Rumours and Stuff

[Dibs]

Cool we can sign whoever we like, let's just sign thurston and be done with it

 

[hybrideel]

He would be close to the best option, the kid is a freak. And it's rumoured he wants to return to the NRL ( also didn't he offer to play for us in 2015?).

But would the NRL let him return?

Also maybe Martin from the panthers could be an option. The panthers have two fullbacks in Moylan / Watene-zelezniak and two halves Cleary / Martin, someone may price themself out of the club soon - a club can't afford to have 4, top 13 spine options for 3 spots.

I know i'm getting old but when did we start calling 30 year old men "kids"

 

[Chipmunk]

Cool we can sign whoever we like, let's just sign thurston and be done with it

If we're prepared to pay him enough, he will sign.

I don't expect we're interested in someone at that price though, otherwise we would have just gave it to Plane.

 

[Swiftstylez]

Never in doubt

People with greater connections than you were open to the possibility

http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/sport/nrl/news/2016/8/parramatta-should-sign-storm-coper-cronk/

Whether Cronk would have signed or not is irrelevant, that's like saying if we signed Hayne for next year that it was "never in doubt". It's easy to say that after the fact.

What was maybe "never in doubt" was that Cronk was not going to leave a successful culture to come to a regressing one. There is only so much one coach can do and people have their blinders on. The team is still not there yet as evidenced by the departures, attitudes and potential departures in the future.

It is probably for the best that we miss out on the divas like Hayne that put their personal career above team aspirations (which is a lot more than him these days)

 

[Joshuatheeel]

I know i'm getting old but when did we start calling 30 year old men "kids"

Fair enough.....

 

[Gronk]

I know i'm getting old but when did we start calling 30 year old men "kids"

+ 1. The "kid" is also a massive f**kwit.

 

[phantom eel]

Lol @ Swifty.

Let's move on from the marquee level stars like Foran, Hayne and Cronk.

The reason we didn't offer overs to Hayne was so we could spread our money across more than one person or position. You can't do that if you target the best players in the game for their position.

 

[Dibs]

If we're prepared to pay him enough, he will sign.

I don't expect we're interested in someone at that price though, otherwise we would have just gave it to Plane.

Oh so we can sign whoever we like assuming we can fit them under the cap? So if we have enough to entice thurston the Cowboys will be cool with that?

 

[Happy MEel]

Every strong halves combination includes one player plenty of merkins don't rate.

JT and Morgan?

 

[Incorrect]

Bullshit, we can sign whoever we like, whether they're under contract or not. It will all come down to how much we're prepared to pay someone.

Yep, especially when you look at what happened during the last off season - it was unprecedented how many players, still under contract, were moving around before and after Christmas.

 

[Swiftstylez]

Lol @ Swifty.

Let's move on from the marquee level stars like Foran, Hayne and Cronk.

The reason we didn't offer overs to Hayne was so we could spread our money across more than one person or position. You can't do that if you target the best players in the game for tgeir position.

Yes, but what we do need in that case is several "premium" stars that are not money hungry grubs and are willing to to be paid modestly. The Eels won't get that at the moment. The myth of the balanced team is that you can have a team of nuffs and win a premiership... every other team gets third parties out of their asses to be solid around the park and spectacular in key positions.

 

[phantom eel]

I don't think we can get anyone for 2017 now, expect Robson is be signed for 1 year and we will chase someone hard for 2018.
Again another year wasted.

That wouldn't be a year wasted - so long as we sign a decent hooker for 2017. De Gois and Pritchard are good back ups, but are not first string spine choices.

 

[Joshuatheeel]

I don't think we can get anyone for 2017 now, expect Robson is be signed for 1 year and we will chase someone hard for 2018.
Again another year wasted.

We will get some one, no doubt about it.

Look at the centre merry go around last offseason.

 

[Chipmunk]

Oh so we can sign whoever we like assuming we can fit them under the cap? So if we have enough to entice thurston the Cowboys will be cool with that?

If, for instance, we wanted to pay Thurston an amount of money that he decided was sufficient for him to want to leave the Cowboys (and it was all legit salary cap wise), then why would the Cowboys still want to pay a player 20% of their salary cap who didn't want to play for the club?

