Flanno's New Signings

[Dragons4me]

The NRL should simply not register him unless he plays for the Dogs. Seeing he only left to chase a boxing career. Not even the off season went past and he wants to return. If it was a year or so you can understand him missing the game but 1 off season? Not sure if he did the dirty or the Dogs to get rid of him and pay his out to get him off the cap. I say the latter as he would have been on big dollars. Whatever the case, he should be made to honour the contract if he comes back to the NRL with the club and Dogs should have to put him in the Cap. Otherwise any player can now follow suit and say they want to chase a boxing career then sign up a few months later for another club.

Yeah. Gus has already come out and said that he doesn't have a problem with his return (silently hoping it's not at the Dogs). Isn't that big of Gus! Privately Gus would be shitting bricks 'cause he's already moved on (salary cap wise) and TPJ is not a part of it although it should.

 

[Dragon David]

The NRL should simply not register him unless he plays for the Dogs. Seeing he only left to chase a boxing career. Not even the off season went past and he wants to return. If it was a year or so you can understand him missing the game but 1 off season? Not sure if he did the dirty or the Dogs to get rid of him and pay his out to get him off the cap. I say the latter as he would have been on big dollars. Whatever the case, he should be made to honour the contract if he comes back to the NRL with the club and Dogs should have to put him in the Cap. Otherwise any player can now follow suit and say they want to chase a boxing career then sign up a few months later for another club.

Yes you are right Slippery. Something doesn't smell right with this and the matter should be investigated by Abdo. Gus naturally has given his blessing for Tevita to play in the NRL because in his opinion Tevita left the Dogs of his own accord to take up boxing full-time and therefore taken off the Dogs salary cap enabling several new signings to be arranged which occurred. I have said that in my opinion, he was "encouraged" to leave the NRL by the one and only Gus to take up boxing rather than Tevita himself wanting out by his own wishes.

If Tevita is to return to the NRL, he should go back to the Dogs like you say Slippery.

 

[Dragon David]

Yeah. Gus has already come out and said that he doesn't have a problem with his return (silently hoping it's not at the Dogs). Isn't that big of Gus! Privately Gus would be shitting bricks 'cause he's already moved on (salary cap wise) and TPJ is not a part of it although it should.

My thinking as well Dragons4me.

 

[justadragon]

My thinking as well Dragons4me.

Its the great Gus Gould, nothing will happen, what happened over the last investigation with Laundy, nothing. The NRL know Gould can really hurt them in the media, he does as he pleases as has been shown time and again.

 

[Dragon David]

Its the great Gus Gould, nothing will happen, what happened over the last investigation with Laundy, nothing. The NRL know Gould can really hurt them in the media, he does as he pleases as has been shown time and again.

I think he has pulled a few clever shonkies over the years and unless you were the best detective like Inspector Clouseau you would see how deceitful he has been.

 

[Nutz]

I think he has pulled a few clever shonkies over the years and unless you were the best detective like Inspector Clouseau you would see how deceitful he has been.

If looks alone was enough to convict a shady man then Gus would be gooonnnneee. I don't trust him.

 

[Nutz]

The NRL should simply not register him unless he plays for the Dogs. Seeing he only left to chase a boxing career. Not even the off season went past and he wants to return. If it was a year or so you can understand him missing the game but 1 off season? Not sure if he did the dirty or the Dogs to get rid of him and pay his out to get him off the cap. I say the latter as he would have been on big dollars. Whatever the case, he should be made to honour the contract if he comes back to the NRL with the club and Dogs should have to put him in the Cap. Otherwise any player can now follow suit and say they want to chase a boxing career then sign up a few months later for another club.

The way I thought it goes is if a club terminates a contract for reasons other than whats allowed eg the guy breaks the agreed code of conduct as was the case with WT's David Nofoaluma [strike 3 policy] the player is still included in their salary cap.
However because TPJ resigned to take up boxing then if released he's off the books.
On a recent pod it was highlighted that the NRL would not allow the player to sign another contract until the original contract expired.
If there is no time limit imposed on this then it will become a mockery. There would be nothing to stop a player quiting a club and resigning with another club on the same day. It also opens it up to corruption, if say in the case of the Dogs, they pay the player to resign.
I uploaded a full NSWRL Playing contract template in the Wests Tigers forum which is a good guideline on how a contract is tabled these days if you want to have a look....be warned, ensure you have caffeine handy.

