Finau Latu's Move to Canterbury Bulldogs

[getsmarty]

Finau Latu's Move to Canterbury Bulldogs: A Strategic Shift in NRL_The_has_This

The Bulldogs have been actively restructuring their roster for the upcoming season, with Latu joining a…

www.sohu.com

Flanagan hammers agent as Dragons lose teen star

Shane Flanagan has hit out at the handling of contract negotiations, slamming the agent of rising Dragons star Finau Latu.

au.news.yahoo.com

 

[Gomarchin]

I hate Gus but I wish he was the GM of the Dragons.

We had a chance but the BOD wanted nothing to do with him.

 

[Slippery Morris]

He better not be latu I mean late for training or he will have 35 guys to wrestle. Better still if he is rubbish and they need salary cap space, he can just be forced to take up boxing.

You wonder why a youngster would take the risk to join them with their huge turnover of players. A couple of bad games and your out. Not even, the big Pommie forward Tom Amone, did not even make it to the field and he is heading back to Super League.

 

[hewi]

‘Handled terribly’: Flanagan unloads on agent after Dragons young gun’s ‘poor’ defection to rival

‘Handled terribly’: Flanagan unloads on agent after Dragons young gun’s ‘poor’ defection to rival

www.foxsports.com.au

“I wanted to keep him and I’m not happy about the negotiation side of it,“ Flanagan said.

“It’s been handled poorly, terribly.

“Sometimes you lose them because you’re not willing to pay a certain fee, or you don’t want the player, but we wanted to keep him, and we’re not happy.

“The way that it was handled by his management, was handled poorly, really poorly.

“We’ve brought that young bloke up the last three or four years and we wanted to keep him and never got an opportunity to.”

Im sure there will be those like I’m Hornby who will blame Flanagan but in reality you can only do so much. I never thought LKT would stay so we win 1 and lose 1.

 

[twinkletoes]

I suppose all the other young guns of similar culture will follow

 

[redv13]

I’d be dropping him straight to Flegg for the rest of the season. Very disappointing

 

[KingFlanno7]

He never truly loved the red v. Look at Egan and Stewart for example you can tell they are very humble kids who love the club and grew up supporting. Throw in the Couchman brothers and he won't be much of a loss when it comes to building a strong culture, no point being here if his heart isn't in it.

 

[KogarahWarrior]

Rugby league is a business but this one kinda hurts especially with how much time we invested into him from Matts and SG ball through to cup. Oh well.

 

[TheRev]

He is one of the best in nsw cup, so hes entitled to his position there, but unlikely now to get a first grade debut.. that said were already 6 middles down, what if we get 2 more injuries tomorrow? There may come a time when we just need to blood him.

 

[KogarahWarrior]

He is one of the best in nsw cup, so hes entitled to his position there, but unlikely now to get a first grade debut.. that said were already 6 middles down, what if we get 2 more injuries tomorrow? There may come a time when we just need to blood him.

Btw rev, how do you rate Meafou in comparison to Latu? From what I've seen he's got excellent footwork

 

[SIR LANCELOT]

He is a Penrith junior I believe.We only signed him a few years ago.Gould has had his eyes on Latu for quite a while.Throw in Ciraldo and there you are.Hi there Bulldogs .Here I come.We were not in the race to keep him.

 

[thebigredv]

He is one of the best in nsw cup, so hes entitled to his position there, but unlikely now to get a first grade debut.. that said were already 6 middles down, what if we get 2 more injuries tomorrow? There may come a time when we just need to blood him.

I am probably one of the few who would still want to see him debut this year if it helps our cause and there will be a need at some point. Loyalty is long gone...it angers us...but while we have let's use him.

You and I know not all these guys will go on to be rep players or match winning players. Many a forward has crashed out after a meteoric rise. I just hope it's Latu now and not Halangahu, Stewart and Eagle.

 

[thebigredv]

Can anyone remember who was the Bulldogs junior we brought over 3 or so years ago. I can't recall his name or what happened to him but he was touted to be a big deal?

 

[VodkaSaint]

he is another mercenary , Best clubs at The best price, if the bulldogs are going downhill he will jump if he is good enough

 

[Dragsters]

I wouldn't pick him anywhere for the rest of the year.

Why add to his development for the grubs?

Good riddance I say...

 

[SAP58]

Player managers are a blight on the game BUT the player have the final say, he could have directed the agent to go back to the Dragons if he really wanted to stay. I never had a good feeling about him staying.

 

[TheRev]

Btw rev, how do you rate Meafou in comparison to Latu? From what I've seen he's got excellent footwork

The difference with Latu was outperforming most @ only 18yrs of age, and stepped up quickly into Flegg & Cup..... which usually means his ceiling is much higher.. and he could have hit first grade at a much lower age than would be normal.. the Couchmen were another example of kids who stepped up much earlier than the average.

Developmentally Daniel.. if he didnt cop that serious injury last year, he probably goes on to play the 2024 Flegg season, does a pre-season with 1st grade.. and hes probably not that far behind Tonga/Latu/Halangahu.. but he missed an entire pre-season and half the SG Ball season.. if he stays healthy, id say he starts 2026 in and out of NSW Cup... too early to be sure how far he will go.. same as Tonga.. there are a few steps between 19s and 1st grade...

Still hopeful but were gonna have to go chase 1or2 middles now who can help first grade.. I dont think Daniel is anywhere close, and Tonga I think needs time also.. maybe a debut in the back half of the year (unless we cop more injuries).

 

[KogarahWarrior]

The difference with Latu was outperforming most @ only 18yrs of age, and stepped up quickly into Flegg & Cup..... which usually means his ceiling is much higher.. and he could have hit first grade at a much lower age than would be normal.. the Couchmen were another example of kids who stepped up much earlier than the average.

Developmentally Daniel.. if he didnt cop that serious injury last year, he probably goes on to play the 2024 Flegg season, does a pre-season with 1st grade.. and hes probably not that far behind Tonga/Latu/Halangahu.. but he missed an entire pre-season and half the SG Ball season.. if he stays healthy, id say he starts 2026 in and out of NSW Cup... too early to be sure how far he will go.. same as Tonga.. there are a few steps between 19s and 1st grade...

Still hopeful but were gonna have to go chase 1or2 middles now who can help first grade.. I dont think Daniel is anywhere close, and Tonga I think needs time also.. maybe a debut in the back half of the year (unless we cop more injuries).

Thanks for your great answer, as usual, Rev. I agree. From what I've seen, I'm happy that Meafou has a similar sort of leg drive to Latu, but as you said, developmentally very behind due to the ACL injury unless he has a breakout season in Flegg or something. But from what I saw in SG ball, I feel like Daniel doesn't go searching for the ball enough and runs a lot of decoys.

As much as I didn't want to admit it since he's going, I think Latu's ceiling is one of the damn near highest out of any young forward in the NRL. You'd be hard pressed to find somebody else his age absolutely dominating with their carries in cup but he's an absolute beast.

 

[twinkletoes]

So much for our juniors taking us in to the future…. other dominoes will now fall and we’ll be back where we started

I think it a bit rich to say the manager didn’t come back to them and we didn’t have a chance to retain him… a proper recruitment manager would have been all over it…. our recruitment and retention department is pathetic which will never allow this club to be a powerhouse into the future

 

[possm]

Who at the Dragons decides which player to keep and which to let go?