Blake Austin…..shafted?

[Dallas Mead]

Like him….did a lot in the Warrington community and nice bloke, but:

Penrith Panthers - did well early in Year 1 then faded badly.
Wests Tigers - did well early in Year 1 then faded badly.
Canberra - did well early in Year 1 then faded badly.
Warrington - did well early in Year 1 then faded badly.
Leeds - any guesses?

[Jughead]

Not sure if that means he’s been shafted or he’s just a highly inconsistent performer, tbh. 

[Guest]

Is this like getting pulled off at half time?

[Waynebennettswinger]

I seem to recall reading that he was on a 1 year deal at Leeds. If that is true, depending on what options there are, that could be very shrewd of Leeds given all you say.

I certainly think pairing him with his old partner Sezer will bring the best out of him.

[Josef K]

40 minutes ago, Dallas Mead said:

Like him….did a lot in the Warrington community and nice bloke, but:

Penrith Panthers - did well early in Year 1 then faded badly.
Wests Tigers - did well early in Year 1 then faded badly.
Canberra - did well early in Year 1 then faded badly.
Warrington - did well early in Year 1 then faded badly.
Leeds - any guesses?

Four of those clubs played him in the wrong position, if Leeds do the right thing and put him on the wing then he’s odds on for MoS. 

[M j M]

5 hours ago, Waynebennettswinger said:

I seem to recall reading that he was on a 1 year deal at Leeds. If that is true, depending on what options there are, that could be very shrewd of Leeds given all you say.

I certainly think pairing him with his old partner Sezer will bring the best out of him.

It is a one year, very competitively-priced deal. He's playing for a contract either at Leeds or elsewhere; if he stays injury free I think he'll have a big year.

[Desert Skipper]

1 hour ago, M j M said:

It is a one year, very competitively-priced deal. He's playing for a contract either at Leeds or elsewhere; if he stays injury free I think he'll have a big year.

The one year bit is the key. If you get half a year as good his first half year at Warrington, that will be a result.

The problem for Blake is, you can’t earn 5-10 x more than your colleagues, get dropped for not playing well enough, then expect a new contract. Once Williams became available and Warrington pounced, there was never going to be a place in the team to fit Austin. 

He has some good footwork, and a wicked bomb. Leeds will need Sezer for guiding the team round the park though. Good luck to him, just cut the bitterness rubbish out please Blake.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

Blake Austin spent 4 years at Canberra, in his first year he was the NRL Daly M Stand Off of the year. In his second year Canberra finished 2nd in the NRL table, Austin played in nearly all their games. It wasn’t until his 4th year at Canberra he was demoted to reserve grade for a period of time. Canberra still offered Austin a new contract, but he opted to join Warrington instead as their marquee signing. 

[Just Browny]

8 hours ago, Leonard said:

Is this like getting pulled off at half time?

Leeds have always provided top facilities for their players.

It will be interesting to see how he gets on this year. I hope he does ok because I like the guy, but no denying he is liable to the odd shocking performance. 

[Dunbar]

I'm very keen to see how Austin and Sezer go for Leeds this year.  They are both quality and I think they really compliment each others games.

Ricky Stuart at Canberra has tinkered with the halves since he had these two in there, bring Wighton up to 6 from full back and using several different half backs but arguably not improved the team since the Austin/Sezer partnership (maybe Wighton/Sezer were the best but not by a huge margin).

You need half backs that can work together and add different strengths to the team and I think Sezer with his organisational skills and Austin with his running threat are a very good combination. 

[DavidM]

Not exactly the full  story but hey it made  a good headline . I think Austin and Sezer are both good signings who work well together 

[hunsletgreenandgold]

5 hours ago, M j M said:

It is a one year, very competitively-priced deal. He's playing for a contract either at Leeds or elsewhere; if he stays injury free I think he'll have a big year.

Be hard to believe Austin wouldn't intend to stay at Leeds if a new contract was thrown his way. He's just bought a house in Roundhay, which he didn't even do in his whole time at Warrington - so there's a lot of incentive for him to do what it takes to get the new deal and it be at Leeds. 

[Dallas Mead]

11 hours ago, Josef K said:

Four of those clubs played him in the wrong position, if Leeds do the right thing and put him on the wing then he’s odds on for MoS. 

Love it

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

1 hour ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

Be hard to believe Austin wouldn't intend to stay at Leeds if a new contract was thrown his way. He's just bought a house in Roundhay, which he didn't even do in his whole time at Warrington - so there's a lot of incentive for him to do what it takes to get the new deal and it be at Leeds. 

Why would he buy a house in Roundhay while at Warrington? 
 

I agree he’ll want to stay at Leeds beyond 1 year, he’s said so himself, but it does work both ways having only a 1 year deal, it means other Super League clubs can make him an offer for 2023 and beyond, it’s not like he couldn’t commute to several other clubs from Leeds. 

[Barry Badrinath]

5 hours ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

Be hard to believe Austin wouldn't intend to stay at Leeds if a new contract was thrown his way. He's just bought a house in Roundhay, which he didn't even do in his whole time at Warrington - so there's a lot of incentive for him to do what it takes to get the new deal and it be at Leeds. 

Pretty sure he bought a house early last year, he made some talk about getting a property portfolio over here

 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

On 20/01/2022 at 22:55, Leonard said:

Is this like getting pulled off at half time?

Imagine getting pulled off at half time THEN getting shafted after the game.

Got to be mixed emotions for anyone that.....depending on personsal preferences of course

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

On 21/01/2022 at 12:28, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Why would he buy a house in Roundhay while at Warrington? 
 

I agree he’ll want to stay at Leeds beyond 1 year, he’s said so himself, but it does work both ways having only a 1 year deal, it means other Super League clubs can make him an offer for 2023 and beyond, it’s not like he couldn’t commute to several other clubs from Leeds. 

He'll be playing at Huddersfield in 2023....Mark this post 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

On 21/01/2022 at 08:21, Dunbar said:

I'm very keen to see how Austin and Sezer go for Leeds this year.  They are both quality and I think they really compliment each others games.

Ricky Stuart at Canberra has tinkered with the halves since he had these two in there, bring Wighton up to 6 from full back and using several different half backs but arguably not improved the team since the Austin/Sezer partnership (maybe Wighton/Sezer were the best but not by a huge margin).

You need half backs that can work together and add different strengths to the team and I think Sezer with his organisational skills and Austin with his running threat are a very good combination. 

I actually hope they gel .....could be one of the main factors for Leeds (well that and them wasting big money on a SH winger ). I'm desperate for anyone but Saints to win the 3 gongs 

 

[bobbruce]

1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Imagine getting pulled off at half time THEN getting shafted after the game.

Got to be mixed emotions for anyone that.....depending on personsal preferences of course

Rodney Marsh was told at Fulham (I think) that if he doesn’t shape up this week he’s going to get pulled off at half time. He said that’s good at my last club we just got a cup of tea. 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

5 hours ago, bobbruce said:

Rodney Marsh was told at Fulham (I think) that if he doesn’t shape up this week he’s going to get pulled off at half time. He said that’s good at my last club we just got a cup of tea. 

Yeah heard that one before !