Rumours and Stuff

[Gazzamatta]

Maybe he wasn't.

We did increase our offer twice if reporting is correct?

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Did BA even speak to him? Apparently not. Shouldn't of even come to this, he should have been re-signed before 1 Nov!!! And BA should have played him in at least one game before the finals to at least show him he was wanted, especially as those playing were offering very little and were leaving. We've shit the bed big time here.

I'm sure you'd have been very forgiving if we played him and he was shown up for being too slow in the legs for the NRL (which he is at the moment). Have you ever watched him play? He'll play some NRL eventually, but he won't be anything special.

 

[Gronk]

Weedler on Semi..



The mystery man who wants rugby star Semi Radradra to play for Souths can be revealed.

But first it’s worth pointing out that the giant Fijian, who is playing for Bordeaux in France, is not homesick – at least not for Sydney. He does long for Fiji, but a return to the NRL is said to be a desire to end his league career on his own terms. You’ll remember he left soon after domestic violence charges were dropped in 2017.

We revealed last week that a Souths backer has been pushing for Radradra to come to Redfern. The person behind the push is Steve Nasteski – formerly a prestige car dealer and now a big wheel in the art world.

Making a statement: Semi Radradra wants to end his career in league on his own terms.CREDIT:RUGBY AUSTRALIA

Souths boss Shane Richardson confirmed he has been contacted by Nasteski, and the Rabbitohs general manager of football has welcomed it. I have been told there was a meeting between Nasteski, Radradra and Souths football manager Mark Ellison in the past two weeks. At that meeting Radradra said he wants to play for Souths.

Nasteski doesn’t want any credit for bringing Souths and Radradra together. He refused to comment when contacted.

It’s an unusual match-up. Nasteski makes the news for having a collection of Brett Whiteley paintings and selling his Bondi Beach penthouse in the Bondi Pacific for $14.75million to Ginia Rinehart, the daughter of mining billionaire Gina Rinehart. He sounds like a Roosters supporter! But he previously donated a six-figure amount to charity to get estranged Rabbitohs great George Pigginsto attend the 2014 grand final when he said he would only go if the donation was made.

Art imitating life: Semi Radradra has had conversations about a league return with art dealer Steve Nasteski, who is good friends with Craig Wing.CREDIT:INSTAGRAM

One of Nasteski’s best mates is Craig Wing, a former Rabbitoh, Rooster and Japan rugby international. He was a backer of Wing when he returned to the Bunnies.

Radradra earns about $1.3million after tax and as much as he has a legacy in mind, he won’t return to the NRL for $500,000.

“Semi isn’t greedy at all and he is not motivated by money,” his agent, George Christodoulou, said. “He gives most of what he earns away to his family, helping to build churches ... money is not his god.

“Look, we have had a few chats with Richo, but it is early days.”

The stumbling block is Souths coach Wayne Bennett. He wants a middle forward to fill the void left by the retirement of Sam Burgess, but there is a temptation to sign a crowd pleaser like Semi.

Souths have 28 players signed up for next season and have only $250,000 under their salary cap to spend. But that may change in the coming weeks. Radradra has a meeting with British rugby team Bristol this week.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/th...-s-radradra-bid-revealed-20191123-p53dgs.html

 

[Bandwagon]

It really begs the question what is Semi worth?

Pretty hard to put a value on him in any other position than wing, which I think to club needing what he brings could easily be in the vicinity of 800k, which whilst it's a lot for a winger, it aint a lot for a winger that can bring the ball back like Semi, or is a proven game changer like Semi.

That would make it tough for us to go into the market for him, because we really don't need what he brings that much with Fergo and Sivo on our books. At centre his defensive positioning becomes a hell of a lot more important, so being untested there it'd be real hard to justify paying him the kind of coin you would maybe pay for an elite level specialist centre

 

[Avenger]

I’d give him $750k to play centre. Take it or leave it.

 

[yy_cheng]

I would too. I just hope fergo doesn't breakdown this year

 

[Bandwagon]

I’d give him $750k to play centre. Take it or leave it.

That's elite centre money there, which Semi could fairly demand for his attack, but I reckon Mennings would still be a far better defender in that position. Assuming he'd be on the left, that could put a lot of pressure on Drown making those defensive decisions.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

He's worth $800k+ as a winger. But if he gives all this money away to 'causes' then it's obviously still important to him. He'd be getting a lot less than $1.3M after tax and would therefore have less to give away.

 

[Glenneel]

For 2021 there are plenty of halves and hookers available, but you're unlikely to overrate them because they're not Parra 'juniors' like Kiwi Drown and QLD Mahoney.

