Widdop or Dugan? and who replaces them?

[possm]

Mate, I think you mean Michael Gordon.
And no thanks to him, would rather have Nighty on a 1yr deal at f/b (cost us nothing given the long term player exemption) and re-sign Mann.

Yes your right. I had a boss many many years ago call Michael Morgan with a wife called Val - Val Morgan.

The good thing about signing Gordon is that he would only be wanting short term, he is playing very well this year and his goal kicking is first class.

 

[MilanDragon]

There's 4 scenarios here.

1 - they both sign. Happy days.

2 - neither sign. Then I'm thinking Field should definitely get a crack at one of the roles and potentially Mann at the other.

3. Dugan signs, Widdop leaves. Blood Field, we would still have 3/4 key positions covered and Field might just provide the X factor.

4. Widdop signs, Dugan leaves. Either Nightingale to FB, with Mann to the wing which buys time to blood a youngster. Or put Field at FB providing spark from the back.

 

[St Georgio]

How about McInness/Cronk/Hunt/ Dugan, give Cronk a 2 year deal with the money offered to Widdop at the moment?

 

[getsmarty]

i don't think the storm actually compete very well with tpas as their local market still don't give a flying frog about rugby league.

Murdoch media Subsidies ? Worked with Bennett to the Broncos...

 

[JDHD]

How much are we offering them?

Around $700k-$800k each. No exact figures have been released.

 

[possm]

Murdoch media Subsidies ? Worked with Bennett to the Broncos...

Yep not subject to the salary cap. Why don't we ask WIN TV to subsidise our next coach?

 

[mickeylane]

Let's all consider that Widdop is our captain yet is probably going to leave because he doesn't feel that the financial situation is adequate. That suggests to me that he really shouldn't be our captain.

I would be beyond surprised if Widdop leaves - FFS he's the club captain and running the show unless he's worried about Hunt coming in and running the show - Ben Hunt is a class above Widdop and Widdop is a gun!! So if Widdop leaves we still have Hunt doing what Widdop is doing this year but better - we just need a tackling 5/8 that plays straight the line

 

[Dragons 09]

Around $700k-$800k each. No exact figures have been released.

Cheers mate.

 

[possm]

I would be beyond surprised if Widdop leaves - FFS he's the club captain and running the show unless he's worried about Hunt coming in and running the show - Ben Hunt is a class above Widdop and Widdop is a gun!! So if Widdop leaves we still have Hunt doing what Widdop is doing this year but better - we just need a tackling 5/8 that plays straight the line

Correct me if I'm wrong, I think the last Dragon captain that walked out of the Club for better coin was Mark Gasnier.

The problem isn't that Widdop is ready to leave, the problem is that we could not get close to his asking price. If things were managed properly, Dugan and Widdop would be extended, It would be most probably be Mann, Lafai, Aitken and Milne along with fringe first graders who would be feeling the heat. From my point of view, a more comfortable problem to deal with.

 

[corvettedragon]

Don't know why they won't just say to Dugan you can play at fullback but $750k is all we're willing or can afford to pay you. This argument over positions to justify pay is bs. Take it or leave it.

 

[possm]

Don't know why they won't just say to Dugan you can play at fullback but $750k is all we're willing or can afford to pay you. This argument over positions to justify pay is bs. Take it or leave it.

Because he wants more than 750k. Fullback is just his justification.

The question you need to ask is why not organise a TPA for 200k and pay in 800k out of our cap. Same, same for Widdop.

 

[JDHD]

Don't know why they won't just say to Dugan you can play at fullback but $750k is all we're willing or can afford to pay you. This argument over positions to justify pay is bs. Take it or leave it.

That's exactly what they've done.

 

[JDHD]

Correct me if I'm wrong, I think the last Dragon captain that walked out of the Club for better coin was Mark Gasnier.

The problem isn't that Widdop is ready to leave, the problem is that we could not get close to his asking price. If things were managed properly, Dugan and Widdop would be extended, It would be most probably be Mann, Lafai, Aitken and Milne along with fringe first graders who would be feeling the heat. From my point of view, a more comfortable problem to deal with.

Hold on, possum. Last year Widdop was playing like absolute shit. He was worth about $350k at most, the Dragons offered him $600k and he refused it because he said he was worth more. They gave him an extension on the deadline in good faith.
Then his performance has spiked and now he's playing silly buggers with us because of the 2018 salary cap drama. Also, the fact that his spike in form has coincided with our forward pack becoming arguably the best pack in the comp is no coincidence. Josh McCrone is leading the comp for try assists for f**k sake. If Josh McCrone is playing like a genius, then maybe Widdop should pull his head in a bit. If he goes to the Tigers, he's not gonna be playing behind a middle of DeBelin, Vaughan and Packer. He'll be playing behind Elijah Taylor, Tim Grant and most likely not Aaron Woods. Good luck to him.

