Newcastle Knights Signings/Re-signings thread

[macavity]

Remember, Perry has a habit of pulling his thumb out of his arse when his contract is up for renewal, then sticking it right back up there when he's wrapped up for another 2 or 3 years.

too true...

 

[Frederick]

From todays Herald:

Mark Taufua - given a 1 year contract extension, signed until 2008

The paper also said that we were looking to offer Jason Ryles around $400,000 to play here, but he is also considering lucrative offers from England. We're also believed to be tagetting Brett White and Ben Cross, both of whom IMO would be better than Ryles.

 

[Matt23]

Apparently White has agreed to re-sign with Melbourne for 3 years... scratch him off the list
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21673845-5012431,00.html

 

[Jono078]

Damn $400k for Ryles? I think id rather get Cross for almost half the price of that.

I said a few weeks ago that I didnt want White because I didnt think he'd be what we needed, but he's been great the past few weeks, would be happy to have him if he hasnt re-signed.

 

[Bicey_18]

Dunno how melbourne keep all these players...

 

[Master Vippo]

Two words

Craig Bellamy

Hes the best around IMOand the players love to be coached by him.

 

[CJKnight]

Just wait another 2-3 years and Melbourne will be struggling just like the Roosters and Dragons are now...

 

[Nuffy]

Paying 400k for Ryles is F**king madness, hes not the answer. I hope for our sake he chases the big bucks in england.

 

[CJKnight]

Why are we looking at props anyway? I'm saying I'm not saying that I would be opposed to buying a Ryles, Clinton, or Kite. But IMO the forwards is where we have the most depth in the club:

Sargent
Perry
Woolnough
Snowden
Tolar
White
Taufua

IMO there are more important positions to fill like the second-row, centres and/or a half.

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

From that list surely you can see why we need a top quality prop mate? Most of them are unproven or underperformers, none of them are leaders.

 

[RABK]

Not too mention that a couple are off contract - did you ever think of that? Perhaps it's time we got rid off a couple of dead wood forwards to buy a leader for the pack.

 

[roopy]

From that list surely you can see why we need a top quality prop mate? Most of them are unproven or underperformers, none of them are leaders.

Sargent is our oldest prop (if we are not counting Davico) at 27. Props often improve up to the age of 28 or so.
I'd say all our props have an upside to them.

 

[Spike]

It will be interesting to see how the under 20's comp next year fares for props. Given that they have a tendancy to mature later than other positions, if a up and coming prop fails to really impress at around the 18 or 19 years of age mark.

 

[CJKnight]

Not too mention that a couple are off contract - did you ever think of that? Perhaps it's time we got rid off a couple of dead wood forwards to buy a leader for the pack.

What? Buy Ryles for $400k to be our "leader"? So what happens when he gets injured or just plain bored?

Sargent, Simmo, and Woolnough have anough FG experience to "lead" by example. And with promising players like Tuafua, Patto, and Snowden in the mix, our future looks just fine in the forwards.

I'm not saying that I would be opposed to buying a prop. But I think the most leadership we need is in the halves and out wide, where the average age is very low (bar Doogs). A centre and/or half would give us alot more attacking options to work with on the back of our forward's workrate.

All of this MO of course.

 

[Johns Magic]

What? Buy Ryles for $400k to be our "leader"? So what happens when he gets injured or just plain bored?

Sargent, Simmo, and Woolnough have anough FG experience to "lead" by example. And with promising players like Tuafua, Patto, and Snowden in the mix, our future looks just fine in the forwards.

I'm not saying that I would be opposed to buying a prop. But I think the most leadership we need is in the halves and out wide, where the average age is very low (bar Doogs). A centre and/or half would give us alot more attacking options to work with on the back of our forward's workrate.

All of this MO of course.

Just because they have experience doesn't make them leaders.

Reynoldson, Simpson and Sargent couldn't lead a dog if it was on a leash.

Our forwards' workrate? Our forwards have no workrate to speak of. They're far too soft and will never be dominant enough to lead us to a premiership.

 

[macavity]

I agree with CJ.

outside backs (and a half if Walsh/Dureau dont come on) are the priority.

IF (big IF) we retain our forwards, we aren't THAT bad off. perhaps a few big boppers that can be developed.

we need to unearth the next bargain-basement Antonio Kaufusi, Brett White or Brent Kite.

We don't need to waste the money needed to buy established guys, we need a project that will succeed.

and maybe a money tree and a magic goose while we are at it.

 

[RABK]

I think we need a quality prop, centre and half.

 

[B-dos]

I think we need a quality prop, centre and half.

agreed. however my order of priority is half, prop, centre.

i agree we have enough guys in the front row for depth but players like Woolnough and (to a lesser extent) Perry are just not top quality FG material and not the type of front rowers who win premierships.

Agree with macavity also that it would be great to unearth a bargain young bloke but the likelihood of this is low in my opinion.

Unless either Walsh/Dureau are ready to step up this year or next a quiality half is a must sign. imo this should be our top priority depending on walsh/dureau.

A quality centre/winger is desperately needed to show leadership to our younger backs and to strike a bit of fear into opposition backlines. at the moment out attacking potency is abysmal.

 

[macavity]

I would probably agree on the priority, however we are possibly the weakest team in the comp out wide. unless we have a ripper centre coming through (roopy??) we are going to struggle there.

the half thing is an enigma - its a risk either way - dont get one and walsh/dureau might not come on, do buy one and they might come on, at another club.

monas, tim smith, dobson and josh lewis are 4 out there - seems we arent interested in monas, but tbh any of them would be fantastic. I would lean towards dobson, but i think we are least likely to get him. i have a feeling lewis is a smokey for us.

centres is going to be a real problem - seems every team is after one. hodges will stay where he is, whatuira and tate will move - i think whatuira will end up in the UK (I dont rate him anyway) and Tate will end up at the fuzzies or canbraa.

what other outside backs are available?

as for props, tbh none mentioned excite me. Kite maybe, but what would we be paying!

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

Agreed guys and with the amount of players comming off contract surely we can offload enough players and by god as we are aware there is plenty of dead wood at the club.

Then realistically we should be able to afford atleast a half, prop and centre.

Perry, Carmont & Reynoldson(who still has a lot proves) money alone would have to be somewhere near the $500k-$600k mark.

I think we really need to bite the bullet and particularly with the above players instead of "waiting for them to show their potential" get rid of them and get aggressive on the market.