Rumoured Targets 3

[perverse]

Mullen, in some respects, is in the same boat as Rochow. Barely plays anymore, so is really just bonus salary cap. I don't see the point in moving him on with only a year to go on his contract and a couple of halves that need guidance over the period. Living with Mason and injuries have been the end of Mullen. Unfortunate waste of a career, but he has guided us through some very dark years as best he can, with never a word or sign of complaint, which is more than you can say for his teammates over that period.

This is yet another one I can only sort of half support with Brown. I see the logic behind it, but I think this one is premature. We have zero experience left, and these kids aren't going to improve themselves without some mentors. There's every chance at this point that Brown rides us to another 2 or 3 spoons and runs his career into the ground in the process.

 

[Sydney Knight]

Lots of good points above re Mullo. I've been vocal for a few years about letting our overpaid stars go and I'm not about to yield. Mullo falls into that category. It doesn't matter where he ranks in the playing group, he's not delivering value for money. Let's not forget he's on 500K plus. Brown has little choice here.So if there is a recruitment plan, I'd love to know what it is.

As the above has said though, it does hurt letting go of experienced first graders even though they have underperformed for years and not replacing them with someone better.


Re Snowden - does anyone know why it would be taking soooo long for medical retirement to be signed off on????

I think it's hard to get sign off if the player doesn't actually want to retire. Watmoughs case didn't really move to quickly until he actually admitted it was time to retire.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

Only a few weeks ago Gidley was still defending Hodkinson on the basis that Hodko was there to complement Mullen and with Mullen injured Hodko didn't have his half partner out there.
So if Mullen goes Hodkinson must go.
Only last week Brown mentioned it was natural that we would have missed Mullen with what he brings to the team.
I had the impression that Mullen was offside with Brown but changed that impression after last week's press conference.
It's expected that the cap may change in 2018 and there has been calls for more concessions for players that have been long term with a club. Mullen is just about the only player that could fall into that category at this stage.

 

[Joel-22]

It's hard to know definitively what kind of influence Mullen will have on the young kids without seeing him at training everyday. We know that he's a competitor and as a result possibly the best defensive half in the comp. However, we also know that he's a mental midget in pressure situations. That is definitely not something you want to rub off on the younger players.
If releasing Mullen means we can sign a first grade quality half and two middle-aged props I'll be more than happy to see him go.
I've said it before, but he simply cannot be in the starting side after 2016. The disruption his inevitable injury causes the side is just not worth it. Mullen is 5x the player that Rory is - but at least we might get a full season out of Rory.

Would anyone be interested in Nathan Brown from Souths? I think he would bring a lot to this team. Very aggressive, strong guy who is a fierce competitor. And he's only young too (22 I think?).

 

[Sydney Knight]

It's hard to know definitively what kind of influence Mullen will have on the young kids without seeing him at training everyday. We know that he's a competitor and as a result possibly the best defensive half in the comp. However, we also know that he's a mental midget in pressure situations. That is definitely not something you want to rub off on the younger players.
If releasing Mullen means we can sign a first grade quality half and two middle-aged props I'll be more than happy to see him go.
I've said it before, but he simply cannot be in the starting side after 2016. The disruption his inevitable injury causes the side is just not worth it. Mullen is 5x the player that Rory is - but at least we might get a full season out of Rory.

Would anyone be interested in Nathan Brown from Souths? I think he would bring a lot to this team. Very aggressive, strong guy who is a fierce competitor. And he's only young too (22 I think?).

I don't think you are allowed 2 Nathan Browns in the same club

 

[Nuffy]

Mullen, in some respects, is in the same boat as Rochow. Barely plays anymore, so is really just bonus salary cap. I don't see the point in moving him on with only a year to go on his contract and a couple of halves that need guidance over the period. Living with Mason and injuries have been the end of Mullen. Unfortunate waste of a career, but he has guided us through some very dark years as best he can, with never a word or sign of complaint, which is more than you can say for his teammates over that period.

This is yet another one I can only sort of half support with Brown. I see the logic behind it, but I think this one is premature. We have zero experience left, and these kids aren't going to improve themselves without some mentors. There's every chance at this point that Brown rides us to another 2 or 3 spoons and runs his career into the ground in the process.

