[Bulliac]

Re: Leigh improve, Bulls get worse : Fri Dec 11, 2015 10:57 am  

roofaldo2 wrote:

The trouble is, a Leeds, Wigan or Saints are not going to be casting off their better players and if they do, they're not going to sign for the likes of us

Undoubtedly true, but no-one in our position [sensibly] expects to get the 'better' players from such clubs. If we genuinely aspire to be a club on the rise, our recruitment policy should be simple: only sign a player if he improves the squad. The 'better' players form the clubs you mention are going to be out of reach though, I'm afraid.

Re: Leigh improve, Bulls get worse : Fri Dec 11, 2015 11:10 am  

I get it now, let's sign players from the top four clubs in SL, they will be available, within our budget and desperate for a crack at another league. I always assumed NRL but now relalise it's just the Championship

[Bullseye]

Re: Leigh improve, Bulls get worse : Fri Dec 11, 2015 11:27 am  

It’s not so black and white. For instance last year we signed Gareth O’Brien on loan before we allowed him to go back on it. Perhaps a player like him might be available for a year? Someone like say Declan Patton or Ryan Hampshire etc would excite me more. They have the potential to improve, have showed flashes of good play at a much higher level. If on a season long loan they could be a real plus and arguably better than a player cut by the relegation favourites who’s failed at other clubs.

I expect we’re scouring everywhere for players that will improve the squad and aren’t party to the inner workings of Lowes and Ferres’s minds. However looking at our rather bloated squad we seem to be going for quantity rather than quality again despite being told we’d be leaner in 2016. It’s hard to see what the rationale is when you just see the end result.

Re: Leigh improve, Bulls get worse : Fri Dec 11, 2015 12:06 pm  

Bullseye wrote:

It’s not so black and white. For instance last year we signed Gareth O’Brien on loan before we allowed him to go back on it. Perhaps a player like him might be available for a year? Someone like say Declan Patton or Ryan Hampshire etc would excite me more. They have the potential to improve, have showed flashes of good play at a much higher level. If on a season long loan they could be a real plus and arguably better than a player cut by the relegation favourites who’s failed at other clubs.

I expect we’re scouring everywhere for players that will improve the squad and aren’t party to the inner workings of Lowes and Ferres’s minds. However looking at our rather bloated squad we seem to be going for quantity rather than quality again despite being told we’d be leaner in 2016. It’s hard to see what the rationale is when you just see the end result.

There's little doubt we have the quantity fof the pack but I think that we have also gone for 'tried and tested' rather than untried like last year.Maybe the quality we desire is not available at this time and that isn't that big a deal yet. Perhaps more of the squad will get game time and our views will change over time as to who is providing real competition for places.

Re: Leigh improve, Bulls get worse : Fri Dec 11, 2015 12:26 pm  

If it's true that we're signing Craig Hall then I don't think that's what's happening at all. It seems to me it's more of a case of us taking what's available and trying to shoehorn them into the squad/team somehow.

Look at our off season signings so far:

Welham - Wasn't offered a new deal at Rovers, so agent will have touted around
Walker & Haggerty - Leigh needed cap space so either no offer or poor offer, agent touts around
Kavanagh - Loaned out last season which suggests he wasn't wanted, again agent touts

Even Dane Nielsen would have been the same, he was unable to play in the NRL so he ends up here, but again it's them coming to us rather than the other way around.

The Thomas, Clark and Campbell signings may have been a little different but it's difficult to tell when they are mid-season.

Basically our days of identifying transfer targets and then going out to sign them are long gone. We take what's on the table now, and try and make it work. This is why the academy is such an important facet to the club (and any other for that matter).

Re: Leigh improve, Bulls get worse : Fri Dec 11, 2015 12:36 pm  

Hull KR were apparently looking at Kavanagh. I'm pretty sure Welham wouldn't have been struggling for a club either so I think they were both targeted signings.

Re: Leigh improve, Bulls get worse : Fri Dec 11, 2015 12:40 pm  

I'm hoping that the Bulls are at least thinking about Tim Smith.

In the Championship - the guy (along with Gaskell) would be a revelation. I'm guessing he can't drive any more - so we might be nicely positioned to where he is based.

Re: Leigh improve, Bulls get worse : Fri Dec 11, 2015 1:10 pm  

daveyz999 wrote:

I'm hoping that the Bulls are at least thinking about Tim Smith.

In the Championship - the guy (along with Gaskell) would be a revelation. I'm guessing he can't drive any more - so we might be nicely positioned to where he is based.

I think he's retired hasn't he?

Re: Leigh improve, Bulls get worse : Fri Dec 11, 2015 1:22 pm  

loving his wiki page

"Timothy Aiden Smith (born 13 January 1985 in Runaway Bay, Queensland) is an Australian professional car crasher and rugby league footballer."

[Bulliac]

Re: Leigh improve, Bulls get worse : Fri Dec 11, 2015 2:30 pm  

Bully_Boxer wrote:

Hull KR were apparently looking at Kavanagh. I'm pretty sure Welham wouldn't have been struggling for a club either so I think they were both targeted signings.

Yeah, agree with that.

I think you have to look at who these clubs have brought in to replace the players who are leaving too - it isn't always just that they weren't good enough at their previous club. Sometimes strange things happen too- did we ever think a our centre/ fullback who we hardly played when everyone was fit, would go to HKR and we'd take their [then] current centre?

I think you also need to look at the requirements, and to be fair, you shouldn't need to that good to interest us if you were a scrumhalf, for example.