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

Are we better off in 2024..........and are we on track for 3 marque signings for 2025?

Flano vs Hook Tuitavake vs JHunt V.Fafita vs Woods Marschke vs Mbye KFlanno vs Bud RFM vs Kerr Sele vs Musgrove Eisenhuth vs Burns Allan vs Ramsey Tuipolotu vs Moga? ? vs Amone? PLUS we have been able to keep and promote both Couchmans and promote Tamale and Finau

 

[st.phil]

Are we better off in 2024and are we on track for 3 marque signings for 2025?

Flano vs Hook Tuitavake vs JHunt V.Fafita vs Woods Marschke vs Mbye KFlanno vs Bud RFM vs Kerr Sele vs Musgrove Eisenhuth vs Burns Allan vs Ramsey Tuipolotu vs Moga? ? vs Amone? PLUS we have been able to keep and promote both Couchmans and promote Tamale and Finau

Spot on, some people prefer to whine on n on rather than appreciating that change is incremental and well and truly in progress. As much as it may pain some, the clubs is on the way up folks , long way to go but we’ve hit our bottom and are heading north

 

[Illusion]

Spot on, some people prefer to whine on n on rather than appreciating that change is incremental and well and truly in progress. As much as it may pain some, the clubs is on the way up folks , long way to go but we’ve hit our bottom and are heading north

All Flanno has to do is coach better and improve each player by 10 , 20 and 30 percent more and the team will improve, even without our any signings .......

 

[Crush]

I think people are underwhelmed by the recruitment because they are comparing directly with Tigers and Dogs. If these cellar dwellers can land big fish why can’t we kind of mentality.
But the above post is correct, we have strengthened our roster and coaching staff.
Results will be the true measure but it’s encouraging.

 

[thebigredv]

But the above post is correct, we have strengthened our roster and coaching staff.
Results will be the true measure but it’s encouraging.

Stronger by a very fine margin. Flanagan doesn't need to get us to finals footy this year. He just needs to get us to a point where we have some appeal to all players on the market. I like to think he will get a response from the players and maybe discover a very bright sparks in the junior ranks. Anything beyond this is a huge bonus.

Let's not forget we have a decent portion of players, young and old, whose time is up at our club. Just like Hunt is waiting for his contract to expire, Flanno will be waiting for theirs to end too.

 

[jeffdragon]

I think people are underwhelmed by the recruitment because they are comparing directly with Tigers and Dogs. If these cellar dwellers can land big fish why can’t we kind of mentality.
But the above post is correct, we have strengthened our roster and coaching staff.
Results will be the true measure but it’s encouraging.

Dogs have signed some players who have been in and out of fg.

 

[Crush]

Dogs have signed some players who have been in and out of fg.

They have, but they’ve also signed some genuine stars of the NRL.

 

[Old Timer]

I love the notion of improving players by 10, 20, 30% etc.

What if some of these players simply can’t be improved by such margins and are actually very close to their ceilings?

Certainly some can be fitter but only some not all and just because a player is fitter it doesn’t make him a better footballer it just makes him fitter to be dumb &/or useless for longer.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Looking at what you put together @Auntie.Gerald Saints have improved their register with some smart buys. Thanks for putting it together as it made me realise this recruitment has not been as bad as what has been made of it. They may not be world beaters but definitely better than what they had.

People can look at what the Tigers and Dogs have brought in but they don't look at what they let go. Saints lost JHunt, Woods, Mbye, Bud, Kerr, Musgrove, Burns, Ramsey, Moga & Amone. People like me are still sore about losing Bud out of the lot and you cannot really include Ramsey as he has a medical condition and Amone so Saints had no choice but lose them for 2024. For the other guys, are they really such a big loss that will come back and bite us? Can you really see them making such a huge impact apart to their new clubs apart from Bud if fit?

