2026 Retentions and recruitment rumours.

[Magicman]

As regards retention its already been announced that longtime servant james saltonstall has retired. Alongside this its been rumoured that woody , tangata and jouffret are to leave .

It is also rumoured that brandon douglas is been sought after given is stellar season is unsurprising.

On the flip side mccarron has had a change of heart given Featherstones financial plight is understandable. 

David nofoaluma is interested in staying, I guess its a case of getting the right financial package. 

Its been reported that young darius carter will be joining from Huddersfield Alongside bayley lui from Bradford.

[Ilkley Fax]

3 hours ago, Magicman said:

As regards retention its already been announced that longtime servant james saltonstall has retired. Alongside this its been rumoured that woody , tangata and jouffret are to leave .

It is also rumoured that brandon douglas is been sought after given is stellar season is unsurprising.

On the flip side mccarron has had a change of heart given Featherstones financial plight is understandable. 

David nofoaluma is interested in staying, I guess its a case of getting the right financial package. 

Its been reported that young darius carter will be joining from Huddersfield Alongside bayley lui from Bradford.

With all the financial uncertainty surrounding so many clubs think a lot of players will be reconsidering planned moves - would be delighted if we retain McCarron as a result. Tangata has had his best season for a few years, would be sorry to see him go. Would love to be able to tie down Douglas for a couple of years - he's been the most destructive forward we've had for a long time - similarly Nofoaluma who got better with every game here - would not be surprised to see both snapped up by one of the teams going up. Hopefully the club start drip feeding news on new/resignings soon to maintain the feelgood factor that the last few games of the season produced 

[Madeinyorkshire]

Wouldn’t mind Tangata staying on he just loves playing for fax  but it’s a must trying to keep nofoaluma he is bums on seats player would like Douglas to stay too but think he could be tempted by others ,

[Indigogo]

Nice to see some people posting on the Fax forum!

I'd heard a rumour that Zak McComb could be coming to Keighley. No idea if there's any truth to it.

[Magicman]

Great to see a few joining , so refreshing to be able to post without the glitchy add filled rl fans nonsense. Heard ben forster from oldham could be on his way back , he never got a chance in his first stint at Fax but hes deffo got potential. 

[bamfordsbeans]

The extra 2 teams in SL for next season will surely have an impact.

[Indigogo]

4 hours ago, bamfordsbeans said:

The extra 2 teams in SL for next season will surely have an impact.

I would say it'll have a huge impact, for a few reasons.

Say York, Bradford and London are in SL next season. There's going to be a good number of players that aren't wanting to go full time next season, so will likely be on the look out for new clubs. There's also going to be a number of overseas players that aren't likely to make the step up to SL level, the clubs in SL will want to make use of the 10 quota spots best they can and it's probably their best chance of having a competitive squad in SL.

You then have the trickle down effect of those players coming into the Championship. Where are those players based and are they willing to play for clubs that are perhaps close to where they currently live/play but don't have the same resources as their current club?

Looking at the Championship for 2026 - who are the big spenders likely to be? You'd have to say Oldham and then one of the clubs that don't obtain a SL position for 2026. Other than that it appears to be creating a much more open market, L1 clubs from 2025 like Midlands, Goole and Crusaders appear to be recruiting "Championship" standard players. Not all these players that will leave (maybe) Bradford, York and London can land at Oldham's door, and i think the knock on effect of that will mean that some players will have to take a pay cut, in turn this will make clubs that don't have historically huge budgets much more viable and competitive in the market. I'd also caveat that there's much less incentive for clubs to spend huge amounts on the playing squad, there's no relegation to L1 and as far as we know, currently no promotion to SL (though this surely has to change to give clubs something to aim for?!)

There's still so much up in the air though. Until the RFL decide who is in SL (if Toulouse go up that obviously impacts all of the above, as London will likely be spending big next season withe their new ownership), we don't really know how it will impact clubs and the market. I'd say signings and retentions probably quiet down for the next 10 days until that decision is made by the RFL and clubs know how to plan for 2026 and beyond.

