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.

Dom Waldouck to Irish.

Careful, with all these signings, the "wot no salary cap" police will be onto you Ozzy! Join the club

French press now saying Tigers are looking at Todd although might have just seen one of my posts as have been wanting it to happen ever since Salvi was linked with going.

Le Roux being mentioned again but doubt anything will happen.

Irish are making some sounds signings.

O'Leary was a big earner so offloading him certainly will have freed up some cash under the cap.

Yep replacing O'Leary with Mckibbin was a cracker move.

I think so Welly. Happy with our 9 options for next season now. 1. McKibbin 2. Steele (who has been impressive for us this year) 3. Murphy (academy lad who is a cracking prosepct) / Allinson (decent 3rd/4th choice never going to set the world alight).

Welly wrote: French press now saying Tigers are looking at Todd although might have just seen one of my posts as have been wanting it to happen ever since Salvi was linked with going.

Le Roux being mentioned again but doubt anything will happen.

Irish are making some sounds signings.

Which La Roux are you on about Welly?

Willie Le Roux. The Bok fullback. Hence Welly doubting it will happen.

Todd would be a great signing. Pretty much every Tigers fan would be happy with him arriving. Doubly so if Salvi stays as well.

LI would have to be close to the cap this season to be in risk of breaking it next season. Dom Waldouk will be a cheap signing after a spectacular fall from grace. McKibbin replaces O'Leary and the new prop is the new marquee signing.

Yep Willie.

Oz what area is now the main area you Think irish should focus on strengthening now?

Lock.
Back row depth.
10.

Franks is on a decent wage, but not as much as people would probably imagine.

Its great for Irish, but also brilliant for the Prem that he's joined you. Trying to outbid the French teams has been so difficult and especially because they love their props. A real coup.

He had offers from France, which were for more money than we are paying him, so it does feel like a bit of a coup really. it also demonstrates that he's up for a challenge and money isn't the be all and end all for him, which is exactly the sort of layer I want at the club, so absolutely delighted with him really.

Will he be one of your star players Ozzy?

Star in what regard yappy?

Franks will be a very solid signing. Good scrummager and decent in loose. I'm not so sure on McKibbin, time will tell.

One if the guys that's outside the cap Ozzy?

Edit- finally remembered what I'm talking a about, a marquee player!

I'm not sure of the answer to that question yappy. I don't believe that we had a marquee player this season as we weren't quite up to the cap, and I think TOL was top earner, so there would be plenty of rrom under the cap. I know Maitland isn't coming cheap, and I know there are a number fo signings to be announced, one of whom could be on a comparible wage to Franks, with us also in talks with another player who also could be on a comparible wage. The upshot of that is I don't know who of the new signings would be designated as the two 'marquee' players, and actually I think other than the board and the PRL/RFU (whoever it is that adminsters the cap) nobody ought to know. All players in the squad should be equal, and tagging two as 'marquee' could be seen as divisive.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Franks will be a very solid signing. Good scrummager and decent in loose. I'm not so sure on McKibbin, time will tell.

What makes you not sure about McKibbin Pooly?

I can't quite nail down who he is. I can usually remember lads for Super rugby if they looked impressive and I can't recall his name.

There's a fair few average players in Super rugby, Donald actually looked ok then flooped massivley over here (different position obviously)

Sgt_Pooly wrote:I can't quite nail down who he is. I can usually remember lads for Super rugby if they looked impressive and I can't recall his name.

There's a fair few average players in Super rugby, Donald actually looked ok then flooped massivley over here (different position obviously)

Sometimes the misspelling sounds so so much better than the correct one

Ah ok, so you're not sure because you don't know who he is rather than having seen something which makes you think he might not quite cut it. Fair enough.

Exactly that Ozzy. I'll have seen him play but I just can't recall him

Don't think you'll have anything to worry about with McKibbin. Watched him a lot in the super rugby for the tahs with him having the Scottish connection and was always impressed by his performances. Has been unlucky that he didn't get a cap with the Wallabies and probably more game time with the tahs. Think he will be a loss for them when he leaves as apart from being a good player on the pitch he is also a very good team man and a bit of a leader as well.
A few more signings like McKibbin, Franks and Maitland and London Irish could have a very decent team next season.

Has McKibbin played for the Australian second team or is he sneakily looking for a Scots cap?

He's been on the bench for Aus but never came on - think that means he is tied.

He sat on the bench against Wales 2 years ago but never got on and hasn't played for the 2nd team so can still play for Scotland if he wanted.

It is strange enough that players play age group for one country and full caps for another, but i'm really uncomfortable with the thought of someone training with their country for weeks/seasons, being part of the captains' run and matchday squad and then going on to play for another team. Not that I care that much, but it seems a bit much

Chris Pennell now linked to Leicester.

