Flanno's New Signings

[Hound of Dracula]

"Corey Horsburgh spotted at Canterbury Leagues club today with Bulldogs staff, is he Belmore bound?"

Yep, another one not coming to us by the sounds of things.

With Corey Horsburgh being a little mentally fragile, does he really believe the Bulldogs are his best fit?

 

[Moehunt2024]

Wow when are these signings ever gonna happen

 

[<StGeorgeDragons>]

Wow when are these signings ever gonna happen

Friday



























2031

 

[John moz]

Never no recruitment yet no signings of players. Bulldogs signings almost every week for 2025 Dragons again will sign reject players clubs don't want.

 

[Saints Forever]

Never no recruitment yet no signings of players. Bulldogs signings almost every week for 2025 Dragons again will sign reject players clubs don't want.

Prefer to play the juniors

 

[True_Believer]

I'm one of Goulds biggest fans, I listed to him on his podcast and 100% footy each week...I just wish we were as dodgy tbh... feel like one of the few teams playing by the rules over the last decade.

It is a bit of a love/hate relationship with Gould though now that he is a twist of self-interest in everything he does on behalf of the dogs.

He's the Trump of the NRL

 

[Budpower]

Never no recruitment yet no signings of players. Bulldogs signings almost every week for 2025 Dragons again will sign reject players clubs don't want.

I heard Josh McGuire is on Flannos radar

 

[Gippsy]

Prefer to play the juniors

We may not have a choice.

 

[R&WTILLIDIE]

Players prefer to sign with the tigers instead of the dragons. That’s how much of a basket case this place has become.

 

[baggygreen man]

Enjoy the massive steps forward

I await that day with enthusiasm.

 

[baggygreen man]

But blaming coach for all our recruitment woes is a post that belongs on the "sack Flanno" thread where misery love company.

Figure you'd become impervious to failure after over 50 years support, but not so. Still hurts. Mate he is our coach responsible with R&R for recruitment is he not, so he has to share the blame.

 

[justadragon]

It baffles me what some excuses are for lack of recruitment, it's the area, it's the coach, it's the club, it's the board, it's our lack of success, it's the money, it's the culture, it's our recruitment staff(or lack there of)
My answer to that is I just have to say the TIGERS !!!!
Compare every one of my excuses to their situation, and it's a mystery, thats why I cant believe we are that bad.

 

[<StGeorgeDragons>]

Figure you'd become impervious to failure after over 50 years support, but not so. Still hurts. Mate he is our coach responsible with R&R for recruitment is he not, so he has to share the blame.

We are now witnessing the exact reason coaches like Ryles and Hasler didn’t sign on with Dragons.

As I said at the time Flanno was desperate enough to take the role. Now he is stuck trying to get players over to a poisoned club. Too many better options elsewhere.
If Shane, now desperate for some talent, doesn’t want to throw silly money at players that’s fine with me. Everyone has their dignity to maintain. He has pursued the right players they just don’t want us.

I look at players like Hynes, Stefano, Holmes and Kikau who virtually laughed at us when faced with us as a destination and it does suck. Makes you just want to build completely from within but then we need to be okay with being final-less for a few years yet. Then you look at Suli who didn’t want to be here either. Now he is happy and playing his career best. If we can just land one perhaps more will commit.

 

[56to66]

We are now witnessing the exact reason coaches like Ryles and Hasler didn’t sign on with Dragons.

As I said at the time Flanno was desperate enough to take the role. Now he is stuck trying to get players over to a poisoned club. Too many better options elsewhere.
If Shane, now desperate for some talent, doesn’t want to throw silly money at players that’s fine with me. Everyone has their dignity to maintain. He has pursued the right players they just don’t want us.

I look at players like Hynes, Stefano, Holmes and Kikau who virtually laughed at us when faced with us as a destination and it does suck. Makes you just want to build completely from within but then we need to be okay with being final-less for a few years yet. Then you look at Suli who didn’t want to be here either. Now he is happy and playing his career best. If we can just land one perhaps more will commit.

No one wanted to play for Souffs until they managed to sign Roy Asotasi.
They just need to Jag a good Front Rower a leader who players want to play for, unlike BH.

 

[since77]

Players prefer to sign with the tigers instead of the dragons. That’s how much of a basket case this place has become.

I'm as frustrated as most with the lack of progress we're making with recruitment. But if you think any player is going to the Tigers for any other reason than they're being ludicrously overpaid then you're kidding yourself. They're the epitome of a soulless rabble and they play like that every week and have done for over a decade.
Look at the godawful hole they are in and no amount of signing players on massive overs has helped them. Probably yet another wooden spoon coming their way. Signing Penrith's 5/8 won't help much except get them off the very bottom of the table. From top to bottom that club is the definition of a basket case.
So if you want to outbid the Tigers are you prepared to pay massive overs for every recruit and potentially end up in the same place they are in?
We're going upwards. Slower than any of us want but we're on our way up. The Tigers - my god they have more years of misery left before things change.
People need to calm down and stop thinking so simplistically - "oh players prefer to sign with the Tigers". Yeah they do - for idiotic amounts of money that has hamstrung their club.
I hate being in limbo with the recruitment too but people are panicking. Sorry to say you're going to have to settle for incremental improvement of our roster until we finally jag a big name.

