Really strange idea but bear with it. We had Station Road Swinton sold for 2 million and we could as a sport have bought that and developed it for big games etc and let Swinton play there.
Now we have Sale and the despots behind that club who hate our game and allegedly Gary Neville talking about what comes next for a stadium built for rugby league at a time when the profile of Salford RLFC is at its highest for 40 years. The Governing body need to get behind Salford and if necessary take the stadium in partnership with Salford Council. RL is in the DNA of Salford, Union or football isn't. Swinton will eventually die a slow death as will Oldham as professional clubs. Salford links the big old Lancashire clubs with Yorkshire and in effect stops the sport being enclave based. If Sale get that stadium Salford will be out in two seasons. Yes they only get four thousand fans, but following the Grand Final they sold 22% more season tickets, than the previous year. We as a sport need to take the fight to RU/Sale. The amount of tickets Sale hand out to Liverpool private schools is unreal by the way.
Football is most certainly in the DNA of Salford but I know what you're getting at. What gets me is that Sale itself is pretty far removed from Salford as an area and why would any team choose to play in a tin pot ground in a field next to a motorway? It doesn't make a great deal of sense to me, Sale are gypsy team that have never had a home since they left that tip that looked like Moss Lane and it looks like they're trying to put roots down in a ready built but pretty crappy stadium - fair enough, but they're hardly going to attract many people from the local area after they've just booted their team out and I don't see thousands from all over Manchester suddenly starting watching them. If anything to me, it seems like both teams need each other and a bit of harmony.
Plus the number 1 shirt/full back position too. Will Coote be given a new deal?
The coach spoke before the season started about how the attack could be better and so it seems he recognizes there's improvements to be made. I think Welsby has started the season well in Coote's absence and so perhaps Dodd's etc. will be given a chance.
It's interesting in Australia at the moment, there's lot's of talk as to where Adam Reynolds will be playing next season and whilst I'm not suggesting he or Shaun Johnson, another big name half off contract at the end of the year will be looking at SL, it's the fall out from any moves.
If Saints do decide to look to the NRL, this is the off contract list-
https://www.zerotackle.com/rugby-lea...position-2021/
From that, Corey Norman could be an option as an experienced half with quality or someone like Brodie Croft. He's not off contract I know, but he could be one who becomes available given Brisbane's struggles and they're supposed to be looking for a new half themselves.
There's not many standout names on the list of hookers.
Regards,
STEVO
The one advantage that Sale have over any rugby league team is the absence of any top level rival within 100 miles so their catchment area for fans and sponsorship is not just Manchester but the whole of the NW. I know of several union fans who travel from the Liverpool area to watch Sale’s home games. Having said that, I’ve always despised the club since playing regularly against them 30 years ago and would love to see them fail miserably, especially since their mass importing of South Africans to the club roster.
Sezer would be a good one for Saints to look at for sure, especially being off contract at the end of this year and proven in SL. Dodd deserves to be given an opportunity to prove himself firstly though, with all the hype there's been around him. I think everyone agrees on that.
On Croft, he looked really promising at Melbourne. Brisbane wanted him to be their starting 7 and so he's gone there in to a team in transition and really struggling as you say. Milford's form hasn't helped either, he's really gone off the boil from where he was a few years back.
Regards,
STEVO
For me its sezer should be our top target. If we dont get him then go with dodd. Im a fan of fages but i feel we need a 7 who will take the line on
Theo was the right decision. Theo is a good, tough durable scrum half and he is who Lomax trusts. Richo, well he is at Cas and that tells us everything. Looking to the future Dodd will get his chance and hopefully takes it. Theo is not a world-beater but neither was Jeff Heaton but he was scrum half for 300 plus games and his trophy cabinet is overflowing. Back to back Champions with those half backs of ours.
Not Theo’s biggest fan but he had a he had a good game against HUll KR. Good kicks, excellent defence(as always) and tackled for NAiqama as well.
Last edited by nutgrovesaint; 6th April 2021 at 11:09.
Anyone got an up to date list of who is OOC this year?
I've got the following off the top of my head:
Fages, Amor, LMS, Coote, Naiqama, Bentley, Roby
Anyone else? Or have any of the above signed extensions I've missed?
Might sound controversial as he has a decent scoring record with us but with Simm and Welsby on the scene I wouldn't be completely devastated to see Naiqama leave. He'll be 33 at the start of the 2022 season and I can't imagine he'll be on peanuts.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
Getting slightly ahead of myself but in the next year or 2 we could have an all-British backline, all of whom have come through our academy.
Welsby
Makinson
Simm
Percival
Grace
Lomax
Dodd
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
I think that's a fair summary. He's been an upgrade on Morgan but he hasn't set the place alight. I wouldn't be against Simm getting a proper shot at no.3 for 2022. Or Welsby of course.
Naiqama's presumably decent salary can be used elsewhere, either to tie down the likes of Bentley/Lees/Knowles or to help bring in reinforcements in the pack to replace Amor/LMS.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
I’m half expecting Naiqama to go at the end of his contract. He’s shown glimpses of being a very good centre, however, he’s equally gone missing and been poor in spells too. I would hope we’re in the market to replace him, unless Woolf/the club really sees Welsby as a centre long term. I don’t think much of Simm at present and think he’s some way behind Welsby at the minute.
St Helens Rugby League Football Club
I’ve got to be honest and say I’ve yet to see what all the fuss is about Simm so far. Admittedly he’s not played a lot and he’s very young but he’s not stood out. I think he got a hat trick in one game last season but not sure what his main attributes are. He doesn’t seem to have real pace or a step and defensively he’s been suspect at times one on one.
He was awful last Thursday whether he received much of the ball or not.
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Hasn't he played predominantly as a right-centre?
If so, he's going to struggle a bit trying to break into the first team as a teenager AND playing on the opposite side (look at how ordinary Shenton mostly looked for us when playing on the 'wrong' side, and he was an experienced SL player)
Can someone more technically knowledgeable than me, as a player, ex-player or coach, answer me this: is Naiqama coached to spring out of the defensive line to make (or more often, fail to make) his tackle? It drives me mad when I see it, but on the other hand, it's aggressive line defence which stops momentum, and someone is always steaming across behind him to cover when he misses. (Good old Theo et al.)
Surely it's coached, or he would have been pulled up for it ages ago.
I’ve always assumed it’s an intentional move especially as Makinson, Fages and Bentley always seem ready to scramble in the event the opposition manage to get the ball beyond Naqaima rather than turn back inside. It’s been successful, as an example not once in the past 4 games has the opposition managed to score on that side (albeit, Hardaker nearly managed it in the Grand Final).
I think Simm has plenty of pace (the academy games prove it) but he doesnt seem to get much ball. Be that as it may I think he has yet to prove to JW he can be trusted defensively. This shouldn’t be translated as Simm being weak or anytging OTT but it does translate to making a poor read at the wrong time of the game when we play a system that places a premium on being rock solid. I think he has a good future at Saints; people just need to be patient.