Rumoured Targets 3

[Apey]

Jason taumololo is on a 10 year, 1 mil a year contract

problem with his deal, is when they signed him, he was by far the best forward in the game, and the deal was a great idea……but then nrl changed the rules and forwards like him weren’t as effective

That's just it though, besides the obvious injury and form concerns, 10 years is a very long time - the game itself changes a lot too.

I can’t think of any other half you would want to sign for a 10 year deal anyway

even if Hughes, Cleary and Hynes all became available, they are probably too old for that length of deal (Cleary is borderline)

only other halves I can think of is Walker and Katoa, but feel Brown has shown more promise than them

We must be watching a different player.

But I wouldn't give a 10 year deal to anyone honestly. It's a such long time to cripple your cap. There is always going to be more risk than reward there to me.

 

[ryan.a87]

Also to note that the cap is only going to go up

5 years ago only the most elite of elite players got million dollar contracts, now every club has at least 2 players on a mil

in 5-10 years time, 1.3 might be a pretty standard contract for the average half

 

[PhilGould]

Toohey's News

- Talks up Fletcher Hunt who arrived at the club this time last year as a fringe SG Ball squad member and has quickly risen through the ranks. Says Will Pryce is still expected to be the backup fullback to start the year but Hunt has put himself in the frame for down the track.

- Once again denies that Brailey is going anywhere early, nor that he wants to.

- Adam Elliott expected to be available for round 1 after missing both trials. Toohey says Frizell is certain to be the starting lock so Elliott will be competing with Croker & Jones for bench spots.

- Matt Arthur badly rolled his ankle in the NSW Cup trial on the weekend and isn’t expected to be fit for round 1. There were fears it was a more severe injury but not the case.

- Mat Croker could be in line for a contract extension soon.

- SG Ball winger Aidan Gow has 9 tries in 4 games to start the season.

 

[Knight Tales]

With the roster we have emerging now the club should be going all in to cement the spine for a decade. So the what ifs are irrelevant. Cos it will be Storm and Penrith with the Broncs and Rorters at their heels for the next decade. We won’t get close unless we do.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

We currently have a generational talent at the club for the first time since the mid 2000s when Mullen was coming through. We failed to put a team together that could do anything around him and Mullo didn’t turn into what we all hoped.

We can’t keep waiting for the right crop of players to arrive in a few years from now, we’ve been saying it for a decade now ever since the 2016 rebuild started.

Dylan Brown (and other players of his calibre) are essential for winning a comp and if we can line him up next to KP on our roster then we become a threat.

I would hate to sit here in a few years and regret that we didn’t go hard enough to get Brown to the club. If we miss out on him then who else of that calibre is on the horizon who is likely to be off contract soon?

 

[HarVeeGee]

You would absolutely give Walker or Katoa the godfather 10 year offer over Brown if they were available, but they're not.

Haha yeah I'd cut off a nut to get a guaranteed 10 years of Katoa at Newy.

 

[Burwood]

Jason taumololo is on a 10 year, 1 mil a year contract

problem with his deal, is when they signed him, he was by far the best forward in the game, and the deal was a great idea……but then nrl changed the rules and forwards like him weren’t as effective

Another problem with long term deals (especially forwards) is that you need to very closely manage the player’s workload. JT had a huge engine, but Payten couldn’t afford to have him playing 80 minutes and running 200m every week- he would have been burned out in a couple of years.

There was pressure on the coach to play his marquee player as much as possible, but also to make sure that his body would last the 10 years. The two things are not compatible, and now the cowboys are paying $1m for a guy who is playing off the bench every second week just so they can get him through to the end of his contract.

Clubs would have to feel much safer flogging a player for 2-3 years and then renewing the contract if they’re still physically up to it.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

But I wouldn't give a 10 year deal to anyone honestly. It's a such long time to cripple your cap. There is always going to be more risk than reward there to me.

I totally see your point and agree.

Totally of their own making the Knights are now faced with the fact of a depleted talent pool, with increased competition for that resource just around the corner.

The clock is ticking on Ponga, if they dont get their shit together soon he'll be out the door come end of contract.

edit - Brown is a must signing for the Knights. There is no other option on the horizon

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

Toohey's News

-Says Will Pryce is still expected to be the backup fullback to start the year but Hunt has put himself in the frame for down the track.


- Adam Elliott expected to be available for round 1 after missing both trials. Toohey says Frizell is certain to be the starting lock so Elliott will be competing with Croker & Jones for bench spots.

- After the two trials, I'd be more than happy to start Hunt over Pryce at fullback if KP is out.

- I wouldn't be dropping Croker or Jones

 

[Rod]

We currently have a generational talent at the club for the first time since the mid 2000s when Mullen was coming through. We failed to put a team together that could do anything around him and Mullo didn’t turn into what we all hoped.

We can’t keep waiting for the right crop of players to arrive in a few years from now, we’ve been saying it for a decade now ever since the 2016 rebuild started.

Dylan Brown (and other players of his calibre) are essential for winning a comp and if we can line him up next to KP on our roster then we become a threat.

