Rumoured Targets 3

[Johns Magic]

I don't believe it for a second.

@perverse , big difference between Gagai and Ross is that one was overpaid and the other was underpaid to start. I would be shocked if Ross doesn't get a decent upgrade and so he should.

Funny all the articles the last week about Gagai have called him our only attacking threat in a hopeless backline. The Mole now on Ross: "Ross has been the Knights’ best and most dangerous attacking player for the past two seasons".

 

[perverse]

Herald has an article today saying we have $3.5m free next year. Wonder if that includes Gagai? It might be hard to spend it all.

Might be? It's almost guaranteed to be at this stage. There's still good players on the market, but I don't know how you spend that amount on what's left - there's none that you'd spend marquee dollars on. I guess the plan is hope for more disgruntled Cody Walkers, and then hope we can land them.

 

[mozza91]

Browny realises that the salary cap doesn't accumulate right?

 

[perverse]

@perverse , big difference between Gagai and Ross is that one was overpaid and the other was underpaid to start. I would be shocked if Ross doesn't get a decent upgrade and so he should.

We have a lot of form offering players less than they can get elsewhere at this point, not just Gagai but the players we've been chasing, too. We also won't get into bidding wars, whatever that actually means.

I would be shocked if Ross doesn't get an upgrade too, but I won't be massively shocked if it comes from another club. It's pretty true to our form at the moment.

 

[Frederick]

I asked toohey if the Ross situation was as drastic as mole makes it sound and he basically said it wasn't

 

[perverse]

I asked toohey if the Ross situation was as drastic as mole makes it sound and he basically said it wasn't

So it's true, then? What does not as drastic mean?

 

[Johns Magic]

We have a lot of form offering players less than they can get elsewhere at this point, not just Gagai but the players we've been chasing, too. We also won't get into bidding wars, whatever that actually means.

I would be shocked if Ross doesn't get an upgrade too, but I won't be massively shocked if it comes from another club. It's pretty true to our form at the moment.

Which player have we lost that you think we should have won the bidding war on?

Gagai, Tapine?

We won the bidding war on Ponga.

I know which of those three I would have wanted most and which two I saw as expendable.

 

[Johns Magic]

I asked toohey if the Ross situation was as drastic as mole makes it sound and he basically said it wasn't

How many private chats do you have with him Fred? I am not smart enough to know how to private chat on Twitter unfort.

 

[Frederick]

And I don't blame Ross for wanting more. He's been our best player for the last couple of years, he's a crowd favourite, and his missus just gave birth to their second child so he'll obviously want to get them as set up as possible.

 

[Frederick]

So it's true, then? What does not as drastic mean?

I dare say it means Ross didn't barge in there as say "GIVE ME MOAR MONEY OR ELSE IM LEAVING!!!!!!!!!!1!1!1!1!!!/" as the mole would have you believe it happened.

 

[Frederick]

How many private chats do you have with him Fred? I am not smart enough to know how to private chat on Twitter unfort.

Usually asking him a few questions each week, he's always happy to answer

 

[perverse]

Which player have we lost that you think we should have won the bidding war on?

Gagai, Tapine?

We won the bidding war on Ponga.

I know which of those three I would have wanted most and which two I saw as expendable.

I think we should have gone harder after Bird, matched Gags offer, signed Vaughan 12 months ago, which was discussed on these forums, but we weren't at all interested as a club due to his asking price. We should have seriously considered Tolman and Eastwood rather than holding out for Graham. Hell, not only were we stalling for Graham, but we were trying to get the Dogs to pay some of his wage on top!

That's just off the top of my head where I think we could have spent more to push harder for a few signings. I'm sure there's more if I dig back through this thread.

 

[Hardcore_Fan]

I think about $300k is reasonable for Ross, $350k if we get into a bidding war.

 

[perverse]

I dare say it means Ross didn't barge in there as say "GIVE ME MOAR MONEY OR ELSE IM LEAVING!!!!!!!!!!1!1!1!1!!!/" as the mole would have you believe it happened.

The Mole had me concerned that we offered Ross a contract without a significant upgrade, which he would rightly baulk at.

 

[Johns Magic]

I think we should have gone harder after Bird, matched Gags offer, signed Vaughan 12 months ago, which was discussed on these forums, but we weren't at all interested as a club due to his asking price. We should have seriously considered Tolman and Eastwood rather than holding out for Graham. Hell, not only were we stalling for Graham, but we were trying to get the Dogs to pay some of his wage on top!

That's just off the top of my head where I think we could have spent more to push harder for a few signings. I'm sure there's more if I dig back through this thread.

Tolman and Eastowwod haven't signed anywhere yet that I'm aware of. Plus of the two I'd only really be keen on Tolman.

Gagai we know we disagree on. I am happy with the decision.

I assume you mean Jack Bird not Greg. It sounds like we did win the bidding war for Jack until the Broncos came in with even more money and other perks we can't match. I don't think we can compete with that. FYI Greg I think we maybe should've gone harder for but it sounds like he hates the club anyway.

Vaughan yes we should have got in hindsight. But he has upped the ante on the field this year and we weren't the only ones baulking.

My point is there are bidding wars to go hard in and bidding wars to step away from at a certain point. Just because we do one for one player doesn't mean we will for all players.

I'm sure we'll win the bidding war for Graham or Cronk if they actually hit the market, outside of TPA bullshit which is out of our control.

 

[Pedge1971]

We only offered Gags $50k more than his current contract, and he's played Origin since. It's really not that unbelievable. We'll see what eventuates, but I can imagine a future where we're listening to Brown roll out the same "We've offered Ross a fair deal, but understand that he has to look after himself and his family. Unfortunately some clubs work under different salary caps than others due to TPAs blah blah blah" line.

Yes Browny, it's well established now that other clubs can spend more on their rosters than we can.

According to the mole he is currently on.less than 175k. I just cannot believe Mooney would be so stupid as to offer that given his value to the team. I call bullshit.

 

[Glendale]

F*** me what a worry over nothing.

Player managers these days are all after the most money possible for their client to line their own pockets. It's the way if the game these days and every player manager is the same. That's why they spurt shit like this to the Mole.

We have 6 and a half months before other clubs can even start talking to Ross and 18 months to sort out the price of his next deal. Chillax.

Also worth pointing out he'll be 30 by the time his contract expires.

 

[Caped Crusader]

Tooheys take on the Ross scenario reported my the mole

 

[Noname36]

The problem is @perverse is that we don't have the additional cap space/TPAs to be able to have our centres and wingers on large contracts (although Ross does deserve one - descends on how much he's chasing). We do that and we can't afford to put any quality around them. I rate both Gags and Rossy pretty highly but if they were able to do it themselves or be that invaluable we wouldn't be on the bottom of the ladder.

The game really is a farce. Look at the clubs we've been outbid by for players this year...Broncos, Dogs and Souths...surprise surprise.

We're getting f**king cut to pieces and nobody gives a shit.

 

[perverse]

The problem is @perverse is that we don't have the additional cap space/TPAs to be able to have our centres and wingers on large contracts. We do that and we can't afford to put any quality around them. I rate both Gags and Rossy pretty highly but if they were able to do it themselves or be that invaluable we wouldn't be on the bottom of the ladder.

The game really is a farce. Look at the clubs we've been outbid by for players this year...Broncos, Dogs and Souths...surprise surprise.

We're getting f**king cut to pieces and the NRL don't care one bit.

If I were confident that we would spend the full salary cap next year and the year after, then I'd probably agree with you 100%.