him by Jon Golding whilst playing for Doncaster because he was spiralling at Leicester and Nandos, we brought him back and transformed him.
And that's what you get.

Hopefully the remainder of the squad wont be swayed so easily.
That's whats annoying me.

Brookes is a strong carrier and a decent scrummager. Touch lazy in defence. I think he'll go well at Saints where is ball carrying will be used to good effect and where he has team where the defence will make up for his deficiency. A bit surprised he didn't stay on at the Falcons, they are progressing with a vibrant mainly young squad. It's not stopped him getting England recognition either.

Decent scrummager is a slight over rating imo, Saints are welcome to him.

He is a good player but I think Leicester got it right between him and Balmain in terms of potential.

 With Corbs/Waller and Hartley he has a stronger front row combo ATM which will help him.

Balmain is a better all rounder. Scrum about the same, defence vastly superior but even with his decent carrying ability is overshadowed by the monster carries of Brookes. I'm happy we kept Balmain who is also a year younger.

Sgt Brookes can't go toe to toe with the Cole's and Afoa's of the league but he's better than a lot of the average THs that make up the AP.

I like my front row to scrum Sam and Brookes doesn't do that too well imo (when starting).

The only scrum we've got at this season is Gloucester and that was with Tomas staring.

thomh wrote:

Ozzy3213 wrote:I've heard that Carl Fearns to Quins is very nearly done.

That could fit with Trayfoot's rumoured move to Irish. Now Bath just need to nick a back rower from Irish to complete the triangle.

Got David Sisi last season and he will step up and cover Fearns' departure

David Sisi is linked with Wuss ATM.

not sure if it's just me but do people think there is starting to be alot more movement of players this year?

Probably a lot of it is because of the post RWC moves mate

To be honest Sgt I find it hard to tell how well your scrum goes as your LHs aren't the best scrummagers anyway and with the interpretations the way they are at the minute we're seeing strong LH coming to the fore.

I do agree though. Props should be set piece monsters first and foremost. However, that is something that tends to come with age and experience so generally you don't see guys in their early twenties smashing scrums.

Brookes looked a good scrummager for England

He's fine from the bench LT, he has a good 10mins of scrummaging in him then it goes down steadily.

Agree to a point Sam, our LH's are poor but it was exactly the same last season with Shiels who is a good scrummager.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:I like my front row to scrum Sam and Brookes doesn't do that too well imo (when starting).

The only scrum we've got at this season is Gloucester and that was with Tomas staring.

Dudes, please remember Saints were able to get an Australian prop to scrummage well enough to land a big money contract at Toulon. If Ma'afu could get fixed at the Garden's, then maybe Brookes can too.

doctor_grey wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:I like my front row to scrum Sam and Brookes doesn't do that too well imo (when starting).

The only scrum we've got at this season is Gloucester and that was with Tomas staring.

Dudes, please remember Saints were able to get an Australian prop to scrummage well enough to land a big money contract at Toulon.  If Ma'afu could get fixed at the Garden's, then maybe Brookes can too.

What happened to PDJ?

yep went from a England international to being envious of the bench warmers.

It was a spectacular fall from grace for PDJ. What is really disappointing is that he'll happily sit in the stands at Quins collecting the cash rather than ask to be released so he can go and resurrect his career. A number of clubs would have taken a punt on him though probably not on those Quins level wages.

Did Saints ruin PDJ?

formerly known as Sam wrote:It was a spectacular fall from grace for PDJ. What is really disappointing is that he'll happily sit in the stands at Quins collecting the cash rather than ask to be released so he can go and resurrect his career. A number of clubs would have taken a punt on him though probably not on those Quins level wages.

He's gonna go to Gloucester

Not surprising. He was at his peak there so it makes sense for him to want to head back. Just thought a player with ambition would have sacrificed some short term cash to try and rejuvenate their career as opposed to spending another season on good money but nowhere near the first team.

Its also not a good sign that he couldnt seem to improve again at quins...who seem to do well with bringing on their props...

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Did Saints ruin PDJ?

This was a strange situation, mate. Not sure if Saints did ruin him or whether he came to us ruined. He was signed with a lot of acclaim. But never really performed. I don't recall if he started OK then faded or if he was not up to expectations right from the start. I simply don't recall him doing much - ever. PDJ always seemed under powered. And that is hard to do when part of Saints pack.

doctor_grey wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Did Saints ruin PDJ?

This was a strange situation, mate.  Not sure if Saints did ruin him or whether he came to us ruined.  He was signed with a lot of acclaim.  But never really performed.  I don't recall if he started OK then faded or if he was not up to expectations right from the start.  I simply don't recall him doing much - ever.  PDJ always seemed under powered.  And that is hard to do when part of Saints pack.  

He was certainly playing very well when he left Glaws. In his penultimate season he was keeping Yoda out of the side, which is no mean feet! I think the issue he faced at Saints was that he was used at LH a lot in his first season which definitely isn't his preferred role. More importantly he just didn't get enough game time due to the form of Mujati, but then most of us thought he was pretty naive moving in the first place as he was never likely to replace him or Tiny.

Vermeulen to toulon is almost a done deal

May god have mercy on us all.

HongKongCherry wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Did Saints ruin PDJ?

This was a strange situation, mate.  Not sure if Saints did ruin him or whether he came to us ruined.  He was signed with a lot of acclaim.  But never really performed.  I don't recall if he started OK then faded or if he was not up to expectations right from the start.  I simply don't recall him doing much - ever.  PDJ always seemed under powered.  And that is hard to do when part of Saints pack.  

