Silly Season Transfer Rumours 23/24

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I need rumours.....and I need them now!

carpet baboon wrote:
Will diamond do the sneaky switcheroo at half time so it looks like the same prop is on but really it's his brother?
Clever man

Apparently one is a tighthead and the other a loosehead, so probably not...

Yeah one is tighthead and one loosehead.  

They're going In to the academy..but Diamond must see something in them to give them a one year 'trial'  both 19st and apparently done very well this season for the Uni. Won't impact the seniors immediately..but might get some minutes next season...

Diamond has said he wants to shake up the academy a bit as well so this looks a decent move. We have a few other very good prospects at Prop aswell..

carpet baboon wrote:

Geordie wrote:Falcons have signed 23 yesr old twin props Callum and Connor Hancock  from Leeds Beckett Uni on a one year academy deal. Apparently they they have been training with us through out the year...so must have impressed Diamond.

Will diamond do the sneaky switcheroo at half time so it looks like the same prop is on but really it's his brother?
Clever man

I wonder if they ever thought of doing that with the Curry twins. Maybe they did

Owen Lane leaving Cardiff to join Valence Romans.....

Dragons about to announce a signing at 12 #Wilson

Welshmushroom wrote:Owen Lane leaving Cardiff to join Valence Romans.....

Can’t blame boys going there. More money and they seem to enjoy D2 more playing wise too.

RiscaGame wrote:Dragons about to announce a signing at 12 #Wilson

Welsh rugby Twitter losing their sh*t over us signing foreigners rather than 'promoting yoof'.  What they fail to notice is the raft of re-signings we've made recently of young players who have come up through the academy.  We've been playing local young youth all season.  Those players need support from some experienced overseas players.  A good mix of both is the sensible approach.

Edit: in fairness it is the 'disenfranchised' and the fans of the community game that seem to be criticising it. Fans of other regions seem to support it and realise a blend is needed.

I don’t actually mind this signing, as he comes with a bit of pedigree. That’s why I was slightly against Hollis, but I guess at least we will know more by the end of the season and whether we extend him then.

Ruaridh McConnochie to Falcons from Bath is doing the rounds.

Adam McBurney going from Edinburgh to Connacht

Apparently Matias Orlando has been released early to pursue a new playing opportunity. No loss...hopefully Moroni follows him out the door. Not their fault they were in a poor team...but not brought what we hoped

Edit: Confirmed by the club.

Geordie wrote:Apparently Matias Orlando has been released early to pursue a new playing opportunity. No loss...hopefully Moroni follows him out the door. Not their fault they were in a poor team...but not brought what we hoped

Edit: Confirmed by the club.

I thought Moroni was good for you last year but without checking feels like he's been unavailable a lot this season.

Hasn't Orlando been out injured? One of those agreements where he can go and rehab at his new club so an early release/incoming works for both parties as he's got time to settle in and get ready for pre season.

Whispers Orlando was on some big wages...so good to get that off the bill...bring a couple of good players in who can actually be positive for the club.
Moroni is a cracking player, but just at the wrong time at the wrong club with us. We're awful, and his skills arent being used.

Diamond has says his first call in the summer is recruiting some heavy duty carriers in the forwards and backs...something ive been saying we needed for years...so finally they will address that.

Im confident we will rebuild positively after this write off of a season.

Dragons sign former Scarlet Steve Cummins. From what I remember he was an okay player for them. He has lots of experience and is a lock, so no complaints from me.

mikey_dragon wrote:Dragons sign former Scarlet Steve Cummins. From what I remember he was an okay player for them. He has lots of experience and is a lock, so no complaints from me.

Hopefully a like for like replacement for Rowlands (I.e. I hope he’s in a similar mould).

TAFKA The Oracle wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Dragons sign former Scarlet Steve Cummins. From what I remember he was an okay player for them. He has lots of experience and is a lock, so no complaints from me.

Hopefully a like for like replacement for Rowlands (I.e. I hope he’s in a similar mould).

He's not as good as Rowlands. That shouldn't come as a shock to anyone though, Rowlands is one of the top 5 locks in the NH .

