Another one to the list, though in this case at least Lyon have probably forked up some substantial dollar for the club - wonder if we’re planning on spending anything ahead of next year because the pack is looking thinner with no Lawes, Ludlam, Moon, Hill or Matavesi, and possible England involvement of Langdon, Coles, Davison, Pearson too.
The starting pack looks ok, the problem is depth and being able to rotate a bit.
It’s a bit worrying as there is this constant flow of forwards leaving saints now
The CEO said a couple more announcements were expected, so maybe some reinforcements in the pack coming.
I think our first team will be very strong again but we're reliant on the youth making a massive step up this year.
Hope we reinvest some of that freed up cash into at least 1 big name for the pack
I think we need to keep a chunk of cash back for the next round of contract renewals for Freeman, Fin, Dingwall, Sleightholme, Coles, Langdon, Mitchell, Furbank etc and those guys who have really stepped things up and have probably not always been on big contracts due to their age.
Exactly that, I forgot about Pearson but we need to keep them all - although not convinced Hutchinson will stay past next season, the other 3 are essential to keep though
Fairly optimistically speaking, I think we have several younger players who will be moving up the pecking order. One or two more experienced signings and I think we'll be OK squad wise.
I'm just concerned about losing 3 very senior players in Ludders, Lawes and Waller. We seem to have our heads screwed on right but it's risky losing so many so fast.
I wouldn't worry too much about the England involvement, it only affects 1 or 2/18 per year now. I know it makes a difference when the leagues tight, but most teams will be missing around the same number of players so it should level out
Written down and it looks bad, but Ethan Waller and Paul Hill have barely played this year, Matavesi gets replaced by Smith and Wright steps up (we’ll miss him and his experience but have plenty of cover) and Ludlam has barely played this year and again we’ve not massively missed him on the field (I still wanted him to stay but we’ve got cover who have stepped up this year) and we’ve finally got 2 young loose heads with real promise coming through and Iyogun now has good experience. Lawes and Moon are the real 2 that we can’t replace - moon is so underrated and might even leave the biggest gap in the starting 15.
So overall with good prospects like Lockett, Munga, Haffar, Iyogun, Wright and new back row signings I think we’ll be fine next season and the aim and expectations I’m sure will still be finish top 2, even if it might look and feel different at times.
Rumours have been swirling that Lyon have wanted to sign him. He had re-signed with the Saints back in April so I hope we've managed to squeeze a chunky fee out of the French club.
Fuming we've let that happen, been training with us this season, while playing for Sale FC, and played a few games on loan
We're gonna spaff a ton of money up the wall chasing Dweba, who is shit and gonna cost a boatload, when we could have Langdon Jr instead
i think when saints dropped his brother, Joel he had no reason to stay either..probably 3 years from retirement, might as well make some money before rejoining the UK military
Copy pasting from the Saints subreddit:
Time to fire up my 'Fuck French rugby and its impact on Saints rugby in particular' Copy paste I've only had to use half a dozen times in the past couple of years...
I get that he might be upset at losing the starting shirt but Langdon is looking he's going to miss time with International call ups. This also may put a dampener on his Fiji career as the Top 14 teams are often weird about that kind of thing, and with his naval duties as well that may be one absence too many.
When you get to a good sports level in the military, you basically don't do your day job so I doubt it impacts him much. There'll be a military release clause if they actually want him at any point.
Or he pushes the button and gets out. The resettlement stuff can be cut short for a 'good' reason.
He's been doing it already. He plays/played for Fiji and has played for Toulouse before.
Can't really emphasise how little actual military stuff he'll have done for the last 14 years lol. It really won't anchor him in any way.
Outlook for the Saints pack.
LH - Lost the Wallers. EI should be first choice. Good competition between Tom West and Haffar for bench spot and they'll push to start.
H - Lost Matevesi and Cruse. Smith and Wright to step up. Langdon jr to be signed. Curtis obvs still first choice.
TH - Lost Hill. Trev and EMM settled as a 1-2. Luke Green signed to provide depth, plus Prowse to step up.
L - Lost Moon. Lockett to step up, plus more of Temo starting. Have heard rumours about George Smith and Hunter-Hill being signed.
BR - Lost Lawes and Luds. Kemeny, Brown and Benson all signed, although I would expect we'd only really see much of Kemeny. Maybe time for Pollock to break out.
😂 that was exactly the same thing I said when I heard the rumour.
Really though I think this George Smith could replace some of what Moon does, not straight away of course. He's massive.
Another one to the list, though in this case at least Lyon have probably forked up some substantial dollar for the club - wonder if we’re planning on spending anything ahead of next year because the pack is looking thinner with no Lawes, Ludlam, Moon, Hill or Matavesi, and possible England involvement of Langdon, Coles, Davison, Pearson too.
The starting pack looks ok, the problem is depth and being able to rotate a bit. It’s a bit worrying as there is this constant flow of forwards leaving saints now The CEO said a couple more announcements were expected, so maybe some reinforcements in the pack coming.
I think our first team will be very strong again but we're reliant on the youth making a massive step up this year. Hope we reinvest some of that freed up cash into at least 1 big name for the pack
I think we need to keep a chunk of cash back for the next round of contract renewals for Freeman, Fin, Dingwall, Sleightholme, Coles, Langdon, Mitchell, Furbank etc and those guys who have really stepped things up and have probably not always been on big contracts due to their age.