It's the same reason we let Foran go. He didn't want to be here and we didn't want to pay a bloke that much of our salary cap for a bloke that doesn't want to be here.

Exactly the same thing will happen to the Titans, if someone decides that The Plane is worth more to them than he is to the Gold Coast.

 

[hybrideel]

Fair enough.....

Not having a go at you specifically, it seems a done this across the board.
"Yes he groped some women in public but give the kid a break". He's 23 FFS
or
"Yes he peed in his mouth so someone could post it online but it's not the kids go" He was 28

The media, fans, a heap of people do it to excuse poor behaviour.
Once you are 18 you are an adult. Grow up and deal with it. The rest of us don't get this free card to do whatever we want so they shouldn't either

And i will now just step back down from the soapbox and carry on with my day

 

[Swiftstylez]

If, for instance, we wanted to pay Thurston an amount of money that he decided was sufficient for him to want to leave the Cowboys (and it was all legit salary cap wise), then why would the Cowboys still want to pay a player 20% of their salary cap who didn't want to play for the club?

It's the same reason we let Foran go. He didn't want to be here and we didn't want to pay a bloke that much of our salary cap for a bloke that doesn't want to be here.

Holy shit, how unprofessional do you allow players to be? I swear this is a culture exclusive to the Eels. You are being paid big money to perform, none of this touchy, feely "don't want to be here" shit should fly in the face of fans. What decent players have shown absolute loyalty to "wanting to be here" currently at the Eels? Anyone who accepts a contract and makes a joke of the Eels should be slammed by the fans not given a get out of jail free card.

Who cares if a player wants to be here or not? Most people don't like their jobs. You are paid to perform.

 

[Chipmunk]

Yep, especially when you look at what happened during the last off season - it was unprecedented how many players, still under contract, were moving around before and after Christmas.

I think this will be the way things will go again this offseason. It's just the reality of the sport this day, with the current rules in place as they are.

 

[hineyrulz]

People who know a lot more about the game than you seem to rate him (his club and state coach to start with).

Who do you rate?

Laurie Daley is an amazing judge of talent.

 

[phantom eel]

Yes, but what we do need in that case is several "premium" stars that are not money hungry grubs and are willing to to be paid modestly. The Eels won't get that at the moment.

The only way you get that is by growing your own juniors (Pritchard, Alvaro, French, Moeroa), or improvements in your signed development players (like Gutherson, Takairangi).

Players that other clubs sign through TPAs are still money hungry, and (apart from a few special clubs) you can see the whole TPA system crumbling soon with reports of players unhappy when deals don't come through.

We already have our share of premium stars that are well paid - Norman (on new deal), Scott, Jennings, Semi (if upgraded for new deal) - and we've got spare money to buy in say a decent front rower and hooker for next season.

Losing Foran and not signing Hayne (or Cronk) is hardly the end of the world!

 

[parra-matters]

You've thrown in the towel after 24 hours of BA saying he's going to buy a halfback ?

I was hoping we would offer cronk $800k-$900k plus TPA's and get him to sydney to be with his partner but either we didn't or he was already signed to the storm and only announced yesterday. But then again if he REALLY wants to move to sydney and wasn't just bumping up his asking price then we could still make that offer now and he could ask for a release on compassionate grounds. (I think Cronk is a man of his word and honor and wouldn't do that.)
I can't see Reynolds getting a release after they let Keary go, who else is there?
Lolohea (sp?) from the Warriors? have him at 6, and normy at 7?
Warriors don't seem to want to keep him.
Forget Benji that would be a massive step backwards.
We need a hooker too. DeGois is great off the bench and Pritchard is lucky to play 10 games a season due to injuries.
None of this is Hayne's fault. We were just unlucky with Foran. You could not a scripted what happened to Foran this year, the black must have broke a mirror and run over a black cat on friday the 13th at the same time.
I love the posititivity of BA but being positive doesn't make a specialist half suddenly appear.
And he said "specialst half" not "class half".
This year looks to have set us back another 3.