And now are you glad we have signed Ben Hunt ?

[2010]

I'm glad Hunt is coming. I wish Dugan was staying also. Going to be a big loss

 

[Dakink]

I'm looking forward to Hunt coming. How we cover our losses will most certainly influence both our halves performances.

 

[Lewish33]

Recruiting seems to be at a standstill.

Lost 2 very important players, still a fair few to be re-signed, if they will be that is. And all we've gained is Hunt.

Not sure what we're saving the $$ for that were offered to Dugan and Packer, but you can't use that money to buy Crownies.

Thinking Millward's run out of textas for his whiteboard.

 

[possm]

Recruiting seems to be at a standstill.

Lost 2 very important players, still a fair few to be re-signed, if they will be that is. And all we've gained is Hunt.

Not sure what we're saving the $$ for that were offered to Dugan and Packer, but you can't use that money to buy Crownies.

Thinking Millward's run out of textas for his whiteboard.

The trouble is we don't know the deals Millward did when retaining our other forwards. In short the cap goes up approx. 2m in 2018. Hunt comes in for approx. 1m and Widdop upgraded for an extra 200k, juniors and Aiken retained but Dugan and Packer let go.

So how much is left?

 

[TomRedVRiver]

Recruiting seems to be at a standstill.

Lost 2 very important players, still a fair few to be re-signed, if they will be that is. And all we've gained is Hunt.

Not sure what we're saving the $$ for that were offered to Dugan and Packer, but you can't use that money to buy Crownies.

Thinking Millward's run out of textas for his whiteboard.

I think we'll see Mann/Hutch re-signed in the next few weeks and a new forward to replace Packer shortly after that. Millward has made it clear they're active trying to find a replacement.

The ball is in Hutch and Mann's court at the moment, there are offers on the table for the both of them. The club has made it clear that Mann is a big part of their plans for the future so I doubt they'll let him slip without a fight.
The club can only move as fast as the players take to make up their minds.

 

[coast_dragons]

Its simple if clubs have no idea what the salary cap is going to be how on earth are they to know what they have left to spend.

Lots of clubs are holding off on new signings aswell as re-signings its not just the Dragons in that boat.

Just because the Tigers are signing players that isn't an indication of anything other then they have to they have no choice and honestly look at who they have signed and what they have paid them.

Packer overs
Matulino overs
Reynolds seriously overs
McQueen overs
Founa, Thompson and Milne not even estbalished first graders

Until the NRL makes a decison on the cap its a waiting game.

 

[possm]

Its simple if clubs have no idea what the salary cap is going to be how on earth are they to know what they have left to spend.

Lots of clubs are holding off on new signings aswell as re-signings its not just the Dragons in that boat.

Just because the Tigers are signing players that isn't an indication of anything other then they have to they have no choice and honestly look at who they have signed and what they have paid them.

Packer overs
Matulino overs
Reynolds seriously overs
McQueen overs
Founa, Thompson and Milne not even estbalished first graders

Until the NRL makes a decison on the cap its a waiting game.

The cap is estimated to a least go up by 2m, between Dugan and Packer there has to be at least another million. That's 3 million up.
Hunt aprrox 1m
Widdop 200k
Upgrades?
Juniors?

There has to be a least 1m left with no replacements like for like or better for the fullback spot or run on prop.
Spin it how you like. Twist and squirm but at the end of the day it's a mess, a Millward mess.

 

[Crush]

The cap is estimated to a least go up by 2m, between Dugan and Packer there has to be at least another million. That's 3 million up.
Hunt aprrox 1m
Widdop 200k
Upgrades?
Juniors?

There has to be a least 1m left with no replacements like for like or better for the fullback spot or run on prop.
Spin it how you like. Twist and squirm but at the end of the day it's a mess, a Millward mess.

MESS
I
L
L
W
A
R
D

 

[MilanDragon]

The cap is estimated to a least go up by 2m, between Dugan and Packer there has to be at least another million. That's 3 million up.
Hunt aprrox 1m
Widdop 200k
Upgrades?
Juniors?

There has to be a least 1m left with no replacements like for like or better for the fullback spot or run on prop.
Spin it how you like. Twist and squirm but at the end of the day it's a mess, a Millward mess.

So be it the cap is going up by 2M we assume. I reckon Dugan+packer would've been maybe 900k max- surely we wouldn't have paid packer much off base as he just came out of jail.

