https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/sp ... st-helens/ I guess he is here for squad cover, Tai, King?, Wrench, Bruines, I think the current Academy centres are still a little way of yet so I suppose he takes the spot of Minikin?

https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/sp ... st-helens/ I guess he is here for squad cover, Tai, King?, Wrench, Bruines, I think the current Academy centres are still a little way of yet so I suppose he takes the spot of Minikin?

He's on a 1 year deal which is arguably a bit strange given his age and how highly he's rated. Maybe he's thinking of wanting to make a breakthough next year, and rates Burgess so thinks he'll be in a very good position to do that, or at the end of the year to either get a decent contract or move on as a better player.
Assuming we have Tai and King as 1st choices then Wrench and Bruines will fight it out as back up centre.
And there's always Ratch if needs be (assuming he's back up hooker and general utility player). That suggests PM won't be here next year.

I did read a thread that said something along the lines that Wrench wasn't rated by the coaches as highly as he is on the message boards. Not sure if that's true.
As Burgess is the coach and Burgess brought in Bruines, I can draw some conclusions.

Well he’s signed a one year deal, with another year option in the clubs favour, so essentially a two year deal with a get out. Sensible I think given he is yet to make a first SL appearance. The way I see it is he is a replacement for Minikin, I don’t think it says too much about Wrench, who can also cover wing and will be (I imagine) the first player we call on should we get an injury in the centres.

There’s still talk on the usual rugby sites that Harper is still a possibility, but probably just lazy click bait journalism?

One year for Bruines is fine by me. More motivation to prove himself. I’m not convinced about Harper, but then maybe I’ve not seen as much of him as some of the other NRL centres we’ve been linked. What’s the big deal?

Happy enough with Tai, he comes cheap with raw talent and potential. Harper is a bit of a come down after chasing Olam though.

Beeb doesnt mention the one year option, but it ties in nicely with Burgess's contract.

fez1 wrote:He's on a 1 year deal which is arguably a bit strange given his age and how highly he's rated. Maybe he's thinking of wanting to make a breakthough next year, and rates Burgess so thinks he'll be in a very good position to do that, or at the end of the year to either get a decent contract or move on as a better player. Assuming we have Tai and King as 1st choices then Wrench and Bruines will fight it out as back up centre. And there's always Ratch if needs be (assuming he's back up hooker and general utility player). That suggests PM won't be here next year. I did read a thread that said something along the lines that Wrench wasn't rated by the coaches as highly as he is on the message boards. Not sure if that's true. As Burgess is the coach and Burgess brought in Bruines, I can draw some conclusions. This from Chambers suggests Wrench is a big part of the future but they’re managing him carefully after his ACL https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/sp ... on-wolves/

fez1 wrote:He's on a 1 year deal which is arguably a bit strange given his age and how highly he's rated. Maybe he's thinking of wanting to make a breakthough next year, and rates Burgess so thinks he'll be in a very good position to do that, or at the end of the year to either get a decent contract or move on as a better player. Assuming we have Tai and King as 1st choices then Wrench and Bruines will fight it out as back up centre. And there's always Ratch if needs be (assuming he's back up hooker and general utility player). That suggests PM won't be here next year. I did read a thread that said something along the lines that Wrench wasn't rated by the coaches as highly as he is on the message boards. Not sure if that's true. As Burgess is the coach and Burgess brought in Bruines, I can draw some conclusions. This from Chambers suggests Wrench is a big part of the future but they’re managing him carefully after his ACL https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/sp ... on-wolves/

Can someone enlighten me as to why we're taking a punt on someone who can't even get into Saints' squad?

Same reason Saints took a punt on him 12 months ago? We see some potential in him, plus Burgess has worked with him before, we need cover at centre and don’t have anyone in the academy ready to step up?

Souths wanted to keep him in their development system when Saints signed him. He was coming back for personal reasons it seems rather than rugby ones. There have been suggestions on Twitter that he lived with Sam Burgess in Australia and he was a big factor in his development.

It's strange that he's not featured for us this season. We've had so many injuries in the outside backs and we've had Mata'utia, LMS, Sironen, Davies all play minutes at centre yet Bruines hasn't. Wellens comments on it were a bit puzzling, I can't tell if he's having a dig at Warrington and your youth system there or if he's being honest and we've just got someone coming through that the club rates higher than him.

I think rating him as a back up for our first choice centres is perhaps not the way to view the signing. I suspect he is more of a Matty Russel type signing in that he will not be costing us very much. Burgess obviously rates him so it looks as though we have a decent future prospect, but for 2025 perhaps rather than next year. He may well talk about having a big pre-season and getting into the first team, but he has yet to experience the speed and pace of the game, not to mention the physical challenges and the way in which his current defects get exploited by the opposition.