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ST Helens legend Paul Sculthorpe is a possible Reds target
Scull cap on
Dave Lawrenson31/ 7/2008
SALFORD Reds coach Shaun McRae admits that he is considering making a move for Paul Sculthorpe after being made aware of the St Helens star’s availability for next season.
But he has ruled out the possibility of signing St George Illawarra’s Ben Roberts, Wigan’s Liam Colbon, Hull FC’s Graeme Horne and Leeds’ Nick Scruton, who have all been linked with the Salford club over the last week.
Salford’s director of football Steve Simms claims that talk of a move for Sculthorpe is a ‘non-starter’.
But McRae said: "We are aware that Sculthorpe is available but I am not sure about whether or not we will go for him yet. I will have to think about it and talk it over with some other people.
"But what I will say is that you can’t ignore class. You should never ignore a champion athlete and Scully is undoubtedly one of those.
"As for those four players that we have been linked with, none of them will be coming to Salford.
"I think Ben Rogers is staying in Australia, Liam Colbon and Graeme Horne are going somewhere else and Nick Scruton is staying at Leeds."
McRae signed former Great Britain captain and back-to-back Man of Steel winner Sculthorpe when he was Saints’ coach in 1998.
Loose forward Scully is considered to be one of the greatest players that the British game has ever produced and he claims to still have plenty to offer.
But the 31-year-old has been little more than a bit-part player for Saints in recent seasons due to a host of injury problems. And he is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, McRae insists that the Reds have been inundated with overseas interest since being granted a three-year Super League licence last week.
The plan is to sign four more overseas players to complete their maximum quota of eight for next season.
And, with Salford and fellow promoted club Celtic being the only sides with ‘a number of overseas quota spots’ available for next season’s Super League, McRae says that the Reds can afford to take their time with new signing decisions.
"We have four overseas players signed up for next season in Ray Cashmere, Craig Stapleton, Phil Leuluai and John Wilshere so we have room for four more," McRae said. "And there are plenty of good overseas players available.
"We have already identified some that we want to sign and our director of football Steve Simms has been going through three batteries a day as he receives calls from player agents overseas.
"But we can afford to be patient as most of the Super League clubs have already done their overseas business for next year. Ourselves and Celtic are the only clubs with a number of quota spots available."
McRae insists that the Reds will sign no more than 10 players for next season as he is confident that the majority of this year’s troops can make the step up in class.
He said: "This year’s squad is not up to playing in Super League so we need to let some players leave and bring in others of a higher calibre. But most of the players here are good enough to play in Super League so we’re looking to make no more than 10 signings."
Fifteen members of Salford’s squad are already signed up for next season. And McRae revealed that other Reds, believed to include Stefan Ratchford and Adam Sidlow, have been offered deals for the 2009 campaign and are mulling them over.
McRae said: "Some of our players are considering new contract offers but I don’t want to reveal who they are as that would put them under unnecessary pressure. I don’t want to reveal transfer targets we are speaking to either as that would be unfair on the players in question and on their clubs."
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31/07/2008 at 17:49