2021 War Chest

[Dragonslayer]

I dont think there will be as much of a 'war chest' as people think. There are a few variables that could eat away at any potential $$$ we might perceive, such as, who in 2021 has a backended contract for example or who our coach is.
In any case the players mentioned, my prediction is:

Aitken - Gone (if not sooner)
Clune - re-signed
JDB - contract would have expired before said trial which probably wont be decided 'till December. Question mark over wether we would sign him again if cleared.
Ford - re-signed
Frizell - hopefully re-signed
Graham - retired
Host - big year for Hosty, can see him being re-signed or let go depending on performance. I hope he stays.
Lafai - wont be re-signed
Lovodua - not sure on Joe. He will probably look to opportunities elsewhere, particularly with the new Fijian team entering into the CC comp.
Luke - not sure with Luke either. He may re-sign just to play CC (particularly if Joe moves on).
Ravalawa - has to have a big 2020.
Sailor - I think will re-sign.

As far as calulating $$ for an impact on the market, well its almost impossible, but lets play the game:
Add in:
Aitken +$400k
JDB - +$550
Graham +600k
Lafai +400k
Lovodua +130k

Total: +$2.08m

Deduct off: (estimates only)
Clune $50k
Ford $100k
Frizell $250k (minimum extra)
Host $50k
Luke $130k (or whatever the min wage is)
Ravalawa $50k
Sailor $100k

Total - 730k

So, $2.08m - $730 = $1.35m

Then we come to JDB which is the biggest unknown. Even assuming clearance and we do give him an opportunity again it would have to be at a far reduced rate say even 200k for 1yr.

To round it off we would need to:
(Without JDB) $1.35m divided into signing 5 players ie: $270k each, or
(With JDB) $1.15m divided into signing 4 players ie $287.5k each.

In any case 270k or 287k aint going to get you anyone at top end. Maybe 1 at 500k and the rest on mimimum but thats about it. Its also why, I think, they will wait the outcome of the JDB trial.

 

[Old Timer]

I dont think there will be as much of a 'war chest' as people think. There are a few variables that could eat away at any potential $$$ we might perceive, such as, who in 2021 has a backended contract for example or who our coach is.
In any case the players mentioned, my prediction is:

Aitken - Gone (if not sooner)
Clune - re-signed
JDB - contract would have expired before said trial which probably wont be decided 'till December. Question mark over wether we would sign him again if cleared.
Ford - re-signed
Frizell - hopefully re-signed
Graham - retired
Host - big year for Hosty, can see him being re-signed or let go depending on performance. I hope he stays.
Lafai - wont be re-signed
Lovodua - not sure on Joe. He will probably look to opportunities elsewhere, particularly with the new Fijian team entering into the CC comp.
Luke - not sure with Luke either. He may re-sign just to play CC (particularly if Joe moves on).
Ravalawa - has to have a big 2020.
Sailor - I think will re-sign.

As far as calulating $$ for an impact on the market, well its almost impossible, but lets play the game:
Add in:
Aitken +$400k
JDB - +$550
Graham +600k
Lafai +400k
Lovodua +130k

Total: +$2.08m

Deduct off: (estimates only)
Clune $50k
Ford $100k
Frizell $250k (minimum extra)
Host $50k
Luke $130k (or whatever the min wage is)
Ravalawa $50k
Sailor $100k

Total - 730k

So, $2.08m - $730 = $1.35m

Then we come to JDB which is the biggest unknown. Even assuming clearance and we do give him an opportunity again it would have to be at a far reduced rate say even 200k for 1yr.

To round it off we would need to:
(Without JDB) $1.35m divided into signing 5 players ie: $270k each, or
(With JDB) $1.15m divided into signing 4 players ie $287.5k each.

In any case 270k or 287k aint going to get you anyone at top end. Maybe 1 at 500k and the rest on mimimum but thats about it. Its also why, I think, they will wait the outcome of the JDB trial.

Before any of the above punt Hunt and promote Clune and you will have plenty in the war chest.
If you can also kick Norman into touch even better.
Our shit halves take up far too much of our cap compared to what they contribute to on-field performances.

 

[denis preston]

Before any of the above punt Hunt and promote Clune and you will have plenty in the war chest.
If you can also kick Norman into touch even better.
Our shit halves take up far too much of our cap compared to what they contribute to on-field performances.

OT, tend to agree but until the pack at least holds their own and dare say it dominate, we won't see the best of Hunt & Norman. You could say , i guess , even when we hold our own for the first 20 mins ( before our fade off ) they both haven't really shown anything in this period as well. For me Hunt has performed much better than Norman, but that's not saying much ! Said it before , we really need big years from these two as well as Host, Blocker, Kerr, etc but i am really underwhelmed by Normans efforts so far.

 

[Old Timer]

OT, tend to agree but until the pack at least holds their own and dare say it dominate, we won't see the best of Hunt & Norman. You could say , i guess , even when we hold our own for the first 20 mins ( before our fade off ) they both haven't really shown anything in this period as well. For me Hunt has performed much better than Norman, but that's not saying much ! Said it before , we really need big years from these two as well as Host, Blocker, Kerr, etc but i am really underwhelmed by Normans efforts so far.

