One thing that always amuses me is that these kind of players do generally end up at Catalans. And Catalans never win a bean. These players who are apparently world class and will turn Catalans into the elite team generally underachieve, get in to further bother, get injured or just look like they can't be bothered. If Barba does the same I will not hold my breath waiting for him to become MOS and will not be holding my breath waiting for Catalans to be parading the Super League trophy around Perpignan.
There are players in the squad that simply add no value whatsoever and can easily be replaced by youngsters we currently have in our squad. Greg Richards, Jack Owens, Dominic Peyroux and Tommy Lee are four examples. Release those players or move them on and I bet that frees up over £100k cap space. Jonny Lomax is another big earner who is out of contract and probably on a decent contract but barely plays so a decision could be made there. That's just from players on our current salary cap. We also have an increase by £100k next year and one or two (I'm guessing two) marquee spots available. The squad depth can be covered by youngsters, we have plenty of decent players like Spedding, Ashworth etc who can all fill in and do a decent job with injuries.
Years ago Saints used to spend big money on proven players like Newlove, Goulding, Sculthorpe etc and we won trophies but now we just don't compete with the bigger clubs. I'm not saying we'd sign Barba but in the past we'd be 1st in the queue.
Originally Posted by Despondent Dave
Yeah, I just don't pay much credence to the 5th Tackle site, is all. It's full of vague phrases like 'it is understood that' or 'is is [sic] believed that' and even at one point the following double-whammy: 'it is understood that Barba's manager Chris Orr is believed to have made contact ...'.
It just strikes me as being completely made up, so I don't have much faith in the site's grasp of international RL doping regulations.
If this is your opinion, I take it you are also vehmently opposed to the ridiculous stadium name for very similar reasons? For the record, I am.
We should be all over a player like this but he does seem like trouble and sometimes, trouble isn't always worth what you get on the pitch. I would sign him though because he would improve our backline ten fold.
WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF POOR BEN FLOWER?!
Seem to remember it being mentioned he supported Saints.
My pal in Oz reckoned he was THE man in the NRL. I would bring him in even if it is only until the end of the season - somebody needs to get us moving up the table and fast - the more I look at it the more nervous I get!
I watch a bit of NRL but not too frequent and he was outstanding for a spell, have a look at some of his tries and breaks. Seemed to get found out a bit and he ended up playing a bit in the halves didn't he as well? Presumably, we aren't in a position to bring anyone of that quality in for this season and I'd imagine he'll be wanting to play NRL asap.
Feel a bit bad talking about it to be honest because rugby a side, Lomax is genuinely a really nice lad and I hope it all turns out right for him. Hell of a good player on his day but clearly something isn't right and it's becoming knock upon knock. We haven't had a consistent full back for nearly 5 years or so and it's one of the most important attacking positions on the field - something we've all probably been guilty of forgetting in our criticism of the style of rugby and the like, maybe. It's something the club will have to handle well and a bit of give and take both ways would be ideal IMO.
Steve Prescott MBE (1973-2013)
V
When his manager is saying he would be a steal at Aus$ 500k I don't expect to see him in the RedVee.
[QUOTE=Blobbynator;696026]There are players in the squad that simply add no value whatsoever and can easily be replaced by youngsters we currently have in our squad. Greg Richards, Jack Owens, Dominic Peyroux and Tommy Lee are four examples. Release those players or move them on and I bet that frees up over
The four you mention plus Lomax can all go (for different reasons, obviously), so that must give us some salary cap options? We've got to start chasing some star names and ditch the rubbish that KC brought in.
Because he's not got a dog collar and bible in hand! We seem to scream for true talent at saints, but some seem to think that our players have to live like saints as well as play for saints. If a SL club signed him and he ripped us a new one on the pitch (highly likely with our lot) then you'd guarantee we'd have people on here screaming that we didn't go for him! No win for the club with some fans unfortunately.
There's always a balance to be had but at the end of the day he had a bit of coke .. so what. Longy had a far worse off field rep when we signed him and Goulding was tainted too but both were special players who led us to glory.
People say he will only be here very short term but his ban will remain until he actually serves it I believe so any NRL team would have to factor that in. Even after his ban the NRL don't have to register him if they don't want too. If we got 2 seasons from him he'd be worth it .. tbh if we got 5 games out of him at the moment I'd be happy because he's head and shoulders above anything we have in our squad at the moment
Get him signed, Take a punt on his discipline, if he wants to go back to NRL he'll have to keep his nose clean wherever he is. Be worth it to see him Lord Percy and Grace running at teams.
I agree that the offence isn't the worst thing in the world. But, if he was willing to take a chance (twice) on throwing away his career whilst being paid mega-bucks for the best team in the NRL what chance is there of him being squeaky clean playing in England for far less whilst he's biding his time until something better comes along?
I suppose Saintsaregods knew what he was saying when he said he will have to keep his nose clean.