Re: Time to recall jamie foster? : Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:14 pm  

Good luck to the lad, whilst he may not be the next Darren Albert, and whilst I personally could not see him progressing at Saints, I think he got a lot of harsh critism, much harsher than alot of players get, who have played alot longer and made just as many errors if not more.

I still think he was a good player, but something (probably in his head) affected his on the field performances. He will do well for another team and for some teams he could make quite an impact both on the field and commercially.

Re: Time to recall jamie foster? : Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:35 pm  

Fairly inevitable really given that he's currently 4th choice winger with the likes of Swift looming large on his shoulder ready to push him even further down the pecking order. A bit disappointing as he looked a good prospect when he first came into the side - he just hasn't bulked up enough to make a top go-forward SL centre or winger, and has just made too many howlers over too long a period to qualify for the "safe but unspectacular pair of hands" role he looked as though he could fill in the team earlier in his career instead. He'll be a very good signing for a Wakefield, Widnes or Salford though.

Re: Time to recall jamie foster? : Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:02 pm  

Foster to Bradford 2yr contract

Re: Time to recall jamie foster? : Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:24 pm  

An absolute joke given the likes of Wello, Meli and particularly Gardner were kept on.

Re: Time to recall jamie foster? : Thu Oct 25, 2012 3:43 pm  

Saddened! wrote:

An absolute joke given the likes of Wello, Meli and particularly Gardner were kept on.

Totally agree get shut of the youth to keep the old guard whos next lomax gaskell

Re: Time to recall jamie foster? : Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:26 pm  

Saddened! wrote:

An absolute joke given the likes of Wello, Meli and particularly Gardner were kept on.

We will have a very inexperienced three quarter line next year, in Makinson, Turner, Jones. Foster simply aint good enough, hasnt bulked up to compensate for his relative lack of pace for a winger & cant tackle. Obv the opinion of some very experienced coaching staff too. In addition the likes of Swift is a better all round player with high hopes for Percival too.

If you dont think Wello deserved another yr after last seasons performances you didnt attend many games. Our problem is in the halves, stand off in particular.

Just because you bang on about pace at FB being the be-all and end-all doesnt necessarily make you right. Wello werent much quicker 4-5 yrs ago was he, but we had quality halves that had creativity & kicking games & it was never a major issue as defensively & under the bomb he's the best there is, still.

Pace would be a luxury at FB & can certainly see others getting games at FB next season, Wello's vision, hands & link in line would make him a good loose forward IMO when we do start phasing in a new number one.

Re: Time to recall jamie foster? : Thu Oct 25, 2012 7:23 pm  

theres only one stan wall wrote:

We will have a very inexperienced three quarter line next year, in Makinson, Turner, Jones.

Erm. No we won't. We'll have a 33 year old fullback, a 34 year old winger/centre and probably a 30 year old on the other wing too.

theres only one stan wall wrote:

Foster simply aint good enough, hasnt bulked up to compensate for his relative lack of pace for a winger & cant tackle.

He's a fantastic goal kicker, which we don't have. The wing is the kind of position you can hide a player or two. He's young, faster than people give him credit for and is a superb finisher. When he was golden balls in the Saints fans eyes, he was scoring tries that didn't look possible. Then he drops a few bombs during a spell in which the entire team was dog dirt and the mongs on here single him out as the culprit.

theres only one stan wall wrote:

If you dont think Wello deserved another yr after last seasons performances you didnt attend many games.

I attended almost all of them. I am not wrong on Wello. Holding............us............back.

theres only one stan wall wrote:

Just because you bang on about pace at FB being the be-all and end-all doesnt necessarily make you right. Wello werent much quicker 4-5 yrs ago was he, but we had quality halves that had creativity & kicking games & it was never a major issue as defensively & under the bomb he's the best there is, still.

I'm right. If we'd dumped Wellens five years ago we'd probably have 2 or 3 more trophies than we have now. He's a major weakness and we will won't win a final with him in the team. If you put him in the Australia team at fullback, they'd still win, but that doesn't make him a good player.

theres only one stan wall wrote:

Pace would be a luxury at FB.

An absolute classic there, blimey. Fullback is only probably the 1st or 2nd most important attacking position on the field and pace is an essential part of a fullback's game. I simply cannot believe that people still fail to acknowledge the change there has been in the game. The fullback's role has changed completely. It's gone from being Rugby League's version of the goalkeeper, the last line of defense and the man who catches the kicks, to being the centre forward or attacking midfielder, the man who creates and scores. Puig Aubert, arguably the greatest fullback of all time, believed that tackling was not something a fullback should do, so he refused to do it. We're not that far off that these days, a fullback being able to tackle or dropping a kick is pretty irrelevant. Catching bombs is pretty far down the list of attributes they look for these days when choosing a fullback.

Look at the Grand Finalists and recent trophy winners in the two hemispheres and their fullbacks:

Melbourne - Billy Slater
Canterbury - Ben Barba
Leeds - Zak Hardaker
Warrington - Brett Hodgson
Wigan - Sam Tomkins
Manly - Brett Stewart

What do you notice about them all? Is it just a coincidence that they all have pacey, thoroughly attack minded fullbacks who pretty much all have a mistake or three in them?

Re: Time to recall jamie foster? : Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:03 pm  

I'd expect more players to seek a move rather than playing for Rochdale or Whitehaven. Once again another badly thought out plan from the RFL.

Re: Time to recall jamie foster? : Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:43 pm  

roader wrote:

I'd expect more players to seek a move rather than playing for Rochdale or Whitehaven. Once again another badly thought out plan from the RFL.

If they are good enough we'll keep 'em here if they might make it they go to Rochdale for invaluable first team experience against proper full size rugby players not just other 18/19 yr olds. If they're not good enough, they leave its the way it alays has been basically

Re: Time to recall jamie foster? : Thu Oct 25, 2012 9:25 pm  

I have no qualms about Foster going on a years loan at another SL club to help him further develop his game, but i would want him back at St.Helens in 2014.

He showed at Hull that he is a SL quality winger who is a lot more than a kicker.

Jamie is also right to suggest that he is too good for the championship.

I want Jamie to be successful and i want him to be successful at Saints.

My big fear is what happens in the 2014 season.We know Meli will be retiring, so who will partner Makinson on the wing?
Will it be Gardner who would be 31 years old in 2014?
will we be forced to throw in a really young and inexperienced kid on the wing for the whole season. One who will probably be mentally and physically destroyed, once they start to make errors?

When you consider the vilification the likes of Meli Gardner and Foster have taken for mistakes on the field, how would a 19 year old winger be able to handle that.

It looks therefore that our only option in 2014 would be to look outside the club if Foster is released.
Australia will be a no go area unless you want second rate wingers, due to the huge salaries available in the NRL.
That leaves SL, and it then begs the question of who is out there who is out of contract in 2014, is over 23 years of age so cant command a transfer fee, is of a higher standard than Jamie Foster can offer, and doesnt already play for a big club like Wigan or Leeds or Warrington.

Answers on a postcard to Eamonn Mcmanus