[Magicman]

Widnes have already signed two quality players in gee and Abdul, there's also a few Salford players who will be looking for new places to play , not sure on our finances but with a big clear out it could be a significant different squad next season. 

[Ainley Top]

Keeping the likes of Brandon Douglas is paramount for our club. If he goes what message will that send out to our supporters? The team did fantastically well towards the end of the season, put JWH  and Tangata in the team at York and we would very possibly have reached the GF, build on that and who knows what the club can achieve? The club are trying to sell season tickets and good luck with that, but we don't even know the league format yet, let alone who will be playing for us. Personally after years of being a season holder i won't be getting one this time but will pick and chose games. Hopefully I go to most matches.

[Magicman]

The brandon douglas one is a frustrating one as he has a superleague clause in a contract albeit with a release fee , alot of that will depend on what happens next week with the img/independent panel debacle. 

[Magicsponge]

Would be great to keep Mccarron,again it shows the nonsense of early contracts...think we can all agree on what players need retaining but i'd like to hear a statement from the board as we seem to go through endless appointments,resignations and fire-fighting.

[Ilkley Fax]

4 hours ago, Magicman said:

The brandon douglas one is a frustrating one as he has a superleague clause in a contract albeit with a release fee , alot of that will depend on what happens next week with the img/independent panel debacle. 

Is Douglas then still contracted for next season - thought he came on a 2 year deal 2 years ago. Him and Nofoaluma are for me the 2 critical ones we need to tie down if possible 

[Magicsponge]

Thought he signed an extension,early part of this season ?

[Magicman]

3 hours ago, Magicsponge said:

Thought he signed an extension,early part of this season ?

He did but his head has been turned by offers from two clubs who are tipped to be in superleague next year and he has a clause in his contract for superleague.  It will depend on whether the business he runs with his part time rugby is more or less financially than a proposed full time contract. 

[Magicman]

6 hours ago, Ilkley Fax said:

Is Douglas then still contracted for next season - thought he came on a 2 year deal 2 years ago. Him and Nofoaluma are for me the 2 critical ones we need to tie down if possible 

I think matt shaw reported he had re-signed but I've heard he has been targeted by two clubs vying for superleague. 

[Boots]

2 hours ago, Magicman said:

I think matt shaw reported he had re-signed but I've heard he has been targeted by two clubs vying for superleague. 

Signed a new 2 year deal in February of this year.

https://www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk/news/halifax-panthers-tie-down-standout-999770

[Magicman]

6 hours ago, Boots said:

Signed a new 2 year deal in February of this year.

https://www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk/news/halifax-panthers-tie-down-standout-999770

Thanks for that , yep hes signed a new deal but within that is a superleague clause a bit like when walmsley got turned by Wakefield a couple of years ago.

[Ainley Top]

58 minutes ago, Magicman said:

Thanks for that , yep hes signed a new deal but within that is a superleague clause a bit like when walmsley got turned by Wakefield a couple of years ago.

...and there we have it. Our once proud famous club reduced to this. Hopefully, this doesn't materialise but it's not for me.

[Magicman]

9 minutes ago, Ainley Top said:

...and there we have it. Our once proud famous club reduced to this. Hopefully, this doesn't materialise but it's not for me.

Trust me it gets worse , hence why I nearly put my foot through the tv , ultimately its all rumour at this point . Ultimately we are always gonna be poached just as we poach Whitehaven for walmsley, jouffret , mccarron etc until someone comes in with some brass it will always be the same , even that doesn't guarantee success, look at fev and look how we beat oldham.

[Boots]

4 hours ago, Magicman said:

Thanks for that , yep hes signed a new deal but within that is a superleague clause a bit like when walmsley got turned by Wakefield a couple of years ago.

Just clarifying whether he’d been retained and correct about the clause and for most championship players who have any sort of ability there will be one with there current club should a Super League club show interest and they want to go.

At least the club quickly moved to tie him down as much as they could when for a time before that there was doubt he might not play again because of his hand injury.

You know all this but for a point of discussion.