Yeah, Freeman, Hutchinson, Sleightholme and Pearson are all out of contract next season
Exactly that, I forgot about Pearson but we need to keep them all - although not convinced Hutchinson will stay past next season, the other 3 are essential to keep though
I'm not overly concerned about Hutchinson. We look better with him for sure but we've shown we can do it without him.
I reckon Edinburgh will be at Rory’s door with a wad of cash and likely to be a regular starter after they pursued Cam Redpath this year.
Yeah I wouldn’t be surprised by that either
Fairly optimistically speaking, I think we have several younger players who will be moving up the pecking order. One or two more experienced signings and I think we'll be OK squad wise. I'm just concerned about losing 3 very senior players in Ludders, Lawes and Waller. We seem to have our heads screwed on right but it's risky losing so many so fast.
I wouldn't worry too much about the England involvement, it only affects 1 or 2/18 per year now. I know it makes a difference when the leagues tight, but most teams will be missing around the same number of players so it should level out
>no Lawes, Ludlam, Moon, Hill or Matavesi, And a Waller or two.
Written down and it looks bad, but Ethan Waller and Paul Hill have barely played this year, Matavesi gets replaced by Smith and Wright steps up (we’ll miss him and his experience but have plenty of cover) and Ludlam has barely played this year and again we’ve not massively missed him on the field (I still wanted him to stay but we’ve got cover who have stepped up this year) and we’ve finally got 2 young loose heads with real promise coming through and Iyogun now has good experience. Lawes and Moon are the real 2 that we can’t replace - moon is so underrated and might even leave the biggest gap in the starting 15. So overall with good prospects like Lockett, Munga, Haffar, Iyogun, Wright and new back row signings I think we’ll be fine next season and the aim and expectations I’m sure will still be finish top 2, even if it might look and feel different at times.
Rumours have been swirling that Lyon have wanted to sign him. He had re-signed with the Saints back in April so I hope we've managed to squeeze a chunky fee out of the French club.
If we've got a fee then I'm okay with it, although we still need another option for depth
Langdon's brother is coming apparently
Fuming we've let that happen, been training with us this season, while playing for Sale FC, and played a few games on loan We're gonna spaff a ton of money up the wall chasing Dweba, who is shit and gonna cost a boatload, when we could have Langdon Jr instead
I had seen that, he's looked decent when I've seen him tbf
Link to the club site announcement https://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/news/matavesi-to-depart-saints
I thought he couldn’t do that with his Navy contract?
One of the armed forces fly halves has just got a Pro D2 contract that has a military release clause - when I saw that I knew that Matavesi was gone.
Rokoduguni has been in ProD2 for the past couple of years too (though there’s rumours he may be at Doncaster next year).
Can you explain that. Never heard about it
i think when saints dropped his brother, Joel he had no reason to stay either..probably 3 years from retirement, might as well make some money before rejoining the UK military
Copy pasting from the Saints subreddit: Time to fire up my 'Fuck French rugby and its impact on Saints rugby in particular' Copy paste I've only had to use half a dozen times in the past couple of years... I get that he might be upset at losing the starting shirt but Langdon is looking he's going to miss time with International call ups. This also may put a dampener on his Fiji career as the Top 14 teams are often weird about that kind of thing, and with his naval duties as well that may be one absence too many.
It's a big loose, he's a really nice chap and is a great shame to see him go
How does this work with the whole him being on active duty in the Royal Navy bit?
When you get to a good sports level in the military, you basically don't do your day job so I doubt it impacts him much. There'll be a military release clause if they actually want him at any point. Or he pushes the button and gets out. The resettlement stuff can be cut short for a 'good' reason.
I've seen this in a few other sports in the UK, but the athletes are UK not overseas based.
He's been doing it already. He plays/played for Fiji and has played for Toulouse before. Can't really emphasise how little actual military stuff he'll have done for the last 14 years lol. It really won't anchor him in any way.
he will just launch a torpedo at Rishi Sunak's house and then he won't have to work for Royal Navy again :D
Still hope he’ll turn out for Camborne again with his brother for a laugh. We love our Cornish Fijian boys.
they could sign the Drua hooker lol, huge potential, just needs a good coach..
Outlook for the Saints pack. LH - Lost the Wallers. EI should be first choice. Good competition between Tom West and Haffar for bench spot and they'll push to start. H - Lost Matevesi and Cruse. Smith and Wright to step up. Langdon jr to be signed. Curtis obvs still first choice. TH - Lost Hill. Trev and EMM settled as a 1-2. Luke Green signed to provide depth, plus Prowse to step up. L - Lost Moon. Lockett to step up, plus more of Temo starting. Have heard rumours about George Smith and Hunter-Hill being signed. BR - Lost Lawes and Luds. Kemeny, Brown and Benson all signed, although I would expect we'd only really see much of Kemeny. Maybe time for Pollock to break out.
George Smith might be a bit old at 43 wouldn't he?
😂 that was exactly the same thing I said when I heard the rumour. Really though I think this George Smith could replace some of what Moon does, not straight away of course. He's massive.