Not sure if this has been mentioned here but Mosese Tuipoluto likely to be at Edinburgh next season and perhaps on Scotland's summer tour to States etc.

Max Deegan supposedly moving from Leinster to Ulster

Hazel Sapling wrote:Max Deegan supposedly moving from Leinster to Ulster

Makes a lot of sense, not surprised.

Collapse2005 wrote:

Hazel Sapling wrote:Max Deegan supposedly moving from Leinster to Ulster

Makes a lot of sense, not surprised.

As much as we would like him this must be the 3rd or 4th year this has been a "strong" rumour

Agreed but as I mention on the Ulster thread he is now behind Baird as well as Doris and Conan for 6/8.

They may just have been the last straw for him.

Shane Lewis-Hughes to Dragons, poor signing tbh given it’s another flanker and his injury record.

Ed Byrne LH at Leinster has signed for Cardiff

Falcons have signed Leicester fly half Kieran Wilkinson on a one year deal...

17 players listed leaving Bristol.

Interesting to see Lam mention Bristol will still stay under 5 million even with the salary cap going up. He mentioned the TNT TV deal for the next 2 years will drop by over a million per clubs for the next 2 seasons, so will impact all the teams in the Premiership. They are hoping after the 2 years they can get a better deal again.

Wonder if any clubs will actually bother going up to the 6.4 million cap next year. Don't think Saracens will so hard to see if any other teams can or will actually spend more.

Welshmushroom wrote:17 players listed leaving Bristol.

Interesting to see Lam mention Bristol will still stay under 5 million even with the salary cap going up.  He mentioned the TNT TV deal for the next 2 years will drop by over a million per clubs for the next 2 seasons, so will impact all the teams in the Premiership.  They are hoping after the 2 years they can get a better deal again.

Wonder if any clubs will actually bother going up to the 6.4 million cap next year.  Don't think Saracens will so hard to see if any other teams can or will actually spend more.  

Ah im not sure we'll bother...

Geordie wrote:Falcons have signed Leicester fly half Kieran Wilkinson on a one year deal...

He's never really had chance here. He did play in a friendly Vs the Georgian Black Lions last Friday in amongst a youthful Tigers side and had good reviews. Scored three touchline conversions from three attempts.

Could be a very useful pick up for Falcons. I always thought he looked promising at Sale.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Dan Thomas end up at Scarlets or Cardiff.

Geordie wrote:

Welshmushroom wrote:17 players listed leaving Bristol.

Interesting to see Lam mention Bristol will still stay under 5 million even with the salary cap going up.  He mentioned the TNT TV deal for the next 2 years will drop by over a million per clubs for the next 2 seasons, so will impact all the teams in the Premiership.  They are hoping after the 2 years they can get a better deal again.

Wonder if any clubs will actually bother going up to the 6.4 million cap next year.  Don't think Saracens will so hard to see if any other teams can or will actually spend more.  

Ah im not sure we'll bother...

Saints won't either, at least under the current economic and financial constraints.

Welshmushroom wrote:
Wonder if any clubs will actually bother going up to the 6.4 million cap next year.  Don't think Saracens will so hard to see if any other teams can or will actually spend more.  

Don't think Saracens will spend up to it? Or stay below it...?

At the Quins State of Play evening, they hinted strongly that they plan to spend up to the cap - but that might not imply they're hiring a ton of new players.

Deals signed before the reduced cap could in some cases take a team above the cap without breaching the rules. Quins and a few other clubs signed key players to long term deals ahead of COVID, and if you look at the salary cap report for last year, the average spend is above the notional cap (even stripping out the marquee players).

I'm expecting most teams to end up with reduced squad sizes, a fair number of promotions from within (the Academy cap was increased in both amount and the duration players can stay as academy players) and signings of known players are likely to be fewer and only where there's a crucial hole to fill in the senior squad. For instance, I think Quins may well sign replacements for Esterhuizen and (if as rumoured he is off) Will Collier, but neither of them will be like-for-like because there's no one quite like Andre, and Bomb will have confidence that he can find and develop an undervalued prop. And they'll almost certainly promote from within to replace Lynagh.

doctor_grey wrote:

Geordie wrote:

Welshmushroom wrote:17 players listed leaving Bristol.

