For me there has to be a note of caution despite the excitement surrounding his signing and I think a dose of realism.
It is hugely unfair on this player to be compared with Tom Amone because Tom Amone he is not.
Tom was a Leigh legend, a challenge cup winner and probably the best prop in super League. Alec in comparison is a young man, with potential, but very much at the start of his career journey. He has not played top flight rugby in Australia and to play in SL it will be a step up in playing standard. There is no indication that he will even be a starting prop for us, I would be surprised if at this stage in his development he was a starter.
To be fair to him I think we should manage expectation and not expect world beating performances on his first appearances.
As VL has already indicated in this thread Alec ticks a number of the right kind of boxes, his age, size, athleticism & dynamism - he looks like he even has a jink for heaven's sake! but he is a young man moving half way around the world to a new country, experiencing a new culture, he is joining new team mates at a new club and is away from family support. We should not underestimate the enormity of the move and impact it could have upon him.
I welcome his signing. He looks like he has real potential but the finished article he is not. He is and will be a work in progress. I look forward to seeing his development in a Leopards shirt and hope that by the time he leaves us in a few years he too will be another Leigh legend.
