Latrell (officially signs with Souths 13/1/20)

[Galeforce]

Didn’t the tigpies offer him 1.4mil a year?
taking a 800k paycut to play at Souths Lol@tigpies

YEP , as Vic Mackay would say

Souths and "chequebook" NRL at its worst.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

A great deal for Souths. They need another centre no doubt.

Paying only what he is worth if he has a dig and if the reported figures are correct.

Maybe Bennett can get him to rep standard so NSW has some centre depth if needed this year?

We have a great back line... Forward pack, not so much.

We lost 2 x Burgesses and Sutton for this year and at this stage, if Arrow stays on the coast, we've replaced them with no one.

Even if we can get Arrow down we probably need at least one more decent forward to sign on. If we can't get Arrow early then we are really struggling in the engine room.

 

[black cat]

If genuine, this post is dumb as f**k.

If trolling. It’s genius.

Have a guess

 

[black cat]

I’m sure

We have a great back line... Forward pack, not so much.

We lost 2 x Burgesses and Sutton for this year and at this stage, if Arrow stays on the coast, we've replaced them with no one.

Even if we can get Arrow down we probably need at least one more decent forward to sign on. If we can't get Arrow early then we are really struggling in the engine room.

im sure you got room for Fifita.

 

[sensesmaybenumbed]

YEP , as Vic Mackay would say

Souths and "chequebook" NRL at its worst.

The hypocrisy. It burns...

 

[Coastbloke]

I'm seriously at a loss as to why this thread is still going lol..

 

[adamkungl]

Souths are the big winners here obviously.

Roosters took their offer off the table so it couldn't be used as a bargaining chip.
This left Latrell with 2 options - bigger money at Wests or Gold Coast, at significant risk to his rep career and chances of playing finals, or less money at Souths.

Had Roosters stayed in the game, Souths would have had to offer far more money and Latrell and his managers come out on top either way.
Hypothetically, if Roosters left the 800k offer up, Latrell might have stayed after testing the market and finding the offers unsatisfactory.
Why was the club so adamant that they wouldn't even try for this outcome? I doubt we'll ever know the full truth of it. He must have offended Politis or Robinson beyond repair, but the true specifics of how and why are probably lost in the media shitstorm (eg. I doubt it was because he borrowed a Mercedes to drive to training one week...).

Unfortunately there's no optimal outcome for the Roosters here. Some measure of self-respect in drawing a line in the sand but ultimately it results in Souths getting him for less than they would have otherwise.
But the club usually plays the longer game which is why they didn't go over 800k - we'll take the hit this year, some are predicting 3-peat is on the cards but 2 rookies in the backline might have a bigger effect than expected.
A big signing raid next year is certainly on the cards.

 

[grouch]

Yeah it's the biggest win for Souths.

It's also a decent result for Latrell - coached by Bennett, top-tier premiership contender, and a club with a great culture of leadership in the indigenous community. Sure he's not as rich as he might have been and his personal brand has suffered some damage, but he's a strong chance of fixing that.

It's not a terrible result for the Roosters either. Losing a superstar matchwinner and the two-time top pointscorer might be devastating for some clubs, but they have options to replace him and have some cap flexibility to boot.

It could be a big win for all of us NRL fans as well, if the bungled negotiations lead to the implementation of a transfer window.

 

[adamkungl]

It could be a big win for all of us NRL fans as well, if the bungled negotiations lead to the implementation of a transfer window.

It's hard to find anyone who doesn't want this? Except for player managers who no doubt benefit from all this nonsense.

 

[SBD82]

If I were a souffs fan, I’d feel much more comfortable if the club were signing Latrell to play centre.

Hes an elite centre, but who knows where his fullback game is up to at this stage?

He’s going to need to do a lot more running, and is going to need to stay switched on, not drift in and out of games. He will be playing the left side with a 6 that likes to play into the line, so he isn’t going to get early ball to step off his left. Maybe he will get it on the other side. Does he have the right foot step that he needs? The left to right pass?

 

[Tiger5150]

If I were a souffs fan, I’d feel much more comfortable if the club were signing Latrell to play centre.

Hes an elite centre, but who knows where his fullback game is up to at this stage?

He’s going to need to do a lot more running, and is going to need to stay switched on, not drift in and out of games. He will be playing the left side with a 6 that likes to play into the line, so he isn’t going to get early ball to step off his left. Maybe he will get it on the other side. Does he have the right foot step that he needs? The left to right pass?

