Last Son of Wigan wrote:
Russell is coming along leaps and bounds and is only 18. If he continues as he is at Hull, I can see him being good enough to be our starting 1 with Sam at to 6 to partner Soward.
If we are going to spend on the cap I'd sooner it be on excellent UK stars, Briscoe comes to mind.
I posted it on the previous page but i complete agree with your comments on Sam moving to HB and only spending cash on quality British players.
We find ourselves in the unique and unfortunate position of being in the market needing not one but two HB's for next season (*If Finch leaves of course*)
I've only really heard the names of Soward, Brough, Gaskell, Chase and Brown mentioned as possible recruits for us. Out of those 5 Sam is already a better HB than Gaskell, Chase and Brown and they'd signify a significant step down in class from Finch as well. Soward and Brough would be good players but won't be signing for peanuts. Signing Brough would also require a transfer fee which makes me a little wary due to his age.
I'd rather we brought Soward in partner him with Sam. We can then look at our FB options.
I said on a previous thread that quality FB's are a lot easier to come across than Quality HB's.
In the NRL alone you've got the top tier of FB's like Slater, Stewart, Boyd and Duggan and then you've got loads of other quality players who'd light SL up like Hayne, Barba, Hoffman, Locke, Bowen, Gidley etc
For some reason the NRL and SL seem to produce a lot more star FB's than they do HB's. If we are in with a shout of signing a SOO quality player like Soward who's to say we couldn't try for a top FB as well?
If the club doesn't want to go down the NRL route there are also options in SL. We've got Russell who is doing really well at Hull FC and showing a bucket load of promise. There is Eden at Hudds who looks like he could be fine player. I'd be much more comfortable paying a fee for him rather than Brough.
If the club stuck with Matty Russell but thought he wasn't quite ready we could even at a push sign a veteran like Webb or Patten for a season and manage one of theirs and Russell's game time to suit us. You've seen it happen at Wire with Hudds and if as long as it brings Russell on i'd be more than happy for it to happen.