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Rumours and Stuff

Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
91,713
If papa thought madge was still going to be coach at the Tigers in 2023 he is dumber then I thought.

Madge has been a dead man walking for 2 years.

There was no way he was going to survive the season.
Well Papali’i could say Maguire was a proven premiership winner and who the f**k are the Tigers to get rid of him.
 

hineyrulz

Post Whore
Messages
154,171
You need to do a daily Gratitude Diary. Each day you write down 5 new things you are grateful for about the Eels. It’s an exercise that remaps your neural pathways that lead to your repetitive negative mindset.
Number 1 - Baldness

Number 2 - alcoholism

Number 3 - A total apathy for watching my team play

Number 4 - being dead inside

Number 5. - did I say baldness??

Thanks Parra!!!
 

Wally21

Bench
Messages
4,427
It’s depressing reading this thread and realizing so many of our supporters believe making the top 4 or top 8 for a few years is the definition of success.
In other sport such as Football, Motor racing, even cricket for that matter, it’s fair to have lower expectations than outright first, if you are underfunded, a developing team etc. But in a sport where the Eels have a major Junior nursery, are well funded by a successful leagues club, have the most or second most number of members in the comp, have an elite training facility/center of excellence and are on a level playing field to the rest of the comp as a result of the salary cap, how can anyone objectively argue that finishing between 4 and 8 every year is success?
🙄🙄🙄🙄
 

Matty Bhoy

Juniors
Messages
2,038
It’s depressing reading this thread and realizing so many of our supporters believe making the top 4 or top 8 for a few years is the definition of success.
In other sport such as Football, Motor racing, even cricket for that matter, it’s fair to have lower expectations than outright first, if you are underfunded, a developing team etc. But in a sport where the Eels have a major Junior nursery, are well funded by a successful leagues club, have the most or second most number of members in the comp, have an elite training facility/center of excellence and are on a level playing field to the rest of the comp as a result of the salary cap, how can anyone objectively argue that finishing between 4 and 8 every year is success?
🙄🙄🙄🙄
It’s equally as depressing/dull/repetitive coming on and reading the players and club getting shit canned week in, week out no matter what the results are.
 

hineyrulz

Post Whore
Messages
154,171
It’s depressing reading this thread and realizing so many of our supporters believe making the top 4 or top 8 for a few years is the definition of success.
In other sport such as Football, Motor racing, even cricket for that matter, it’s fair to have lower expectations than outright first, if you are underfunded, a developing team etc. But in a sport where the Eels have a major Junior nursery, are well funded by a successful leagues club, have the most or second most number of members in the comp, have an elite training facility/center of excellence and are on a level playing field to the rest of the comp as a result of the salary cap, how can anyone objectively argue that finishing between 4 and 8 every year is success?
🙄🙄🙄🙄
You are wrong mate, we are just a poor club with no resources. We are overachieving by coming 6th. That was the actual goal pre season apparently. And we wouldn’t want to make any hasty decisions.

Am I doing this right???
 

hineyrulz

Post Whore
Messages
154,171
It’s equally as depressing/dull/repetitive coming on and reading the players and club getting shit canned week in, week out no matter what the results are.
As depressing as knowing that watching your team go around each week and supposedly being in a premiership window and knowing that your team is no f**king chance of winning anything??? Because that would br really depressing.
 

Wally21

Bench
Messages
4,427
It’s equally as depressing coming on and reading the players and club getting shit canned week in, week out no matter what the results are.
I’m not shit canning them. I celebrate our wins and bemoan our losses. The forum is however now a metaphor for what’s happening out there in the world. Polarity of opinion with no middle ground.
I for one am a paid up supporter, have followed them for 50 years through thick and thin and will love them til I die.
However, whilst people believe we are successful, whilst considering all of the facts that I highlighted above, I have to cal it out.
Nothing will change my support for the club, however my definition of success considering the facts is very different to some.
 

Wally21

Bench
Messages
4,427
You are wrong mate, we are just a poor club with no resources. We are overachieving by coming 6th. That was the actual goal pre season apparently. And we wouldn’t want to make any hasty decisions.