Pretty much every loose forward and Full back will be linked to us. :p

He signed a long term deal at Wuss. Unless they're trying go cut costs or he wants out badly I can't see it happening.

Welly wrote: Chris Pennell now linked to Leicester.

Pretty much every loose forward and Full back will be linked to us. :p

With the injury to Foden, Delon Armitage might fancy coming back to the prem to try to win some more caps...

formerly known as Sam wrote:He signed a long term deal at Wuss. Unless they're trying go cut costs or he wants out badly I can't see it happening.

Only way I see it happening if he has clause in it if Wuss don't mange to get back up.

Shane Howarth just left Wuss too. Considering the effort Bristol are making to getting back up it may be that things are not stable at Wuss

He's 27 now so I suspect he's thinking that unless Wuss escape the championship soon then his chance at an international career may pass him by. Would be a good fit for him, Tigers.

PDJ to Glos confirmed, haha

Although with Colliers injury lets hope we at least get 1 cap from him!

yappysnap wrote:PDJ to Glos confirmed, haha

Although with Colliers injury lets hope we at least get 1 cap from him!

I hope you appreciate what we've done for you yappy. If we have the PDJ who last graced the Cherry & White I'll be more than happy, however, that is a pipe dream given how poor he's been in the subsequent 4 years.

We've also signed Paddy McAllister and Nicky Thomas from Aurillac and Ospreys respectively. This will strengthen our depth at prop and more than likely signals the end of Shaun Knight's career at Glaws; he had such potential but a run of injuries and what appears to be a lack of effort has seen him fall well short of that potential. He needs a good run of games at Championship level and he may grace the Jeff again. Hopefully our big name LH signing is around the corner...

Tom Ryder from Glasgow to Saints: confirmed.

George Carlin wrote:Tom Ryder from Glasgow to Saints: confirmed.

Another Leicester connection in the saints camp.

Welly wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Tom Ryder from Glasgow to Saints: confirmed.

Another Leicester connection in the saints camp.

There are a few now!

Would be nice if Quins strengthened their midfield a bit!
Or have they blown all their cash on getting Horwell post WC!

propdavid_london wrote:Would be nice if Quins strengthened their midfield a bit!
Or have they blown all their cash on getting Horwell post WC!

You should re-sign Molenaar from Welsh

The Micky Youngs return to Falcons rumour is building pace....and its actually been met with a lot of negative feelings. Many don't want him back.

If he's matured it may be a different case.

GeordieFalcon wrote:The Micky Youngs return to Falcons rumour is building pace....and its actually been met with a lot of negative feelings. Many don't want him back.

If he's matured it may be a different case.

He was quite poor in his final season with us if I remember rightly and he's been a fringe/ second choice player since he left. Hope he doesn't upset the atmosphere in the squad.

Your right HKC - we should have held on to him. At least for another season.
We seem to be forcing Lowe to play at 12 when he was an outstanding 13 pre-injury too.

I guess management hadnt expected JTH to be so off form and injury prone. Casson, Im not sure what is going on there.
Prob thought that Ticks could cover centre too.
And Hopper is inconsistent at best.

Best performances for Quins are when we have a more direct 12 that offers the direct running option and can commit defenders. Quins havent been doing that - hence no gaps for Walker and Yarde to steam through!

Cumbrian wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:The Micky Youngs return to Falcons rumour is building pace....and its actually been met with a lot of negative feelings. Many don't want him back.

If he's matured it may be a different case.

He was quite poor in his final season with us if I remember rightly and he's been a fringe/ second choice player since he left.  Hope he doesn't upset the atmosphere in the squad.

Yeah he wasn't up to much and he obviously has a personality problem.

Away from that its interesting that the likes of Irish  are announcing their big signings...yet we (as I expected with Dean) haven't said much bar the excellent re-signings.

Now we know Dean likes to use the academy and we are fortunate to have a strong one...with some cracking kids coming through like Witty, Penny, Robinson, S.Wilson, Brown, Kibirige, etc but the odd bit of experienced quality wouldn't go a miss. Have you heard any rumours?

Personally I expect more like Saull, Powell etc lads who fallen a bit from what their potential was but Dean has rejuvenated them...

Nail Morris ---> Leinster

Doing the rounds again.

Welly wrote: Nail Morris ---> Leinster

Doing the rounds again.

With Tait on the move as well that would definitely put Tigers in the market for a fb

Well keep away from Alex Tait and Hammersley...they're not available.

Is Morris not still under contract?

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Is Morris not still under contract?

Not end of season mind you the press around here expect him to sign a new deal.