I would hate to sit here in a few years and regret that we didn’t go hard enough to get Brown to the club. If we miss out on him then who else of that calibre is on the horizon who is likely to be off contract soon?

This is why I've more or less talked myself into this being ok. I'm normally half glass full when it comes to the Knights but fact is we haven't made the top 4 since 2006. Almost 20 years since we've been a genuine premiership threat.

We are lucky to have Ponga and lucky he's hung around for 7 years, but at the end of the day you need at least one class half to win a premiership. If it takes a gamble like this to have the chance at one then there's a good argument that it's worth it.

At least it might give Ponga a real chance while he's in his prime, otherwise the next 10 years will likely be the same as the previous 20.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

This is why I've more or less talked myself into this being ok. I'm normally half glass full when it comes to the Knights but fact is we haven't made the top 4 since 2006. Almost 20 years since we've been a genuine premiership threat.

We are lucky to have Ponga and lucky he's hung around for 7 years, but at the end of the day you need at least one class half to win a premiership. If it takes a gamble like this to have the chance at one then there's a good argument that it's worth it.

At least it might give Ponga a real chance while he's in his prime, otherwise the next 10 years will likely be the same as the previous 20.

2025 premiers baby

 

[mozza91]

Oooffff. You’d feel safe being hugged by those Warwick Farms.

 

[Woody90]

When you sign someone on a 10 year contract you’re not necessarily thinking they’ll be a great player for that entire 10 years. You’re basically betting on them doing what you want them to for a chunk of that, and the rest of the contract is the trade off to get them to sign.

Do I think Dylan Brown is necessarily good enough to warrant a 10 year contract? No, not at all…but that sort of crazy risk is probably what we need to be prepared to do to be in with a chance to sign anyone that has the potential to take us to the next level. What’s seen as “crazy” is constantly changing, and like someone else said, at the backend of a 10 year contract, he’s probably going to be paid less than what the market for halves are then. Everyone thought we were crazy for signing Ponga too, but we basically made it very clear we wanted him and gave him whatever he wanted and it worked. Sometimes you just have to do that.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

This is a very good point. Part of the value of signing a guy like Brown (even for 10 years) is that other players see the club as a place they want to play because they think they’ve got a chance at winning a comp.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

This is a very good point. Part of the value of signing a guy like Brown (even for 10 years) is that other players see the club as a place they want to play because they think they’ve got a chance at winning a comp.

Collateral benefits are something you can't quantify, it's what makes Melbourne so successful. Players want to win Premierships, not just make the 8.

Pezet would have been more inclined to sign if he knew he was playing alongside Brown.

 

[HarVeeGee]

From 2022-24:


69 games
Line breaks - 32
Line break assists - 45
Tries - 19
Try assists - 51
Forced drop outs - 22

64 games
Line breaks - 35
Line break assists - 31
Tries - 24
Try assists - 43
Forced drop outs - 21

I know stats don’t tell the whole story, but: one of these players is $1.3 million superstar five-eighth Cameron Munster. The other is overrated flop five-eighth Dylan Brown. Feel free to guess which is which.

 

[Woody90]

Regardless of the outcome, the thing I like the most is that POS has made it very clear that he knows we need an elite half to be in premiership striking position, and he’s determined to make it happen. Even if Brown ends up staying at the Eels (I think most likely), we’ve essentially signaled to the rest of the NRL that we have money to spend on a half and aren’t afraid of big contracts for one. Even if it’s not Brown, I’m confident we’ll find someone…we probably just need to acknowledge that it’s probably not going to be the perfect player for what we consider the perfect contract.

I’ve heard the media laughing at us a bit for coming across as “desperate”, but I don’t really see what we have to lose by putting all our cards on the table and seeing what happens.

 

[perverse]

Regardless of the outcome, the thing I like the most is that POS has made it very clear that he knows we need an elite half to be in premiership striking position, and he’s determined to make it happen. Even if Brown ends up staying at the Eels (I think most likely), we’ve essentially signaled to the rest of the NRL that we have money to spend on a half and aren’t afraid of big contracts for one. Even if it’s not Brown, I’m confident we’ll find someone…we probably just need to acknowledge that it’s probably not going to be the perfect player for what we consider the perfect contract.

I’ve heard the media laughing at us a bit for coming across as “desperate”, but I don’t really see what we have to lose by putting all our cards on the table and seeing what happens.

Agree, I love the intent.

 

[Yosh]

I think there are only 3 outcomes:

1. We sign Brown and he delivers and we become a Premiership force
2. Brown stinks it up and we suck for another decade
3. We miss out in Brown and can't find another star player and Ponga leaves

So simply put, we need to sign Brown.

 

[HarVeeGee]

Yeah if no Brown you’re basically praying that Sharpe and probably Arthur too are good enough that he looks at Jack Cogger or whichever other competent systems halfback we end up with instead and says “yep all we need is this guy to steer us around and Fletch, Matt and I can do the rest.”

I don’t know about that. He’s got a lot of self belief so maybe he’d think, all I need is to be put in good positions. I wouldn’t bet my house on it though.