Am I doing this right???
I don’t agree with everything you say buddy, but I agree with the general thrust of your argument, that if we do not win the comp this year, it is time to change starting with the coach
 

TheRam

Coach
Messages
13,911
On strengthening our front row depth for next year. Our current rotation of RCG and Paulo at the moment sucks. Whoever we bring on for when either of these two come off our middle generally weakens quite a bit and we lose momentum and allow the opposition team some breathing space and an opportunity to come back at us.

Now I know we have a couple of lower grade merkins that may come good in the lower grades but I am not totally convinced that they will. So with this in mind I think if we can pickup a decent player or two at the right price it would be well worth exploring.

There are two such players at the sharks in Royce Hunt and Franklin Pele that I wouldn't mind if we could sign. Hunt is an established player of around 30 NRL appearances and Pele is at the very beginning of his 1st grade career with only one NRL appearance back in 2021 but is still only a baby at 21 years of age.

Hunt is 26 years old, but I believe he is just about to come into his best years as a front rower and I have been watching him a little this year and like what I see. He is super strong and can carry the ball forward as good as anyone when he puts his mind to it. I think the one good thing about our coach is that he can get these types of players that have good potential but are not doing it on a regular enough basis to run hard and make their tackles much more effectively. Hell our coach has based his whole coach existence and career on just that.

So Hunt I feel would go up a gear or two under BA and would become a great 15-20 minute super sub in each half and help give our starting props some rest time without losing that momentum that they are providing while on. I know that Hunts average metres of 78m a game aren't earth shattering, but like I said, I think he can do a lot better if focused on and coached by someone like BA that loves pushing forwards to chase the collision. His tackle efficiency is 93.1 which if he maintained would be very good for a big forward.

If we could pick him up for anything under $300K I think he would make a great replacement for Kaufusi. Around $200-250k would be perfect. I feel we could easily get his average metres up to around 100m. But it's the brute strength and power that he has and therefore would help further drain the opposition just when they thought that they would be getting some relief that will be most advantageous to us. Something that we just don't get from our bench at present. He is just one of these types of players that needs to get aerobically fitter which will make him more consistent. Not that he is a fat merkin now, he just has to build those minutes into his legs.

As for Pele, I have spoken about him before so all I will say is he is a project player, that if we could get to fulfill his promise would be a wrecking ball type of player. He just need fitness, fitness, fitness. But could be anything and could go either way. These are the sorts of players I would be looking to bring to our club because they have major upsides if we can bring the best out of them. I would get rid of a some of the number fillers that I have seen playing in our NSW Cup side that you just know have very little chance of ever being 50+ NRL game players. We have way to many of those.

Both players are off contract at the end of this year.

1658019708105.png1658019798610.png
 

Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
91,713
It’s depressing reading this thread and realizing so many of our supporters believe making the top 4 or top 8 for a few years is the definition of success.
In other sport such as Football, Motor racing, even cricket for that matter, it’s fair to have lower expectations than outright first, if you are underfunded, a developing team etc. But in a sport where the Eels have a major Junior nursery, are well funded by a successful leagues club, have the most or second most number of members in the comp, have an elite training facility/center of excellence and are on a level playing field to the rest of the comp as a result of the salary cap, how can anyone objectively argue that finishing between 4 and 8 every year is success?
🙄🙄🙄🙄
If you haven’t won the comp in 36 years how can you say your club is on a level playing field to other clubs that have won 3, 4 or 5 times since then?
 

Gazzamatta

Coach
Messages
15,666
Also in regards to who Freddy should have been looking at in the backrow for SOO this year. Form players are just as important as combinations if not at times more so. I believed he erred big time by relying way to heavily on Panther combos and not looking at the right balance of the team of what type of player SOO needs to win and even body shape.

Who would you rather be in your team

This Bloke -

View attachment 63735 View attachment 63728View attachment 63736

Or this bloke -

View attachment 63721View attachment 63720View attachment 63722

Fitler didn't even have him in consideration and invite him to training to see first hand at what he might have to offer. Lane is a gun and I would love to see what a great coach like Bennett, Bellamy or Robinson would do for his game, in fact I could say the same about virtually our whole team actually. Ah to dream.

