Parramatta Eels sign Josh Papalii for 2014

[parra pete]

BUT contracts are a complete and utter waste of time,,I agree with you on that......

 

[parra-matters]

That's bullshit PM...

90% of rumors are pete.
Good to see you defending your mate.

 

[Etu Uaisele]

That's bullshit PM...

Pete I've heard this to but the story I've heard is that they're upset that he insists on showering with the team after games .

 

[Raider_69]

He already had - there's quotes from him in Josh Massoud's article. How many times does a kid have to come out and be quoted for people to believe his words above one eyed newspaper talk from a regional capital.

Bartman, i'd love to hear the sound grabs of those words... And i mean this entirely as not to offend Josh, but anyone who has heard the guy speak to the media will tell you those are very strange quotes.

Given he wasnt there at the media conference, but was in Canberra preparing for a trail, i might suggest that when he signed the deal, some two weeks ago (before perhaps his 2nd thoughts come into play) his manager drafted a written statement and Papalii signed it to be read out at the appropriate time.

Papalii can end this saga any time he wants, the media will be itching to get some direct quotes, rather than written statement read out by someone else. All he has to do is say "Im committed to Parramatta in 2014 and am looking forward to finishing off strongly with the Raiders"

The fact he hasnt done so, and the fact Canberra are still quite adamant he wants to stay, so adamant in fact they are working their tails off to arrange 3rd party deals to bring our offer in line with Parramatta's, combined with the desperation (imo of course, you'll of course disagree and suggest the desperation is on our side and it is, i think it's coming both ways, both clubs are desperate to have this kid apart of their future) being showed in forms of an early press conference (Surely Parra would want to trumpet their big signing by parading him in front of the cameras holding a jersey up as per standard procedure.) and what appears to be some interesting tactics to try and pressure Papalii into honoring the deal (i dont blame them for this btw, id want the raiders to do the same in similar circumstances)... it's becoming abundantly clear as the days drag on that Papalii is not yet a done deal.

You can deny it if you like. Say we're in denial at losing a talented footballer. Both fan bases can play the denial game against the other if they choose, but the facts are if it was as clear cut and dry as you are pretending, we wouldnt be having this dicussion.

The longer Papalii stays mum on this, the more it seems like the Raiders side of things, has serious merit.
Papalii should come out, no manager, no Stuart, Edwards, Furners or anyone and just speak from his heart as to what he wants for his future. If that's parra so be it, and good luck to him and there is nothing we can do except hope to send him out on a high. But if its Canberra he wants... this thing is not going to go quietly into the night for Parramatta fans, and sticking your heads in the ground and saying "he's signed a deal, he's definitely coming, dont worry about" would be foolish

 

[Pazza]

Lol this is turning into a joke! The NRL must act on this now cause it is going to end in a PR disaster for the code.

Also where does that leave our recruitment now? Do we have josh or not? How much cap space do we have left? Can another club come in and sign josh before rnd 13?

 

[El Diablo]

Bartman, i'd love to hear the sound grabs of those words... And i mean this entirely as not to offend Josh, but anyone who has heard the guy speak to the media will tell you those are very strange quotes.

Given he wasnt there at the media conference, but was in Canberra preparing for a trail, i might suggest that when he signed the deal, some two weeks ago (before perhaps his 2nd thoughts come into play) his manager drafted a written statement and Papalii signed it to be read out at the appropriate time.

Papalii can end this saga any time he wants, the media will be itching to get some direct quotes, rather than written statement read out by someone else. All he has to do is say "Im committed to Parramatta in 2014 and am looking forward to finishing off strongly with the Raiders"

The fact he hasnt done so, and the fact Canberra are still quite adamant he wants to stay, so adamant in fact they are working their tails off to arrange 3rd party deals to bring our offer in line with Parramatta's, combined with the desperation (imo of course, you'll of course disagree and suggest the desperation is on our side and it is, i think it's coming both ways, both clubs are desperate to have this kid apart of their future) being showed in forms of an early press conference (Surely Parra would want to trumpet their big signing by parading him in front of the cameras holding a jersey up as per standard procedure.) and what appears to be some interesting tactics to try and pressure Papalii into honoring the deal (i dont blame them for this btw, id want the raiders to do the same in similar circumstances)... it's becoming abundantly clear as the days drag on that Papalii is not yet a done deal.

You can deny it if you like. Say we're in denial at losing a talented footballer. Both fan bases can play the denial game against the other if they choose, but the facts are if it was as clear cut and dry as you are pretending, we wouldnt be having this dicussion.

