Rumoured & Confirmed Signings - Part 5

[The yak]

Yak the savant. Am I winning the Lotto this week mate? Let me know.

You have a better chance at winning than @murraymob

 

[Black Diamond]

I'm glad we didn't get Fafita. He looks like a fool after his antics. He pretty much f*cked over 3 clubs, not the stuff Panther boys are made of.

 

[murraymob]

You have a better chance at winning than @murraymob

I will drive past you in the Ferrari and wave as I flaunt the winnings

 

[Kilkenny]

I'm glad we didn't get Fafita. He looks like a fool after his antics. He pretty much f*cked over 3 clubs, not the stuff Panther boys are made of.

If your club is going to recruit a player on a three year $850k a season deal it would be nice to think he is totally committed to the cause and buying into your clubs culture.

It is now obvious that was never the case with David Fifita and I tend to think we were played, I could be wrong. We were most likely used in the first instance, the Roosters felt he would be someone to reestablish there superiority and as it turned out a matter of days after it was announced he was going to the Roosters he back flips, as he is entitled to do. Turns out winning a premiership wasn’t the most important thing after all.

 

[Fangs]

Raiders were also used btw. Fifita spoke to them a couple times.

If Sydney wasn't good enough for him then I highly doubt Canberra was a serious destination either.

 

[martielang]

Still a relatively young bloke who doesn’t seem like the sharpest tool.

Probably had his management pulling him one way in their best interests, his family pressuring him the other, his team is losing which influenced his thinking, and the clause made it so he had to act.

I genuinely don’t think there was an orchestrated plan to play anyone. It’s the worst PR move in the world if it was.

 

[Westernised Panther]

Strange and Sanders will both be sub-50 games by the start of 2026. Still very green (Pun intended).

But their younger players are looking really good. They've been quite competitive and in the top 8 for 4 of the last 5 seasons (Including a grand final). That type of consistency will bring them success eventually.

It’s probably a large part of the reason why Sticky has been signed on until 2029

 

[Kilkenny]

Still a relatively young bloke who doesn’t seem like the sharpest tool.

Probably had his management pulling him one way in their best interests, his family pressuring him the other, his team is losing which influenced his thinking, and the clause made it so he had to act.

I genuinely don’t think there was an orchestrated plan to play anyone. It’s the worst PR move in the world if it was.

I think there has to be personal accountability and integrity regardless of placing faith in your agent or manager.

He has form, given what happened previously around his time at the Broncos and subsequent departure.

if you look at the business dealings around our club and our departures, there have been many over the course of this past four seasons at the very least the departing players have conducted themselves with some dignity other than KikAU’s photo in his bulldogs polo and Spencer with his infamous comment. But no real circus, we made offers, the departing players chose to go elsewhere for ‘money’. That’s how it is. They didn’t leave to win premierships, because living in SW Sydney was a more desirable place to live it was all about the money and no different with Fifita.

 

[age.s]

Still a relatively young bloke who doesn’t seem like the sharpest tool.

Probably had his management pulling him one way in their best interests, his family pressuring him the other, his team is losing which influenced his thinking, and the clause made it so he had to act.

I genuinely don’t think there was an orchestrated plan to play anyone. It’s the worst PR move in the world if it was.

Yeah I get that angle, but the guy kinda has form at this point.

 

[Original Name]

Trey Mooney has re-signed with the Raiders

He's a good young player but we need more experienced props entering their prime or in it if we're going to buy one. He's not quite Tino or Hass who were some of the best props around as teenagers. Apart from those sort of exceptions you need years to develop as into a truly elite prop and the club wants to win a premiership every year not in 3 or 4 years time.

If you're going to buy a prospect we might as well buy a kid who hasn't even played NRL yet because they'll be way cheaper.

 

[Hamstring awareness]

View attachment 87995

 

[BossleyPanther]

He's a good young player but we need more experienced props entering their prime or in it if we're going to buy one. He's not quite Tino or Hass who were some of the best props around as teenagers. Apart from those sort of exceptions you need years to develop as into a truly elite prop and the club wants to win a premiership every year not in 3 or 4 years time.

If you're going to buy a prospect we might as well buy a kid who hasn't even played NRL yet because they'll be way cheaper.

There isn't much around off contract.
I have this feeling we going to end up with a stop gap player in the likes of Twal or even Klimmer

 

[Bred not Bought]

There isn't much around off contract.
I have this feeling we going to end up with a stop gap player in the likes of Twal or even Klimmer

Neither should be at our club.
Twal is a pillow.
Klemmer is a hotheaded ref abuser.
We just need to be patient.

 

[Bred not Bought]

Gould probably had it right last week when he said Fifita was a confused young man.
The last 2 weeks he has had people in his ear pulling him in every direction.
Given his past flip flopping, his backflip didn't completely surprise me.

I am glad it happened to the Roosters and not us.

 

[Iamback]

Just pay Nathan $2m next year and load up for 2026

 

[kinghippo]

It will amuse me if they lose Angus & Sittili as well. Uncle Nick arranging for a horses head to be hidden in Dave's bed about now.

This would be hilarious, Both players must be feeling pretty disrespected. There was a fair bit of talk of Angus going to rugby at the start of the year, the Roosters must have been dragging their heels or low balling him.

 

[MugaB]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

 

[MugaB]

Still a relatively young bloke who doesn’t seem like the sharpest tool.

Probably had his management pulling him one way in their best interests, his family pressuring him the other, his team is losing which influenced his thinking, and the clause made it so he had to act.

I genuinely don’t think there was an orchestrated plan to play anyone. It’s the worst PR move in the world if it was.

Yeah his manager will never see another club ever again.... don't gimme that shit again will ya! Remember what you did with fafita!!

 

[age.s]

I am glad it happened to the Roosters and not us.

Obviously it wouldn't have been ideal, but his signing was much more destabilising for the Roosters than it would have been for us. For us it was simple. Fish out, Fifi in. A potential positional change or two but everyone currently in the pack could reasonably have expected to play a similar role next year as they do currently. If we have to withdraw our offer, there probably hasn't been a whole lot set in motion behind the scenes that has to be cleaned up. Different question for the Roosters where his signing cascaded into having to completely re-tool their squad, to the point of having to shift contracted players.

Similarly, I don't think it's too Panthers centric to suggest he'd have been less likely to backflip on us, again given his signing had a clear purpose and wasn't going to be a destabilising one. Many people in the League (not just us here on Panther LU) world have commented that he made the wrong decision in choosing them over us, perhaps him realising it too was part of the subtext here.

 

[The yak]

I will drive past you in the Ferrari and wave as I flaunt the winnings

This car is more to your image and winnings