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2021 - Squad, Signings, Re-signings

Maddragon99

Juniors
Messages
2,075
I’ve been watching with great interest the development of James Schiller & Shalom O’Ofou, someone will correct me but I don’t think either player are in our Development Squad yet surely a promotion can’t be far away.

Of the players in our top 30 who are off contract these are my thoughts;

Kaide Ellis has been very useful off the bench & I think he deserves an extension

Tyrell Fuimaono has been awesome & definitely deserves an upgrade & extension

Corey Norman despite his improved form for me he hasn’t done enough. I believe he’ll be released & will likely pick up a contract somewhere

Brayden Williame hasn’t done enough & will be released

Jordan Pereira hasn’t done anything apart from get suspended & will be released

Matt Dufty I believe will be extended but won’t get first crack at fullback in 2022. Cody Ramsey & Tyrell Sloan will be in the mix. For mine Dufty would be great off the bench as a utility he could cover for injuries or could break a game open with 20mins to go.
 

redandwhite4evr

Juniors
Messages
1,935
I’ve been watching with great interest the development of James Schiller & Shalom O’Ofou, someone will correct me but I don’t think either player are in our Development Squad yet surely a promotion can’t be far away.

Of the players in our top 30 who are off contract these are my thoughts;

Kaide Ellis has been very useful off the bench & I think he deserves an extension

Tyrell Fuimaono has been awesome & definitely deserves an upgrade & extension

Corey Norman despite his improved form for me he hasn’t done enough. I believe he’ll be released & will likely pick up a contract somewhere

Brayden Williame hasn’t done enough & will be released

Jordan Pereira hasn’t done anything apart from get suspended & will be released

Matt Dufty I believe will be extended but won’t get first crack at fullback in 2022. Cody Ramsey & Tyrell Sloan will be in the mix. For mine Dufty would be great off the bench as a utility he could cover for injuries or could break a game open with 20mins to go.

Agree with most of your analysis but Kaide Ellis?? He's got a lot of errors in him.
 

possm

Coach
Messages
16,026
Renoulf Atoni was the one that really stood out for me. He played hard all game in a well beaten team, never gave up. I think he got the steal from Bird also.

Hope Millward & Co also noticed, can’t imagine he’d be expensive & who wants to play for a wooden spoon?
For 2022 we do not need any more depth players, in fact, we will most probably let some go to make way for juniors coming through. We need to buy marquee players or blood our juniors in first grade.

I'd say we need:
One top line prop
B Smith as hooker
Maybe a top line fullback
 
Last edited:

possm

Coach
Messages
16,026
I’ve been watching with great interest the development of James Schiller & Shalom O’Ofou, someone will correct me but I don’t think either player are in our Development Squad yet surely a promotion can’t be far away.

Of the players in our top 30 who are off contract these are my thoughts;

Kaide Ellis has been very useful off the bench & I think he deserves an extension

Tyrell Fuimaono has been awesome & definitely deserves an upgrade & extension

Corey Norman despite his improved form for me he hasn’t done enough. I believe he’ll be released & will likely pick up a contract somewhere

Brayden Williame hasn’t done enough & will be released

Jordan Pereira hasn’t done anything apart from get suspended & will be released

Matt Dufty I believe will be extended but won’t get first crack at fullback in 2022. Cody Ramsey & Tyrell Sloan will be in the mix. For mine Dufty would be great off the bench as a utility he could cover for injuries or could break a game open with 20mins to go.
Players off contract at the end of 2021:

Billy Brittain - 150k
Matt Dufty - 350k
Kade Ellis - 100k
Tyrell Fuimaono - 300k
Hayden Lomax - 100k
Corey Norman - 850k
Jorden Pereira - 250k

Brayden Wiliame - 250k
Cam McInnes - 450k

Total approximately 2m

Recruit
B Smith 700k
Prop 600k
Fullback - 1m

To recruit a marquee fullback,
Dufty and Fuimaomo must be let go.
 

boardlumps62

Juniors
Messages
1,481
Players off contract at the end of 2021:

Billy Brittain - 150k
Matt Dufty - 350k
Kade Ellis - 100k
Tyrell Fuimaono - 300k
Hayden Lomax - 100k
Corey Norman - 850k
Jorden Pereira - 250k

Brayden Wiliame - 250k
Cam McInnes - 450k

Total approximately 2m

Recruit
B Smith 700k
Prop 600k
Fullback - 1m

To recruit a marquee fullback,
Dufty and Fuimaomo must be let go.
Why would Fuimaono be let go he is our best forward by a mile. Good defender shield nothing, tough as, has a line break in him and big motor. He can play in the back line. Dufty we would miss his speed I would like to see him a bit more active around the in goal area. High ball an issue against some teams. I want to keep
 

getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
34,413
Why would Fuimaono be let go he is our best forward by a mile. Good defender shield nothing, tough as, has a line break in him and big motor. He can play in the back line. Dufty we would miss his speed I would like to see him a bit more active around the in goal area. High ball an issue against some teams. I want to keep

Correct....more likely that they upgrade his contract....
 

