Top of Celtic Crusaders' Super League shopping list - Shane Williams ?

Poor old Widnes. In days of yore and the sight of Doug Laughton and his chequebook would spark fear and trembling in the Welsh valleys, the Chemics could pluck a Jonathan Davies or John Devereux from the Welsh rugby union bosom. Significantly, these two gentlemen were to the fore in lauding Celtic Crusaders' successful Super League licence application. Widnes, the great cup kings of the seventies and eighties, missed the original Super League cut in 1996 and have ended up disapppointed again, three years after their relegation that paved the way for the Catalans Dragons. What is it with the RFL and Widnes ? Do they not like this particular corner of Cheshire ?

Two decades on from Widnes's pilfering of leading Welsh players and it is now up to the Crusaders to show that they can poach a major rugby union signing, for that is where interest, credibility and real public relations clout exists in Wales. Naturally Shane Williams (above) has been mentioned and Celtic coach John Dixon has praised the wing whizz's qualities that could transfer to league. Indeed, any one of Wales's 2008 Grand Slam heroes would do the PR trick, even if the financial cost would appear to rule out such a move at this stage. Celtic, nonetheless, need to move (bread of) heaven and earth, for as astute a signing as Iestyn Harris would be as a player-coach, is he really going to cut the mustard with the Welsh rugby public ?

Wales had missed the Super League boat twice but not a third time, and the modern progressive line to take is that there is room for both codes in the Principality. That is all well and good if you can rely on a dual-code audience. But as the league experience at Harlequins and union experience at Headingley both demonstate, supporters will support one code or the other, rarely both. Somehow the Crusaders have to change that culture and it will be a lot simpler with names familiar in union circles, supported by locally-produced players.

The good news is that they've got three years. But they have little time to waste as Salford's signing of North Queensland forward Ray Cashmere, within 24 hours of their successful licence application, highlighted. The race is on for a competitive squad and Celtic have to fire up the Welsh people and loosen some of union's grip on the public consciousness in time for their big Super League entry next February, otherwise 2009 could be a long old haul.

Whatever is said, the RFL has gambled on Bridgend, at the expense of Widnes and Leigh, and just because Catalans are coming good on the field, does not automatically mean to say that the Crusaders will be reaching Wembley in 2010 or challenging in the top three in 2011. The odds are stacked against them, but if Celtic could somehow entice the "Great Entertainer" in Shane Williams to the Brewery Field, what a start it would be for the Bridgend boyos.

Dixon told the Western Mail: "Shane has got qualities which suggests he could play both codes. The only question mark would be over his defence but the way he dealt with that big Irish winger Shane Horgan during the Six Nations championship shows he can handle himself. We all know Shane Williams is a devastating attacker who can beat defenders. Dealing with cross-kicks, because of his size and the frequency with which they are used in league, could be the only issue. But I don’t think it would be too much of a problem."

Comments

[lee churchman]

i think the way forward for all rugby league clubs is youth development.
i think in CC case they will have to sign some young union welsh union players for starters to show the welsh public that they want to be seen as a welsh club and not a pension fund for over the hill aussies.
i know at the moment they are developing junior players but the whole process will take time, so the sighing of a few young welsh union players would help give the club the welsh identity i think it needs.

[lee churchman]

i think the way forward for all rugby league clubs is youth development.
i think in CC case they will have to sign some young union welsh union players for starters to show the welsh public that they want to be seen as a welsh club and not a pension fund for over the hill aussies.
i know at the moment they are developing junior players but the whole process will take time, so the sighing of a few young welsh union players would help give the club the welsh identity i think it needs.

[Arts and Farces]

Shane who...!! The Welsh have had so many attempts to introduce League in the past. In the early nineteen hundreds they had a very healthy League, although eventually undermined by the Union. Also several other failures. I believe that Union is in their psyche, and League is not for them.

[Roger D'Arcy]

Bridgend fear death of rugby union!
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports/rugby-league-news/2008/07/24/rugby-crusaders-could-spell-end-for-bridgend-91466-21393628/

[Steffy]

A welsh union international would cost a lot of money and there is no guarantee he would be any good at rugby league so why bother?

[michael]

i imagine a CC raid on a welsh union player will be pretty unlikely, certainly at the top level.. the CC presence now means young players have another option other than union, if anything in the coming years it will probably be the WRU looking to poach a young welsh CC player..

nicking RU players isnt the way to go at all in my opinion. breed your own. if the CC are competitive the welsh RL public will support them..

[mike hunt]

I would like to take this opportunity to wish the Crusaders all the worst in Superleague, you will end up bottom and once the novelty wears off you will have no support either., and hopefully fade away into a the RL graveyard with all the rest!

[Bill]

williams should stay in the NH .. the SH use of the elv's will quickly phase out a man of his relatively diminuative stature.. he needs space (less than most admittedly) to work his magic..and the current elv makeup reduces that.

[lee churchman]

i wish celtic crusaders all the best in super league.

[heywood jablowme]

Will the welsh team actually have any "real" welsh men in their squad?
maybe 1 or 2 but i bet they wont make the starting 17 very often.
An embarrassing farce for rugby league.

[Smitty]

Celtic MUST sign a top union player in Wales. If not they'll get virtually ignored, especially if they're getting their backsides kicked from Hull to Warrington. They'll try but wont get Williams but you can see why they're interested. He's high profile and a heck of a player.

[LondonLouis]

As a matter of interest, how cashed up is Welsh Union compared with the English code? I occasionally catch a bit of the Magners League which leaves me with the impression of clubs playing in relatively old stadia, and no real sense of a code which is on the move. ..... and, as we know, the Celtic Crusaders came about because the Welsh felt they could not support five main clubs.

It seems plausible that the Crusaders will be able to attract some Union internationals who are coming to the end of their international careers. The interesting challenge will be seeing if they can attract good 23 year olds who have a potential international career ahead of them. Can a SuperLeague club offer them a high enough salary to be tempting.

[Incidentally: I find the next stage of this posting exercise very trying: the distorted figures are genuinely very difficult to distinguish. I know they are designed to confuse robots, but they also sometimes conduse me. I'm sure I've seen other systems like this which are easier to read}

[Daniel]

The Crusaders should not go chasing after high-profile Welsh RU players, but if, on the other hand, one or two made an approach to them, and shewed the requisite potential, it might be worth considering.