So let's say allowing for Hunt, Widdop and some extensions we are left with 1.5M which on the surface is a lot.

However you start looking into that figure it's not really too much. As you have to have an extra 4 players in your cap @ 120k each, there goes the first 480k, so you're left with 1M.

I'm not making any decisions until I know exactly what it is when you only have wiggle room of maybe a couple hundred thousand.

Millward has done the right thing not rushing in. The only club that has gone out and recruited big is the tigers who lost their main 4 - which by the way is a mess!

Other than that what other clubs have been recruiting?

 

[MilanDragon]

Also the storm lose Cronk who'd be let's say 700k or more plus get the same cap increase as us but have they recruited anyone of note??

Patience Possm, patience

 

[thebigredv]

Let's have a look:

Extended Paul Vaughn's contract - Check, You little beauty!


Resigned Paul McGregor - Check (2 wins in last seven games)
Signed Packer's replacement - Nope
Replaced Dugan - Nope, and not going to
Resigned Mann - Nope

Pretty lousy

 

[possm]

So be it the cap is going up by 2M we assume. I reckon Dugan+packer would've been maybe 900k max- surely we wouldn't have paid packer much off base as he just came out of jail.

So let's say allowing for Hunt, Widdop and some extensions we are left with 1.5M which on the surface is a lot.

However you start looking into that figure it's not really too much. As you have to have an extra 4 players in your cap @ 120k each, there goes the first 480k, so you're left with 1M.

I'm not making any decisions until I know exactly what it is when you only have wiggle room of maybe a couple hundred thousand.

Millward has done the right thing not rushing in. The only club that has gone out and recruited big is the tigers who lost their main 4 - which by the way is a mess!

Other than that what other clubs have been recruiting?

You have included 4 extras at base level, did you also include maybe Milne, Mosoe and any of the other fringe first grade players we are letting go in November?

I'm sure we have plenty of cap but Millward can't land the players we want.
Mess

 

[Gareth67]

The trouble is we don't know the deals Millward did when retaining our other forwards. In short the cap goes up approx. 2m in 2018. Hunt comes in for approx. 1m and Widdop upgraded for an extra 200k, juniors and Aiken retained but Dugan and Packer let go.

So how much is left?

I don't have any idea Possum , but I do know one thing - it's a bluudy mess ! !

 

[coast_dragons]

if i type in blue is it a messem to.

 

[Old Timer]

So be it the cap is going up by 2M we assume. I reckon Dugan+packer would've been maybe 900k max- surely we wouldn't have paid packer much off base as he just came out of jail.

So let's say allowing for Hunt, Widdop and some extensions we are left with 1.5M which on the surface is a lot.

However you start looking into that figure it's not really too much. As you have to have an extra 4 players in your cap @ 120k each, there goes the first 480k, so you're left with 1M.

I'm not making any decisions until I know exactly what it is when you only have wiggle room of maybe a couple hundred thousand.

Millward has done the right thing not rushing in. The only club that has gone out and recruited big is the tigers who lost their main 4 - which by the way is a mess!

Other than that what other clubs have been recruiting?

Bronco's - Bird
Dogs - Foran, Woods
Knights - Pongya + a few more
Easts - Tedesco
Balmain - Packer
Sharks - Dugan
Souths - Gagai
All of the above done after the Hunt deal I think.
All high profile and significant $$$

 

[WardyRedV]

Bronco's - Bird
Dogs - Foran, Woods
Knights - Pongya + a few more
Easts - Tedesco
Balmain - Packer
Sharks - Dugan
Souths - Gagai
All of the above done after the Hunt deal I think.
All high profile and significant $$$

Those teams have lost players as well though. They're in the same boat as us although you would think Knights would have a treasure chest full of money. They couldn't attract mosquitos in summer.

 

[MilanDragon]

Bronco's - Bird
Dogs - Foran, Woods
Knights - Pongya + a few more
Easts - Tedesco
Balmain - Packer
Sharks - Dugan
Souths - Gagai
All of the above done after the Hunt deal I think.
All high profile and significant $$$

Perfect! I was waiting for someone to point those other signings. Besides the Dogs and I guess Knights but really to a lesser extent do you notice it's essentially one player per club?

