Newport Bring in Morgan
Newport Gwen Dragons have announced the arrival of Scott Morgan as they held off the attemps of many other clubs to get his signature.
Morgan has been a name that has been mentioned between a number of clubs during this close season and it seems that there were a lot of sides who wanted to sign him.
He is a very good player who has been looking for a new club, and the chance to sign a Welsh international sparked the interest of other rugby clubs looking for a leg up in the coming season. However, it was Newport who finally managed to get him in through the club door and he has signed a long term contract at his new club.
Morgan arrives from Cardiff and has a number of attributes that coaches at Newport have already talked about. These should help him at his new club but it's important to remember that Newport have to bring in more players if they want any chances of success next season.
A Positive Signing
This is a very positive signing for the club because Morgan possesses a number of talents that are going to make him a key player at Newport. He arrives with a wealth of knowledge and experience. He built this up at Cardiff but it means that he can use his knowledge of various situations to improve the shape of the side.
He is a very versatile player in the middle of the pitch and this will help the side out greatly. It means that he can cover in a variety of positions if someone falls out of place during the course of a game. It also means that he can start in different positions if someone picks up an injury.
He has managed to stay very fit during the course of his career. This is important when you consider the fact that he is 31 years of age and is likely to be surrounded by strong and much younger players.
Coach Paul Turner said: "We're delighted that Scott's joined the Dragons. He is an experienced Magners League and Guinness Premiership player and will bring a lot of set-piece nous and experience to our squad."
More Arrivals
Morgan is not the sort of player who will come to a new club and transform it. There have to be additional signings that can compliment the arrival of Morgan if the club want to have any chance of picking up a trophy next season.
Newport badly need a dynamic and fast player in the wide area of the pitch. This would give them extreme width and it would allow them to flow forward with more than one attacking idea. They can switch the ball out wide to a quick wide player who can burst through the smallest of gaps.
The side also need to bring in one more experienced player on the same level as Morgan. This is because he cannot be expected to carry the younger members of the side all by himself when things are not going well. An extra old head in the team would mean that if Morgan or the other player gets injured then it wouldn't make too much difference.
Betting Advice
Be very wary of betting on Morgan as a player next season. He is more likely to be the person setting up the tries and winning the penalties than actually doing the scoring. If you back him to score a lot of points then you will be throwing money away.
Keep an eye on the sort of players that Newport now bring into the club. They are short in at least two areas and if they want success next season then this is an area that they will have to address.
Bedford Gets a New Boot
Bedford have announced the signing of former England Under 18 international, Robin Boot, ahead of the new season.
Bedford have been quietly working away during the close season in the shaddow of bigger sides in the Championship. This is a good move for the 26 year old prop and the club who have a very good outside chance of promotion next season.
However, the club are still short of one or two players in vital areas of the field who will help them go up to the next level. It is very important that the club can attract these players if they want to compete with the power of Bristol and Worcester next season.
Boot has a number of quality attributes that mean he will be a key player in the side ahead of next season. However, his problem seems to be consistency and this is an issue he will have to work on if he wants to help his new team succeed.
Attributes
Boot plays at prop and this makes him a very important player in the middle of the pitch. He is very big and strong and he will have to time tackles and challenges well to bring down opposition attacks.
His ambition is still very high and he has already said on the club;s website that he hopes Bedford can get promoted into the Premiership. It's important that any player can retain that drive in his career because it will give him the feeling that he is always playing for something.
At 26 years of age he still has a few years left to play during his career. He has already built up a good level of knowledge through playing for London Welsh and Bristol at very high standards. This will mean he will already have knowledge about how to deal with a variety of different situations.
Mike Rayer, the Bedford Director of Rugby, said: "Robin was a fringe player at London Welsh last season, but he's a loosehead prop, which is something that we have needed. He has caught our attention for a while and we had some good reports on him when he was out in France."
Consistency
Consistency seems to have been Boot's problem in his career up to now. This is what stopped him from playing a much bigger role at London Welsh who are by no means a small club.
His consistency is only going to improve if he can get fit, stay fit and play a lot of games for his new club. There will be a few mistakes along the way but the point is that Boot has never really had an extended run in any team and therefore hasn't had a chance to be consistent.
If Bedford are going to hold off the challenge from stronger clubs in the Championship next season then they need Bedford to step up. If they can get him in great condition during the close season then it will leave him ideally prepared to attack the Championship when the new season starts.
Advice
Bedford are a punt to win the Championship and gain promotion into the Premiership. Backing them is nothing more than this and you would not be blamed for holding off to see how they start the season.
Boot is likely to play a big role in the team but it will not come in the attacking half of the field. He will not score many, if any, points and tries because his main job will be to hold the team together and fight off any attacks.
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