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Latu - Packer replacement

possm

Coach
Messages
15,587
Must confess that I have not heard of the man , however the many glowing reports from you gentleman is enough for me to say yes . We only need someone at the Joint Venture to wake Mr. Millward from his slumber , so as to get the ball rolling on speaking to Latu .
Has Millward got any cap left to sign this prop?
Did Millward go wild with the Club's salary cap and now have little more than a bargin buy capacity left?
 

possm

Coach
Messages
15,587
Surely money isn't the issue with the departure of both Packer and Dugan.
This should be a priority signing as Latu is just as aggressive and robust as Packer but offers more in attack.
He is a beast and would add another dimension to our pack.
Wouldn't you like to see Millward get of his bum and really have a crack at this signing?
He let Packer walk out the door without a whimper.
Redemption awaits.
Exactly! However, is it the case that lack of cap may be the very reason why Packer and Dugan were not signed?
Did Millward spend too much of the cap on juniors and upgrades?
 

Saint_JimmyG

First Grade
Messages
5,067
Has Millward got any cap left to sign this prop?
Did Millward go wild with the Club's salary cap and now have little more than a bargin buy capacity left?

As the club continues to struggle to sign anyone of note on a consistent basis, I suspect it's has been a severe case of paying 'overs' for Hunt's acquisition and Widdop's retention.

While Packer's defection appears to be primarily monetary based, I'm unsure if the same can be said about Dugan's impending move to Cronulla.
 
Messages
2,866
As the club continues to struggle to sign anyone of note on a consistent basis, I suspect it's has been a severe case of paying 'overs' for Hunt's acquisition and Widdop's retention.

While Packer's defection appears to be primarily monetary based, I'm unsure if the same can be said about Dugan's impending move to Cronulla.
Millward's labeling Dugan a center was the straw that broke the camel's back.
He acted as if he was the coach and was diametrically opposed to what McGregor and Dugan had in mind.
We will never attract top liners at good value to St. George while Millward is our recruitment supremo and McGregor is the coach.
 

cussy

Juniors
Messages
1,351
Millward's labeling Dugan a center was the straw that broke the camel's back.
He acted as if he was the coach and was diametrically opposed to what McGregor and Dugan had in mind.
We will never attract top liners at good value to St. George while Millward is our recruitment supremo and McGregor is the coach.
He is a centre. If he was a top grade fullback he would be playing there for Australia and NSW.
 

Carlton

Juniors
Messages
1,223
He is a centre. If he was a top grade fullback he would be playing there for Australia and NSW.

He has and was MOM in origin.

By this thinking Langlands wasn't a fullback or Billy Smith wasn't a halfback or Lockyer wasn't a fullback or Brett Kenny wasn't a 5/8 or Valentine Holmes isn't a fullback or Darius Boyd isn't a fullback. Its not about being a centre or fullback, its about what is the best combination that can be put on the paddock. All of the players mentioned above played in a couple of positions depending upon other players available and the balance of the team.
 

Uplifting

Juniors
Messages
457
He is a centre. If he was a top grade fullback he would be playing there for Australia and NSW.
Duges is potentially one of the most exciting players (fullback or otherwise). But he probably does best just playing what he sees (ad-lib) and trying to just get around players (at a lighter weight). Structured plays don't seem to be his strength.

Considering this, Milward showed some confidence in letting Josh go. And more confidence deciding to put the #1 up for grabs amongst the players coming through.

In other words he ain't panicking.
 

True_Believer

Juniors
Messages
1,691
Duges is potentially one of the most exciting players (fullback or otherwise). But he probably does best just playing what he sees (ad-lib) and trying to just get around players (at a lighter weight). Structured plays don't seem to be his strength.

Considering this, Milward showed some confidence in letting Josh go. And more confidence deciding to put the #1 up for grabs amongst the players coming through.

In other words he ain't panicking.

What do we know for absolute certain about that situation?
  1. Millward said Dugan was a centre
  2. Mary said Dugan was a fullback
  3. Dugan signs with Sharks for 4 years
All of the rest of it is pure conjecture.

In my opinion, money and contract length played a huge part in the result.

Given the young players coming through I suspect Millward is looking for a guaranteed pathway for 1 or 2 of these youngsters into the fullback position. That means that you more than likely would not want to extend Dugan past 2 years - 3 at the very most. Not only that, we potentially have a number of youngsters vying for the centre position as well.

Based on this, Dugan would more than likely be spending a fair bit of time out of the fullback position to allow the youngsters to come through. A little next year with the 3rd year being almost exclusively a centre.

If you then factor in Mary's comments around playing him as a fullback if we resign him, and if the rumours of Dugans requested $1mill price tag are true, then you have a situation where you are trying to negotiate with what the club sees as a centre player who wants fullback money. You can't afford to be paying that sort of money for 3 years for a centre.

Sharks step in and offer him a 4 year deal on possibly the same or a little more than what we offered per year but possibly for an extra year. Dugan see's this as an opportunity to extend his career and in the end walk away with more money in his pocket.

