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Knock-on Effect NSW Cup - Eels Team

Poupou Escobar

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93,273
I think the blaize option really disproves this theory
He was in demand and we wanted to keep him. The PO represented minimal risk for us because it would've been very cheap. The higher risk options are the ones for big money (like Moses and Drown).
How much of a discount was the club going to get on a SG ball player lol every dollar counts when you're in the market for a moimoisea or a harper

Good halves are golden in the nrl atm, and this incompetent organisation handed out three POs to 3 of our top four and managed to lose 3 of them.
The fact two of them left rather than activating their POs means they had zero negative impact. They only hurt the club when the player activates the option and isn't worth it. Examples are Dunster and probably Matterson. These are the POs that worked out poorly for us. The POs for Moses, Drown and Talagi helped us keep them as long as we did.
 
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JokerEel

Coach
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14,577
"Hey Blaize/Ethan, Dylan Brown is one of our best players and every merkin at the club loves him, but could you just sign this extension in case he leaves when his contract ends in two years? And because we need to put so much money aside for him and Moses, there's not a lot left over for backup halves, so you'll have to re-sign very cheap. If Drown does leave, we'll look at giving you an upgrade."

Sure it makes us feel smart to point out risks that the experts MUST SURELY HAVE OVERLOOKED, but you have to understand, even the dogshit dumbest NRL administrators would run rings around the 'experts' second guessing their decisions on social media. The Tigers have won three straight spoons. lol @ Shane Richardson lololol right? But they have won 14 games in that time. If a bunch of LU merkins were running that club they might've won zero games ffs. By year three they might have fewer than 17 merkins on the books and no cap space to fill the 30.


Couldn't be bothered reading all of this but the Storm somehow convinced 2 of their rising players to resign with the option to leave if the players they are to replace resigns..

Hughes and Paps are the players that are supposed to bugger off soon..
 

Poupou Escobar

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93,273
Couldn't be bothered reading all of this but the Storm somehow convinced 2 of their rising players to resign with the option to leave if the players they are to replace resigns..

Hughes and Paps are the players that are supposed to bugger off soon..
Gee it’s not like the Storm to find ways to keep players. Remember when they stopped cheating the cap and then went on to win another two premierships?!? Makes you wonder why they risked cheating the cap in the first place.
 

Poupou Escobar

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Oh and Sanders decided that going to the Raiders as a backup was better than staying with us as a backup.. Wonder why that is was..
Because he knew Fogarty wasn’t going to be retained. We were never going to push Moses or Drown out of the club, so we have less to spend on backups, and less of a guaranteed pathway.
 

JokerEel

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14,577
Because he knew Fogarty wasn’t going to be retained. We were never going to push Moses or Drown out of the club, so we have less to spend on backups, and less of a guaranteed pathway.


He knew Foggarty wasn't going to be retained or that his contract was up at the end of 26.

So your saying he had a pathway that he didn't have at the Eels due to the PO..
 

JokerEel

Coach
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14,577
Gee it’s not like the Storm to find ways to keep players. Remember when they stopped cheating the cap and then went on to win another two premierships?!? Makes you wonder why they risked cheating the cap in the first place.

Doesn't matter though we could of had the ability to have the same conversation with them but went with a PO for a player that has now signed somewhere else.
 
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I assume other clubs will keep using them (but not mentioning them in retention announcements) so they are still relevant as a topic of discussion.
I think many would disagree with the relevance of you continuing to discuss them, now our club has ruled them out for the foreseeable...
Every time we fail to retain a player we can speculate whether a PO might have kept him. More money might also have kept him, but clubs need to be mindful of the cap. They can't just keep upping the cash component to keep everyone.
We can... but should you continue to speculate, about POs that no longer exist - or will no longer exist once Lane and Penisni confirm they are activating, rejecting or replacing theirs...
It's very exciting.
Many appear to disagree. I for one believe your discussion of POs is far from exciting...
 

Poupou Escobar

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93,273
He knew Foggarty wasn't going to be retained or that his contract was up at the end of 26.
Just because his contract was up doesn’t mean they wanted to get rid of him. It’s his age that would be the main factor, not his contract alone. Fogarty can kick but he is small and slow, and might lack the physicality to defend at NRL level before the season has finished.
So your saying he had a pathway that he didn't have at the Eels due to the PO..
No, because he had better players in front of him and it could’ve been years before he was better than Moses or Drown. Jamal Fogarty is ordinary at best, and turns 32 this year. Sanders might overtake him by the end of the season. As Moses declines, Sanders will overtake him too but that could be years away.
 

Poupou Escobar

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93,273
I think many would disagree with the relevance of you continuing to discuss them, now our club has ruled them out for the foreseeable...

We can... but should you continue to speculate, about POs that no longer exist - or will no longer exist once Lane and Penisni confirm they are activating, rejecting or replacing theirs...
Because we have been discussing the recent 2019-2022 period where we were far more successful. It would be good to understand why that was, and what has changed since. Our more recent (2023-2025) lack of success can't just be because we've stopped offering POs.

Obviously you're free to only discuss "the forseeable" future and butt out of these conversations, but I assure you there are plenty of merkins who like to keep bringing up the past. It's what the smart posters do.
Many appear to disagree. I for one believe your discussion of POs is far from exciting...
They are allowed to disagree. This place would be even more boring if we all agreed with each other.
 

JokerEel

Coach
Messages
14,577
Just because his contract was up doesn’t mean they wanted to get rid of him. It’s his age that would be the main factor, not his contract alone. Fogarty can kick but he is small and slow, and might lack the physicality to defend at NRL level before the season has finished.

No, because he had better players in front of him and it could’ve been years before he was better than Moses or Drown. Jamal Fogarty is ordinary at best, and turns 32 this year. Sanders might overtake him by the end of the season. As Moses declines, Sanders will overtake him too but that could be years away.


So where is Brown next year?

Your argument about is explaining why POs suck
 

Poupou Escobar

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93,273
He's f**king faster and stronger than you merkin....
No doubt. About 20 years ago I played Oztag against another small, slow merkin in Jason Taylor. He was about my size and surprisingly quick compared to us regular deadshits. I also played against Wes Patten and he was so quick I could barely turn my head in time to see him step past me. Luke Goodwin was pretty quick as well.
 

JokerEel

Coach
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14,577
Brown is leaving because he was off contract, not because he had a PO. Mahoney, Niukore, Papali'i, remember them? They didn't leave because they had player options. And if they had them it wouldn't have mattered.

No he had a PO

Those other buggers we had over a year to replace.

So again thanks
 

Poupou Escobar

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93,273
No he had a PO
And without it he would've had a new contract offer from us.
Those other buggers we had over a year to replace.

So again thanks
That's because they accepted their offers quickly. The Knights obviously gave Drown a longer deadline so he had longer to decide. If there was no PO do you think the Knights or Eels would have made their deadlines shorter? We were obviously happy with round ten, which is why we agreed to it in the first place. You're acting like if there was no PO we would've told him to re-sign by November or f**k off. You'll note he didn't wait to round ten to make his decision.
 

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