The Whiffy Kipper wrote:
Name me one player that has come back to strengthen the club
Get real, No player in the modern game is going to "Test Themselves", they are going for the lifestyle and money, The End
Tomkins, he was instrumental in our 2018 Grand Final win. Left us because we offered him a reduced contract then went on to have (in my opinion) the best years of his career in 2019-2021.
Bateman was massively underrated in his second spell with us imo. Maybe not as unconventional in his playstyle as before, but certainly effective and i would say we were strengthened by him being here.
I would even say Joe Burgess, again better in his first spell but he was a solid winger for us on his return, maybe a bit unlucky with injuries. Scored a hat-trick in our WCC win and very influential in that game in particular. Think it is fair to say he strengthened us and has gone on to play well for Salford.
Pieman wrote:
The Whiffy Kipper wrote:
Name me one player that has come back to strengthen the club
Get real, No player in the modern game is going to "Test Themselves", they are going for the lifestyle and money, The End
Tomkins came back and strengthened us, he was better than Escare, Same for Sarge and Budgie, they might not have been as good as when the went but came back and were better than was here
Wrote my section and drafted it earlier, i would probably agree with Sarge strengthening us on his return aswell.
You can't just blanket statement that no players are to return who leave for the NRL, it should always be judged on a case-by-case basis on what value that returning player can bring to our current squad.
On Sutton, i don't think he would bring a lot of value so no i wouldn't want him back. Also he has had some injury troubles since signing for Canterbury so would also be a risk i don't feel we need to take. Similar to my thoughts on Thompson, but now knowing that Smithies was leaving i can understand that one more.
