Rumours and Stuff

[Gary Gutful]

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:

Got him. Yes! Piss off, you’re out!!!!

 

[hindy111]

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.

Spot on Ram.

I notice how the Dukes re signed all the young guns over there. All wrapped up before any other club gets a chance to talk to them. Waqa Blake today. For some reason our good juniors at best case test the market like Tepai recently did and then bleed us for every cent. And of course Jnr did the same and left forma few xtra dollars.
Jnr never should of been let go. It was the most ridiculous decision. Best local prop we have produced in 10yrs and we couldnt hold onto him? Ask yourself would this happen at other clubs? Some yes, most no. Not like we have big powerfull props in the squad or a heap of talented jnrs at the time.

 

[Eelogical]

Got him. Yes! Piss off, you’re out!!!!

 

[hineyrulz]

Got him. Yes! Piss off, you’re out!!!!

Tell your f**king story walking pal!!

 

[Happy MEel]

Tell your f**king story walking pal!!

The most guts he's shown have been hanging out of that skin tight Aussie shirt of his.

 

[hineyrulz]

The most guts he's shown have been hanging out of that skin tight Aussie shirt of his.

Merv Merv Merv!!!

 

[Bolgeel]

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.

Kane Evans titty twister

 

[Poupou Escobar]

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:

That’s why the specific act of them being dropped was so significant. For depth players like Evans, Matagi or Vave it just means someone else is in better form.

Jennings was dropped as a kick in the arse and Scott just needed to test his injury. Neither was dropped for long. French’s axing was massive. He was in poor form for a long time, because with a likely guaranteed top 17 spot he was expected to find form in first grade (along with Norman and Moses). Depth players don’t go straight back up to first grade though. They have to wait for an opportunity.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Now if BA understood size matters in RL back then, I don't think he would have let Paulo go

Because size didn’t matter as much back then. It’s why we won all those games in 2016-17. It wasn’t until the penalty-thon that slowed the game so much this year that it became so hard to fatigue the big merkins that size became such a massive advantage. Before this year you could outmanoeuvre and out-enthuse the big packs.

Next year it’ll probably go back to free flowing footy and Junior Paulo will be gassed after ten minutes. That’s how our luck tends to fall.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Spot on Ram.

I notice how the Dukes re signed all the young guns over there. All wrapped up before any other club gets a chance to talk to them. Waqa Blake today. For some reason our good juniors at best case test the market like Tepai recently did and then bleed us for every cent. And of course Jnr did the same and left forma few xtra dollars.
Jnr never should of been let go. It was the most ridiculous decision. Best local prop we have produced in 10yrs and we couldnt hold onto him? Ask yourself would this happen at other clubs? Some yes, most no. Not like we have big powerfull props in the squad or a heap of talented jnrs at the time.

Because if you own a house in Penrith the commute to other Sydney clubs isn’t as attractive.

 

[Happy MEel]

That’s why the specific act of them being dropped was so significant. For depth players like Evans, Matagi or Vave it just means someone else is in better form.

Jennings was dropped as a kick in the arse and Scott just needed to test his injury. Neither was dropped for long. French’s axing was massive. He was in poor form for a long time, because with a likely guaranteed top 17 spot he was expected to find form in first grade (along with Norman and Moses). Depth players don’t go straight back up to first grade though. They have to wait for an opportunity.

I think it goes to show that the coach selects the team (or at least should) based on who he thinks will win games of footy. Their contract value is (or at least should be) irrelevant, although in most cases the higher priced players will outperform lower priced players, even if they aren’t performing to their capabilities but this isnt always the case, especially when your cap is spread more evenly (like ours)

 

[Chipmunk]

When does our mob return to training?

How many players do we have in the signed up for our squad for next season at the moment??

How many of those are we trying to punt out the door???

 

[Eelogical]

When does our mob return to training?

How many players do we have in the signed up for our squad for next season at the moment??

How many of those are we trying to punt out the door???

Half have been let go
Half have been sacked
Half haven't been re-signed.
We haven't even spoken to the other two thirds.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Merkins expecting bulk new signings will be disappointed. We have Paulo and Ferguson, and probably Lane. After that there might be some re-signings announced but some of our gun juniors are likely to finally be ready for the top 30. Or more likely, we’ll have to offer top 30 contracts prematurely, just to keep them away from the Dogs and Manly. It's very exciting.

 

[Chipmunk]

Half have been let go
Half have been sacked
Half haven't been re-signed.
We haven't even spoken to the other two thirds.

Which half did we let go, which one did we sack and which one didn't we re-sign though?

Have we spoken to any decent three quarters?

 

[forward pass]

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.

Jennings did not actually miss a first grade game so was he dropped? You drop a player because they are not playing well enough to contribute to the side's performance yet he didn't miss a single game.

BA is a smart bastard don't worry about that. He gave him a chance to regain confidence playing reggies without having to replace him in the top grade.

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Have we spoken to any decent three quarters?

Ferguson's ok.

 

[Chipmunk]

Ferguson's ok.

He'll likely do three fifths of five eights of bugger all now

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

He'll likely do three fifths of five eights of bugger all now

So, if anybody we sign will turn to crap no matter what their current ability/form is, why do you want us to try to sign them?

 

[hineyrulz]

Ferguson will prove to be a good pick up, Paulo brings in some much needed size and Lane some height and can play in the middle or an en edge. But if that’s it for signings I can’t see us going close to the top 8.