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
9,341
Retain Fui and Dufty. I can't see anyone at the moment in our squad who can provide the attack that Dufty has been doing - we need him and that includes longer term. Hook would be very happy with the way Fui is playing so he is a keep as well.

Another thing is, we have definitely got to improve our depth. Once the outcome of JDB's case has been resolved, I'm sure that our Recruitment and Retention staff will be directed to do their thing to sign up some better players to compliment our squad. Brandon Smith would be nice as the main hooker with McCullough on the bench or in Reggies. Renouf Atoni from the Bulldogs would also be nice.

The backs we have are very good. We need big, tough forwards on top of what we have including Molo who we have already signed.
 

possm

Coach
Messages
16,026
Retain Fui and Dufty. I can't see anyone at the moment in our squad who can provide the attack that Dufty has been doing - we need him and that includes longer term. Hook would be very happy with the way Fui is playing so he is a keep as well.

Another thing is, we have definitely got to improve our depth. Once the outcome of JDB's case has been resolved, I'm sure that our Recruitment and Retention staff will be directed to do their thing to sign up some better players to compliment our squad. Brandon Smith would be nice as the main hooker with McCullough on the bench or in Reggies. Renouf Atoni from the Bulldogs would also be nice.

The backs we have are very good. We need big, tough forwards on top of what we have including Molo who we have already signed.
The dollar value of every new player we sign more or less has to be found from those players we let go. So yes, we let go the non-performing players like Norman however the others we usually let go, are the depth or cheaper players.

So there is the rub. Sometimes we have to let go good players to hopefully improve our overall team. We of course would not be letting go Dufty, if it was not for a better fullback and if I had my way, Dufty would be kept in the squad even if it meant keeping him on the bench as our utility. When it comes to Fui, Griffin can be the judge. Maybe he would let go another prop instead.

The first thing recruitment look at is 'who is off contract' when looking to improve their roster. All other then the players I mentioned above are contracted which then presents another problem.
 

dragon thomo

Juniors
Messages
1,232
I would let Dufty and Kerr go.
Dufty has to many errors and Kerr is not a edge forward and he doesn’t seem to have a real will to win as you would want in a front rower
 

possm

Coach
Messages
16,026
I would let Dufty and Kerr go.
Dufty has to many errors and Kerr is not a edge forward and he doesn’t seem to have a real will to win as you would want in a front rower
Of course that is an option however, Kerr is not off contract at the end of this season.
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,924
I can see why Saints are quiet in the market with a 750 - 800k on the side pending the JDB case. If he is unsuccessful that is a huge wad of cash that becomes available immediately. Pity they have to still wait for an outcome.

Saints have Molo coming from the Cows next season who looks like a good signing. Maybe 1 more big bopper and a quality hooker. Macca can get injured anytime so they need some good cover. They should throw money at B.Smith or Nico Hynes to play hooker next season.
 

Dragonslayer

First Grade
Messages
7,825
I think we need to have an indepth look at firstly our current roster, those who are off-contract, and our youngsters coming through (and where they are up to development wise), before we start recruiting players.
 

redv13

Bench
Messages
3,042
Players off contract at the end of 2021:

Billy Brittain - 150k
Matt Dufty - 350k
Kade Ellis - 100k
Tyrell Fuimaono - 300k
Hayden Lomax - 100k
Corey Norman - 850k
Jorden Pereira - 250k

Brayden Wiliame - 250k
Cam McInnes - 450k

Total approximately 2m

Recruit
B Smith 700k
Prop 600k
Fullback - 1m

To recruit a marquee fullback,
Dufty and Fuimaomo must be let go.
f**k me
 

Dragonslayer

First Grade
Messages
7,825
We currently have 28 players (inc DeBelin) of our 30.
We have 4 in the DS: SSE, Sloan, Amone & H. Lomax

Off-contract: Brittain, Dufty, Ellis, Fuimaono, Norman, Periera, Williame, McInnes & H. Lomax (DS player).