Agree, I'm all for moving blokes on if it means we come out of it better for the transaction. Right now we are spearing everyone and signing zippo.

Show us that there is a strategy, we are begging you.

 

[perverse]

Agree, I'm all for moving blokes on if it means we come out of it better for the transaction. Right now we are spearing everyone and signing zippo.

Show us that there is a strategy, we are begging you.

Indeed. A clean out is one thing, but what comes next? Just throw kids to the wolves until it works out? I don't think it's controversial to say that if we have ever looked like a football team this year, Mullen has been at the center of it... with maybe a single cameo appearance from Hodko.

 

[Nuffy]

Indeed. A clean out is one thing, but what comes next? Just throw kids to the wolves until it works out? I don't think it's controversial to say that if we have ever looked like a football team this year, Mullen has been at the center of it... with maybe a single cameo appearance from Hodko.

And this is why I'm critical of Brown, he's not shown us that we are getting the better end of the deal.

Punt Mullo by all means, but get someone better or it's a waste of time because to get rid of him I reckon we are paying some of the freight.

 

[macavity]

Didn't we recently find out that Randall was on a stupidly large contract for his talent (or lack there of)? Maybe they've gone after Kostjasyn because Randall is another overpaid bloke for the clean out.

Yes, but its a false economy. We need to pay the difference between "market rate" and his actual rate to get rid of him. Say thats $150k of a $350k contract, and "the market" will pay $200k. It means we have $200k to spend on someone else to fill that jersey. We are unlikely to have a net gain - he is still a first grader and is probably worth more than $200k to us, and whoever we spend that $200k on is unlikely to be much better, and could be worse.

 

[macavity]

At least we'll have a roster full of players who want to play here though. I'd rather that than the team full of pretenders we've had over the last few years.

We have a lot of pretenders who want to play here.

 

[Noname36]

Before Mullen is shown the door I'd like to know what the plan is to replace him before I know whether I'm on board with the decision or not.

I know he's injury prone and eats into the cap but releasing him is really only the minor issue here - the bigger one is who he's replaced with.

If it's just to hope that Lamb/Cogger come through then we're more f**ked than I thought - especially when they're only going to have f**king Hodko to learn from (who IMO deserves to go before well before Mullo anyway).

 

[Glendale]

Judging by Browny's presser I'd say Mullen is gone. Brown was asked specifically about Mullen and he mentioned Penrith and how they had to part ways with club legends like Lewis, Jennings and Coote to get to where they are now. He didn't explicitly say anything about Mullo but it was kind of obvious the point he was making. He's gone.

 

[slotmachine]

What's the point of having cap space when no bastard wants to come here?

 

[Caped Crusader]

The thing is we don't actually have much cap space. When guys like Stockwell and Randall are on $200k+ our only hope is to clear as much space as we can to get quality in

Mullo fits the bill of over paid and really needs to go. We simply can't afford to keep him on the books

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

Gidley is denying the rumour about Mullen.
I get the impression there is some tension between Hodkinson and Brown. Have for a while. It often seems as if Brown is indirectly talking about Hodkinson. I reckon he will go before Mullen.

 

[Spot On]

I've been told Hodko has huge respect for Brown and that there's no probs from Trent's point of view.

Not sure if that is reciprocal though.

 

[slotmachine]

Hodko could take a dump in the middle of Hunter stadium and brown would describe it as a composed performance.

 

[knaus]

my issue with punting mullen is that I don't think it would actually free up that much space when you factor in the salary cap discount for long serving players. Anyone know what the discount is? I cant remember, but I get the feeling that we wont be saving $550k, we will be saving $300k or something, then to find a quality half you may end up paying more against our cap than what mullen is currently listed on our cap (post discount).

I do agree that he needs to be playing more games than he is, but Hokko is a bigger problem than Mullen for me

 

[slotmachine]

Long serving player allowance is $300k.

Chanel, Korbin, Randall and Aku will also be eligible in 2017.

 

[perverse]

Long serving player allowance is $300k.

Chanel, Korbin, Randall and Aku will also be eligible in 2017.

Well I don't think Chanel is high priority, Korbin has been disappointing for the most part this year, with flashes here and there and usual. Randall on the outer with his paycheque too high and we all know the situation with Aku. Is the club just planning to not spend the long service allowance in 2018?