Key Blues Re-Sign

By Andrew Collins
February 28 2011

Four top Blues players have signed extensions to their current deals, with Tom James and Sam Warburton being joined by Bradley Davies and Leigh Halfpenny. Plus Nugget is offered one more year...

Warburton was especially proud to be renewing with his hometown club,

"I'm absolutely delighted to be staying here. I'm a Cardiff boy, born and bred, and to be offered and sign a new deal is fantastic. I'm only 22 years old and feel there's a lot more to achieve.

And after my couple of seasons here, I'd love to end up having a testimonial at Cardiff. I absolutely love the club so to be offered a new contract, I was over the moon. I pretty much signed it straight away without any hesitation.”

But his comments on the region’s future will be particularly uplifting to fans,

"I've only been with the seniors for three seasons and with all the young players such as Bradley Davies, Leigh Halfpenny and Tom James, we've got a very bright future.”

His sentiment was echoed this week by Bradley Davies, who, like Leigh halfpenny, have already put pen-to-paper on new deals. The towering second row told WalesOnline,

“The Blues are a side going forward and I am sure they are going to build on the youngsters we have at the region. These are exciting times and I am glad that I am staying.”

And in yet more good news, it appears that Peter Thomas’ comments regarding the future of Martyn Williams were not just downright insensitive, but thankfully inaccurate. theArmsPark.co.uk understands that both Dai Young and Bob Norster spoke to the Golden Nugget to calm the situation and reassure the 36 year old that he would be offered a year extension to his current contract.

However there are growing concerns over the fitness Tom Shanklin and Ben Blair, both of whom may well have already donned their boots for the final time. The duo have been exemplary figures for the region, both on and off the field, earning them hero-status from fans.

Blair, whose two sensational touch-line conversions allowed the Blues a shot at Extra-Time in the Heineken Cup Semi-Final in that oh-so memorable match, has been a model of consistency in his time here. He has been badly missed at full back this season and will be an impossible man to replace.

Shanklin too has been a hugely vital part of all the success the Cardiff Blues have enjoyed over the past few years, and as joint second all-time try scorer, will be another massive loss.