I'd find it hard to rate any junior as I don't see them play, I go on what others who do say. Doubt any available players are anywhere near the standard of Mahoney or Drown but you'd let them go and get a promising junior from elsewhere and pay on potential apparently.

 

[Glenneel]

A recent article says we offered minimum halfway through the year and he wasn't happy with it. Or do you think we offered less than minimum? Or made no offer at all?

Another article says we raised our offer just recently but he accepted W-T offer (assumedly as we didn't match their offer). But in reality it shouldn't have come to this. Now we'll see if we missed out on a good'n or not because we lowballed him.

 

[Spooner]

Another article says we raised our offer just recently but he accepted W-T offer (assumedly as we didn't match their offer). But in reality it shouldn't have come to this. Now we'll see if we missed out on a good'n or not because we lowballed him.

Time will tell - he certainly is an impressive athlete and is very humble. With the right coaching he will develop well - needs another season in reserve grade first.

 

[Bazal]

Time will tell - he certainly is an impressive athlete and is very humble. With the right coaching he will develop well - needs another season in reserve grade first.

If he was humble he wouldn't have walked because we wouldn't match the Tigers offer or give him an assurance of first grade game time...he would have realised he needed time to grow into his game and that we have better players in front of him.

 

[Glenneel]

Plenty of clubs wish they had our roster for next year.

*some of our players

 

[Spooner]

If he was humble he wouldn't have walked because we wouldn't match the Tigers offer or give him an assurance of first grade game time...he would have realised he needed time to grow into his game and that we have better players in front of him.

You can be humble and yet business savvy. If the offer is genuine then how could you expect a 19 yr old not to accept it. He ‘humbly’ accepted it.

 

[Glenneel]

I'm sure you'd have been very forgiving if we played him and he was shown up for being too slow in the legs for the NRL (which he is at the moment). Have you ever watched him play? He'll play some NRL eventually, but he won't be anything special.

No but I'd have liked to. But obviously W-T have and paid big $ to get him. Must be something there.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I'd find it hard to rate any junior as I don't see them play, I go on what others who do say. Doubt any available players are anywhere near the standard of Mahoney or Drown but you'd let them go and get a promising junior from elsewhere and pay on potential apparently.

In the spine veterans are more effective than promising youngsters and there are plenty off contract. Fully fit Andrew McCullough is a better player than Mahoney. And with Moses in the team there is less need for a big money half to partner him, which is why we let Norman go in favour of a rookie (who is still a long way off being as good as Corey Norman).

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Another article says we raised our offer just recently but he accepted W-T offer (assumedly as we didn't match their offer). But in reality it shouldn't have come to this. Now we'll see if we missed out on a good'n or not because we lowballed him.

We might've lost a goodun but if we lowballed him it's because we need to spend our cap space elsewhere. Should we have not signed RCG? If we're in a premiership window we need a strong top 17 now, not in three years. The Tigers can presumably offer Utoikamanu top 17 as soon as he arrives at the club.

 

[Joshuatheeel]

And with Moses in the team there is less need for a big money half to partner him, which is why we let Norman go in favour of a rookie (who is still a long way off being as good as Corey Norman).

Yeah.

While I would hate to lose Drown and hopefully we re- sign him, we have a fair back up option in Salmon.

Yeah he isn’t as good as Drown, but he is big boy for a half and pretty decent defensively. And with Moses and more experience could probably easily fill that role for a third of the price.

 

[lingard]

I'm somewhat concerned about our depth at hooker, fullback and centre. Probably most about hooker. Would Radradra solve any of that? Hard to know. He might be a brilliant centre option. He might not. Ferguson might be good at centre, he might not. Either of them might go alright at fullback, they might not (I think they wouldn't). I would love to see Semi on one wing and Sivo on the other. What a sight that would be! But we currently (for the first time in ages) have a fairly well-balanced team. We need to maintain that. With great reluctance, I would not go after Semi. I would go after a steady (probably young) fullback, and another hooker to support Mahoney or replace him if injured.

 

[lingard]

Yeah.

While I would hate to lose Drown and hopefully we re- sign him, we have a fair back up option in Salmon.

Yeah he isn’t as good as Drown, but he is big boy for a half and pretty decent defensively. And with Moses and more experience could probably easily fill that role for a third of the price.

And Salmon will have another year under his belt, too. Good defensive five-eight, who just needs to trust his running game a little more. I agree with you. Also, with Andrew Johns signing up to be our halves coach, I'm sure he'll do some work with our potential replacements as well (of which, Salmon would be one).