 

[corvettedragon]

That's exactly what they've done.

Well not quite. The recruiter is saying you're a centre, the coach saying he is a fullback (for 2017 anyway). Whether he is a fullback centre or 5/8," this is your worth to our club" is all that is required. Re Widdop, he is going awesome at the moment, but really the last couple of years were terrible. 700k is great coin. Players have lost the plot regarding how most of us fans live. Good luck i guess if they can get it, but geez the loyalty banter on both sides shits me.

 

[JDHD]

Well not quite. The recruiter is saying you're a centre, the coach saying he is a fullback (for 2017 anyway). Whether he is a fullback centre or 5/8," this is your worth to our club" is all that is required. Re Widdop, he is going awesome at the moment, but really the last couple of years were terrible. 700k is great coin. Players have lost the plot regarding how most of us fans live. Good luck i guess if they can get it, but geez the loyalty banter on both sides shits me.

What shits me is how people say that we need to keep Dugan because of how good a clubman he is. If he was such a good clubman, he would have taken $800k and stopped acting like a little millennial f**kwit because "Ben Hunt got more and I'm totally better than that guy, like, have you SEEN that Grand Final drop?"

f**k me, these players could be earning $50k in a warehouse packing boxes but instead they're hitting salaries on par with a CEO of a multinational corporation and that's still not enough. The salary cap going up is just increasing the pay for the top end of players and everyone else gets rooted because these f**kwits are convinced from the age of 16 that they're gonna be a star and then when someone else gets more, they throw a tantrum and go somewhere else.

 

[possm]

Hold on, possum. Last year Widdop was playing like absolute shit. He was worth about $350k at most, the Dragons offered him $600k and he refused it because he said he was worth more. They gave him an extension on the deadline in good faith.
Then his performance has spiked and now he's playing silly buggers with us because of the 2018 salary cap drama. Also, the fact that his spike in form has coincided with our forward pack becoming arguably the best pack in the comp is no coincidence. Josh McCrone is leading the comp for try assists for f**k sake. If Josh McCrone is playing like a genius, then maybe Widdop should pull his head in a bit. If he goes to the Tigers, he's not gonna be playing behind a middle of DeBelin, Vaughan and Packer. He'll be playing behind Elijah Taylor, Tim Grant and most likely not Aaron Woods. Good luck to him.

The decision as to whether the Dragons wanted to keep or let go Dugan and Widdop needed to be made prior to Christmas last year. Once the decision is made then carry it out. If Dugan and Widdop wanted more than the offer tabled that's ok, negotiate a little and then go looking for a player of similar standard. Lock in your marquee players early and then go down the list, not up the list.

 

[JDHD]

The decision as to whether the Dragons wanted to keep or let go Dugan and Widdop needed to be made prior to Christmas last year. Once the decision is made then carry it out. If Dugan and Widdop wanted more than the offer tabled that's ok, negotiate a little and then go looking for a player of similar standard. Lock in your marquee players early and then go down the list, not up the list.

They locked in Ben Hunt in January and tabled offers to Dugan and Widdop in early February. They were given deadlines of early March but the club extended those deadlines in good faith because they both wanted to test the market. Now they've tested the market and they're dragging the club through a sewage tank to drag more money out of us because we can't move on other players until they decide what that they're going to do and by the time they decide either way, we'll have no choice but to sign them for way more than they're worth because everyone else will be gone. This is Brett Morris all over again, except this time the club isn't willing to budge on their offers and good on Millward for taking that position.

 

[St Georgio]

Well not quite. The recruiter is saying you're a centre, the coach saying he is a fullback (for 2017 anyway). Whether he is a fullback centre or 5/8," this is your worth to our club" is all that is required. Re Widdop, he is going awesome at the moment, but really the last couple of years were terrible. 700k is great coin. Players have lost the plot regarding how most of us fans live. Good luck i guess if they can get it, but geez the loyalty banter on both sides shits me.

The unfortunate situation is that it is not only the players who have lost the plot, I think its deeper issue, the world has gone mad, property values in Australia have gone through the roof, through foreign buyers, even the average NRL player these days will struggle to afford a decent home, the average fan has no hope of ever owning a home, I think its time for the NRL to increase the Salary cap to 10 million, so then we can keep our Dugans and Widdops of the world.


1.2 billion Chinese, 10% of there population can come and buy whatever they want in this Country, sad state of Affairs I say!

 

[verfive]

The decision as to whether the Dragons wanted to keep or let go Dugan and Widdop needed to be made prior to Christmas last year. Once the decision is made then carry it out. If Dugan and Widdop wanted more than the offer tabled that's ok, negotiate a little and then go looking for a player of similar standard. Lock in your marquee players early and then go down the list, not up the list.

not again

 

[ALSGI]

Umm, I have inside information here guys, and you heard it here first.

They're both going to sign in the next few weeks.

Just don't ask me which club because none of us have any f**king idea until it's announced.