If anything, I believe Mary's comment about playing him at fullback threw the spanner in the works. Dugan, at that stage of the negotiations was possibly OK to stay, but hearing Mary say he was going to keep him at fullback raised the money issue and hence him feeling as though he wasn't respected (not to mention both parties discussing their plans for Dugan with the media).

Not one persons fault because all have a valid opinion. Unfortunately it was just a perfect storm of sorts. If there is one point to pick is that Millward and Mary shouldn't have made their plans public. Would have been better to do the deals behind the scenes. I don't think that would have made a difference though. I still think Dugan would not have been playing for us next year.
 

ALSGI

Bench
Messages
3,101
What do we know for absolute certain about that situation?
  1. Millward said Dugan was a centre
  2. Mary said Dugan was a fullback
  3. Dugan signs with Sharks for 4 years
All of the rest of it is pure conjecture.

In my opinion, money and contract length played a huge part in the result.

Given the young players coming through I suspect Millward is looking for a guaranteed pathway for 1 or 2 of these youngsters into the fullback position. That means that you more than likely would not want to extend Dugan past 2 years - 3 at the very most. Not only that, we potentially have a number of youngsters vying for the centre position as well.

Based on this, Dugan would more than likely be spending a fair bit of time out of the fullback position to allow the youngsters to come through. A little next year with the 3rd year being almost exclusively a centre.

If you then factor in Mary's comments around playing him as a fullback if we resign him, and if the rumours of Dugans requested $1mill price tag are true, then you have a situation where you are trying to negotiate with what the club sees as a centre player who wants fullback money. You can't afford to be paying that sort of money for 3 years for a centre.

Sharks step in and offer him a 4 year deal on possibly the same or a little more than what we offered per year but possibly for an extra year. Dugan see's this as an opportunity to extend his career and in the end walk away with more money in his pocket.

If anything, I believe Mary's comment about playing him at fullback threw the spanner in the works. Dugan, at that stage of the negotiations was possibly OK to stay, but hearing Mary say he was going to keep him at fullback raised the money issue and hence him feeling as though he wasn't respected (not to mention both parties discussing their plans for Dugan with the media).

Not one persons fault because all have a valid opinion. Unfortunately it was just a perfect storm of sorts. If there is one point to pick is that Millward and Mary shouldn't have made their plans public. Would have been better to do the deals behind the scenes. I don't think that would have made a difference though. I still think Dugan would not have been playing for us next year.
All true and good points, but don't forget Duges publically said some things too, like the deal was almost done just sorting a few little things out, or early on like going to French Rugby wasn't it? He was in this mess up to his eye balls. It took 3 to Tango in this perfect storm.
 
Messages
2,866
He is a centre. If he was a top grade fullback he would be playing there for Australia and NSW.
I think that statement does not hold water.
The reason he is not the Australian fullback is he is not the best fullback available for selection.
When you consider he is up against Darius Boyd, Billy Slater and Tedescho he gets selected at center because the selectors want him in the team.
He has played FB his whole career and at club level, has served us well in that position.
So hard to say he is a center when he really isn't.
 

True_Believer

Juniors
Messages
1,691
All true and good points, but don't forget Duges publically said some things too, like the deal was almost done just sorting a few little things out, or early on like going to French Rugby wasn't it? He was in this mess up to his eye balls. It took 3 to Tango in this perfect storm.

Ah that's right, forgot about the French Rugby thing - did he actually say that publically? If he did, he definitely played the wrong cards as well.

And yes, I agree, Dugan was just a much a part of it as the other 2. Like I said, all valid positions to take - they just all contributed to the outcome. Which leads me to believe that no matter what, Dugan was never going to end up staying.
 
Messages
17,055
I think that statement does not hold water.
The reason he is not the Australian fullback is he is not the best fullback available for selection.
When you consider he is up against Darius Boyd, Billy Slater and Tedescho he gets selected at center because the selectors want him in the team.
He has played FB his whole career and at club level, has served us well in that position.
So hard to say he is a center when he really isn't.
He better get used to centre because thats where the Sharks tend to play him.

He will not oust Holmes at fullback.
 

qld redvee

Juniors
Messages
1,318
He better get used to centre because thats where the Sharks tend to play him.

He will not oust Holmes at fullback.
coast I read somewhere on nrl unlimited that Flanagan was going to put holmes back to wing and duges to fullback ( SO if there is an ounce of truth in it ) Duges playing fullback for the money we offered OR sharkies threw a lot more at him than announced .
 

watatank

Coach
Messages
13,972
I think that statement does not hold water.
The reason he is not the Australian fullback is he is not the best fullback available for selection.
When you consider he is up against Darius Boyd, Billy Slater and Tedescho he gets selected at center because the selectors want him in the team.
He has played FB his whole career and at club level, has served us well in that position.
So hard to say he is a center when he really isn't.

Sure, based on past history the evidence probably points to Dugan being a fullback. As time goes on though, the evidence points to Dugan being a centre. He has already played centre the past two years at rep level and that will almost certainly continue to be the case. He signed a long term (4 years) deal with a club with one of the best young fullbacks in the game, leaving a club that was willing to let him go to go in a different direction with their fullback.
 

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