If you look at Tigers, they lose Blore, Brooks, Laurie, Maumalo, Ofehengaue, Tommy Talau and Wakeman. Of those Blore is still young and can make a difference to a new squad especially under Bellamy, Brooks and Laurie are pretty handy as well and can spark something out of nothing to break a game. I know Brooks has copped criticism but he was a Daly M winner and I would not be surprised if he gets to those levels with a fresh start and new team. He can become one of the NRL's top 5 halves at his best. Laurie will be so much better under Cleary as well at Penrith. I would have loved him to come at Saints as I like how he plays. I am sure if Saints signed Ofahengaue, Laurie, Brooks and Blore we would not be too dissapointed. These guys have been replaced by youngsters, Olam and Sezer for 2024.

Dogs let go of Alamoti, Averillo, RFM, Flanno, TPJ, Luke Thompson, Waddell. All pretty handy under a different coach and replaced with I feel like for like. Only improvement is Crichton but Averillo under Bennett and Alamoti under Cleary may have outsanding seasons to counter that. What makes this interesting is the 4 forwards of RFM, TPJ, Thompson and Waddell and the only big boppers they brought in to replace them is Curran & Faamausili. They replaced there squad with versatile utilities but not big bodies like what they had. Ciraldo must have a short memory from his time at Penrith because alot of their success comes from their big pack especially Leota & Fisher-Harris. Without the big boys making the yards how will they capitilise on their attack with the one of the best centres in the game playing 5/8 in Burton and the youngster in Sexton at 1/2? Not sure but having a complete new squad will take longer to gel than a team that has a few changes so time will tell if they come good.

 

[Crush]

I love the notion of improving players by 10, 20, 30% etc.

What if some of these players simply can’t be improved by such margins and are actually very close to their ceilings?

Certainly some can be fitter but only some not all and just because a player is fitter it doesn’t make him a better footballer it just makes him fitter to be dumb &/or useless for longer.

I think Hook was the worst coach in the history of the joint venture. They looked clueless in attack and defense. They looked unfit, ill disciplined and unhappy.
For this reason I do not think that any player has been playing to their ceiling.
If guys like Sloan regress then this statement will be proven wrong.

 

[Slippery Morris]

I love the notion of improving players by 10, 20, 30% etc.

What if some of these players simply can’t be improved by such margins and are actually very close to their ceilings?

Certainly some can be fitter but only some not all and just because a player is fitter it doesn’t make him a better footballer it just makes him fitter to be dumb &/or useless for longer.

Only way to find out is see how they go under a new coach and new structures. If they are still the same or if not worse then move them on. Who better to judge these guys than a Premiership winning coach that knows what it takes to win a comp.

Penrith and the Bronco's seemed to have improved within 1-2 years after Hook left to make a GF so it could be 3rd time lucky and this time it comes to Saints. This should really prove how bad coach Hook is if it does happen surely. Or for the Hook lovers they can say that he lay the foundations for their success.......lol

 

[Old Timer]

If

I think Hook was the worst coach in the history of the joint venture. They looked clueless in attack and defense. They looked unfit, ill disciplined and unhappy.
For this reason I do not think that any player has been playing to their ceiling.
If guys like Sloan regress then this statement will be proven wrong.

If they don’t improve the statement will be proved wrong.

I agree with clueless and especially in attack and that gave all our opposition an easy ride and they conserved energy whereas when they attacked us we expended the entire fuel tank.

So what concerns me with the fitness argument is maybe we were close to as fit as this lot could be and the trouble was we never gassed a team completely due to ineptness.

So unless we improve our attack many, many times over the other teams will always conserve energy and we will never cope despite how fit we are.

Do the attack coaches have the ability to do that???? I’m pretty confident our defence coach doesn’t.

 

[This Year?]

I'm fairly underwhelmed by these signings. To me we were never going to land any star players, but what we have signed looks to be dregs from other clubs.
I still think they are an upgrade on 2023 though.