He will play centre. No way he get s fit enough for FB at this late stage.

 

[Tommy Smith]

If I were a souffs fan, I’d feel much more comfortable if the club were signing Latrell to play centre.

Hes an elite centre, but who knows where his fullback game is up to at this stage?

He’s going to need to do a lot more running, and is going to need to stay switched on, not drift in and out of games. He will be playing the left side with a 6 that likes to play into the line, so he isn’t going to get early ball to step off his left. Maybe he will get it on the other side. Does he have the right foot step that he needs? The left to right pass?

Fullbacks these days make, what, 20-25 runs per game? That's how many runs Latrell usually makes in a month.

No hyperbole.

So it will be very interesting indeed to see if he has the engine and work ethic to play fullback week in, week out.

Personally I don't think he does.

 

[SBD82]

Fullbacks these days make, what, 20-25 runs per game? That's how many runs Latrell usually makes in a month.

No hyperbole.

So it will be very interesting indeed to see if he has the engine and work ethic to play fullback week in, week out.

Personally I don't think he does.

Yeah. And that’s just in attack.

Latrell doesn’t have the pure off the mark speed that’s needed to compensate for deficiencies in positioning. So he’s going to need to be constantly running in defence too.

 

[horrie hastings]

Lol, there is guy in front of me on the bus in a South's jersey reading the Telegraph about Latrells bunny hop.

 

[lockyno1]

Fullbacks these days make, what, 20-25 runs per game? That's how many runs Latrell usually makes in a month.

No hyperbole.

So it will be very interesting indeed to see if he has the engine and work ethic to play fullback week in, week out.

Personally I don't think he does.

Quite possibly and I agree with you, however for Souths it's better than Johnson at fullback for instance or Duehii or whatever his name in. both are pretty average fullbacks. Johnson is a winger. The issue Mitchell will have is he's doing nothing this off season, for him o then be able to play fullback in a month to 2 months is highly optimistic even with Inglis around the place helping him.

 

[adamkungl]

Tbh I think Latrell is getting underestimated in what he's capable of.
His fitness would improve over the season if he starts at fullback.

I don't believe his fitness will limit him, the better question is whether he has the attention to detail and mental edge to be always on the ball - something blokes like Hayne struggled with through their career.

 

[SBD82]

Tbh I think Latrell is getting underestimated in what he's capable of.
His fitness would improve over the season if he starts at fullback.

I don't believe his fitness will limit him, the better question is whether he has the attention to detail and mental edge to be always on the ball - something blokes like Hayne struggled with through their career.

That’s heavily effected by fatigue too.

Some players can make fantastic decisions under fatigue. Others can’t.

I call it the Cronk-Pearce index.

 

[BranVan3000]

Tbh I think Latrell is getting underestimated in what he's capable of.
His fitness would improve over the season if he starts at fullback.

I don't believe his fitness will limit him, the better question is whether he has the attention to detail and mental edge to be always on the ball - something blokes like Hayne struggled with through their career.

Douehei is getting a bit of a rough go of it because that aspect of his game was top notch last year. His effectiveness and positioning at attacking the ball in defence was absolutely top tier. 200 meters in a preliminary final for a makeshift fullback is no joke

 

[Vic Mackey]

YEP , as Vic Mackay would say

Souths and "chequebook" NRL at its worst.

It’s not really chequebook rugby league, it’s making a signing, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Like I’ve said previously it’s just funny how a lot of Souths fans bag clubs like the Roosters for doing exactly what they’re doing.

All shit aside I think he will be a great buy for Souths.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Douehei is getting a bit of a rough go of it because that aspect of his game was top notch last year. His effectiveness and positioning at attacking the ball in defence was absolutely top tier. 200 meters in a preliminary final for a makeshift fullback is no joke

I thought he was pretty ineffective at the back. It’s all well and good to say he was getting plenty of meters at fullback but he was zero attacking threat in the opposition 20. If you want meters from kick returns you could just play Cam Murray there.

Interesting to see what happens with Douehi. If he wants a spine position he’s likely going to have to wait at least 3 years at Souths or look elsewhere. He’s always looked like an out and out 5/8 to me, could be a similar player to Jack wighton if he uses his size more.