No mate, f**k this. If you play fullback for the Knights you’re playing behind a really good pack and tossing the ball to a fullback who is arguably the best player in the entire competition, as well as teeing up some lethal outside backs. It should actually be an appealing gig. If the Tigers can sign two incumbent Origin spine players from the actual current benchmark club & best team in the history of the entire sport in the space of two seasons, it is f**king ridiculous if we can’t snare a highly touted but unproven back-up half from the club which hasn’t beaten them in a meaningful game in four years.
Sure the Storm spine players are great, but they fill out their roster with deadset plodders, always have - their spine players carry a disproportionate load there. The Knights would actually be one of the easier clubs in the comp to play in the halves for right now (source: we just made the finals with Jack Cogger and Phoenix Crossland in the gig).
It honestly does not make any sense for him to turn us down & “hey come join the Storm, you will be our future halfback” is the promise they made to him to steal him from us in the first place, then they gave the gig to a guy in his mid 20’s who went on to win the Dally M. Who’s only playing halfback because they moved him there to make room for another fullback, even though they promised said halfback he would be their future fullback. Such guarantees aren’t worth the paper they’re not even printed on. They have other young halves in the system right now and when Hughes retires or leaves for another club, how does he know Lucy won’t pull the football out of the way at the last minute as has now happened a few times for players at that club, and give the gig to someone else? He’s just done his ACL and lost his standing as first choice back up half to Tyran Wishart so you could argue it’s already happened to him.
If we make him a really good offer (which includes the chance to move back closer to his family) and he turns us down for a “maybe”, potentially giving up over $2 million of career earnings, it’s honestly one of the more baffling decisions made by a young player in recent memory. And Braith would be giving up hundreds of thousands of dollars as his manager and also sort of having him act contrary to his other client Cam Munster - one of the players whose job Jonah could potentially take. It wouldn’t make any sense for him to push for Jonah to stay.