Rumoured Targets 3

[PhilGould]

Connor still testing the market. He’s representing himself so has been personally calling rival coaches to gauge his worth. Says he wants to stay with the Knights but the current offer isn’t where he wants it to be. Both parties have agreed to give him time to test his value elsewhere before making a decision, and officials anticipate he’ll give the Knights the chance to make a final offer if he comes back with a concrete offer from elsewhere. Hoping to get something done in the next 3 weeks.

Connor Watson: Knights offer 'not where it needs to be'

"I want to make a decision that's right for me and I want to get what I feel...

www.newcastleherald.com.au

 

[PhilGould]

IMO Connor should be right up there with the Saifiti's, Ponga, Brailey & potentially Clifford as the players you build your roster around. I'd still be surprised if he leaves at this stage.

 

[Yosh]

IMO Connor should be right up there with the Saifiti's, Ponga, Brailey & potentially Clifford as the players you build your roster around. I'd still be surprised if he leaves at this stage.

I think most people would agree but he has been so injury prone. It's a risk for a club to offer him a lot and find the money wasted rotting on the medical table. On the other hand, Connor knows he might go down anytime with a serious injury, so wants to sign for as long and much as possible to secure his future.

I think both the club and Connor are doing what's best for themselves and it's the logical thing. I hope we do find some middle ground everyone is happy enough with because when Connor is fit and firing, we are a ton more dangerous in attack.

 

[Burwood]

He took a calculated gamble last year and signed a one-year deal because he was backing himself to have a big 2021 after missing most of the season with the Achilles injury.

Will be interesting to see if it pays off and he gets the sort of value he thinks he’s worth.

 

[PhilGould]

 

[aqua_duck]

Would have to be an offer well above what we value him at for him to leave considering he's got a few business hustles going with KP which could turn out to be a lucrative revenue stream outside football as well as his connection to the club being a childhood supporter as well as the work he does in the community. As far as I'm concerned although ideally he'd be locked up already it shows that the days of extensions and upgrades for everyone are well and truly over

 

[Jono078]

Yep, gotta give the club credit for assessing their value of a player and sticking to it.

How many would have re-signed this year on a reduced contract? Would be a few at least I think!

Not sure what I think Connor's fair value is, but I'd be ok with the Knights offering 400ish. I think 500k is pushing it for what will mostly be a bench guy and with the concerns of him staying healthy.

Would be surprised if someone like the Dogs didn't offer him good money and a starting hooker role.

 

[mozza91]

If only Hagan was still in charge of recruitment. As soon as Connor refused the offer he’d of immediately doubled it and added another 200k for safekeeping.

 

[macavity]

Tooheys news today with another sop for Finucaine. Apparently we are keen on him to do what we brought in the likes of Glasby, Guerra, Kostjaysyn, Pearce, Klemmer to do - teach us how to prepare properly.

I just don’t get the line of reasoning. How have we gone through so many “true professionals” and we still don’t know how to prepare to play football.

He is going to get big offers from desperate clubs, we have rocks in our heads if we try to match them and stuff our roster.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

Toohey also stating Gags wants at least 600k LOL

 

[Alex28]

The good thing about Connor ‘s negotiations is that he is saying he wants it wrapped up in 2-3 weeks. No stretching it out, just wants to see what his true worth is. He’s doing exactly what he should.

 

[aqua_duck]

Toohey also stating Gags wants at least 600k LOL

Hell no, if Addo Carr in his absolute prime is worth $550k, 31 year old Gagai is worth $400k tops on no more than 2 years

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Tooheys news today with another sop for Finucaine. Apparently we are keen on him to do what we brought in the likes of Glasby, Guerra, Kostjaysyn, Pearce, Klemmer to do - teach us how to prepare properly.

I just don’t get the line of reasoning. How have we gone through so many “true professionals” and we still don’t know how to prepare to play football.

He is going to get big offers from desperate clubs, we have rocks in our heads if we try to match them and stuff our roster.

