Re: Out of contract players : Mon May 11, 2020 11:00 am  

Really disappointed with Livett. Not sure what has gone wrong here. When he first burst onto the scene I thought he showed signs of real class and huge potential. It was going to be Currie and Livett our second rowers for the next 10 years. Still have lingering, if fading, hope that Livett will still come good for us.

Re: Out of contract players : Mon May 11, 2020 12:29 pm  

The Railwayman wrote:

Really disappointed with Livett. Not sure what has gone wrong here. When he first burst onto the scene I thought he showed signs of real class and huge potential. It was going to be Currie and Livett our second rowers for the next 10 years. Still have lingering, if fading, hope that Livett will still come good for us.

Yeah I understand the disappointment, Livett certainly showed plenty of early promise and looked like a very skillful backrower. Best thing for him now I think is to move on and get regular gametime as a first choice back rower.

Josh Jones and Currie would be a good partnership in my eyes, Currie very skillful, Jones plays a more powerful running / offload game. Together with Hughes playing 13 our back 3 would be set for 6 or 7 years.

Re: Out of contract players : Mon May 11, 2020 12:49 pm  

Mighty_Wires88 wrote:

The current list of players OOC from November 2020 stands at:

Ben Currie, Jason Clarke, Matt Davis, Declan Patton, Sammy Kibula, Ellis Robson and Harvey Livett (on loan HKR)
BBM is on his way to the Warriors in the NRL for 2021.

Realistically, for me JClarke and Davis offer the same - being harsh on this one we ought to choose between them. I would be disappointed if Currie did sign for one of our closest rivals, he was slowly I believe getting back to his best form before COVID. Patton and Kibula should be allowed to move on for me, Livett I’m undecided about as if he did join a HKR/Salford he would be guaranteed a spot in the 17 - he may want to seek an established spot like he has currently.

Add Jack Hughes to your Davis / Clark option also. The three of them play a similar game based on hard graft. I'd be tempted to let Clark leave, although wouldn't be too disappointed to see him stay. We need 4 high quality backrowers in my opinion to cover 11 - 13. So we need to replace BMM (with Josh Jones Hopefully) then Clark to either be retained or replaced (I'm not sure Davis is a good enough replacement in my eyes - but is a good player to have to provide cover). Would Currie, Jones, McMeeken and Hughes work, or would the cap not stretch that far?

We haven't seen anything of Kibula to form an opinion, if there is still to be a reserves league next year he would be a good player to keep on, as assuming he is outside of the top 25 earners he wouldn't count on the cap anyway.

I'd agree on Patton, especially with the emergence of Ashton, it allows Ratchford to move to Half Back if necessary so Patton's position doesn't seem a strong one, he needs regular rugby at his age now. Riley Dean can act as cover behind Ratchford, Widdop and Austin.

Livett like Patton needs to go to another club for regular rugby, I'm not sure he's good enough to be guaranteed a starting spot in our pack at present. From a selfsh point of view I'd love him to stay, can cover Half Back, Centre and back row, but he needs to be playing every week.

Re: Out of contract players : Mon May 11, 2020 1:07 pm  

If Patton can cover 6,7 and 9 he will be useful in an environment where we are financially constrained and need to look at running a smaller squad.

Re: Out of contract players : Mon May 11, 2020 1:37 pm  

I'd let Jason Clark go and Keep Matt Davis.
Livett just isn't wanted by Price so he's never had a real chance to cement a spot so i'd say he'll be gone.
I don't think we'd sign Josh Jones AND mcMeeken, unless we ARE getting rid of Currie. I'd be happy with both if they came in but would be disappointed if Currie went as he was getting back his form and think he can recapture it.
Currie and Jones at second row with Hughes at 13 with McMeeken on the bench as he can cover second row and Easily cover Prop aswell.
I think Patton is definately gone as we were shopping him around earlier in the season.
Kibula i've never seen play and not heard anything good about his performances, so can't really comment.
Be interesting to see who we sign and what direction we go. I think we'll have a good chance with Jones as we have the money and he had no issues at Salford and we're only down the road so he knows the area etc
I'm just praying to god it won't be long before the season re-starts.

Re: Out of contract players : Mon May 11, 2020 1:46 pm  

Or thane wrote:

I'd let Jason Clark go and Keep Matt Davis.
Livett just isn't wanted by Price so he's never had a real chance to cement a spot so i'd say he'll be gone.
I don't think we'd sign Josh Jones AND mcMeeken, unless we ARE getting rid of Currie. I'd be happy with both if they came in but would be disappointed if Currie went as he was getting back his form and think he can recapture it.
Currie and Jones at second row with Hughes at 13 with McMeeken on the bench as he can cover second row and Easily cover Prop aswell.
I think Patton is definately gone as we were shopping him around earlier in the season.
Kibula i've never seen play and not heard anything good about his performances, so can't really comment.
Be interesting to see who we sign and what direction we go. I think we'll have a good chance with Jones as we have the money and he had no issues at Salford and we're only down the road so he knows the area etc
I'm just praying to god it won't be long before the season re-starts.

I think cap wise we'd be able to fit them both under, BMM & Clark swapped out for Jones & McMeeken seems doable? Helps the overseas quota too. However convincing Jones & McMeeken that they will play a key part of the squad may be difficult? You would imagine both would want a starting shirt, also its whether you would want to dedicate that amount of salary cap to the back row, or would you want to use some of it to strengthen the centre area should Gelling move on.

As Sally suggests above, this all assumes we can afford to run with the same squad value, given Morans exposure to the current crisis.

Re: Out of contract players : Mon May 11, 2020 2:39 pm  

If Currie isn't willing to accept a reduced contract he should be moved on.

Re: Out of contract players : Mon May 11, 2020 4:27 pm  

Back row is one of the more replaceable positions so I wouldn't fill up a lot of budget space on it. Good young back rowers emerge more often than good young props, halfbacks or centres.

It's going to be a difficult and worrying time for all players coming out of contract. They aren't mega rich like footballers so being asked to take a pay cut will have a big impact on their families' lifestyle and security. There may be a lot of movement because it will create bad feeling when a club tells a player they will resign them but on a reduced wage. Some might think they would rather sign elsewhere for a reduced wage than do that.

All the clubs will be facing financial hardship and they may have to reduce the number of experienced players in their squads and fill spots with Academy players on cheaper contracts. There will be a premium on players who offer versatility (cover more than one position) and reliability (good fitness record, consistent performer). Players who are single position, have injury history or blow hot and cold will be in a worse position. RU clubs are also struggling and squad-trimming so taking the gamble on whether a RL player will be a successful convert will be lower down their priorities, so it will be hard for agents to find back up options in RU.

The off-season business will probably be underwhelming compared to what we want but this year I will give the club the benefit of the doubt and not complain about recruitment ambition etc because they will be doing the best they can in the circumstances. Players might be putting their bodies on the line next season for less pay and they deserve respect and support.

Re: Out of contract players : Mon May 11, 2020 8:00 pm  

Moe syslak wrote:

If Currie isn't willing to accept a reduced contract he should be moved on.

According to the lads on 'What would Brian Bevan say', Currie has turned down the clubs contract offer.

Re: Out of contract players : Mon May 11, 2020 9:44 pm  

Matt King's kitten wrote:

According to the lads on 'What would Brian Bevan say', Currie has turned down the clubs contract offer.

Have heard that as well from a very good source. If any club is willing to pay him the same contract we gave him as one of the hottest young properties in the game then more fool them. This is a salary capped sport and the 2020 Ben Currie does not deserve to be taking up a large chunk of it.