King staying at Warrington according to Johnny Davidson on Twitter.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
Apparently he’ll be on around 170k a year and we were never interested which makes sense at that amount. Just hope it doesn’t mean Naiqama is staying.
Originally Posted by Despondent Dave
Where did you get the info he was on that type of coin? That's an amazing amount of money if it is the case and would seriously bring into the question Warrington cooking the books given NRL signings like Inglis, Austin, Widdop would surely be on something similar. Chuck in the likes of Charnley, Hill and Clark and you can see why people get suss about them.
But interested enough to leave a story in the press with respected journos (Shaw and Bower) that a serious offer was tabled.
Need to move on either way.
Concerning that Woolf talking like he is staying.
Equally concerning that he wants Coote to stay.
No indication of any Hooking targets.
A name that came up today was matt dufty.
That's the sort of signing that would excite me.
Be interesting to see what noises come out of the club re 2022.
If Saints aren't careful then other clubs will all do their business and the
balance of power shifts to players who have sat on offers from Saints.
(Plus the usual suspects Amor and LMS sniffing for 1 more year).
I agree, there was clearly some interest there regardless of what that article says. Dufty would be a great signing, an injection of pace that is badly needed. I would think he’ll manage to find himself another NRL team though. On Woolf, the only way he goes is if we have some sort of collapse between now and the end of the season because I doubt he gets an NRL job anytime soon.
I don’t recall a season in recent times when there’s so much up in the air in terms of recruitment and retention.
A few ifs here but if Coote, Naiqama and Fages all leave and if we’ve missed out on King, you’d like to think we’d be in the market for 1 or 2 decent signings.
I can’t see us promoting Welsby, Simm and Dodd to starting numbers all at the same time.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
Matt Dufty would be a brilliant signing for Saints! I've championed him before on here, with him being off contract end of the year. Surprises me St George seem to be willing to let him go- https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/st-geor...9-c06fb1415151
8 trys, 5 assists, 6 line breaks and averaging 146 metres in 10 games this year. Great speed and has shown he can throw a bullet pass this year too.
Not many teams in the market for a full back in the NRL. Warriors have said they're replaced RTS with Walsh who's showing he's ready even at just 18. Hynes is available too of course. Dufty could find himself the odd man out and he's got a shoulder issue at the moment, so is sitting out a few games as well.
I know Saint Toppy doesn't agree, but for me he would be as good as any other full back in SL and bring some threat through the middle of the field that Saints have been missing since Ban Barba left
*Not to be confused with Mike Stephenson, MBE
Dufty will want a lot more thank Saints would want or are able to pay in the current climate. Good attacking full back though, he has real pace & can pass a ball. Just not going to happen.
If Fages is leaving as suggested and then also Coote, plus Naiqama, that's a big chunk of cap space. You'd have to question how Saints are managing the cap if they can't replace with senior players.
I agree with YG, I don't think Saints can just promote from within. It's not a question of age- if you're good enough you're old enough as we're seeing in the NRL at the moment. It's a question of ability and I'm not sure I've seen enough for Welsby, Dodd, Smith etc. to take the key positions on the field. Especially not all at once.
*Not to be confused with Mike Stephenson, MBE
What has to factored in to any signings is the financial hit the club has taken in the last year. What can we afford, can we even afford to go to the full salary cap limit?
Loyal and true, not a glory hunter.
Given what I was told I knew we were interested as a question was asked to King’s agent 100% but whether it went any further is another question.
I am not sure there is any other centres out there for us so we might have to go with Simm if Naqaima goes. Naqaima’s money should then go towards Bentley surely.
Bit of a blow to miss out on king he looks a good player, we should certainly be in the conversation for Williams even if it just drives his wages up and takes more of wigan's cap
If we miss out on him we could go Welsby to replace coote, dodd to replace fages and look to spend big on a centre/hooker slots (especially if roby retires)
I genuinely think if Roby was going at the end of this year we'd know by now. That's just my hunch, it's not based on anything in particular. It wouldn't surprise me if Eaves left at the end of the season and then next year they give Smith more game time to try and prove he is the man. If not then I imagine this time next year we will be in the market for a 9.
Back to this year, Coote, Naiqama and Fages all leaving is a big chunk of experienced players all at once, so we would definitely need to bring at least 1 player in for 2022. If you look at the 3 positions individually then there's arguments to say we can cope with them going and promote from within. Certainly Dodd for Fages I have no concerns about really because the role Fages plays is more functional than anything else. He plays a very simple, structured style, one I am sure Dodd can replicate. Naiqama has got a great strike record with us but has frailties defensively, so again I wouldn't be overly concerned about Simm coming in.
Full back is a massive one as it's such an important position. I have not actually seen Welsby put a string of performances together in that position so it's tough to judge if he is ready to step in. It's a strange one really as even though he is the most experienced out of him, Dodd and Simm, I am probably less confident about him stepping into a starting jersey next year than the other two. But that's based on him playing more at centre and having arguably his best games there.
So if Coote, Fages and Naiqama were all to go then my priority would be to sign a top full back or centre and then play Welsby in whichever position is left vacant. As I have already said, having Welsby, Simm and Dodd in the 1,3 and 7 shirts next year would be a massive gamble in my opinion.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
I think we should have faith in those 3, Simm natural right centre, Dodd Natural Scrum Half, round pegs in round holes for those 2 and the occasional game doesn't really develop their Superlegue standard of play. Welsby will probably go to full back he's had enough pressure games to handle the requirement in that position. Always remember Wello saying he struggled at full back for half a season lost confidence but the coaching staff had faith in him and he turned out International Class.
If all 3 get into the starting 13 the fans need to be patient in them putting in consistent good performances, it would be a gamble though if all 3 have poor games but they have a pretty good temperament to overcome it but they would need the help of the senior players and encouragement from the fans.