Interesting to see Lam mention Bristol will still stay under 5 million even with the salary cap going up.  He mentioned the TNT TV deal for the next 2 years will drop by over a million per clubs for the next 2 seasons, so will impact all the teams in the Premiership.  They are hoping after the 2 years they can get a better deal again.

Wonder if any clubs will actually bother going up to the 6.4 million cap next year.  Don't think Saracens will so hard to see if any other teams can or will actually spend more.  

Ah im not sure we'll bother...

Saints won't either, at least under the current economic and financial constraints.  

I suspect Tigers won't either. Pinchen has been bullish about doing so previously but the incomings Vs the outgoings are pretty clear that we'll probably finish under. I think the reduced TV deal is probably limiting the spending of most clubs.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Geordie wrote:Falcons have signed Leicester fly half Kieran Wilkinson on a one year deal...

He's never really had chance here. He did play in a friendly Vs the Georgian Black Lions last Friday in amongst a youthful Tigers side and had good reviews. Scored three touchline conversions from three attempts.

Could be a very useful pick up for Falcons. I always thought he looked promising at Sale.

Well we shall see...we're desperate for a good 10 having lost both our young produc5s Will Haydon Wood and Now Louis Johnson. Haydon Wood is a massive frustration...sitting on the bench at Wasps and now Exeter.

Diamond has said loads leaving but quite a number coming in ....all 25-31 and gnarly old pros....so we shall see. I'd love to see Sam James come in...he's been released form Sale this summer.

Better known players Saints are losing are:
Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam, Alex Waller, Ethan Waller, Paul Hill and Alex Moon.
Fortunately, there are a number of younger players who seem to be developing at a nice pace.  

Lawes, of all players, is a massive loss, and could walk into the England squad if he wanted (and wasn't going south for next winter).  And may still play for the Lions.

Geordie, I suspect Sam James is going to warmer climbs in order to top up his pension and I don't blame him. He's been a fantastic servant for Sale.

Doc, Lawes is in some of his best form in years. Had he not opted for retirement he'd still be in the England squad.

Yeah seen the rumours Sam James is away .and your right he's earned a good pay day...been a top loyal servant to Sale...hell of a player.

Circling back to Keiran Wilkinson, I reckon the only problem for Falcons will be that he's only signed a one year deal.

Geordie wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Geordie wrote:Falcons have signed Leicester fly half Kieran Wilkinson on a one year deal...

He's never really had chance here. He did play in a friendly Vs the Georgian Black Lions last Friday in amongst a youthful Tigers side and had good reviews. Scored three touchline conversions from three attempts.

Could be a very useful pick up for Falcons. I always thought he looked promising at Sale.

Well we shall see...we're desperate for a good 10 having lost both our young produc5s Will Haydon Wood and Now Louis Johnson.  Haydon Wood is a massive frustration...sitting on the bench at Wasps and now Exeter.  

Diamond has said loads leaving but quite a number coming in ....all 25-31 and gnarly old pros....so we shall see. I'd love to see Sam James come in...he's been released form Sale this summer.

Will Edwards has I think been confirmed as leaving Quins in the summer. He could be a good option; he's been an adept attacking fly half and has decent distribution, is available and unlikely to break the bank. Quins have Jarrod Evans, Conor Slevin and Jamie Benson as backups to Smith so he is surplus to requirements at the Stoop. His main weakness is that he's not currently a great goal kicker.

Poorfour wrote:

Geordie wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Geordie wrote:Falcons have signed Leicester fly half Kieran Wilkinson on a one year deal...

He's never really had chance here. He did play in a friendly Vs the Georgian Black Lions last Friday in amongst a youthful Tigers side and had good reviews. Scored three touchline conversions from three attempts.

Could be a very useful pick up for Falcons. I always thought he looked promising at Sale.

Well we shall see...we're desperate for a good 10 having lost both our young produc5s Will Haydon Wood and Now Louis Johnson.  Haydon Wood is a massive frustration...sitting on the bench at Wasps and now Exeter.  

