Johnson was a fantastic back row in his heyday. In his earlier seasons with Wasps he was a brilliant signing for them. Following the ban for PEDs and the strange move to hooker his form declined but at his best he was one of the most effective back rows in the Premiership.
ABClub wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2020 5:37 pm
Johnson was a fantastic back row in his heyday. In his earlier seasons with Wasps he was a brilliant signing for them. Following the ban for PEDs and the strange move to hooker his form declined but at his best he was one of the most effective back rows in the Premiership.
Agreed his running lines were fantastic, shame he didn’t win more caps for the Boks. I believe he played at 8 for them against us at Welford Road in 2009 so that’s how long he’s been playing for.
Formerly of Burbaaage (not Inkleh), now up north at uni
Rugby Paper (14/6/20) states that the Sale - Marlon Yarde contract has yet to be formally completed but a one year deal is imminent.The interesting point however is their assertion that Leicester were in talks with Yarde at one stage (as a replacement foe Jonny May) but opted instead for Nemani Nadolo apparently leaving Yarde with very few options and/or maneuverability in terms of negotiating leverage .
Seemingly heading rapidly toward senility .....Not long or far to go now , in fact, getting worse daily.....
kk20gb30 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2020 7:56 am
Rugby Paper (14/6/20) states that the Sale - Marlon Yarde contract has yet to be formally completed but a one year deal is imminent.The interesting point however is their assertion that Leicester were in talks with Yarde at one stage (as a replacement foe Jonny May) but opted instead for Nemani Nadolo apparently leaving Yarde with very few options and/or maneuverability in terms of negotiating leverage .
There's a lot of players around with little 'negotiating leverage'. Lewington would be a good example of that I'd imagine. With how wages have flown up he would have been inline for a decent contract in the transfer market of a couple of years ago. He's available all season, covers the back three and has started lots of games for an exceptional Sarries side. He's now out of contract at a very difficult time.
May is of course another example but slightly different with the Sarries situation. Sounded like he'd sign with Sarries as Liam Williams replacement. Then they got relegated and the deal fell through. By which time Tigers had signed Nadolo hence offered him a lower contract.
With a lot of Prem clubs struggling it's not surprising to see a few Premiership standard players opting for Ealing who have plenty of backing at the moment.
It is also very tricky for clubs to be signing new players while forcing pay cuts on current ones.
Unless the player is a world class first team addition or a needs must front rower I think many players may prefer to see existing agreements honoured before new players signed up.
That said with the way the transfer market moves quite far in advance I'd guess there are a couple we have already budgeted for still to come but will be tricky to frame it for some good PR.
sk 88 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2020 12:19 pm
It is also very tricky for clubs to be signing new players while forcing pay cuts on current ones.
Unless the player is a world class first team addition or a needs must front rower I think many players may prefer to see existing agreements honoured before new players signed up.
That said with the way the transfer market moves quite far in advance I'd guess there are a couple we have already budgeted for still to come but will be tricky to frame it for some good PR.
Particularly with a position such as Montoya. Tigers being in long term talks to sign him from 2021/22 when his Jags contract ends. Jags tell their players they can consider other offers to keep playing rugby. So Tigers might be faced with trying to sign him earlier or lose him longer term.
Smurf confirmed in one of the LTTV interviews that Tigers will be paying up to the cap next season so presumably our situation hasn't changed much in the immediate future. With the cap coming down from the 2020/21 season Tigers will need to make significant cap savings. There are a few senior players out of contract at the end of the coming season though. Both Youngs brothers, Manu, Veainu, Eastmond, Reid, Taute by my reckoning. Maybe Coley as well?