Rumoured Targets 3

[perverse]

Hastings was mostly about us trying to get rid of Klemmer on a trade. I suspect we’ve overpaid for Hastings as Tigers have overpaid for Klemmer as both clubs were desperate to move them on due to personal reasons. Klemmer was literally having heated arguments with the trainer - I actually don’t have an issue with the club overpaying for our part of the trade to get him out as soon as we could.

Fair point, I had completely forgotten about Klemmer. Another buy that worked out great. Crazy to think how good he was when he was at his peak early in his career.

 

[Woody90]

Fair point, I had completely forgotten about Klemmer. Another buy that worked out great. Crazy to think how good he was when he was at his peak early in his career.

The changes to the speed of the game and the 6 again era basically saw the end of props like Klemmer. Of course we signed him on a massive contract just prior to the rule changes lol.

I remember when the trade happened most Tigers fans were really upset and saying that we got the better end of it. Far be it for me to defend the club, but I actually think Hastings was a smart signing initially…not just to be able to move Klemmer on but he was probably the best halfback we could have gotten at the time. Someone that could organise and wasn’t afraid to tell Ponga where to be. Obviously it didn’t work out for more than a year due to his injuries now and also well reported personal issues. I don’t think it was necessarily a bad signing at the time though, at least not in comparison with the likes of some of the others. I feel a fair bit for Jacko - he’s a really troubled guy and obviously continues to self-sabotage. I hope he goes off to the UK next year and kills it. Not just for our cap but also him.

 

[perverse]

The changes to the speed of the game and the 6 again era basically saw the end of props like Klemmer. Of course we signed him on a massive contract just prior to the rule changes lol.

I remember when the trade happened most Tigers fans were really upset and saying that we got the better end of it. Far be it for me to defend the club, but I actually think Hastings was a smart signing initially…not just to be able to move Klemmer on but he was probably the best halfback we could have gotten at the time. Someone that could organise and wasn’t afraid to tell Ponga where to be. Obviously it didn’t work out for more than a year due to his injuries now and also well reported personal issues. I don’t think it was necessarily a bad signing at the time though, at least not in comparison with the likes of some of the others. I feel a fair bit for Jacko - he’s a really troubled guy and obviously continues to self-sabotage. I hope he goes off to the UK next year and kills it. Not just for our cap but also him.

It was a fine signing on the face of it - until I learned how much we were paying him. I mean, someone said somewhere that Jackson is getting paid like 100k less than Jarome Hughes. Even under the best case scenario, that's outrageous.

 

[Rod]

The rest are mind boggling, and people worry about nitpicking Kalyn's contract. Hastings is the worst of it for mine, $800k is staggering for a guy the Tigers were trying to make into a lock. I've said it before, but we sign blokes to contract values that are how much we "hope to get out of them" - not based in actual reality of the player that they are when we sign them.

If the 1.5m next year for Ponga is correct then that's 13% of our cap on 1 player. It's not an insane overpay for a Dally M level player but the sheer size of it makes it relevant. It means we have to nail our signings elsewhere and get value for money, and by and large we're not doing that, so the issue just compounds.

As you say the Hastings one is turning out really badly. Between him and Hetherington (and they're comfortably the 2 worst for me) that's 1.3m right there. Imagine what smart operators could do with that kind of cap. Moving on DSaf and Brailey would help, maybe we can get an ESL club to take Hastings too.

KPP is a TBD for me even though that's a sizeable upgrade. If we use him correctly and he matches his form from the first 6-8 weeks then it could still be worth it. I'm staying positive on him and Pryce for now.

 

[mozza91]

Kalyn’s wage goes up by 100K each episode of NRL 360 from what I’ve heard.

 

[Rod]

Kalyn’s wage goes up by 100K each episode of NRL 360 from what I’ve heard.

The constant chat from the likes of them and the Buzzes of the world does get old. I always thought it was 1.1 or 1.2 and then suddenly it was 1.3, and then a few months later it became 1.4, and so on.

Even if it had been 1.4 this whole time, he would probably get at least 1.1 or 1.2 on the open market, so really a 200k overpay when Hetherington alone is getting about 400k more than he's worth isn't that big of a deal if it means holding on to your only superstar.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

Yep for the most part. Elliott is the least egregious of them, he has his moments. I haven't given up on KPP but he is not looking like good value, and wouldnt get what we're paying him next year on the open NRL market.

The rest are mind boggling, and people worry about nitpicking Kalyn's contract. Hastings is the worst of it for mine, $800k is staggering for a guy the Tigers were trying to make into a lock. I've said it before, but we sign blokes to contract values that are how much we "hope to get out of them" - not based in actual reality of the player that they are when we sign them.

We wanted Hastings to be the halfback he promised to be as a junior, not the one that the Tigers were happy to move on. So we paid him pretty much elite halfback money in some weird hope that he'd... grow into his contract?

Elliot is probably the least cap damage on that list - paying overs 50K here and 100K there and....... bang the cap is f**ked in no time.

It's a trend which is apparent in many deals at the Knights.