Not always that straight forward either when the player in question is currently part time with a day job or business because whatever the full time club is offering will have to include the amount of the release clause and at least match or better what they are on now playing part time plus their job income.

Bradford are one of the clubs showing interest and their facing that situation now with a few who are part time Joe Keyes for example saying he would need a lot more to go full time.

Only other option is for the clubs to allow a few part timers or the player takes a cut just to play Super League.

Wakefield and Walmsley was slightly different with the dispute being centred around their Super League status at the time of the approach because of being relegated.

On the one hand they claimed they were but refused to meet the release clause which was a bit of a contradiction and showed the level of their integrity. Fax refused to budge and it was due to go to tribunal Walmsley ended up paying for the release himself.

Wakefield got him, Fax got some money and he got another full season in the Championship and a number of games in SL and although doing fairly well when being picked but is still at best third choice behind the likes of Johnstone, Russell, Myers and others!

In this case the clubs will have to be Super League next year and 16th will be an interesting date to watch for generally and nearer to home for Fax.

Edited October 8 by Boots
Spelling

[Magicman]

43 minutes ago, Boots said:

Just clarifying whether he’d been retained and correct about the clause and for most championship players who have any sort of ability there will be one with there current club should a Super League club show interest and they want to go.

At least the club quickly moved to tie him down as much as they could when for a time before that there was doubt he might not play again because of his hand injury.

You know all this but for a point of discussion.

Not always that straight forward either when the player in question is currently part time with a day job or business because whatever the full time club is offering will have to include the amount of the release clause and at least match or better what they are on now playing part time plus their job income.

Bradford are one of the clubs showing interest and their facing that situation now with a few who are part time Joe Keyes for example saying he would need a lot more to go full time.

Only other option is for the clubs to allow a few part timers or the player takes a cut just to play Super League.

Wakefield and Walmsley was slightly different with the dispute being centred around their Super League status at the time of the approach because of being relegated.

On the one hand they claimed they were but refused to meet the release clause which was a bit of a contradiction and showed the level of their integrity. Fax refused to budge and it was due to go to tribunal Walmsley ended up paying for the release himself.

Wakefield got him, Fax got some money and he got another full season in the Championship and a number of games in SL and although doing fairly well when being picked but is still at best third choice behind the likes of Johnstone, Russell, Myers and others!

In this case the clubs will have to be Super League next year and 16th will be an interesting date to watch for generally and nearer to home for Fax.

Yep the 16th is an interesting date , not just for this ramification but availability for other players who do not wish to go full-time i assume. 

[Magicsponge]

Anyone know when contracts expire and a released player date.A few need shipping obviously and do we then have a similar,small but workable budget as last season ?

[Boots]

1 hour ago, Magicsponge said:

Anyone know when contracts expire and a released player date.A few need shipping obviously and do we then have a similar,small but workable budget as last season ?

Another let’s say positive thing and players coming and going under Eastmond.

On incoming’s he’s already proved he won’t just accept anybody and he either knows something about them or does due diligence so subject to finances he’ll get the best he can.

On outgoings the likes of Woody, Loui, Tangata and if it comes to it Douglas will have been on reasonable contracts relatively speaking which should give him / the club some room to recruit.

[Ainley Top]

17 minutes ago, Boots said:

Another let’s say positive thing and players coming and going under Eastmond.

On incoming’s he’s already proved he won’t just accept anybody and he either knows something about them or does due diligence so subject to finances he’ll get the best he can.

On outgoings the likes of Woody, Loui, Tangata and if it comes to it Douglas will have been on reasonable contracts relatively speaking which should give him / the club some room to recruit.

Lose them four and the coach will need to be a miracle worker️

[Beaver 535]

Good to be on a forum that doesn't take 2 years to read a post. Here is a bit of gossip i heard at the Oldham game.

Woody, Jouffret, Tangata all going to play in France.

Close your ears Calcott to the Bulls.

We are trying to sign Alfie Johnson permanently. Plus Dan Okoro and finally we are looking at Riley Dean but if Oldham want to keep him they have more brass so unlikely to happen.