Mike Brown

[Rykard]

don't like brown as a player, not very versatile, temperament issue? and seems selfish when he plays for England.

[strawclearer]

Think Veainu signed a 3 year contract, so I THINK he has 2 more seasons left.

Brown on a 2 year deal gives time for Worth to develop and should also be able to rotate him.

9) Youngs, Harrison, Kitto
10) Ford, ?, Hardwick
11) Veainu, Brady, Yawayawa
12) Toomua, Smith
13) Manu, Betham, Thacker
14) JPP, Thompstone, Catchpole
15) Brown, Worth,

Add in a 10/12 and maybe another winger and we should be golden backs wise.

Trouble with Brown is he isn't a versatile player though.

Think after this season Woodward will be out of our budget range whereas Brown prob not.

I'm trying hard not to dismiss Brown simply because he's Quins through and through - over 250 caps for them! Even so - can he really buy in to Tigers coming from that history? Agree that he's not versatile; much prefer Veainu at 15 rather than wing; and, as an aside, I see Betham as a winger rather than a centre so I still think we need one of those.

[Soggypitch]

don't like brown as a player, not very versatile, temperament issue? and seems selfish when he plays for England.

I agree he's really a 15 only.

Temperament issue...possibly something that could have been suggested a few years ago (Mr Angry was his nickname I believe), but since then he's matured enormously and is now just a very hard robust player with a winning attitude - that we could certainly do with at Tigers.

As for being greedy with England, well that's not my impression. I think he's been one of England's consistently best players for the past 3 years and despite real pressure from the likes of Alex Goode, Chris Pennell, Ben Foden, Anthony Watson (to just name a few), he's continued to be England's first choice full back. If Eddie rates him, that's good enough for me!

[Will S]

I actually think Brown will soon be phased out of the England team. I think EJ sees Daly as the future at 15 with Watson coming back on the wing.

[tigerburnie]

I actually think Brown will soon be phased out of the England team. I think EJ sees Daly as the future at 15 with Watson coming back on the wing.

Even better if he is now going to miss less of he season.

[richardssalex]

Controversial opinion, but if TV was English I'd have him as the starting fullback. Absolutely love watching hime. Not a massive fan of Brown's attitude either.

[FrontRowUnionMember]

I like Mike Brown, and do rate him as a fullback, but I think given he's the current England incumbent, think he'd be looking for too big a salary. At 31 this is his last big move. For that kind of salary, I'd prefer someone a little more versatile since in Veianu we already have an exciting option, and in Worth an up and coming option. I'd prefer the cash was spent on someone who could play fly half, wing or centre as well as fullback.
I think we're short at 10, centre and fullback. Those three trouble spots could be filled by two signings, a 10/12, and wing/fullback (given that'd also free Betham up to cover 13).
Everyone keeps talking about Woodward from Bristol, I see on Wikipedia he can play fly half, centre, wink and fullback. Kicks goals too. Sign that man up instead.

A 10/12 plus Woodward would round out our backline nicely.
Get a replacement for Balmain, plus another 8, job done.

[ABClub]

Brown signed his last Quins contract just before O'Shea left. Apparently he was under the assumption that COS would be staying and he has been unhappy at Quins this season under the new coaching set-up.

Wasps has been rumoured if he moves on. Might depend on whether Beale stays or not though.

I'd love him at WR. He's got a winning attitude, isn't afraid of the tough parts of the game, excellent defensively, huge boot, breaks tackles, knack of scoring tries. His distribution is a fair way off what it should be this far into an international career but his number of caps shows that his pros outweigh the cons.

[POSTIGER]

Mixed feelings on this. One one hand he's exactly the kind of character we need (IMHO) and he's a very good player. However, I think it would be fair to say he's probably just past his peak and isn't going to improve in that respect. On a more general note, as I've said elsewhere, I firmly believe that we need a front line goal kicker at FB to compensate for George Ford's deficiencies in this area but MB is not a goal kicker. Maybe the club are thinking Toomua might be our front line kicker but I'm not convinced about that either.

[sam16111986]

I like Mike Brown he's a very good all round fullback and importantly for us an aggressive player. However, speed has never been a big strength of his and he'll be 32 in September. He'll also be expensive (he is the incumbent England 15), then there's the possibility of having to pay Quins to get out of his contract...

[drc_007]

Burns was an erratic goal kicker when he signed for Tigers, with coaching he has improved significantly. I see no reason why Ford can't improve similarly. Another goal kicker is essential but I don't think it has to be full back.

Brown has a siege gun of kick from hand, would be nice to have someone at 15 who can return kicks with interest.

[Hot_Charlie]

Mixed feelings on this. One one hand he's exactly the kind of character we need (IMHO) and he's a very good player. However, I think it would be fair to say he's probably just past his peak and isn't going to improve in that respect. On a more general note, as I've said elsewhere, I firmly believe that we need a front line goal kicker at FB to compensate for George Ford's deficiencies in this area but MB is not a goal kicker. Maybe the club are thinking Toomua might be our front line kicker but I'm not convinced about that either.

Andy Goode?

[ABClub]

Mixed feelings on this. One one hand he's exactly the kind of character we need (IMHO) and he's a very good player. However, I think it would be fair to say he's probably just past his peak and isn't going to improve in that respect. On a more general note, as I've said elsewhere, I firmly believe that we need a front line goal kicker at FB to compensate for George Ford's deficiencies in this area but MB is not a goal kicker. Maybe the club are thinking Toomua might be our front line kicker but I'm not convinced about that either.

Andy Goode?

A friend jokingly suggested it when Freddie to Bath was confirmed.

I think the funniest thing about it is that I'd be over the moon if he came out of retirement again

[richardssalex]

Burns was an erratic goal kicker when he signed for Tigers, with coaching he has improved significantly. I see no reason why Ford can't improve similarly. Another goal kicker is essential but I don't think it has to be full back.

Brown has a siege gun of kick from hand, would be nice to have someone at 15 who can return kicks with interest.

love what you say about Burns/Ford, but don't think there is a better returner of kicks than Veianu.

[G.K]

A current international with the 2nd ranked team in the world in a position we need more depth in - I should be really excited!

I'm not.

Jason Woodward, yes. Mike Brown.....meh.

Agreed - yes sign Woodward when Brisl go down.