The longer Papalii stays mum on this, the more it seems like the Raiders side of things, has serious merit.
Papalii should come out, no manager, no Stuart, Edwards, Furners or anyone and just speak from his heart as to what he wants for his future. If that's parra so be it, and good luck to him and there is nothing we can do except hope to send him out on a high. But if its Canberra he wants... this thing is not going to go quietly into the night for Parramatta fans, and sticking your heads in the ground and saying "he's signed a deal, he's definitely coming, dont worry about" would be foolish

:lol:

it's a conspiracy now

 

[Raider_69]

conspiracy? I havent suggested anything of the sort.
Be sure to post up the sound grabs then El Diablo. I'd love to hear them.

What i have said is my feeling is Papalii probably signed a statement at the time of signing the contract, with every intention of it being sincere (and it still maybe, but we havent heard him confirm that and my feeling is if that statement was still true to its words now, Canberra wouldnt be wasting time trying to tee up 3rd party deals for a bloke who wants to leave the club) and has since received a new better offer from the Raiders and is now having 2nd thoughts.

No conspiracy. Just following the story as it unfolds.
I really hope for your guys sake, your confidence has not be miss placed. I hope for your club's sake you get to give me a big fat i told you so... but if you cant, and he ends up staying... *gulp* there is going to be a lot of embarrassed people in this thread.

 

[Gary Gutful]

Personally I think there is a lot of merit in what Raider is saying.

I had similar thoughts re: the Papali statement. Having worked with Comms and media people regularly it is not uncommon for someone to have words attributed to them that they haven't actually said (though granted they would have at least reviewed them before they were provided to the media).

I hope he comes to Parra as much as the next guy but have a feeling that this is not quite over the line yet.

 

[hybrideel]

TBH if i were the eels i would be looking at a redundancy plan and just hope if and when he does back out, we still have the time to get a replacement. I have a feeling that the Raiders will match the offer and he will stay with them

 

[Gary Gutful]

TBH if i were the eels i would be looking at a redundancy plan and just hope if and when he does back out, we still have the time to get a replacement. I have a feeling that the Raiders will match the offer and he will stay with them

Agreed - Papali was Plan F. Hopefully we don't need to go to Plan G but we should still at least have one...

 

[hybrideel]

i do wonder what the raiders fans that are claiming we paid stupid money for him will say when they do match our offer though. Will the figure then change from $500K down to the $330K?

 

[El Diablo]

conspiracy? I havent suggested anything of the sort.
Be sure to post up the sound grabs then El Diablo. I'd love to hear them.

What i have said is my feeling is Papalii probably signed a statement at the time of signing the contract, with every intention of it being sincere (and it still maybe, but we havent heard him confirm that and my feeling is if that statement was still true to its words now, Canberra wouldnt be wasting time trying to tee up 3rd party deals for a bloke who wants to leave the club) and has since received a new better offer from the Raiders and is now having 2nd thoughts.

No conspiracy. Just following the story as it unfolds.
I really hope for your guys sake, your confidence has not be miss placed. I hope for your club's sake you get to give me a big fat i told you so... but if you cant, and he ends up staying... *gulp* there is going to be a lot of embarrassed people in this thread.

you are claiming it's a conspiracy because there are no sound grabs

you're quite happy to believe that he has had second thoughts and wants to stay with not even one quote from him saying that

the only drongo saying that is the journalist who keeps changing his mind :lol:

 

[Maroubra Eel]

The Raiders can bitch and moan all they like. They can run around organizing 3rd party deals until the cows come home. But it's too late fellas, he's signed with us.

 

[Twizzle]

I cant believe all this bitching from faiders.

How many f**king Eels juniors are playing at other cubs ?

At one stage and I think it was 2 years ago, The Drags were the only NRL club without an Eels junior in their teams.

Anyone would think they were asked to chop their arm off.

 

[I bleed blue & gold]

Another fu*king saga we are in the middle of. I hope this gets sorted out and put to bed quickly.

 

[strider]

If he backs out so be it - the rules are a f'n disgrace ..... I just hope he and his management are reasonable enough to do so ASAP so we can move on and try and arrange someone else

 

[I bleed blue & gold]

I cant believe all this bitching from faiders.

How many f**king Eels juniors are playing at other cubs ?

At one stage and I think it was 2 years ago, The Drags were the only NRL club without an Eels junior in their teams.

Anyone would think they were asked to chop their arm off.

Spot on Twiz.

Say we had Tanginoa off contract and he left for a bigger deal etc, i, as well as every other Parra fan on here, would be gutted, but if i was to see some Parra fans carrying on like this i would be embarrassed. There is either going to be a big LOL@PARRA if he does stay or if he does in fact come to us the Raiders fans will cop it im sure.

 

[Kornstar]

If he backs out so be it - the rules are a f'n disgrace ..... I just hope he and his management are reasonable enough to do so ASAP so we can move on and try and arrange someone else

Pretty much spot on!

 

[Gary Gutful]

Pretty much spot on!

Ditto.

 

[IFR33K]

Ditto.

This