Re: Luke Walsh : Wed May 08, 2013 10:01 pm  

McClennan wrote:

we should be scouting for a bit longer given League Freak's feedback on him.

So you're the bloke who reads his tripe, I assumed there must be someone who did.

Re: Luke Walsh : Wed May 08, 2013 10:23 pm  

FearTheVee wrote:

So you're the bloke who reads his tripe, I assumed there must be someone who did.

To be fair to him, he's a far harder working version of me. A lot of what he puts is accurate, it's just wrapped up in the whole persona thing. His comments on Walsh are backed up by the likes of Andrew Johns, Mal Meninga, Brett Kimorley and Brad Fittler, who do have some credibility.

It appears to be a very, very risky signing. He has been widely criticised for his performances this season and a lot of the criticism is very worrying. Respected commentators talk of his refusal to take the line on, his inability to organise, the lack of any sort of running game and his positional kicking. In fact the only area of his game that ever gets any praise is his attacking kicks, namely chips to the corner.

I've said previously I've not seen enough of him to make any real judgement on him. But I hope Saints aren't also in that position. If we're signing him because he's the only NRL halfback available, then it could be another costly mistake. We were well and truly stung by Lance Hohaia and his agent and this on the face of it looks like it could be another similar situation. Our desperation for a halfback puts the club in a terrible position.

Re: Luke Walsh : Wed May 08, 2013 10:27 pm  

McClennan wrote:

Reporter says he's signed. Doesn't say if he's coming over now. I hope he is. That's the dealbreaker for me i.e. if he's not then we should be scouting for a bit longer given League Freak's feedback on him.

If thats indeed the case, and he is signed, then we need to welcome it and at least give him a chance, despite (my) reservations about his long kicking game and not taking the line on (he doesn't like being tackled at all apparently).
He may surprise us and be brilliant; in any event he has got to be some improvement.

Re: Luke Walsh : Wed May 08, 2013 10:53 pm  

I see we are getting the prelimanary digs in early.

Can we at least let him lace his boots first.

As for coming this year, that would require one to leave and for us to have cap space left.

Re: Luke Walsh : Wed May 08, 2013 10:55 pm  

bewareshadows wrote:

I see we are getting the prelimanary digs in early.

Can we at least let him lace his boots first.

As for coming this year, that would require one to leave and for us to have cap space left.

Plenty cap space, it's the quota that would cause an issue.

Re: Luke Walsh : Thu May 09, 2013 12:46 am  

FearTheVee wrote:

So you're the bloke who reads his tripe, I assumed there must be someone who did.

One thing I trust him on is his assessment of Penrith and Matthew Elliot.

Re: Luke Walsh : Thu May 09, 2013 10:25 am  

bewareshadows wrote:

I see we are getting the prelimanary digs in early..

I think that's a bit of a silly statement to be honest.

I remember on here being impressed by a YouTube clip of Lance Hohaia and being subsequently ridiculed - as per usual - for my belief that he could be good in the halfback position. I've learned my lesson from that and would rather look criticially and with an open mind at a prospective player (and nothing has been said by the club at all on this - it's all speculation begun by Nosey Parker in League Weekly!) than be fooled again.

I'm no longer willing to gloss over potential pitfalls in a prospective player and that those who know him are saying publically that he doesn't take on the line and cannot organise (the latter being a quality we very deeply need) leaves me feeling uneasy.

But this is just a rumour and so maybe we aren't signing him after all but have someone else in mind who we don't know about.

Re: Luke Walsh : Thu May 09, 2013 10:50 am  

SaintsFan wrote:

I think that's a bit of a silly statement to be honest.

I remember on here being impressed by a YouTube clip of Lance Hohaia and being subsequently ridiculed - as per usual - for my belief that he could be good in the halfback position. I've learned my lesson from that and would rather look criticially and with an open mind at a prospective player (and nothing has been said by the club at all on this - it's all speculation begun by Nosey Parker in League Weekly!) than be fooled again.

I'm no longer willing to gloss over potential pitfalls in a prospective player and that those who know him are saying publically that he doesn't take on the line and cannot organise (the latter being a quality we very deeply need) leaves me feeling uneasy.

But this is just a rumour and so maybe we aren't signing him after all but have someone else in mind who we don't know about.

I thinkwe need to keep a foot in both camps, let's not presume he's going to single handedly solve all our problems, but similiary, we should be able to assume he can do the job of a scrum half. If we compliment this signing by shipping the OOC deadwood and improving the two areas we're lacking (front row and the other half back),we should be fine in terms of a playing roster.

Re: Luke Walsh : Thu May 09, 2013 11:04 am  

Offside Monkey wrote:

I thinkwe need to keep a foot in both camps, let's not presume he's going to single handedly solve all our problems, but similiary, we should be able to assume he can do the job of a scrum half. If we compliment this signing by shipping the OOC deadwood and improving the two areas we're lacking (front row and the other half back),we should be fine in terms of a playing roster.

Re: Luke Walsh : Thu May 09, 2013 11:15 am  

Like I said easier in this thread, I don't know what to make of Walsh. I have friends in OZ who say he's pretty decent and will do a good job for us but then you see the TV pundits Verdict on him.

One things for sure, we are in dire need of a halfback and he's one but this signing has to be the correct one. When we signed hohaia, I said at the time, this could set us back years and I was right!

The difference here, Luke Walsh plays the position we need and lance was trying out a new position.

Without being big headed, my gut feeling is usually correct with signings and young players coming thru And my gut feeling on Luke Walsh is that he will be good for us.