 

[56to66]

I'm as frustrated as most with the lack of progress we're making with recruitment. But if you think any player is going to the Tigers for any other reason than they're being ludicrously overpaid then you're kidding yourself. They're the epitome of a soulless rabble and they play like that every week and have done for over a decade.
Look at the godawful hole they are in and no amount of signing players on massive overs has helped them. Probably yet another wooden spoon coming their way. Signing Penrith's 5/8 won't help much except get them off the very bottom of the table. From top to bottom that club is the definition of a basket case.
So if you want to outbid the Tigers are you prepared to pay massive overs for every recruit and potentially end up in the same place they are in?
We're going upwards. Slower than any of us want but we're on our way up. The Tigers - my god they have more years of misery left before things change.
People need to calm down and stop thinking so simplistically - "oh players prefer to sign with the Tigers". Yeah they do - for idiotic amounts of money that has hamstrung their club.
I hate being in limbo with the recruitment too but people are panicking. Sorry to say you're going to have to settle for incremental improvement of our roster until we finally jag a big name.

Goes to Show how good Flanno is, Hasler has a better roster and Ryles too, next year we'll be flying again.

 

[matPORTS]

The simple fact is - the club (be it the coach or the higher ups) is not willing to pay overs for any player. To be honest, I don't blame them. The one off exception to this seems to have been Ben Hunt. Have we got our monies worth here? I'm pretty sure this is also playing a part in our decision making process around how much we're willing to offer.

This has been the case for a very long time now. Even during the Bennett-era, Weyman, Costigan, Priddis you could have labelled as "cheap and/or basket case" signings.

We managed to sign Jeremy Smith for the absolute prime years of his career. Maybe getting Damien Cook could also be an equivalent level signing (although he is probably past his prime now)?

Justin Poore, who had a breakout season in 2009, ended up leaving us for Parramatta... did his career trajectory continue? Now lets also sit back and continue to watch the Lomax journey.

We want players who want to be here, and get paid reasonably for the pleasure of doing so...

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

I also think there will be some serious offers and contract negotiations for a few of our elite juniors probably happening right now.

this is a squad $ challenge we have not had for some time........so much so......to get some of them to come to them to the Dragons we had to stagger their contracts into the top30 squad for 2025 at very young ages.

Latu
Halangahu
Tonga
Couchmen x 2
Jett
Meafou
etc

As an example........If Aussie Schoolboy Tonga at 121kg and 196cm keeps progressing at his current rate Gold Coast, Dolphins and Brisbane will go hard for him to head back to QLD.......I mean he could be a 21yr old $700k pa before we know it. He turned 19yrs old in May this year. Tonga and Latu and Halangahu will have a stack of clubs lined up as they their next contracts.

Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga

The State of Origin U19s profile of Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga including career statistics, season stats, games, tries, goals, tackles and fantasy scores.

www.nrl.com

The Roosters have just had to go through the same challenge of keeping the Va'a boys beyond 2026. De La has had a 2 year extension (thru to 2028) on the table since May and I believe hasn't agreed as yet. De La played prop with our Tonga in the Aussie Schoolboys.

​

Xavier and De La Salle Va’a Contract Extension​

03-28-2024, 04:06 PM

Former Broncos Academy young guns Xavier and De La Salle Va’a are kicking major goals at the Roosters.

The monster duo will stay at Bondi until the end of 2026 after inking two-year extensions with the Roosters, who have big plans for the Towers of Terror they poached from the Broncos in 2021.

At 193cm and 116kg, hulking Xavier, 20, has captained the Queensland under-19s and is being groomed to fill the front-row void when enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves departs at season’s end.

His younger brother De La Salle is scarily bigger at 194cm and 115kg. He was bigger than most NRL forwards as a 15-year-old and has been monstering opponents in the Roosters’ lower grades.

It seems only a matter of time before the Va’a boys, who are also talented boxers, wear Roosters colours in the NRL.

 

[dungay dragon]

The simple fact is - the club (be it the coach or the higher ups) is not willing to pay overs for any player. To be honest, I don't blame them. The one off exception to this seems to have been Ben Hunt. Have we got our monies worth here? I'm pretty sure this is also playing a part in our decision making process around how much we're willing to offer.

This has been the case for a very long time now. Even during the Bennett-era, Weyman, Costigan, Priddis you could have labelled as "cheap and/or basket case" signings.

We managed to sign Jeremy Smith for the absolute prime years of his career. Maybe getting Damien Cook could also be an equivalent level signing (although he is probably past his prime now)?

Justin Poore, who had a breakout season in 2009, ended up leaving us for Parramatta... did his career trajectory continue? Now lets also sit back and continue to watch the Lomax journey.

We want players who want to be here, and get paid reasonably for the pleasure of doing so...

Pretty simple scenario.......
Advise all the three players and their managers
"Our offer will be withdrawn within 48 hours , if not accepted , we need to move on "
Re Holmes , Horsborough and Safiti
Sick n tired of being screwed around by Player Managers and intending players
Re Hunt extension
Make the decision now and cut him loose
The Club will be flooded with prospective half backs looking for an opportunity
Will be surprised who just mite "Knock on the door"

 

[Desperate Dragon]

It is really hard to know what is going on behind the scenes when it comes to player contract negotiations.
Surely Flanagan knew about what was happening with Holmes behind the scenes, the approach to the Roosters by his manager etc.
Why make a one day trip to Townsville if he did not think there was still a chance of signing him??
I am not convinced the Holmes situation is a lost cause at this stage.
But if Flanagan is going to continue to talk with players who are still under contract post 2025, when it comes to reaching an agreement with another club as to how much they will kick in for the remainder of a deal, these things can take plenty of time to come to a conclusion.
Looks like the signing of Safiti could have reached this point.