Diamond has said loads leaving but quite a number coming in ....all 25-31 and gnarly old pros....so we shall see. I'd love to see Sam James come in...he's been released form Sale this summer.

Will Edwards has I think been confirmed as leaving Quins in the summer. He could be a good option; he's been an adept attacking fly half and has decent distribution, is available and unlikely to break the bank. Quins have Jarrod Evans, Conor Slevin and Jamie Benson as backups to Smith so he is surplus to requirements at the Stoop. His main weakness is that he's not currently a great goal kicker.

Tigers might take him then. We can always deploy Shillcock at 15 and have a good goalkicker but are drastically short on flyhalfs now. Any positional versatility?

formerly known as Sam wrote:
Tigers might take him then. We can always deploy Shillcock at 15 and have a good goalkicker but are drastically short on flyhalfs now. Any positional versatility?

Quins have used him at 10 and very occasionally at 15, but he comes from a sevens background so can probably cover 10 and 13-15.

Moroni off at end of season...and looks like Sam Cross one of our 7's is away for family reasons aswell...

I'd love Moroni back at Tigers. A 13 who does the basics to a fantastic standard but in the right attacking structure can be a notch above most others with his vision.

When Moroni moved on I was disappointed but understood it. Scott had shifted to 13, was available more and likely cheaper. Whilst Porter looked like a long term starter at 13. In retrospect, I think 13 is probably Porter's worst position. Fantastic Prem player but he's better at 12, whilst I actually think he could be very good at wing. His carrying rarely had the same impact from 13, whilst his I watched the defensive alignment fail a lot of times with him in that brutal 13 channel. It's a tough place to defend. 20/20 hindsight but it was an error from Tigers to lose Moroni.

king_carlos wrote:I'd love Moroni back at Tigers. A 13 who does the basics to a fantastic standard but in the right attacking structure can be a notch above most others with his vision.

When Moroni moved on I was disappointed but understood it. Scott had shifted to 13, was available more and likely cheaper. Whilst Porter looked like a long term starter at 13. In retrospect, I think 13 is probably Porter's worst position. Fantastic Prem player but he's better at 12, whilst I actually think he could be very good at wing. His carrying rarely had the same impact from 13, whilst his I watched the defensive alignment fail a lot of times with him in that brutal 13 channel. It's a tough place to defend. 20/20 hindsight but it was an error from Tigers to lose Moroni.

I think losing Moroni from the first third of every season plus Porter being able to cover most the backline and Scott as you say being cheaper and more readily available it did make sense. I don't think either player or club wanted it to be that way but to get under the cap costs had to be cut.

I, like you, would take him back in a heartbeat this summer. We need a 13 option and someone with his organisational skills would be beneficial. It's likely his international days are over and hopefully his salary requirements aren't that great.

It's 20/20 hindsight from me, Sam. I was disappointed but felt it made sense at the time.

That said, I also wanted us to sign another (cheaper) specialist 13 option for that season after he left. It's just too important a position to only have 2 options. Whereas they seemed to view Potter as the 3rd choice 13 but didn't play him there until they had no other choice. Which was poor management.

With hindsight, I wish that we'd kept Moroni and shaved cap elsewhere in the backline such as using Porter as wing cover to carry fewer back three players. Wing tends to be an easier position to pick up injury dispensation signings in case of emergency. Ah well. What's done is done there.

Iwan Stephens to Cardiff. He’s at least proven in union (unlike Regan Grace), my only concern would be his size. Cardiff don’t have a big back 3 as it is, most teams need at least one winger who’s bigger than some forwards.

Cracking attacking player....simply awful defensively....hence why he's not been selected by a succession of managers

Orlando off to Miami Sharks apparently....

Addison going back to Sale.
Ewers going somewhere, not sure where

Scarlets linked to Henry Thomas now, who is being described as an England and Wales international. Good move if he's not injured and has been getting more game time.

Brett Connon signs a new 2 year deal with falcons...

geoff999rugby wrote:Addison going back to Sale.
Ewers going somewhere, not sure where

Addison replacing the big swiss army knife Sam James in the Sale backline then.

What happened with Ewers? Just lost his mojo?