Rumoured Signings

[Foreign Legion]

French star could be headed down under​

There's strong mail that several NRL clubs are scouting out French Test prop Paul Séguier.

A 24-year-old no-nonsense forward, Séguier can also play second row and helped Catalans reach this year's Super League grand final.

Séguier played in the Test loss to England a week ago and held his own against the tough English pack.

And which club is leading the way to pick up Séguier for 2023? I'm hearing the Dragons are showing plenty of interest.

Panthers target rival club to replace disgraced star

Contract likely to be ripped up

wwos.nine.com.au

 

[Colk]

How do you think the roosters and storm would go if there was no salary cap?

I wasn’t arguing for the abandonment of the salary cap, I was arguing that another mechanism needed to go with it. The salary cap is ineffective in isolation.

 

[Dogs Of War]

I wasn’t arguing for the abandonment of the salary cap, I was arguing that another mechanism needed to go with it. The salary cap is ineffective in isolation.

The salary cap can be reworked to ensure it's fit for purpose which I sort of agree it causes some problems with bottom feeding clubs, but a good program can fix that.

Adding extra things such as points then becomes a restraint of trade cause it limits the teams high value point players may be able to go to. It's not just about earning money, but for some players they also enjoy success on the field and would prefer to take a pay cut and achieve that. Case in point the Morris brothers.

 

[Colk]

The salary cap can be reworked to ensure it's fit for purpose which I sort of agree it causes some problems with bottom feeding clubs, but a good program can fix that.

Adding extra things such as points then becomes a restraint of trade cause it limits the teams high value point players may be able to go to. It's not just about earning money, but for some players they also enjoy success on the field and would prefer to take a pay cut and achieve that. Case in point the Morris brothers.

Well every method one may want to use to distribute talent including the current salary cap; would be in effect a restraint of trade and would require the RLPA approval.

 

[Dogs Of War]

Well every method one may want to use to distribute talent including the current salary cap; would be in effect a restraint of trade and would require the RLPA approval.

Players agree to that. That points system is a whole other can of worms that I could never see the players agree to. It would force players to the ESL earlier and potentially have players advised by clubs into avoiding international/rep games to not increase their point loading. Especially for the 2nd tier nations.

 

[jack coburn]

While ever there are professionally run clubs and poorly run clubs the cap wont' really matter.
Fact is players will stay at a successful club for less. Only a draft will force players to change clubs , otherwise nothing to see here.

 

[Colk]

Potentially but your argument was that it wouldn’t work because it was a restraint of trade when everything you can do, salary cap included is a restraint of trade. You would have to negotiate with the RLPA regards to anything you wanted to do

What would you do considering the only totally transparent model you can come up is a points system, knowing in effect that the competition is totally screwed atm

While ever there are professionally run clubs and poorly run clubs the cap wont' really matter.
Fact is players will stay at a successful club for less. Only a draft will force players to change clubs , otherwise nothing to see here.

It mattered in the early 2000’s. Did you see half the games turn into absolute floggings

 

[Dogs Of War]

Potentially but your argument was that it wouldn’t work because it was a restraint of trade when everything you can do, salary cap included is a restraint of trade. You would have to negotiate with the RLPA regards to anything you wanted to do

What would you do considering the only totally transparent model you can come up is a points system, knowing in effect that the competition is totally screwed atm


It mattered in the early 2000’s. Did you see half the games turn into absolute floggings

You die on that hill. I don't see any major comp using a points system. The only ones who do are generally semi pro type leagues and that's just to keep them honest.

 

[Colk]

I’ve noticed that you haven’t responded to my queries, so I can presume that’s you’re happy with the status quo.

12 sides shouldn’t bother turning up next year and in the foreseeable future

 

[Dogs Of War]

I’ve noticed that you haven’t responded to my queries, so I can presume that’s you’re happy with the status quo.

12 sides shouldn’t bother turning up next year and in the foreseeable future

Well one of those sides finished well down the table on a few years ago. I see my Bulldogs doing a lot more to become a contender by fixing up the stuff away from the field and recruiting better. It's not kindergarten, everybody doesn't need to share. You get your house in order and generally, some success follows.

 

[Munky]

Tyrone May to Raiders.

I just made it up then, but now a rumour.

 

[Colk]

Well one of those sides finished well down the table on a few years ago. I see my Bulldogs doing a lot more to become a contender by fixing up the stuff away from the field and recruiting better. It's not kindergarten, everybody doesn't need to share. You get your house in order and generally, some success follows.

You’re either unwilling or incapable of following the point I am trying to make. You have gone down the long standing trope of well my club has done this or clubs just need to get better. Stop looking at the issue as a rusted on league supporter or from the viewpoint as a club supporter - as the issue is not about my club or your club.

Try and imagine the issue from a person who is watching the game as a casual viewer. He/she has no objection to watching other sports/watching a movie whatever. They may also watch a game.
They might not support a club, in fact, probably most of them wouldn’t and if they do, it is only haphazardly. Now, think of it from the NRL’s perspective: are they more or less likely to attract these people to sit down or attend the game based on results from last year or the year before

Now I’ll freely admit that some of these woeful games can be attributed to COVID-19 or rule changes because they have inadvertently changed the way the game has been played and reduced the depth of squads (because a lot of players are no longer suited to the game etc) However the product has been absolutely dire and pretty much unwatchable in the most part.