 

[Apey]

The constant chat from the likes of them and the Buzzes of the world does get old. I always thought it was 1.1 or 1.2 and then suddenly it was 1.3, and then a few months later it became 1.4, and so on.

Even if it had been 1.4 this whole time, he would probably get at least 1.1 or 1.2 on the open market, so really a 200k overpay when Hetherington alone is getting about 400k more than he's worth isn't that big of a deal if it means holding on to your only superstar.

Yes, Ponga would command a hell of a lot from other clubs, I don't doubt we've paid the Knights price like we will do on most good players that aren't home-grown. Which is pretty much everyone.

My general point on Ponga's contract is not that it's not of any concern, it's that it's a fair way down my list. Hypothetically speaking if we managed to fix a few of those aforementioned squad positions by bringing players in whose output was closer to their salary, my bet is Ponga would look more and more like a 1.5M million dollar player. He has so little to work with right now and that's not the fault of his contract.

It's rarely going to be 1:1 for us as far as output vs salary is concerned, but some of our current predicaments would be lucky to be giving us 50% of their worth.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

TBF I think most of us were pleased when we signed Hastings, and $800K isn’t crazy for an NRL level half, which he definitely was last year. It’s the fact that he now looks half-crippled that is the problem. So the knee problem has really screwed us there.

Jumping the gun on Brailey was a mistake for sure. He e definitely should have waited on that one, because he’s gone downhill big time.

The problem is these two both play in positions where it’s really hard to get good quality players so you quite often have to overpay these guys even if they’re not elite.

Even the DSaf one I can sort of understand, he was on the right trajectory when he signed that deal, it’s more that he hasn’t performed up to that level too much since then. Maybe a better coach would have had him playing at that level, who knows…

The Hetherington one is the worst of them all though, $500K for a guy who’s never been a starter and only gets 30 mins off the bench. Madness!

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

The Hetherington one is the worst of them all though, $500K for a guy who’s never been a starter and only gets 30 mins off the bench. Madness!

makes Ponga's 1.4 million for 80 min of footy look like a steal

no wonder Hetherington told his agent he isnt going anywhere. #dreamjob

 

[Woody90]

If the 1.5m next year for Ponga is correct then that's 13% of our cap on 1 player. It's not an insane overpay for a Dally M level player but the sheer size of it makes it relevant. It means we have to nail our signings elsewhere and get value for money, and by and large we're not doing that, so the issue just compounds.

Yep this is pretty much it. Most clubs end up overpaying for a few players on their roster. It’s just what happens - clubs down the bottom of the ladder even more so.

We don’t have the luxury of making any mistakes though due to significance of Ponga’s contract on the cap. And not only do we not have the luxury, we overpaid too many. It’s not impossible to make it work with 13% on one player, but you basically have to get every single other contract 100% right and can’t overpay anyone else. I’m really hoping that bringing in O’Sullivan will help us in that regard and help us find a way to make it work.

 

[Zoidberg]

Remember we were initially going after Luke Brookes (for the Klemmer trade?). Should we have held out for another year until his contract finished then gone for him?
At the time I thought Hastings would work out better but who knows how we would’ve gone with Brookes.

 

[slotmachine]

I know, not good. He looks just ok playing alongside one of the few elite halves in the game. Never will be able to be the man main.

 

[NK Arsenal]

Are we sure he’s not on a back-ended deal that averages out at 1.4mil per year?

Ridiculous if so. Back ended deals are a cancer

 

[NK Arsenal]

Re Ponga

I actually don’t mind him earning such an insane amount of money

My issue is that we should be able to use playing with Ponga as leverage and sign players for less, that’s what marquee players are meant to be.

But for some bullshit reason we have gone back to complete salary cap f**kery which was what Browny walked in to and we weren’t meant to see again but they’ve gone back to their old tricks. It’s like Hagan is still on the books ffs.

 

[aqua_duck]

I know, not good. He looks just ok playing alongside one of the few elite halves in the game. Never will be able to be the man main.

Brooks has been good, had probably his worse game of the year against the tigers but over the course of the season I’d say he’s been one of the top 3 or 4 off season recruits across the NRL

 

[Woody90]

Leo apparently keen to test his value on the open market. Ugh good times.

https://www.zerotackle.com/knights-forward-weighing-up-bombshell-contract-call-213716/

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

"That has left Thompson pondering his future and where he will develop best under the guidance of senior players, with the belief that may not be in Newcastle."

I have to agree - he'd be a fine replacement for JFH at the Panthers.

 

[perverse]

Leo apparently keen to test his value on the open market. Ugh good times.

https://www.zerotackle.com/knights-forward-weighing-up-bombshell-contract-call-213716/

This is such a damning indictment on our club and how the players feel in the group tbh. Good clubs can get deals done before players hit the open market, especially with 2nd and 3rd tier players (i.e not elite players).

 

[Woody90]

This is such a damning indictment on our club and how the players feel in the group tbh. Good clubs can get deals done before players hit the open market, especially with 2nd and 3rd tier players (i.e not elite players).

The article suggests he’s concerned about the senior players getting the tap on the shoulder which I can understand if he doesn’t feel he’s ready to be a pack leader yet. We cant not move the likes of DSaf on though.