Parramatta Eels sign Josh Papalii for 2014

[The EELiminator]

me thinks the raiders are embaressed that thier pants were pulled down and now are scrambling, what ever happens there onw be one winner in all this, papalli's manager.

it depends if he is found out trying to get top dollar by playing the raiders and eels off against each other without any consideration for what josh wants his reputation will suffer

 

[born an eel]

Coach Ricky Stuart even signed up Papalii in the presence of his mother, whom Raiders officials moved to Canberra to help the Kiwi-born forward adjust to life away from his Brisbane home.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...-for-next-season/story-e6frexnr-1226585424488

I hope we have included moving his mother in our cap allowance as even if Canberra didn't have to we know Schubert will hit us for it

 

[Twizzle]

They've gagged him for his own good.

I reckon they gagged him for their benefit, not his.

Time will tell.

 

[mickdo]

Must be comedy hour in here... gagged for his own good :lol:

 

[Craig Johnston]

I reckon they gagged him for their benefit, not his.

Time will tell.

this, more specifically dave furner junior has gagged him, which is understandable from a coaches pov.

but dave snr and others shouldn't be speaking on papalii's behalf.

 

[Tony Bongo]

I hope we have included moving his mother in our cap allowance as even if Canberra didn't have to we know Schubert will hit us for it

I will hire a truck and move her for free. Does anyone want to give me a hand?

 

[I bleed blue & gold]

I will hire a truck and move her for free. Does anyone want to give me a hand?

I'll help you Tony lol.

 

[Gronk]

I'll help you Tony lol.

I'll help if we stop off at the Yass Pie Shop.

 

[Tooooks]

Not having a shot at anyone, but can people please stop calling Papalii a kid? He's not a kid, he's a grown young man. It's a terrible habit I've noticed, particularly in Rugby League, to label young players kids (usually to excuse poor behaviour).

He is a man who - according to one report - approached Parramatta (rather than Parra approaching him) and subsequently signed a contract, presumably with a full understanding of what that contract entails. What's more, he did it in front of his mother. If he has any integrity at all, he'll honour the contract he signed, regardless of whether the Raiders can match it or not. If he doesn't have that integrity, I couldn't give a toss if he doesn't come here.

It is a tough decision for him, but it's also an enviable position for someone his age to be in (hmm should I take this big offer, or this huge offer).

 

[hineyrulz]

We know he's not itching to leave canberra

Yeah nothing says i want to stay in Cannn-Brrra more than signing a 3 year deal with Parra:lol:

 

[emjaycee]

Not having a shot at anyone, but can people please stop calling Papalii a kid? He's not a kid, he's a grown young man. It's a terrible habit I've noticed, particularly in Rugby League, to label young players kids (usually to excuse poor behaviour).

This.

He can legally drive, vote, drink, gamble, have sex, fight in wars, and sign contracts... all without parental permission.

 

[EELMAN JACK]

Not having a shot at anyone, but can people please stop calling Papalii a kid? He's not a kid, he's a grown young man. It's a terrible habit I've noticed, particularly in Rugby League, to label young players kids (usually to excuse poor behaviour).

He is a man who - according to one report - approached Parramatta (rather than Parra approaching him) and subsequently signed a contract, presumably with a full understanding of what that contract entails. What's more, he did it in front of his mother. If he has any integrity at all, he'll honour the contract he signed, regardless of whether the Raiders can match it or not. If he doesn't have that integrity, I couldn't give a toss if he doesn't come here.

It is a tough decision for him, but it's also an enviable position for someone his age to be in (hmm should I take this big offer, or this huge offer).

in total agreement with you. but we all know these days a contract is not worth a teaspoon of monkey shit. either he honours his signing or piss off now.

 

[oldmancraigy]

They've gagged him for his own good.
Absolutely nothing good can come of him commenting until he knows what he wants to do, because what ever he says is likely to be held against him by a future employee and their fans.

As ive said a number of times. Parramatta and their fans would not be remotely impressed if he came out preaching how he wanted to stay in canberra, only to see us fall short of the dollars and then have him lob into Parra with his tail between his legs.

Nor would the Raiders or our fans take it well if he said he was dead keen on going to Parra, only to back flip because we stumped up the cash. You want to cheer on blokes who want to be here. Not cheer on money grubber who used another club to sqeeze more out of us.

The only win he gets is if he comments and they happens to be where he winds up, given i dont think he has any f**king idea on where he'll play football in 2014, the safest option for him is to keep his mouth shut, and the easiest excuse he can have for that is that the raiders have gagged him. So for his own good, as well as ours, and yours btw. That's exactly what they've done.

I hope you can see that it's mostly your reconstruction which has him deadset keen to backflip?

The simple facts (as they are known) is that he knocked back an offer from Canberra and actually put pen to paper and committed with Parramatta.
Since then he's been given a media ban
And the Raiders media train have since then been talking up how they have the right to match the offer by round 13.

