The thing is, you have to assume - from the playing rosta of their clubs - that many of these guys must be prepared to play for clubs like Wire and Hudds on packages considerably less than they would likely be able to command if, say, they signed with us? This must surely be so, give the level playing field of the salary cap and the absolute certainty that no club will be finding ways to avoid the cap?

I never apprreciated yours sufficiently before.

So, we should start signing quality players, then?

Those who suggest this obviously think we haven't done this to date. So,
a) name the quality players that you believe are available, and that you realistically think we could afford
b) name the players you would remove to make way.

Personally I am reasonably happy with our progress in the short time so far under Potter, and I'm very happy with the crop of youngsters who have so far come through. Unusually, we have several players in for example Donaldson, Whitehead and Olbison, all of whom genuinely look as if we could have struck lucky, and got some seriously better than average players. How far beyond that they may or may not improve over the coming seasons will, to me, all be part of the fun. I'd much rather us remain a reasonably competitive and improving side, with all these on board, than sign so-called ready-made "superstars" for some attempted short-term "fix", and risk losing any of these lads, who all need plenty of game-time.

I was also mightily impressed with the debut of Tom Burgess. I haven't the time to watch the junior teams this year, and was quite amazed to watch, since the impression from some on here is that he was not much use, and nowhere near ready, but there's no doubt that he's big and strong enough to be in the mix at this level, unless that was just some weird flash in the pan.

I was one who'd seen him in the U20s and didn't think he was all that much cop. However the 2 games he's played for the first team so far, he's done well. I don't think he's been man of the match material as some have been suggesting on the MOM threads, but he's done well for a young lad getting his first taste of first team action. He's run in hard, he doesn't seem to have made any mistakes (which is something I noticed quite a bit of in the U20s) and he even stepped out of a couple of tackles at Hull.

While I don't want to get as carried away as a few are doing, I agree that the signs are certainly promising based on his first two outings.

Got to say I've been both surprised and impressed by Tom's entry into the first team. He always looked a solid player in the U20s without really dominating games and he's jumped up a level and just carried on with same sort of performances, which when you consider the much higher level of opposition he is facing, it's no mean feat. I'm sure the coaching staff will do everything which is in his best interests, so I look forward the gentle increase in his game time over a period, along with even more impressive displays.

i think judging players on how they do in the 20s is a bit harsh. the standard is lower and you don't raise your game when you aren't playing on a bigger stage. the adrenaline won't be rushing as much and the standard of player around you won't be as high.

Tom impressed me against the quins (didn't see the Hull game), I hope he kicks on, we have a very young, promising pack.

Did tom play against hull? how long for and how did he go

Dunno exactly how long for but he was getting hit by O'Meley, Fitzgibbon and Radford but kept on going. Made some good meters to

Sooner him than me.

How they do at their current level may not be the be all an end all, but I don't know how else you work out when someone is ready to move up.

A bit like picking the England team, where the ones who get picked are (arguably) the ones starring at SL level, I feel you'd expect the ones ready for promotion would be the 'stand out' players in the U20s. If a player will only play well if he feels the 'adrenaline rushing', how is he going to play in SL when he's comfortable with the environment, the novelty has worn off and it's just the workaday reality?