He was certainly playing very well when he left Glaws. In his penultimate season he was keeping Yoda out of the side, which is no mean feet! I think the issue he faced at Saints was that he was used at LH a lot in his first season which definitely isn't his preferred role. More importantly he just didn't get enough game time due to the form of Mujati, but then most of us thought he was pretty naive moving in the first place as he was never likely to replace him or Tiny.

You're probably right. It would be hard for anyone to displace Tiny or Mooj. But something must have happened. Hard to see how a player could go from being highly rated to something else in one season.

Fluxy wrote:Vermeulen to toulon is almost a done deal

Isn't there some sort of scheme where Mourad Mjellybaby can just purchase the Champions Cup directly?

It would just save everyone a lot of time.

George Carlin wrote:

Fluxy wrote:Vermeulen to toulon is almost a done deal

Isn't there some sort of scheme where Mourad Mjellybaby can just purchase the Champions Cup directly?

It would just save everyone a lot of time.

So Toulon pack would look like this ATM for next season:
1) Chiocci
2) Burden
3) Ma'afu
4) Monoa
5) Etzebeth
6) Smith
7) Armitage
8) Vermeulen

 Throw in Nonu, Nalaga into their backline.

Welly wrote:So Toulon pack would look like this ATM for next season:
1) Chiocci
2) Burden
3) Ma'afu
4) Monoa
5) Etzebeth
6) Smith
7) Armitage
8) Vermeulen

 Throw in Nonu, Nalaga into their backline.

Gorgodze on the bench!

doctor_grey wrote:

HongKongCherry wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Did Saints ruin PDJ?

This was a strange situation, mate.  Not sure if Saints did ruin him or whether he came to us ruined.  He was signed with a lot of acclaim.  But never really performed.  I don't recall if he started OK then faded or if he was not up to expectations right from the start.  I simply don't recall him doing much - ever.  PDJ always seemed under powered.  And that is hard to do when part of Saints pack.  

He was certainly playing very well when he left Glaws. In his penultimate season he was keeping Yoda out of the side, which is no mean feet! I think the issue he faced at Saints was that he was used at LH a lot in his first season which definitely isn't his preferred role. More importantly he just didn't get enough game time due to the form of Mujati, but then most of us thought he was pretty naive moving in the first place as he was never likely to replace him or Tiny.

You're probably right.  It would be hard for anyone to displace Tiny or Mooj.  But something must have happened.  Hard to see how a player could go from being highly rated to something else in one season.  

Mr and Mrs Waller decided to have kids, turned out those kids were good at props. PDJ was not.

Welly you forgot Castro. Ma'afu will be his understudy.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Welly you forgot Castro. Ma'afu will be his understudy.

Isn't Castro 3rd choice at Toulon atm?

Castro has been pretty awful from what I've seen of him, he's still living on reputation.

I think the French RU need to be looking at limiting the number of foreigners in their teams other wise their national team is utterly fubarred!

Im happy England are pretty strong in the number of English lads actually playing in the teams.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:From what I've seen of Denman he is Saints version of Eric Fry i.e. Bloody awful.

Brookes isn't amazing but he's MUCH better than Denman.

Tell that to Cole, in the recent match Cole was getting the better of Waller, according to the ref anyway. Denman came on and Cole was soon put in his place. Saints suddenly had parity and two penalties against Cole

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:From what I've seen of Denman he is Saints version of Eric Fry i.e. Bloody awful.

Brookes isn't amazing but he's MUCH better than Denman.

Tell that to Cole, in the recent match Cole was getting the better of Waller, according to the ref anyway. Denman came on and Cole was soon put in his place. Saints suddenly had parity and two penalties against Cole

I thought Denman was a TH?

Denman is indeed a TH and replaced Ma'afu on about 51 minutes.

Ayerza was replaced by Rizzo on 58, and Alex Waller by Ethan on 62. Cole played the entire 80 minutes.

So which game was WELL PAST IT watching?

Denman did play well once he came on but he was helped that Ayerza went off. Rizzo is good but Ayerza is the best LH in world rugby. Denman could also scrum straight where as Ma'afu insisted on trying to bore in which just allowed Ayerza to destroy him (only area of play where we were the better team). Cole has been excellent since he returned and the ankle niggle is pure bad luck.

Telegraph reporting Wasps have signed AB Frank Halai on long term deal from October.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/premiership/11352302/Wasps-swoop-for-New-Zealand-wing-Frank-Halai.html

Good move for the Pests. Confirms Ben Franks to LI as well.

Fuuuuuuuuck reading this thread fills me with fear for next season! What's the betting we'll again just make a couple of signings (Horwill and Fearns) lose some players, bring in more academy boys and then end up even further behind the other smarter spending clubs?

We desperately need a better crash ball centre, back up 10 and an experienced older hooker/prop.

Fonua supposed to be signing for Tigers in the summer. Tigers wanted him last summer but French club wanted to keep him at that point. By the time they were happy to offload him only Welsh had salary cap to fit him in.

If he got fit he'd be some asset, I was hoping we'd pick him up.

Le Roux as being looked at as a replacement for Tait.


 LOLOL

Even with the marquee player rules there's no chance. We're a PLC we don't have a multimillionaire backer to subsidise us. Le Roux would be an excellent signing for any team but more likely France.

We need some added spark in the back line so maybe a new full back will be an opportunity for that. Maybe Mauger can source one to join him in the flight over from NZ.

According to ESPN the Du Plessis brothers are to move to Montpelier after the world cup

certainly a downgrade from Hartley