No it doesn't. Frank is a South Sea Islander and they tend to produce his kind of player which we don't. They bring a certain style and athleticism to the game that others don't. Neither do the Aussies which is why the NRL is choca block with them. I think your creating a them and us where there isn't one. Why the negative on just our Academy, I said no ones Academy had this sort of player coming through.

Thanks for your contribution, pointless though it was.

3 mate, Cudjoe, Lawrence, Hemmingway, though i expect it will be 4 next year when Jermaine comes back from Batley though you could argue Leroy wont play as much this year now Brett Hodgson is here

You missed Moore (St Helens)

Sorry for being pedantic

Well that's good to see. Do you think that Hemmingway will get his chance to become a starting player for you at some point? I'd hate to see the lad slowly wither away like Handforth did for us.

He's on the mend from shoulder surgery i believe so im not sure when he'll be back.

Having seen the pre season friendlies(1st team) and the Catalan game, the one thing i'll say about NB is that he aint afraid to throw the young un's in.

i just can't be bothered to read 21 pages of blinkered rubbish

fwiw needs must and he fits what we need in the team, much better than signing a 32 year old guy who has played first grade.

we have a tradition of bringing in players that have something to prove and giving them a chance, whether British, NZ or whatever - rather than the "safe" option of a guy who has played SOO and passed his sell-by-date in the NRL.

i really am not sure why other fans have so much of an issue with it. Let's be honest the majority of clubs have absolutely no moral high ground on this issue yet continue with the hypocrisy.

i guess hitting the headlines last weekend for x% of GB players in a winning team really got the Huddersfield fans excited.

The signing of overseas (and substandard ones at that) is certainly not a Wakey problem it is a problem we have in British sport.

I admire your optimism...... Lets hope you are right. Can't help but think that, reading through most of the thread on the VT, that they are actually making a fair and valid point - although the anti-Wakefield message of a couple of posters kind of makes it loose some credability.

In general, they are probably correct in my opinion - we do have too many middle of the road imports - hard to argue against this. I do understand the signing and the reasons behind it, and hopefully he will turn out to be another Willie Manu type player - but I think we probably could do more to help ourselfes when the current round of contracts runs out. In 2 or so years time:

Henderson Certain
Martin Certain
Drew Certain
Demetriou Probable
Obst Possible ?
Latu Possible ?

That would leave the likes of Winterstein (if he comes good) Peterson, Blanch, Stosic and leave us room for another International import. That would be a fair mix maybe? I dont think its too much to ask of the club to try and replace these outgoing imports with lads from our own academy, the lower leagues or even RU.

We have got too many imports, but are still within RFL regulations, and there in lies the problem.

This does need reducing and I have hope that as these players drop of the roster they will be replaced either by academy players or through home qualified talent being brought in.

Agreed - as long as you do it over a pre-agreed / planned period of time that allows for clubs to fill the void with suitable quality. The starting point should be, say, 10 years hence. By that time it would be reasonable to say that 'established' SL clubs should have a max of, say, 3 overseas players - end of / no exceptions. That still allows for over 40 players in the comp, but at 3 per club, each club will target the players for positions / skills that they cannot cover elsewhere. It would also leave plenty of room for GB players to play / develop.

So, take what we have now, divide it across the 10 year period and there you have a formula for all clubs to follow and time for them to do it in.

This is a prime example of planning as opposed to the constant knee-jerk / back-track that we see in our game.

In the meantime, my blind faith is based firmly on the well-proven ability we have to 'spot' talent, particularly overseas - and especially when Robbo's involved - after all, that's what he's he for!