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Rumours and Stuff

Joshuatheeel

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
20,185
Sean Russell, Will Penisini, Jake Arthur, Trey Mooney are the only 4 players that made FG from that side.

I see a pattern for a few of them but not much to brag about really that it was a success.

Russell is a backup at most
Penisini is a first grader that's plateaued
Mooney is still in and out of FG for Canberra
It's actually on par and potentially the best of any Matt side for that year (2018) in producing players that have played NRL....not sure many if any did better...
 

Noise

Coach
Messages
18,187
Anyhow...RV, Potentially an eels junior, but went to the roosters, had a roosters deal but was released mid 2022 to go the warriors, then was released a year or so into his 3 year deal with the warriors....see a pattern......
JA released from his eels contract to go to Manly where his dad's mate coaches...MA released from his eels contract to go to Newcastle where his dad's mate coaches...see a pattern?
 

Joshuatheeel

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
20,185
Maybe find a bookie who would give odds on how many NRL games the Bros play in 25?
Not many at all, 10 or less, is my prediction. But that's not to say either aren't worthy of an NRL contract.

JA is clearly a backup half, so will depend on injuries.

MA, would only be 20 and is developing. Has 2 experienced hookers in front on him at this stage. Form and/or injuries will determine how many games he plays. Probably spends the year in NSW cup developing. Chance 2026, is his breakout year.
 

Joshuatheeel

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
20,185
Always with the help of dad or his mates. Neither will play much first grade again.
Is Andrew Ryan a BA mate too?

anyhow where does the Seibold and BA are mates come from? Is it because of the Storm connection? If so they weren't even there at the same time, BA left in 2011, Seibold started there in 2013....
 

Avenger

Immortal
Messages
34,082
Sean Russell, Will Penisini, Jake Arthur, Trey Mooney are the only 4 players that made FG from that side.

I see a pattern for a few of them but not much to brag about really that it was a success.

Russell is a backup at most
Penisini is a first grader that's plateaued
Mooney is still in and out of FG for Canberra
The first three are your standard types—the Joel Reddy, Ben Smith, and Tulsen Tollet equivalents of their generation, only worse. They’re massively overrated and all lack pace, which has been a glaring weakness in our pathways for over a decade.
 

Noise

Coach
Messages
18,187
Is Andrew Ryan a BA mate too?

anyhow where does the Seibold and BA are mates come from? Is it because of the Storm connection? If so they weren't even there at the same time, BA left in 2011, Seibold started there in 2013....
O'Brien, Seibold and Arthur are all good mates.
 

Gronk

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
77,719
Did someone say that the Tigers don't have options ? Bula has both a MO and a PO, structured in an if/then scenario.

-----8<----

The Sydney Morning Herald, however, is reporting that Bula, who has broken out as a fullback at NRL level in recent times, could be the next star to join the agent's stable.

Bula recently left his manager, Liam Ayoub, after he picked up a role in the Canterbury Bulldogs' recruitment market.

Already an international representative for Fiji, Bula is off-contract at the end of 2026 but has a mutual option for 2027 worth a reported $900,000, and if the Tigers decide against that, Bula could take a player option at $800,000 per Sydney Morning Herald's report.

But Bula doesn't have to take either option, and he may not if Moses decides he wants to renegotiate with the club and earn the fees associated with doing so.

That could ultimately mean he ends up on the free agency market from November 1 next year, and if that happens, there will be plenty of clubs who come knocking for the young talent's services.

 

Pazza

First Grade
Messages
9,813
Did someone say that the Tigers don't have options ? Bula has both a MO and a PO, structured in an if/then scenario.

-----8<----

The Sydney Morning Herald, however, is reporting that Bula, who has broken out as a fullback at NRL level in recent times, could be the next star to join the agent's stable.

Bula recently left his manager, Liam Ayoub, after he picked up a role in the Canterbury Bulldogs' recruitment market.

Already an international representative for Fiji, Bula is off-contract at the end of 2026 but has a mutual option for 2027 worth a reported $900,000, and if the Tigers decide against that, Bula could take a player option at $800,000 per Sydney Morning Herald's report.

But Bula doesn't have to take either option, and he may not if Moses decides he wants to renegotiate with the club and earn the fees associated with doing so.

That could ultimately mean he ends up on the free agency market from November 1 next year, and if that happens, there will be plenty of clubs who come knocking for the young talent's services.


The tigers have mastered the cap ahahha
 

Legal Eel

Juniors
Messages
1,060
The tigers have mastered the cap ahahha
I agree with Gronk.

If the Tigers are all in with options on their biggest contracts, then I am all turned around on the subject - its obviously a failsafe way to do business!

Well done Gronk on pointing this out...we are definitely vindicated by the Tigers implementation of options and the security it gives to their roster management.
 

84 Baby

Referee
Messages
29,816
Well pretty much in JA and RV first year of junior reps in Matt's, back in 2018...eels finished 2nd and lost in the GF, while Roosters didn't even make the finals and finished 12th...maybe the eels did pick the better players...

Anyhow...RV, Potentially an eels junior, but went to the roosters, had a roosters deal but was released mid 2022 to go the warriors, then was released a year or so into his 3 year deal with the warriors....see a pattern......
Sean Russell, Will Penisini, Jake Arthur, Trey Mooney are the only 4 players that made FG from that side.

I see a pattern for a few of them but not much to brag about really that it was a success.

Russell is a backup at most
Penisini is a first grader that's plateaued
Mooney is still in and out of FG for Canberra
Nepotism in my view is only a small problem. Did the Arthurs get preferential treatment? Probably. They got access at very young age to high level training and first grade standards that others simply would never be able to get. This in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, maybe it could’ve been opened up to more juniors but then who do you choose and that again is preferential treatment (even if it’s not the kids father selecting them).
This lent itself to pushing both of them for junior rep selections, but people who want to deny they weren’t very good juniors are off chops or wilfully ignorant.
The way bigger issue, and one that predates Arthurs, probably all the way back to pre-Hagan is our inability to take the hundreds of good juniors we’ve had in that time and turn them into NRL players. I know it’s a TheRamism but clearly there’s something that can be dramatically improved there.
 

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