Rumoured Targets 3

[Burwood]

It's the later, he would be a great bench player in a limited interchange game. Souths were shown up i think with the lack of creativity from Reynolds and Cook at the end.

PS: Mentioning Buderus in the same breath as Smith is a stretch. He had Joey, smith can run the whole team by himself.

So you wouldn’t describe both Smith and Buderus as smart, crafty hookers as opposed to a hooker who relies heavily on their speed? I think you’re selling Buderus extremely short if that’s the case.

Not too mention Smith has played nearly his entire career with the likes of Slater, Cronk, Lockyer, Inglis and Thurston- it’s not like Buderus’ achievements should be diminished because he played beside Johns.

 

[Yosh]

No, because you can mould Athletes to do most things.

As socioeconomic standards of families change in Australia (NSW/QLD) our pool of athletes is diminishing. Hell when i was a kid everyone played league or touch etc. Nowadays every nephew i have is at University (20 of them). Last generation they would have been playing league and they did until it was time to knuckle down and think about a future. 95% of the immigrants to Australia are education focused, we need to expand to the USA and Eastern Europe for talent.

What are you talking about? Twenty years ago players were semi pro and had side jobs just to pay the bills. The money in the game now is growing at a great rate. Players can choose to become pros without worrying about learning another trade etc.

Where you getting the 95% of immigrants are education focused? Please provide any half decent publication or paper showing anything near this figure.

You think League has a chance to become mainstream in USA or Eastern Europe? Please explain.

 

[Spot On]

I would think Cook still has a fair bit of improvement in his game. But he now comes with a massive price tag.

 

[macavity]

PS: Mentioning Buderus in the same breath as Smith is a stretch. He had Joey, smith can run the whole team by himself.

Are you 12?

Buderus won a Dally M without Johns.

Buderus played the majority of his career behind packs featuring the likes of Dan Tolar, Matt Jobson and Reegan Tanner. I think we forget how mostly terrible we were in the period 2003-2013. We were just as bad as we have been recently - just we had Joey (when not injured) and Bedsy.

Smith has never played behind a pack that wasn't dominant.

Smith has never not had a shit-hot team around him.

Smith has cheated his entire career.

Buderus > Smith.

 

[aqua_duck]

No, because you can mould Athletes to do most things.

As socioeconomic standards of families change in Australia (NSW/QLD) our pool of athletes is diminishing. Hell when i was a kid everyone played league or touch etc. Nowadays every nephew i have is at University (20 of them). Last generation they would have been playing league and they did until it was time to knuckle down and think about a future. 95% of the immigrants to Australia are education focused, we need to expand to the USA and Eastern Europe for talent.

Last generation there were also very few Pacific Islanders. There is such a thing as being education focused but being able to play football. Tom Trbojevic from memory scored in the mid 90s in his HSC and is studying applied finance and Macquarie university but his occupation is still and presumably will be rugby league player for the next decade.
I congratulate you for having 20 nephews in university but if anyone of them were offered a NRL contract I'm pretty sure Uni would be a part time persuit. I mean I think you're under the false presumption that only 'dumb' kids pursue sport as a career when it's not always the case.
As for expanding into Eastern Europe and the US that's a completely seperate issue than us signing Klemmer. We signed Klemmer for 5 years, even if we pumped $43 million (10 times Klemmer's salary) in expansion today it would take a lot longer than 5 years for us to actually reap any rewards.

 

[Zoidberg]

Love the comments on Facebook that suddenly are questioning our salary cap

 

[PhilGould]

 

[mozza91]

Smith just shades Bedsy as a player. Buderus is miles ahead of him as a person though.

 

[newyboy]

Last generation there were also very few Pacific Islanders. There is such a thing as being education focused but being able to play football. Tom Trbojevic from memory scored in the mid 90s in his HSC and is studying applied finance and Macquarie university but his occupation is still and presumably will be rugby league player for the next decade.
I congratulate you for having 20 nephews in university but if anyone of them were offered a NRL contract I'm pretty sure Uni would be a part time persuit. I mean I think you're under the false presumption that only 'dumb' kids pursue sport as a career when it's not always the case.
As for expanding into Eastern Europe and the US that's a completely seperate issue than us signing Klemmer. We signed Klemmer for 5 years, even if we pumped $43 million (10 times Klemmer's salary) in expansion today it would take a lot longer than 5 years for us to actually reap any rewards.

Not expansion into the USA or Eastern Europe, getting the talent to play here. I reckon The whole NRL competition x 2, in Athletes are working at McDonalds in the USA.

I know some fantastic athletes who if it were 20 years ago, would be playing NRL or Wallabies. But nowadays, they are at University. The decision is made by the parents before scouts etc even get a look in.

PS: How many Asians or Indians do you see playing NRL? None, they are all at the library or after school tutoring. I think that answers it.

 

[TooheysNew]

Not expansion into the USA or Eastern Europe, getting the talent to play here. I reckon The whole NRL competition x 2, in Athletes are working at McDonalds in the USA.

I know some fantastic athletes who if it were 20 years ago, would be playing NRL or Wallabies. But nowadays, they are at University. The decision is made by the parents before scouts etc even get a look in.