Just because he’s getting big offers from desperate clubs doesn’t mean he’ll take them. I’m sure we’ll have to offer more than Melbourne but I doubt we’ll offer as much as some other clubs will. It will come down to whether Finucane wants to play at a club like the Tigers or Bulldogs and win 5-6 games a year and get paid better money or play for us and have realistic finals expectations.

Or he may just decide to stay in Melbourne and win a couple more comps. I think this is the most likely outcome.

 

[Yosh]

Just because he’s getting big offers from desperate clubs doesn’t mean he’ll take them. I’m sure we’ll have to offer more than Melbourne but I doubt we’ll offer as much as some other clubs will. It will come down to whether Finucane wants to play at a club like the Tigers or Bulldogs and win 5-6 games a year and get paid better money or play for us and have realistic finals expectations.

Or he may just decide to stay in Melbourne and win a couple more comps. I think this is the most likely outcome.

It's his final contract so he might want a big payout. Compared to normal people who have careers of 40 years or more, it's barely 15 years for even the best footy players. It won't be an easy decision but perhaps taking the bigger pay packet might be the logical decision here for the lad. If it's true that we are offering a coaching role of some sort, makes sense he weighs that up too.

 

[Old dog]

Don’t understand how a player, any player, would reach 30 and be looking for a big paying contract to see out his career. Should be looking at the icing on the cake, more than a rookie but less than a superstar.
Not much football 1-2 years and usually on the downward slide with greater risk of injury as age creeps on.
Big contract payment is for the 25y/o hitting his prime and playing like it

 

[Spot On]

Tooheys news today with another sop for Finucaine. Apparently we are keen on him to do what we brought in the likes of Glasby, Guerra, Kostjaysyn, Pearce, Klemmer to do - teach us how to prepare properly.

I just don’t get the line of reasoning. How have we gone through so many “true professionals” and we still don’t know how to prepare to play football.

He is going to get big offers from desperate clubs, we have rocks in our heads if we try to match them and stuff our roster.

Can only assume the mentioned 'big' names have been duds in that regard ... or its bs.

 

[Spot On]

Hell no, if Addo Carr in his absolute prime is worth $550k, 31 year old Gagai is worth $400k tops on no more than 2 years

Nah, 600K minimum for an Origin gun who can't lay a finger on his opposite. Absolute bargain.

 

[Jono078]

Isn't it on the coach to build these kind of characters too? Melbourne don't just get lucky with leaders each year. The Panthers don't seem to have an issue and they're loaded with young blokes.

I'll be really disappointed if we sign Finucane. Could use that money to lure 2 young guns here and develop them right.

 

[perverse]

Unless we are shopping Klem around, Finucane just doesn't make sense to me. It's spending too much on the pack. With Pearce taking a pay cut next year, we'd be lucky to be spending a full million on our halves? $300k was the number floated for Clifford and I think Pearce went down to something around $600k. This is all well and good for a year or two, but what happens when these contracts all expire and clubs are throwing double that or more at Clifford? Chad Townsend is earning $800k a year next year onwards ffs. Dumb, desperate clubs are always willing to spend overs for a half. Meanwhile I'd be surprised if DSaf is getting less than 650-700k for his next contract, and his brother might not be too far behind that the way he's going... Friz is 700k, Klem 800k... and we want to throw huge money at Finucane too?

It just doesn't make sense on the face of it. Something has to give. Waiting eagerly to see what happens with Watson at this point. I don't think he's out the door yet, but it won't surprise me if another club throws a dumb offer at him that he can't refuse either. I love having Watson in the team, and I'm sure he'd stay here for less - but how much less? What if a Tigers or St George throw 800k at him? Saving my outrage at this point until we know the ins and outs of whatever ends up happening... but if we lose him because we insist on spending 700k+ on every single one of our forwards, I'd say that'll leave a bad taste in my mouth. Finucane doesn't offer much more than what we already have. He's a quality player, but at some point you have to stop spending on the pack and fill other desperate needs - as well as keeping the guns that we do have already.

 

[Knight Tales]

Conor surely stays.
Gagai and Finucane are fine players but not what we need. And the money they want is business we should steer clear of. We have been bitten many times before. Not cos the players aren’t quality but the injuries they are at risk of.