Dan Cole

[Skin_and_Muscle]

I picked up The Rugby Paper today and the rumour about Dan Cole's departure from Leicester appeared again.
His worth to Leicester shouldn't be understated and neither should Leicester's worth to him.
Hopefully this will be resolved because I'd hate to see a prop of his quality go!!

[tigerlilly]

It could well be a marketing ploy by his PR manager (if he has one) to try to up his worth to Tigers and therefore his salary when his contract comes up.

[Luke]

Does anybody have any reliable information on whether there is any mileage in this rumour, or not?

I can understand the desire to be in the starting line up each week and get more minutes per season, but at the same time we are the biggest club in the country and if you look at the strong Top 14 sides they nearly all have two high quality props that are interchangeable. Just look at Toulon, where arguably one of the world's best tight heads - Carl Hayman - moves in and out of the team for Davit Kubriashvili!

Cole would be a monumental loss.

[DickyP]

Just look at last Friday where we were destroying Glos up front until the two props were subbed. Harris and Bowers did OK but just image what happens when Boris and Castro come on in that circumstance.

I really think that giving the starter 60-65% of the game and then bringing on another world class prop is one of Tigers's true killer weapons!!

[kingol22]

Hope he stays. With him and castro we have 2 of the best props in the world and the fact that they rotate means that both of their careers could be prolonged. The fact he doesnt start every week doesnt seem to harm his england chances either.

Hopefully we will name him or castro as our star player next year and keep them both.

[Duncan B]

Forgive me if this has already been posted, I know there was some discussion about it a while ago, but according to the rugby paper Dan is definately leaving, and is refusing to negotiate with Tigers at all, he flat out wants to leave with Bath favourites to sign him. I know the rugby paper is wring alot but it would be a great shame.

[GT1]

I know his beard makes him look like an old man but surely not ready for Bath retirement home yet!!

[PM76]

Dan is in a tricky situation. I could not blame him for going but there are lots of reasons for him to stay. Atleast if he is refusing to negotiate it suggests he is not leaving due to money or other complications but because he wants to be first choice at a top side, which he could be, he is in the top 5 of world THPs but he is not quite as good as Castro, but none are. If he wanted money I am sure with the new marquee player rule we could afford him but you cannot blame a player for wanting to be the first choice, which he will struggle to be for atleast 2 seasons if Castro continues at his current standard. He would be a huge loss for Tigers but I still hope he stays, maybe fans could grow a beard to keep Dan at Leicester this year. He would be a huge loss but if Brookes can be as good as some think then we Dan would only be a short term loss.

[DickyP]

Has anyone actually asked Dan Cole?

[Will S]

I'm a big fan of Dan but if Brookes turns out to be as good as some say then we are still very well covered. There are a fair few young guys at the club who I think are much more important to keep hold of and the salary cap will only stretch so far....

[Firesafetydave]

I'm a big fan of Dan but if Brookes turns out to be as good as some say then we are still very well covered. There are a fair few young guys at the club who I think are much more important to keep hold of and the salary cap will only stretch so far....

See above for my immediate response, Will...

I'm not saying he's rubbish, but he still has to put in some consistent performances before I would discard Dan, Dan The Tighthead Man!

[Will S]

Don't get me wrong .... I would love Dan to stay and be a Tiger for life. All I was trying to say is that if we have to lose one of our star internationals due to the salary cap then losing Dan would be preferable to losing a Flood or Manu where our back up cover is nowhere near as strong.

[bluntiger]

I thought the writing was on the wall when we signed Brookes in the summer. If you were confident that Castro and Cole were staying, signing Brookes would have been far from a priority, for us or for him.

It was reported that, when offered a new contract last season, Cole dismissed it out of hand almost implying that it was a derisory offer or that he had decided to leave regardless.

Personally, I thnk it is a mistake. Job-sharing with Castro has got him to the point that he is one of the first names on the England teamsheet for the last two years - a rarity for a 22-24 year old THP. Why put that in jeopardy?

[Mat]

I expect Dan will go and is proabably already pretty sure where he is going. We appear to have made a decision to keep Castro over Cole which I believe is possibly a mistake, he is older and injury prone and does not seem quite as destructive in the scrum as he was which sugests to me that refs and the oposition have worked him out to some extent. We also had to pay him a lot of money to keep him which could have given better cover else where. Cole would have been the future for years now we will have to see how Brookes goes. He did not look too good in the tight at the beginning of the season but was maybe showing potential to stronger in the loose than Cole.

I would def keep Cole but as othere have said if we have to loose one of our International players I guess he would be the one who has more cover than most. The modern era means players and do not stay at one club I guess we will see more and more of this. Its the one part of the old amature era that i miss but we have seen other big gains.A player has a short career and its getting shorter for most so you cant blame them for moving to set up their families. Only a few go onto be coaches and media people the rest have to go and find new careers. Also Dan has beenengland number 1 but not number 1 for Tigers in the big games so he will want to be number 1. This could come back to bite us in the future I hope not.

[sam16111986]

signing Brookes would have been far from a priority

Even with Big Jules retiring? We've been very lucky to have three top quality scrummagers and with one about to retire it made sense to bring in a young gun to learn the ropes before Farmer White left. I've heard rumours persisting that Cole is being courted by Sarries. That would be a terrible waste for him and for us. I don't believe he's signed away yet as he proved on Friday too much of his heart is still in it for Tigers.