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Happy MEel

First Grade
Messages
9,436
More like top 20.

Or can you definitively point to a top 17 of players who are all definitely earning more than player 18?
I reckon he’s within our top 13 paid players.

My order is:

Norman
Moses
Jennings
Hayne
Mau
Scott
Mannah
Brown
Tep
Gutho
Edwards
French
Evans

The only other contender would be Taka, but I reckon he’s fighting Evans for that 13th highest paid player
 
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Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
85,127
Neither Takairangi nor Alvaro played a single game in the ISP. We also signed Vave when he was playing well for Manly. There's no reason he'd be on less than Evans. And Matagi played every game in first grade last year, so he was held in decent regard, as is quite obviously Terepo.

I reckon for middle forwards we have a couple of top 17 certainties - Brown, Mannah, Scott - with a crowd of blokes fighting for the other three spots: Alvaro (probably upgraded to a top 17 certainty for next year), Terepo, Vave, Matagi, Evans and maybe Gower. In fact, Brown was signed in similar circumstances to Evans and Vave, so he might have been on a similar contract prior to next year's upgrade.

But I do think it's possible French is in our 13 highest paid players, though I'd put Takairangi ahead of him.
 

Happy MEel

First Grade
Messages
9,436
Neither Takairangi nor Alvaro played a single game in the ISP. We also signed Vave when he was playing well for Manly. There's no reason he'd be on less than Evans. And Matagi played every game in first grade last year, so he was held in decent regard, as is quite obviously Terepo.

I reckon for middle forwards we have a couple of top 17 certainties - Brown, Mannah, Scott - with a crowd of blokes fighting for the other three spots: Alvaro (probably upgraded to a top 17 certainty for next year), Terepo, Vave, Matagi, Evans and maybe Gower. In fact, Brown was signed in similar circumstances to Evans and Vave, so he might have been on a similar contract prior to next year's upgrade.

But I do think it's possible French is in our 13 highest paid players, though I'd put Takairangi ahead of him.
Fair enough. So if it’s possible in your opinion he’s top 13, then I’d say it’s highly probable he’s top 17. He wouldn’t be paying back up money and yet he found himself in Wenty a few times this year.
 

Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
85,127
Fair enough. So if it’s possible in your opinion he’s top 13, then I’d say it’s highly probable he’s top 17. He wouldn’t be paying back up money and yet he found himself in Wenty a few times this year.
He played three games for Wenty and 18 games in the NRL. Being dropped to Wenty at the end of the year was less an indication of his place in the squad and more to do with development for 2019 (including possibly encouraging him to leave the club a year early). But it was the fact Arthur persisted with him that leads me to believe he may have been among our seven highest paid backs.

Arthur didn't persist with Evans. He dropped him very quickly, as would be the case with a depth player. He slowly built fitness and found some form in reserve grade and finished the year in the top 17. It's a completely different pattern of selection to Bevan French, who played six times as many games in first grade as in reserve grade. Evans spent more time in the ISP (9 games) than in first grade (8 games).
 

hineyrulz

Post Whore
Messages
148,907
So throughout the year we were told Evans didn’t play because he wasn’t fit enough now he’s just a depth player and not even in our top 17 moneywise???

LOL!! DCE would be blushing at that backflip.
 

Happy MEel

First Grade
Messages
9,436
He played three games for Wenty and 18 games in the NRL. Being dropped to Wenty at the end of the year was less an indication of his place in the squad and more to do with development for 2019 (including possibly encouraging him to leave the club a year early). But it was the fact Arthur persisted with him that leads me to believe he may have been among our seven highest paid backs.

Arthur didn't persist with Evans. He dropped him very quickly, as would be the case with a depth player. He slowly built fitness and found some form in reserve grade and finished the year in the top 17. It's a completely different pattern of selection to Bevan French, who played six times as many games in first grade as in reserve grade. Evans spent more time in the ISP (9 games) than in first grade (8 games).
Sure, no arguments here. But you said:

Why would he be on ‘starting money’ when he’s not even guaranteed a top 17 spot?

I’m with @hineyrulz :

giphy.gif
 

hindy111

Post Whore
Messages
59,248
I reckon BA dropped Evans due to attitude and the long term benefits for him as a player and to the team.
And why I think we may see a different Evans. BA expected more and a guess is he wasn't the best trainer so Ba played hard ball.

Hoffman would have to be on around 250k and top 17 money for sure. BA had not dramas using young Jennings or Auvau over him.
 

Happy MEel

First Grade
Messages
9,436
Getting dropped for a couple of games (e.g. French, Jennings, Scott) isn’t the same as spending half the year in reserve grade (e.g. Evans, Matagi, Vave). Coaches want their top 17 players back in the NRL side ASAP. Ability trumps form.
So did French and Scott have a guaranteed top 17 spot?

They both played for Wenty whilst being available for selection for NRL. So the answer is ‘no’.

Are either of them on ‘starter money’? I say both of them are but surely even you couldn’t argue Scott wasn’t. So the answer is ‘yes’.

So that makes this statement ill-thought-out:

Why would he be on ‘starting money’ when he’s not even guaranteed a top 17 spot?
 
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TheRam

Coach
Messages
13,480
Jnrs on a reported 700k. That is top 5 prop in game money. BA balls online with this one.
If Evans was on 300k and flopped to a fill in role it isnt a woefull signing.

Jnr however I feel was a risk BA had to take just as was then one with Evans.

Sure is Hindy. As good as a signing it is, Charlie knows we desperately need some size in the front row, he is over valued by about $200-300k.

Now if BA understood size matters in RL back then, I don't think he would have let Paulo go and matched the Canberra offer or come close back then for around $500K, which is what he is worth more or less in reality. And for those that say we had salary cap pressure, stiff shit, so do/did Canterbury, but you didn't see them offloading their best frontrower who is on much more then Paulo was or even their second best forward in Adam Elliott.

So now he was forced to find a quality big unit to join our club and by the looks of things, only a former Junior was willing to join this basket case of a club, be it for top freaking dollar that the Raiders could not match.

My point is that if he HAD matched the Raiders back then he would not have left and we probably would've re-signed him at around the same money of around $500k again this time around due to the fact that that is what he really is worth and not Canberra or many others would of wanted to take a risk on a player like him for more then true value.

So now we have him and he is on outrageous dollars, over $200k more then he should be for what he has shown in the past with his weight issue and inconsistencies. Great recruitment/salary management BA. Thank Charlie he isn't in charge of this anymore. Lets hope the new guys has a better clue.
 

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