Shows how big a player, and how important he could be when this is the biggest talking point today!
Definite 'bums on seats' player
If we get Ratchford instead of Barba we need Jim Bowen to announce the deal. "Here's what you could have won".
Come on Reacher or Lex, one of you spill the beans 😁
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Not saying it's a done deal but he was pitchside and in our dressing room at full time. There's something going on.
WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF POOR BEN FLOWER?!
If Barba does sign for us, and it would be one hell of a signing, where would it leave Lomax?
Its going to take a big deal to sign Barba, so would it make the decision to allow Lomax contract to run without a renewal?
If we do sign Barba it'll be a gamechanger of a signing and probably adds some credibility to Super League asqell. A genuine world class player he'd rip it up here.
Originally Posted by Despondent Dave
If he signs for us, won't he still need to fulfil his 12 game suspension? That would be the 9 remaining games of Superleague and 3 of 7 Super 8 games.
So that would allow him to play the final 4 games of the Super 8's and possibly a Semi Final and Grand Final, if we were to make it that far.
I doubt we'd have a chance of fitting him under the cap this season, so he couldn't start his suspension until next year. So he'd miss the first 12 games of next year?
That's my concern with this deal, I just don't see how it's logistically possible. Any side would need at least £100k of cap room this season, even as a marquee signing, and I'd be amazed if any of the decent clubs had that. If it's for next season onwards, he'd have to miss half the regular season anyway.
Whoever Barba signs for it won't just be for the remainder of the season, he will need a good full year in SL to increase the value of his stock so that he can maximise his NRL earnings. 18 month deal at least
Interview with JH and Chris Price here, last 20 seconds discusses Barba.
https://audioboom.com/posts/5939428-...ource=facebook
Newly-appointed St Helens coach Justin Holbrook, who worked with Barba at the Bulldogs when he was an assistant coach at the Bulldogs, said he would relish the opportunity to work with the 27-year-old again.
"For the Super League I think it would be great, he's such an excitable player," Holbrook said.
"I had a little bit to do with him going back six or seven years when I was coaching the Bulldogs.
"I've had a couple of chats to him; he's been frustrated with the rugby union experiment that hasn't gone as well as he would have liked, so it would be really awesome to have him come on board.
"I think for the game it would be nice to have him for a couple of years. He's obviously done a few things wrong in the past, but I think he's getting to the age now where he can be a leader and not just a player worrying about himself."
Forwards win games. The backs decide by how much.