They CAN offer him the same moolah, but since he's signed with us, you've also got to convince him to change his mind about where he wants to play. You'd think if it was a simple matter of matching teh cash, they'd be all about putting him out there and saying how much he wants to play in Canberra. What better way to get sponsors for the bloke??

Surely a logical reading of the situation suggests the gag is so people get bored with the whole thing until the footy is actually on again???

 

[Tony Bongo]

Not having a shot at anyone, but can people please stop calling Papalii a kid? He's not a kid, he's a grown young man. It's a terrible habit I've noticed, particularly in Rugby League, to label young players kids (usually to excuse poor behaviour).

He is a man who - according to one report - approached Parramatta (rather than Parra approaching him) and subsequently signed a contract, presumably with a full understanding of what that contract entails. What's more, he did it in front of his mother. If he has any integrity at all, he'll honour the contract he signed, regardless of whether the Raiders can match it or not. If he doesn't have that integrity, I couldn't give a toss if he doesn't come here.

It is a tough decision for him, but it's also an enviable position for someone his age to be in (hmm should I take this big offer, or this huge offer).

He is a man who......signed a contract......in front of his mother.
That makes him still a kid in my books as well as the fact that he is only 20 years old (the same age as my daughter). Clearly the kid has a lot of growing up to do if he doesn't know how to be a MAN of his word.

 

[Raider_69]

He is a man who......signed a contract......in front of his mother.
That makes him still a kid in my books as well as the fact that he is only 20 years old (the same age as my daughter). Clearly the kid has a lot of growing up to do if he doesn't know how to be a MAN of his word.

I agree. I like Papalii a lot, as a player as well as a person. He seems like a nice quiet guy who just gets on with it without fuss, always has time for the fans, this about as controversial as i think we'll ever see him, but his actions here have not been one of someone id label a man. He's handled it like a kid and thats probably because he still has a lot of maturing to do.

He's signed a deal and it would appear from my perspective (and you guys obviously disagree) he has not fully considered his decision. Which has lead us to this uncertainity.

 

[Delboy]

This reminds me so much of Sandow. Souffds trie to get him to recommit to them and spread all sorts of stories

At the end of the day, our club signed a player with good pedigree etc, as far as I can see they have done everything correctly. The June 30 rule is a suck, but even if this does not go our way, the current admin did everything correctly, The Faiders need to stop crying and understand the market.

 

[Delboy]

.

He's signed a deal and it would appear from my perspective (and you guys obviously disagree) he has not fully considered his decision. Which has lead us to this uncertainity.

Is this pollie speak from the lefties in Canberra, what uncertainty, signed a contract and that was it. Must be peculiar to you guys, what was to fully understand, get sensible, you obviously dont like the fact he has signed elsewhere, but that is a rather silly comment

 

[Maroubra Eel]

If he's still a kid at 20 years of age he hasn't been brought up properly. He should be a fully grown adult capable of making his own decisions.

 

[natheel]

I reckon they gagged him for their benefit, not his.

Time will tell.

Logical thing to do would be...let him speak for himself about his future THEN put the ban on so media leaves him alone and he can focus on the season. I think the ban is to have mal and the likes talk to him without media interference. Furner and 'insiders' are talking for him which tells me they're nervous

 

[Raider_69]

I hope you can see that it's mostly your reconstruction which has him deadset keen to backflip?

I think you will struggle to find me saying he is deadset keen to backflip. As ive said a number of times, the most likely scenario here is that he honors his deal with Parramatta, and i have absolutely no issue with that, other than obvious disappointment as a Raiders fan to lose a talented player.

All i have said is that i think it's plain as day the guy is having 2nd thoughts. And his playing distination for 2014 is still very much up in the air. I genuinely believe he could go either way, but as several, including myself have pointed out, even if he wants to stay, the Raiders are up against it as to keep him, we've got to come up with the cash and convince him to renege on his deal.

If he doesnt want to stay, i dont see any logical reason for all this to be going on. Furner and McIntyre is not in the habit of playing PR man with the fans, the club is notrious for how little it thinks of how the fans feel about management. It's one of the fan bases major gripes. This is a management, who at the height of our losing streak told the fan base David Furner is safe until he loses 30 games in a row, and then had the arrogence to basically tell us, they'd never sacked a coach ever and they never will, and they couldnt care less what the fans thought because they know better than us.

So the idea that the club is blowing smoke up the media's arse to appease raiders fans, is rather foreign to us. They've never bothered trying to appease the fans before, why start now? Especially over something no one is really critical of them for

If they werent trying to match it and confident they can keep him, they'd have just sooked in the media about junior concessions and got on with other business, especially considering most raiders fans are no longer concerned about Managements role in this because the numbers being thrown around are much higher than most of us would be willing to pay him under the cap

There just seems to be a Sargent Schultz attitude here that if you guys close your eyes and pretend it's not happen, you'll wake up and it will all be a dream and Papalii is a sure starter for the Eels in 2014... it very well may end that way, and as i said, its the most likely outcome at this stage, but that doesnt change what i think is rather obvious and that's that he is taking the time now, thanks in large to the ridiculous Round 13 clause, to reconsider his options.