The interesting part now is the list of "potential' youngsters coming through: (please excuse if i missed anyone)

Forwards : Luke Gale, Jayden Hunt, Josh Coric, Bryce Magnone, Connor Muhleisen, Blake Dowel, Shalom O'Ofou, Jackson Sherab, Mat Nicholson, Bailey Antrobus.

Backs : Tyrell Sloan (ds), James Schiller, Alex Lobb, Tyran Wishart, Junior Amone (ds), SSE (ds), Treigh Stewart, Brandon Morkos.

Yes, a lot of these guys are at different stages of their development. Not all will make it of course, however, here's at least 18 youngsters that we can keep an eye on and possibly not create roadblocks for.
For example: signing Brandon Smith how would that impact the career of Wishart or even more Muhleisen? Or do we end up with a Reece Robson type situation?

As far as our off-contract players. There are definitely a few that wont be resigned, imo those would be Brittain & McInnes and I cant see H. Lomax gaining a further DS contract. We do have to be careful. We have an ageing pack and halves pairing, and we have some young forwards learning their trade. We do need some experienced players to ease the burdon on the younger players.
It's well known the situation around both Dufty and Norman.
I would extend Ellis (1yr), JP (1yr) and Fuimaono (2yrs).
Williame is a 50/50 call, it's obviously Hook has/had an opinion of him.

I can't see how it is a simple delete and add.
 

possm

Coach
Messages
16,026
Has possm confused Williame with Fui.
Can't say I have seen enough if Wee Willie but Fui ain't going nowhere. I like him works hard especially on the line.
To bring new players into the top 30, some need to be cut from the top 30. Then the dollars also need to add up i.e. if you only cut inexpensive players, you don't have the cash to buy expensive players. And then you need to consider the make-up of the squad, it needs to be balanced and contain experienced players and young players ready for first grade.

Clubs look to the list of players coming off contract to see how much they have in their kitty to spend on recruitment. Eventually the dollars have to add up and sometimes hard decisions need to be made.

Griffin will already know what he is going to do. Only matter out of his control is the De Belin matter and for 2021, De Belins cost is getting less and less week by week.

The cut off for signing new players is in August so by then De Belin may only cost around 300k leaving say 400k left in the kitty to sign a big prop for the remainder of 2021. Of if Griffin wishes, to front end some contracts so for 2022 we can compete for a good prop, B Smith or a new fullback.
 

Maddragon99

Juniors
Messages
2,075
We currently have 28 players (inc DeBelin) of our 30.
We have 4 in the DS: SSE, Sloan, Amone & H. Lomax

Off-contract: Brittain, Dufty, Ellis, Fuimaono, Norman, Periera, Williame, McInnes & H. Lomax (DS player).

The interesting part now is the list of "potential' youngsters coming through: (please excuse if i missed anyone)

Forwards : Luke Gale, Jayden Hunt, Josh Coric, Bryce Magnone, Connor Muhleisen, Blake Dowel, Shalom O'Ofou, Jackson Sherab, Mat Nicholson, Bailey Antrobus.

Backs : Tyrell Sloan (ds), James Schiller, Alex Lobb, Tyran Wishart, Junior Amone (ds), SSE (ds), Treigh Stewart, Brandon Morkos.

Yes, a lot of these guys are at different stages of their development. Not all will make it of course, however, here's at least 18 youngsters that we can keep an eye on and possibly not create roadblocks for.
For example: signing Brandon Smith how would that impact the career of Wishart or even more Muhleisen? Or do we end up with a Reece Robson type situation?

As far as our off-contract players. There are definitely a few that wont be resigned, imo those would be Brittain & McInnes and I cant see H. Lomax gaining a further DS contract. We do have to be careful. We have an ageing pack and halves pairing, and we have some young forwards learning their trade. We do need some experienced players to ease the burdon on the younger players.
It's well known the situation around both Dufty and Norman.
I would extend Ellis (1yr), JP (1yr) and Fuimaono (2yrs).
Williame is a 50/50 call, it's obviously Hook has/had an opinion of him.

I can't see how it is a simple delete and add.
Fuimaono has developed so much this year under Hook & his versatility is very handy. He deserves a upgrade & a 3yr contract to lock him up.
 

dragon thomo

Juniors
Messages
1,232
I agree Fuimaono is a good player. I would upgrade him. I think Josh Kerr has done enough to attract attention from other clubs to pay his contract
 

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