NRLW

[NoSchitSherlock]

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[NoSchitSherlock]

Knights superstar Tamika Upton has requested an immediate release from the remaining three years of her contract, with the four-time premiership winner return to her home state of Queensland.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrlw/tamika-upton-returns-to-queensland-after-requesting-immediate-release-from-knights-contract/news-story/cb9f5ea576c951cf677f136537d0db97

 

[Apey]

Devastating loss if it eventuates but I'm also not surprised.

I was worried about it at the end of 2023. At both the Dally Ms and NRLW presentation night she spoke very unconvincingly about her time here and talked about how much she was missing home, and then didn't attend the Civic reception despite being POTM in the GF.

I follow her on Insta too and besides family, all her friends are Broncos and/or QLD players too. I wonder if Millie leaving had an impact as well.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

Devastating loss if it eventuates but I'm also not surprised.

I was worried about it at the end of 2023. At both the Dally Ms and NRLW presentation night she spoke very unconvincingly about her time here and talked about how much she was missing home, and then didn't attend the Civic reception despite being POTM in the GF.

I follow her on Insta too and besides family that all her friends are Broncos and/or QLD players. I wonder if Millie leaving had an impact as well.

Article says personal family reasons.

 

[Yosh]

Damn...

 

[perverse]

We've been bleeding talent since the first premiership, and this will be the final nail in the coffin. Upton is the talent of her generation. Was a pleasure to watch her play for us for a while. We won't go close next year. Upton isn't replaceable.

This had better not be the start of a really shitty off season for us as a club. I don't see much good recruitment/retention news on the mens side either.

 

[Apey]

We've been bleeding talent since the first premiership, and this will be the final nail in the coffin. Upton is the talent of her generation. Was a pleasure to watch her play for us for a while. We won't go close next year. Upton isn't replaceable.

This had better not be the start of a really shitty off season for us as a club. I don't see much good recruitment/retention news on the mens side either.

Yeah, can't be too mad really. She delivered us two Premierships and is probably the greatest female player of all time. Some might see it as a bad look for the club but she has often spoken about how much she misses home. I believe we were regularly flying her back up there, too, in mind of that. The way its been reported does make it sound like something specific has spurned this on, but it is the DT and I doubt they are aware/care about facts.

The only silver lining is that while she isn't replaceable, she is our highest paid and marquee player. We should go for top tier prop for the marquee allowance and find a serviceable fullback replacement.

 

[Knight Tales]

She is a very private and reserved young lady. It must be huge if she is walking away from the biggest deal in the women’s game.

 

[Burwood]

How long does the women’s season (including preseason) even go for? 2025 will see 11 games and a 3(???) week finals series, so you’d have to think that more than half of the year could be spent living in Queensland.

White looked ok on the wing for her couple of games and she’s a natural fullback, so I wonder if she’ll make the step up.

 

[Haffa]

That’s devastating news. She’s irreplaceable. Now I have to break the news to my daughter. Hopefully we find an adequate replacement.

Cowboys would be a sneaky chance to sign her.

 

[Woody90]

We've been bleeding talent since the first premiership, and this will be the final nail in the coffin. Upton is the talent of her generation. Was a pleasure to watch her play for us for a while. We won't go close next year. Upton isn't replaceable.

This had better not be the start of a really shitty off season for us as a club. I don't see much good recruitment/retention news on the mens side either.

To be honest as terrible as it is losing her, the side has been absolutely pulled to shreds by other clubs and IMO we’re heading out of our premiership window with or without Tamika. We definitely had her at the best time.

 

[Yosh]

At least we had her for 2 Premierships. Very sad to see her go. Why do all our generational talents have to been Queenslanders???

 

[Haffa]

At least we had her for 2 Premierships. Very sad to see her go. Why do all our generational talents have to been Queenslanders???

Phoenix is a kiwi, mate.

 

[Yosh]

Phoenix is a kiwi, mate.

I'm always worried the Warriors gonna target him as their SJ replacement!

