Welsby

[Victoire]

I know it's discussed elsewhere but I thought it deserved it's own thread. Flanagan has had talks with Jack Welsby

St Helens star Jack Welsby reportedly enters talks with NRL side St George Illawarra Dragons

ST HELENS star Jack Welsby has reportedly entered talks with NRL side St George Illawarra Dragons. That’s according to the Daily Telegraph which has claimed that the Dragons have had a glowin…

www.totalrl.com

I've been a fan of his since the last World Cup and his standing has only grown since then really. He's only 22 and has already won three grand finals in Superleague, a World Club Challenge, a man of the match award in that WCC, and has even captained his country. He is next-level talent, would be a monumental signing for any club, let alone ours. The only mountain he has yet to climb really is success for England against Australia (he hasn't even played against Australia yet, shockingly), and I think to keep elevating his game he needs to play NRL. I listened to his podcast with James Graham just the other day and was struck by what an intelligent, motivated, quality person he seems to be. Would be phenomenal if we could manage that, and it's not just more talk from Flanno

 

[Illusion]

It's a yes from me .......

 

[Dea]

He does look good in the Big Red V

 

[Dragon David]

He does look good in the Big Red V

He does but unfortunately it's the St Helens' Red V and if he should come to the Red V Dragons then yes, I agree he would look good in the Big Red V, Dea.

 

[Parko1310]

Theoretically, because I don't want to get my hopes up too much, thoughts on whether we should play Welsby at fullback or 5/8? For me it depends if Dearden is off the table or not, but if we landed Welsby for 2024 I'd have him at 6.

 

[This Year?]

I'd love to have a player of his quality with us, but dreams are free.
I doubt very much it could be possible before 2026.

 

[Walpole]

I'd love to have a player of his quality with us, but dreams are free.
I doubt very much it could be possible before 2026.

Dreams are indeed free, so I'm going Welsby 6 and Dearden 7.

 

[Dragon David]

I'd love to have a player of his quality with us, but dreams are free.
I doubt very much it could be possible before 2026.

Yes and by then, there will be at least a half dozen or so clubs trying to get his signature on a contract.

 

[Victoire]

Theoretically, because I don't want to get my hopes up too much, thoughts on whether we should play Welsby at fullback or 5/8? For me it depends if Dearden is off the table or not, but if we landed Welsby for 2024 I'd have him at 6.

He's genuinely equally good in both positions, so yeah it depends where we need him most

 

[This Year?]

OK. Now I'm having fantasies of Welsby beating his opposite with a step and/or a fend, then either going himself or putting away Sloan on the inside or Ravalawa on the outside.
Oh you wicked daydreams you!!

 

[Parko1310]

St Helens launch Jack Welsby retention move as NRL club pursue England ace

Exclusive: Contract talks are underway between St Helens and Jack Welsby's representatives.

www.examinerlive.co.uk

 

[kit66]

We need a quality fullback and if we could also get Dearden I'd leave Welsby at the back and pair Dearden with Flanagan or Amone if he's still with us. I'm talking 2025.

 

[56to66]

What annoys me every top end player that the Dragons are after becomes public knowledge, then you hear the Roosters or Dogs sign them up.
So far every signing made by the Dragons has been just OK, nothing out of this world.
The Tigers and the Dogs have pulled out for AFB, but the Sharks have now entered the race for his services, no matter what St George has to pay overs all the time.
St Helens have now gone all out for Welsby, so the only carrot for him is to prove himself in the NRL, as Slippery has mentioned he'll probably end up at the Dogs.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Gus just boarded the plane to England to have his secret coffee with Mr Welsby.

 

[John moz]

Welsby or Manu ?

 

[Slippery Morris]

In one of the articles it has this:-

"New rulings mean a club can have a homegrown talent as one of three marquees and will only cost £50,000 on the salary cap."

That rule should apply to NRL where they can offer 3 marquee juniors whatever they want and only have 100k on the cap showing for them. That would probably end up going to a teams 3 spine players if they are guns. A good example is that the Panthers could have Cleary, Edwards and Luai stay on for 300k a season on the cap, which is fair game to me seeing they invested in these juniors.

Pretty simple rule really and should be a no brainer for the NRL.

 

[kit66]

Gus just boarded the plane to England to have his secret coffee with Mr Welsby.

....photographer in tow...

 

[OneEyedDragon]

....photographer in tow...

Of course, after all, it will be a "secret" meeting.

 

[56to66]

In one of the articles it has this:-

"New rulings mean a club can have a homegrown talent as one of three marquees and will only cost £50,000 on the salary cap."

That rule should apply to NRL where they can offer 3 marquee juniors whatever they want and only have 100k on the cap showing for them. That would probably end up going to a teams 3 spine players if they are guns. A good example is that the Panthers could have Cleary, Edwards and Luai stay on for 300k a season on the cap, which is fair game to me seeing they invested in these juniors.

Pretty simple rule really and should be a no brainer for the NRL.

Its too late for that, that should have began that back in 1999, then the Dragons could have become a true powerhouse, we could have kept the likes of Bull Bailey, Luke Patten,Craig Fitzgibbon and Co.

 

[Trifili13]

In one of the articles it has this:-

"New rulings mean a club can have a homegrown talent as one of three marquees and will only cost £50,000 on the salary cap."

That rule should apply to NRL where they can offer 3 marquee juniors whatever they want and only have 100k on the cap showing for them. That would probably end up going to a teams 3 spine players if they are guns. A good example is that the Panthers could have Cleary, Edwards and Luai stay on for 300k a season on the cap, which is fair game to me seeing they invested in these juniors.

Pretty simple rule really and should be a no brainer for the NRL.

While it sounds good if you have gun juniors, this would give Penrith i would say conservatively an extra $2m salary cap from those 3. It would make to comp even more lopsided for weaker teams trying to attract talent when Penrith who are currently a machine and then add the extra cap space on top of that to attract even more talent from outside their system.