Reds target Bulldogs star

[Roy Rover]

He'd be mad to sign for the Reds they suck and he'd barely touch the ball.

 

[Calixte]

Besides, Tonga owes the mighty Maroons.

He would be a fool to cross to union before tasting victory over the heathen Blues in the cauldron of Origin. In fact he would be a fool to go at all.

 

[russ13]

Mick deVere is coming back next year. There was something in today's Courier- Mail about him being a possible union signing.


You can say what you like about the salary cap in RL but at least it has equalised the competition. Compare that to the rugby code that doesn't have a salary cap. Australian union have two team in the top 4 & 2 teams that can't win a game until they play one another.

Why would a top class RL players such as Tonga & Gasnier sign with union when they would most likely have to play with either the Queensland or WA teams.


BTW I don't think Tonga has played union before. Could someone confirm this.

 

[Razor]

More good news for League

More publicity on how pathetically bad Union talent is.

 

[Kurt Angle]

The thing to look at is the ARU can only sign so many players.

The QRU by itself can only afford $150k, compared to the Bulldogs $200k.

S14 teams can not afford the money NRL clubs can. I can't see the ARU buying 40 players for their backline, and if Tonga and Gasnier are the new centre pairing for the Wallabies, it means players like Inglis, Cooper, Tahu, etc aren't going anywhere.

 

[Thomas]

Yeah, pretty much spot on there Kurt.

I also can't see the ARU buying 40 RL players, and I wouldn't be surprised if the ARU tells the QRU to shove it. The ARU CEO has said that he doesn't want to sign RL en masse and Tonga (being a fringe origin player only) probably isn't the player they are looking for. Gasnier, on the other hand, is a gun centre.

Karmichael Hunt has said he won't ever play RU unless it was for the ALl Blacks, so I doubt he'd go.

If there is one thing the Wallabies don't need and that is more backs. They need 'ard as f**k forwards willing to do the hard work, and I don't see any RL forwards being approached.

 

[Phil McGrawhan]

Tonga would be a better union player than Gasnier...much stronger and would make a strong winger/centre.

What good is that ?. Out on the wing in yawnion you are lucky to see the ball once a game ,because it is always kicked in preference to getting the ball out wide ... boring sport. NRL talent is wasted in union,& i hope Tonga stays..

 

[Bring Back the Spliff]

I believe Tonga's manager is Gavin Whore...er, I mean Orr.

Which does not bode well for him staying! If Whore..sorry - Orr - could get one of his clients an extra 50c and a chupa chup after each game to go take up Curling in Alaska - he would push the player into it 100%

I suppose is all boils down to whether Tonga wants to go play union at this stage of his career or not. No doubt if he re-signs in league - whether @ the Dogs or elsewhere - then he will receive a substantial payrise as it is.

My own gut feeling is that he will stay - sign with the Dogs for 2 more years with a nice little payrise...then possibly think about Onion again in a few years....but who TF knows, really - as I say - with the Whore brothers involved here - anything really IS possible!

 

[nqboy]

I reckon Tonga's got it all to do to get back to a level where he's earning his contract. At his best, he's one out of the top drawer but he hasn't been there for a while.

I'd be disappointed to lose him to yawnyawn but if he goes, others will step up in his place.

 

[Woods99]

Get over it guys, it's a free market. If league players want to play rugby union, for whatever reasons, they can and will.


Signing league players will not have the slightest effect on junior player ranks in rugby union, kids play rugby union because their mates play rugby union, or they go to rugby union schools, and their parents want them to play the game.

League gets quite a few juniors from rugby union backgrounds (including Willie Tonga, so I have been told).

The vast majority of Pacific Islanders playing league come from rugby union backgrounds.

 

[ali]

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,18645946-5002381,00.html


I can't see how the Bulldogs will be able to compete with the money. Double that of what the Dogs are paying him! Also seems like the Force will be doing some raiding by the looks of the article.

Another article where they forgot to mention that the player could also make some extra bucks for playing 3 Origins and 6 Tests for Australia this year if good enough.