 

[Lynoman]

As much as I sympathise with her, if it is family reasons, the Knights should only release her if she buys our her contract or the club she eventually signs with pays the Knights compensation or she sits out the duration of her Knights contract. If her family issues are so bad, that she needs to break her contract, then she shouldn't be too worried about playing a sport. I'm sick of players using the "homesick, family issues, whatever" to get out of a contract they legally signed. If we have to foot the bill when we move players on who are unwanted, the same should apply to anyone wanting out of a legally binding contract. If average Joe tried to pull this shit, they'd be told tough shit. Should apply to sportspeople as well.

 

[perverse]

As much as I sympathise with her, if it is family reasons, the Knights should only release her if she buys our her contract or the club she eventually signs with pays the Knights compensation or she sits out the duration of her Knights contract. If her family issues are so bad, that she needs to break her contract, then she shouldn't be too worried about playing a sport. I'm sick of players using the "homesick, family issues, whatever" to get out of a contract they legally signed. If we have to foot the bill when we move players on who are unwanted, the same should apply to anyone wanting out of a legally binding contract. If average Joe tried to pull this shit, they'd be told tough shit. Should apply to sportspeople as well.

It's a pretty awkward situation isn't it? The problem with sportspeople is that you need them at peak performance, or your organisation can suffer more than they do.

Keeping an unhappy player around a group, especially a leader, isn't a very tenable situation. You're then left with the awkward situation of either forcing them to honor their contract one way or another (whether they play for it or sit it out), and immediately gaining a reputation as a club that doesn't support players in the wider player market... or you let them go and gain sweet f**k all from it aside from some goodwill brownie points for being compassionate and putting players first.

For a club with enough clout/social/fiscal clout in the player market it's not such a big deal to push players around a bit. Their power is that players want to play for them as the default position. It's where premierships are won, glamour clubs, etc, etc. For struggling clubs that need to make the best pitch possible, it's tough to hardball players because ultimately they have more power than you and they (and their agents) know it.

I'm very curious about this case because it seems like Upton was willing to sign a long term contract to stay... and it's not like she didn't know the place pretty well already. Additionally, it isn't a long season and it should be easy to facilitate a lot of time up there for her anyway. I'd be somewhat inclined to risk being the bad guys on this one and try to line up a succession plan before agreeing to the release.

Having said all of the above, we went backwards big time this year and I suspect a lot of it is down to the new coach. Wouldn't surprise me if she wants out on the back of that.

 

[Nuke]

Having said all of the above, we went backwards big time this year and I suspect a lot of it is down to the new coach. Wouldn't surprise me if she wants out on the back of that.

That was my first and strongest thought too as I read this thread. I say that with nothing personal against the current coach as I know virtually nothing about him, but I felt immense disappointment when Ron Griffiths left the team, and ultimately the club, and felt whomever replaced him would be up against it to keep the great form coming and the team together.

I know a former NRLW player who played in that first, very short, season. She had to relocate from interstate for the 10-12 weeks, and it was hard-going doing it, even though her NRLW club flew her husband over a couple of times. I can certainly empathise with anyone who does that, even for the relatively shorter NRLW season. I'm not meaning to sound horrible and cruel, but Brissy's, what, maybe an hour's flight away for visits? The team plays in Qld up to 2 or 3 times per season too. And it's a short season. Yes, it will get longer as more teams come in, but with the odd 'family leave' mid-week break, I'd like to think there's enough opportunity to have family time in Qld over the next few years.

Or it might simply be that we Newcastle fans are just not meant to have nice things.

 

[Apey]

I suspect it's a bit of everything, and that ultimately she wants to play for the Broncos again, where her family and friends are close by. I'll be very surprised if she ends up anywhere but the Broncos.

But yeah, there were vibes during both award nights last year that she wasn't 100% committed to being here. It could just be a gradual development.

It's a tough one for the club as perverse said, I'd hope we could get something in return but it's probably a situation where we'll end up just having to take the L.

Still, she delivered more Premierships to this club than I'll ever see in my adult life on the men's side so she has a lot of good grace as far as I'm concerned.

It'll piss me off watching her embarrass us in a Broncos jersey next year.

 

[Nuke]

This has affected me more than I thought it would and probably more than it should. I'm gutted by this, and will be mighty pissed off if she does, in fact, end up back at the Broncos.