Good post and I agree with you but I just don't see Hunt as the upbeat, lets go & get em, woohoo cop some of this shit type of player.
No doubt he can do a good thing or two but it is not as if he can dominate for a long session or the entire game.
Lots in here give it to Soward but boy he knew how to keep our team in a dominant position when the opportunity presented itself whereas Hunt takes the foot of the throat and can come up with some incredibly lacklustre and stupid options.
The other thing for mine is that I believe we are a very dumb team and have very little smarts which is why Norman looked an appealing signing to some. But as there is nobody else in the team with any smarts at all Norman looks like a rabbit in the headlights.
I used to watch Widdop drop his eyes and shoulders at the sheer inability of some players to do the basics well and execute a simple play. It was as if he was 3 plays in front of everyone else in the team and got sick and tired of waiting for the others to catch on.
Hornby, Gasnier, Soward, Fien, Creagh, Mundine, Blacklock, J Smith, Nighty, B Moz, Scott all had footy smarts and our current team has no one even close to them.
If Vaughan had played in the 2009 - 2011 team he would look a far far better player than what he is now and have a far better skill set and TBH Frizz would battle big time to get a start over that back row.

 

[possm]

Before any of the above punt Hunt and promote Clune and you will have plenty in the war chest.
If you can also kick Norman into touch even better.
Our shit halves take up far too much of our cap compared to what they contribute to on-field performances.

Hunt and Norman will perform better under a Sheppard/Flanagan combination. In any case I prefer to send McInnes to lock, Hunt to hooker and Clune in the halves.

 

[Richard Norton]

Before any of the above punt Hunt and promote Clune and you will have plenty in the war chest.
If you can also kick Norman into touch even better.
Our shit halves take up far too much of our cap compared to what they contribute to on-field performances.

Honest question OT.
Hunt or Norman. Who would you keep?
Id prefer to keep Hunt and punt Norman if it came down to one of them 2.

 

[Old Timer]

Honest question OT.
Hunt or Norman. Who would you keep?
Id prefer to keep Hunt and punt Norman if it came down to one of them 2.

Hunt to 5/8, Clune to 7 and Norman punted.
Hunt does offer more than Norman providing he can stop dropping his bottom lip and stay in the game for the entire 80 minutes.
Norman is nothing more than occasionally flamboyant with a very low success rate.
Notwithstanding the above I would still prefer to punt Hunt and give Norman to the doorman and go with Clune & Sailor and see what we can create out of that.

 

[Dr Fruitbasket Returns]

We're going to be able to buy a lot of 26 year old reserve graders and Super League players with all that cap space.

 

[SBD82]

We're going to be able to buy a lot of 26 year old reserve graders and Super League players with all that cap space.

So we’ll take a more youth oriented approach to recruitment?

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

I have seen nothing from Ravalawa to suggest he should bed in the top 30. Certainly not to have a break out year in the centres. He can barely hold onto the ball let alone pass it. I said it before, her is not a footballer.

I don't think Cody Ramsey is even 20 yet. And I would caution against throwing him into first grade ate a time like this when there is huge pressure on the team. And we don't really appear to have a settled back line.

Why Brittain on the bench? What utility value? He plays hooker and with Cam able to play 80 minutes, I think that is a wasted bench spot.

When McInnes is back I wouldn't play BB or Luke but I doubt Luke can still punch out 80 that's why BB would be picked. We could put say a Sailor or Clune there and move Hunt to 9 for a portion of the game but do we really want to go around with all that funky mid game positional changes again like last season? That might be fine if we had an injury but id give Hunt and Norman as much time as possible to build a combo.

 

[Richard Norton]

Hunt to 5/8, Clune to 7 and Norman punted.
Hunt does offer more than Norman providing he can stop dropping his bottom lip and stay in the game for the entire 80 minutes.
Norman is nothing more than occasionally flamboyant with a very low success rate.
Notwithstanding the above I would still prefer to punt Hunt and give Norman to the doorman and go with Clune & Sailor and see what we can create out of that.

Keep in mind we have young Sullivan, i know he is still young, but in a year or 2 i think he will be ready to get a run.
The kid looks the goods so far. I think he will be ready to run in 1st grade when Normans contract is up maybe?
Might have a Sailor and Sullivan halves pairing?

 

[Old Timer]

Keep in mind we have young Sullivan, i know he is still young, but in a year or 2 i think he will be ready to get a run.
The kid looks the goods so far. I think he will be ready to run in 1st grade when Normans contract is up maybe?
Might have a Sailor and Sullivan halves pairing?

Lots of options available hopefully we take one rather than stick with status quo.
I just hope all the teams we play in the 1st 4 - 6 weeks are fully fit and in good form as I don’t want the results / issues clouded over due to them being poor rather than us being good.

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

Keep in mind we have young Sullivan, i know he is still young, but in a year or 2 i think he will be ready to get a run.
The kid looks the goods so far. I think he will be ready to run in 1st grade when Normans contract is up maybe?
Might have a Sailor and Sullivan halves pairing?

He looked pretty gunshy in the 9s I thought he would kill it. His defence will have to improve I reckon he's two years away yet, which works out well because that's around the time Hunt and or Normans contracts are up. Hopefully he has a full season against men in CC then gets to the level by June 30 next season they can give him a run during origin to take over in 2022. I thought the combo would be Sullivan/Sailor but I'm starting thinking it could very well be Clune/Sullivan. Clune is mid 20s so would be able to keep a cool head and control things while Sullivan could be free to attack. A plus of this would be they will probably be halves partners in CC so they will have a ready made combo.