 

[Calixte]

Get over it guys, it's a free market. If league players want to play rugby union, for whatever reasons, they can and will.


Signing league players will not have the slightest effect on junior player ranks in rugby union, kids play rugby union because their mates play rugby union, or they go to rugby union schools, and their parents want them to play the game.

League gets quite a few juniors from rugby union backgrounds (including Willie Tonga, so I have been told).

The vast majority of Pacific Islanders playing league come from rugby union backgrounds.

f**k off genius.

You blokes claim anyone that even went to a union playing school for a f**king music lesson - even when they've played rugby league since they were 3.

 

[Thomas]

Insulting Woods by calling him a genius is an insult to geniuss everywhere.

But to be fair, Calixte. There are people on here who call Elton Flately an NRL reject despite the fact his last game of RL was in the Lismore U12's.

 

[Bring Back the Spliff]

kids play rugby union because their mates play rugby union, or they go to rugby union schools, and their parents want them to play the game.

Orrrrrr - simply because there is no other option at their school!! I played Yawnion for 4 long years in High school - from Years 8-11 - simply because myself and my mates had no other option. Our school did not have a League side - only Union. And we wanted to play SOME kind of footy for sport, to stay in touch for our weekend Rugby league teams (Our real love)

I did not go to a private school - and my parents most assuredly did not care what game I played - they just wanted me to enjoy whatever it was i chose to do.

And being a pretty prominent member of that side (Certainly not throwing this fact up to blow my own trumpet or anyhting...but I was consistently amongst the school's monthly sports awards winners for Rugby) I cannot TELL you the pressure I got from the coach and other staff at the school, early on - to ditch my Rugby League team on the weekend - and play union for their 'associate club' instead.

But I told them to get knotted every single time - because it was League that I truly loved! But I was aware of quite a few blokes that DID cave to that pressure - And that made me really angry at the time!

Now I ended up being fortunate enough to play both Harold Matthews and SG Ball for the Bulldogs in League in this time (for whichi got threatened with being dropped from the school's first XV for - I just LAUGHED at them and said "Fine - go ahead!"...but they never made good on their pathetic threats!) - myself and another mate from the First XV of that school - but neither of us ever made it past that to Premier League or First grade - and another bloke from that side got graded by Wests (Not sure what happened to him though as he left school in Year 11...Never heard of him in first G though) but if any of us HAD - then we would have been one of those players 'with Rugby Union Background' that you speak of....and through NO fault of our own!

I HATED the friggin' game, I can tell you - and so did my mate that came to the Dogs with me. And I still do!...Yawnion doesn't hold a candle to league in terms of skills or excitement. The number of players with PURE League skills that could succeed in Union - would outnumber the ones that could go the other way 15 or 20 to 1, without a word of exaggeration!

And having played both codes extensively - I know what I am bloody talking about here.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

Its just turning into a chest-thumping exercise from Rugby Union now. And player managers dont help the situation.

If they are willing to spend such huge bucks on (un-tested) import players they are more stupid than I thought. That money would be much better spent on development of many, many junior players.

It's more of an "up-yours" to league than anything else. Childish really.

 

[aussies1st]

This is the biggest raid from Union ever, haven't seen so many players mentioned to switch.

 

[rugged]

Just wish they'd stop raiding the QLD state of origin team - Tuqiri, Sailor, Rogers, Tonga maybe - who else?

And from a QLD perspective the NRL had better not top up Gasnier's pay like they did for Johns to stop him being poached - they bloody well didn't do it for the QLDers!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kurt Angle]

I thought it was RU's plan back in 2002. Just poach from the Qld SOO side, and weaken SOO.

Also noticed though, all they ever got was SL players, explains the bit about the money.

 

[DJ1]

Fine. If he wants to go, go.

League will never have a shortage of good young players wanting to step up.

No player is bigger than the game.

 

[aussies1st]

Queensland definitely isn't the state you want to lose players. They don't have a huge amount of backs compared to NSW.