PS: How many Asians or Indians do you see playing NRL? None, they are all at the library or after school tutoring. I think that answers it.

What?

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

https://www.theherald.com.au/story/...s-on-clubs-recruitment-menu-for-2020/?cs=7580

Cook rumour isnt true

 

[Yosh]

Not expansion into the USA or Eastern Europe, getting the talent to play here. I reckon The whole NRL competition x 2, in Athletes are working at McDonalds in the USA.

I know some fantastic athletes who if it were 20 years ago, would be playing NRL or Wallabies. But nowadays, they are at University. The decision is made by the parents before scouts etc even get a look in.

PS: How many Asians or Indians do you see playing NRL? None, they are all at the library or after school tutoring. I think that answers it.

The f*ck? Racist much?

 

[Cheese sandwich]

Are you 12?

Buderus won a Dally M without Johns.

Buderus played the majority of his career behind packs featuring the likes of Dan Tolar, Matt Jobson and Reegan Tanner. I think we forget how mostly terrible we were in the period 2003-2013. We were just as bad as we have been recently - just we had Joey (when not injured) and Bedsy.

Smith has never played behind a pack that wasn't dominant.

Smith has never not had a shit-hot team around him.

Smith has cheated his entire career.

Buderus > Smith.

Bedsy is a fantastic commentator as well. Very impartial and you wouldn't know he's an ex knights player.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

It's the later, he would be a great bench player in a limited interchange game. Souths were shown up i think with the lack of creativity from Reynolds and Cook at the end.

PS: Mentioning Buderus in the same breath as Smith is a stretch. He had Joey, smith can run the whole team by himself.

Buderus won the daily m medal when Johns missed virtually the entire season.

 

[MrTwoBits]

Not expansion into the USA or Eastern Europe, getting the talent to play here. I reckon The whole NRL competition x 2, in Athletes are working at McDonalds in the USA.

I know some fantastic athletes who if it were 20 years ago, would be playing NRL or Wallabies. But nowadays, they are at University. The decision is made by the parents before scouts etc even get a look in.

PS: How many Asians or Indians do you see playing NRL? None, they are all at the library or after school tutoring. I think that answers it.

This is a ridiculous comment.

I've been heavily involved in European rugby - there is a reason there isn't an Eastern European team in the 6 nations. Those countries don't play much rugby, and for that reason, they're not very good at it. The idea that there are a bunch of blokes that could just walk into the NRL is foolish.

And the idea that you're pushing seems to be that you need to be poor to be a decent footballer - we'll need a bit more evidence for that...

 

[Knight Vision]

PS: How many Asians or Indians do you see playing NRL? None, they are all at the library or after school tutoring. I think that answers it.

In India ( as with most in Asia ) people struggling to scrape together some rice to eat. 1/3 of them live on around a dollar a day. School ? lol tutoring ? LMFAO ! well over 1/3 cannot read or write. By Australian standards most of humanity ( take away western Europe and North America ) are on the bones of their ass. Being born in Australia has provided you with a great privilege, dont waste it. You need to travel or learn to read.

 

[aqua_duck]

Not expansion into the USA or Eastern Europe, getting the talent to play here. I reckon The whole NRL competition x 2, in Athletes are working at McDonalds in the USA.

I know some fantastic athletes who if it were 20 years ago, would be playing NRL or Wallabies. But nowadays, they are at University. The decision is made by the parents before scouts etc even get a look in.

PS: How many Asians or Indians do you see playing NRL? None, they are all at the library or after school tutoring. I think that answers it.

I'm not sure if you're being deliberately ignorant but rugby league at the highest level isn't something you can learn in a year or two. The AFL have tried to recruit elite college basketball players as the skill sets are much more transferable and even that's seen very limited success. The US men's rugby team have a lot of guys from NFL backgrounds and they're not exactly challenging the top nations. A few years ago the roosters signed a few top schoolboy rugby prospects from South Africa and those guys managed a grand total of 0 1st grade games between them.
I mean I could probably recruit some decent talent for my Wednesday night OzTag team from the US and Eastern Europe but for NRL level, that's a long way away.
I'm not sure if you realise but they actually play rugby union quite extensively in Eastern Europe and those guys don't exactly set the world on fire.
To have a successful recruitment system out of those countries you'd have to bring them over at no later than 16-17, invest 3-4 years into them including housing, schooling, teaching them the language, teaching them the intricacies of the game and then even then you've probably got a less than 10% chance of them making first grade. So in other words you'll need to invest 5-6 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to get someone who if you're lucky is as good as someone from our own backyard.
I'd rather spend some money scouting extensively around the pacific islands where we know that genetically the athletes are suited to the game and where they actually play the game as kids.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

Apparently we're interested in Jack Wighton?

 

[PhilGould]

I remember earlier in the year Toohey reporting that Wighton's manager had approached the Knights about a move before the season started, so there may be something to it. He's on a big contract in Canberra though so not sure if we'd have enough $ for him and Mann without Canberra chipping in substantially.

 

[nick87]

You can have Wighton. Full freight, i dont want to pay him another cent.

Shit house bloke, deadbeat dad. I'd happily win the wooden spoon over having to cheer for this f**kwit.