No one is recruiting 'big' beyond that due to uncertainty of the cap

 

[MilanDragon]

You have included 4 extras at base level, did you also include maybe Milne, Mosoe and any of the other fringe first grade players we are letting go in November?

I'm sure we have plenty of cap but Millward can't land the players we want.
Mess

No but if I do they all need to be replaced. And some of them will need to be bumped up from 80k to 120k, so even less money in the cap.

Don't forget every player that leaves needs to be replaced, plus 4 extras if they are going to 30 man squads. So even if the NRL does increase the cap by 2mil, minimum 480k goes to those other 4 positions. Then let's say there is another 4-5 on base contracts they need an upgrade of 80k each so we are looking at about 800k on reaching minimum squad size with contract $$

Therefore 'net' salary cap increase is only 1.2mil

 

[possm]

No but if I do they all need to be replaced. And some of them will need to be bumped up from 80k to 120k, so even less money in the cap.

Don't forget every player that leaves needs to be replaced, plus 4 extras if they are going to 30 man squads. So even if the NRL does increase the cap by 2mil, minimum 480k goes to those other 4 positions. Then let's say there is another 4-5 on base contracts they need an upgrade of 80k each so we are looking at about 800k on reaching minimum squad size with contract $$

Therefore 'net' salary cap increase is only 1.2mil

Identified juniors such as Leilua, Host, Sele, Kerr, Lawrie, Herbert, Field, Dufty and some others would all be taking spots in the top 30 and most of these spots previously occupied by fringe first graders or failed juniors who were most probably on higher salary or at least equal to the new minimum salary.

At the bottom level, Millward knows who he is letting go to make way for the juniors he has signed. I assume it would be close to a neutral cost within the squad. However, the loss of Dugan, Packer and Milne for example are well above minimum salary and together with the cap rise it stands to reason that there should be sufficient capacity to replace these players within our current cap balance for 2018.

So who is Millward replacing Dugan with? Who is Millward replacing Packer with and who is Millward replacing Milne with? To date no one has been identified from outside the Club for any of these positions. If we don't replace with like for like or better, we diminish the gains we achieve in recruiting Hunt and upgrading Widdop/forwards.

What is the point of letting go Dugan and Packer when if kept along with the recruitment of Hunt, we would have a very competitive squad for 2018. With a top coach, maybe we could have even won the GF in 2018.
It's a mess, an avoidable mess, a Millward mess.

 

[MilanDragon]

Identified juniors such as Leilua, Host, Sele, Kerr, Lawrie, Herbert, Field, Dufty and some others would all be taking spots in the top 30 and most of these spots previously occupied by fringe first graders or failed juniors who were most probably on higher salary or at least equal to the new minimum salary.

At the bottom level, Millward knows who he is letting go to make way for the juniors he has signed. I assume it would be close to a neutral cost within the squad. However, the loss of Dugan, Packer and Milne for example are well above minimum salary and together with the cap rise it stands to reason that there should be sufficient capacity to replace these players within our current cap balance for 2018.

So who is Millward replacing Dugan with? Who is Millward replacing Packer with and who is Millward replacing Milne with? To date no one has been identified from outside the Club for any of these positions. If we don't replace with like for like or better, we diminish the gains we achieve in recruiting Hunt and upgrading Widdop/forwards.

What is the point of letting go Dugan and Packer when if kept along with the recruitment of Hunt, we would have a very competitive squad for 2018. With a top coach, maybe we could have even won the GF in 2018.
It's a mess, an avoidable mess, a Millward mess.

I take your point about the juniors being on minimum salary and the fringe first graders. That parts probably going to equal itself out, but we still have to add in 4, which is 480k.

Anyway my point has been more around why we aren't rushing out to sign more players until we know the cap amount. It'd be irresponsible to do so. Millward did say very early this season they were being cautious with the cap until they knew the figure.

Let's say hypothetically Hunt replaces Dugan plus Packers salary.

That leaves 2mil increase - 480k - 200k for Widdop and a few other extensions. We still only have about 1mil to play with. Which is why I wouldn't be rushing out until I know the exact figure.

Part of the planning may also be going with they know they will need to upgrade Mccinnes in a year along with Dufty, field and a few others, so leaving cap space for that.

And please don't say we will have room with Nighty going as he is our only eligible exempt player so doubt he takes anything off our cap or not much at all