Anyway Lane can play in the middle and has ball skills that most forwards don't. By every marker Lane has been a better player this season then both Liam Martin and Angus Crichton. Oh and by the way we still don't use Lane the right way and to his full potential, but at least D. Brown is getting better at it.
Hopefully we re sign him before the vultures start circling. Lane has always been my favourite player alongside Dylbags.
 

TheRam

Coach
Messages
13,911
No doubt he can play but he’s lazy not sure that can be coached out of him. I fear he’d be exposed in origin.

Mate you wouldn't play him for 80 minutes in origin. I think even Freddy knows how to use a bench better then BA.

Also at that level if for whatever reason you needed him to stay out there longer then expected he can do it and or you can bring him into the middle for the defensive work to keep him from having to contend with spritely backs with quick and nimble feet.
 

84 Baby

Referee
Messages
29,820
On strengthening our front row depth for next year. Our current rotation of RCG and Paulo at the moment sucks. Whoever we bring on for when either of these two come off our middle generally weakens quite a bit and we lose momentum and allow the opposition team some breathing space and an opportunity to come back at us.

Now I know we have a couple of lower grade merkins that may come good in the lower grades but I am not totally convinced that they will. So with this in mind I think if we can pickup a decent player or two at the right price it would be well worth exploring.

There are two such players at the sharks in Royce Hunt and Franklin Pele that I wouldn't mind if we could sign. Hunt is an established player of around 30 NRL appearances and Pele is at the very beginning of his 1st grade career with only one NRL appearance back in 2021 but is still only a baby at 21 years of age.

Hunt is 26 years old, but I believe he is just about to come into his best years as a front rower and I have been watching him a little this year and like what I see. He is super strong and can carry the ball forward as good as anyone when he puts his mind to it. I think the one good thing about our coach is that he can get these types of players that have good potential but are not doing it on a regular enough basis to run hard and make their tackles much more effectively. Hell our coach has based his whole coach existence and career on just that.

So Hunt I feel would go up a gear or two under BA and would become a great 15-20 minute super sub in each half and help give our starting props some rest time without losing that momentum that they are providing while on. I know that Hunts average metres of 78m a game aren't earth shattering, but like I said, I think he can do a lot better if focused on and coached by someone like BA that loves pushing forwards to chase the collision. His tackle efficiency is 93.1 which if he maintained would be very good for a big forward.

If we could pick him up for anything under $300K I think he would make a great replacement for Kaufusi. Around $200-250k would be perfect. I feel we could easily get his average metres up to around 100m. But it's the brute strength and power that he has and therefore would help further drain the opposition just when they thought that they would be getting some relief that will be most advantageous to us. Something that we just don't get from our bench at present. He is just one of these types of players that needs to get aerobically fitter which will make him more consistent. Not that he is a fat merkin now, he just has to build those minutes into his legs.

As for Pele, I have spoken about him before so all I will say is he is a project player, that if we could get to fulfill his promise would be a wrecking ball type of player. He just need fitness, fitness, fitness. But could be anything and could go either way. These are the sorts of players I would be looking to bring to our club because they have major upsides if we can bring the best out of them. I would get rid of a some of the number fillers that I have seen playing in our NSW Cup side that you just know have very little chance of ever being 50+ NRL game players. We have way to many of those.

Both players are off contract at the end of this year.

View attachment 63743View attachment 63744
ROY’S WHAT???
 

Eelementary

Post Whore
Messages
57,237
But did he say it to Tigers before accepting?
Is it even reasonable for Papali’i to assume Maguire would be his coach throughout the length of his contract?

Good points.

I don't know.

However, they are two slightly different scenarios:

Signing with them, thinking McGuire will be their coach, and then having McGuire sacked one year into Papali'i's tenure;

and

Signing with them, and then having their coach sacked before he even joins them.

For the record, even if Ice does want to renege, he may not be able to imo.

But aside from the money they offered him, it does seem that he was keen to play for his national coach, and sacking him before he joined them seems myopic.
 

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