You only have to look at the fact that our main competitor was absolutely smashing us in viewerships for the problem to be highlighted: casual viewers/supporters will just stop watching.

P.S. My team made the preliminary final one of those years so this is clearly not about my team being crap

 

[Exsilium]

Tyrone May to Raiders.

I just made it up then, but now a rumour.

First signing for the Perth Reds

 

[jack coburn]

Potentially but your argument was that it wouldn’t work because it was a restraint of trade when everything you can do, salary cap included is a restraint of trade. You would have to negotiate with the RLPA regards to anything you wanted to do

What would you do considering the only totally transparent model you can come up is a points system, knowing in effect that the competition is totally screwed atm


It mattered in the early 2000’s. Did you see half the games turn into absolute floggings

Like we've seen in the last 2 years.
I actually think the rule changes have contributed more to the blow outs than club rosters.
Like in the early 2000'S when they started to sped the game up

 

[Dogs Of War]

Like we've seen in the last 2 years.
I actually think the rule changes have contributed more to the blow outs than club rosters.
Like in the early 2000'S when they started to sped the game up

Then teams learn how to slow it down, or defend against it. Swings and roundabouts.

Having lower grades back will help more than anything.

 

[Colk]

Like we've seen in the last 2 years.
I actually think the rule changes have contributed more to the blow outs than club rosters.
Like in the early 2000'S when they started to sped the game up

I can’t see the rules being wound back unfortunately. The problem is the News Ltd puppet doesn’t or can’t admit failure so we will just see more and more blowouts or conversely you’ll have no penalties at all and the game will become a mess

 

[Dogs Of War]

You’re either unwilling or incapable of following the point I am trying to make. You have gone down the long standing trope of well my club has done this or clubs just need to get better. Stop looking at the issue as a rusted on league supporter or from the viewpoint as a club supporter - as the issue is not about my club or your club.

Try and imagine the issue from a person who is watching the game as a casual viewer. He/she has no objection to watching other sports/watching a movie whatever. They may also watch a game.
They might not support a club, in fact, probably most of them wouldn’t and if they do, it is only haphazardly. Now, think of it from the NRL’s perspective: are they more or less likely to attract these people to sit down or attend the game based on results from last year or the year before

Now I’ll freely admit that some of these woeful games can be attributed to COVID-19 or rule changes because they have inadvertently changed the way the game has been played and reduced the depth of squads (because a lot of players are no longer suited to the game etc) However the product has been absolutely dire and pretty much unwatchable in the most part.

You only have to look at the fact that our main competitor was absolutely smashing us in viewerships for the problem to be highlighted: casual viewers/supporters will just stop watching.

P.S. My team made the preliminary final one of those years so this is clearly not about my team being crap

I pointed out that NO PRO LEAGUE uses a point system. And even if they did, it would still have all the same problems cause some clubs just can't help themselves and are just poorly run. What it seems to me is that you can't accept that your wrong in this instance and keep going on like a broken record.

 

[Colk]

You really are missing the point.

The points system was just a suggestion and the debate wasn’t about the efficacy of a points system, the argument was about the efficacy of the current system; or more pointedly the lack thereof, with which you continually reply with the cretinous and asinine argument that clubs just need to get better or my club has done this without acknowledging the problem is structural.

The current system has run past its use by date; even the ARLC and Bennett are admitting this by even daring to mutter the word draft in the media, although the RLPA seem against this idea. Hopefully something gets done in some capacity and the RLPA just get out of the way so we can balance out the competition a little more and the on field product gets better.

Do you want to now acknowledge the product has been crap recently and that something needs to be done

 

[Dogs Of War]

You really are missing the point.

The points system was just a suggestion and the debate wasn’t about the efficacy of a points system, the argument was about the efficacy of the current system; or more pointedly the lack thereof, with which you continually reply with the cretinous and asinine argument that clubs just need to get better or my club has done this without acknowledging the problem is structural.

The current system has run past its use by date; even the ARLC and Bennett are admitting this by even daring to mutter the word draft in the media, although the RLPA seem against this idea. Hopefully something gets done in some capacity and the RLPA just get out of the way so we can balance out the competition a little more and the on field product gets better.

Do you want to now acknowledge the product has been crap recently and that something needs to be done

Is it crap? Or just a blip cause some teams adjusted to the rules better than others. I saw some great games last year, and no matter what system you have, some teams are going to be crap. Been watching footy longer than you have been alive. It's always had periods like this where some teams are just a cut above the rest.

 

[Colk]

You can’t disagree with the fact that there will always be crap teams (Wests late 90’s, Newcastle 2016 etc) but the problem is the product suffers as a whole when there is no sense of a contest in a vast majority of games.

It has undoubtedly been crap over the last couple of years. In previous years, you might get one or two games where the game was one-sided and even less when it was predicted. I don’t think there were many times over the last couple of years that I actually could sit through the whole game, mainly because the contest was dead within 20-30 mins and in a vast majority of games you could easily predict the result prior to the game. There are countless statistics over the past couple of years that reflects this abnormality.

Furthermore, to add further weight, society is spoilt for choice now. If you don’t like the League, you can choose something on Netflix, you can go watch countless other sports - I bet AFL have enjoyed the state of the game as I reckon they have had a fair few more supporters than in previously years. Myself, I can tell you I watched a lot more international cricket and Netflix last year than RL.