Rumours and Stuff

[hindy111]

are you not excited?

Look. Give us Stefano back and Papali'i and we will return Joe O and Matterson.
Ashols

 

[eels_fan]

And the people running the club do care about on-field results.

I’ll believe that when I see a single action or hear a single word that reflect it.

to this stage, I haven’t.

Mark O’Neill isn’t fit for duties
Sarantinos & McDuffy are not fit for there positions in a football club.
BA isn’t fit for his role any longer
Barrett isn’t fit for well, anything, short of running water

 

[emjaycee]

It’s good to understand the different views on how the club operates. Having said that , if someone experienced is in charge of recruitment and the roster, it makes little sense to have so few backs under contract and again not a full complement. Sure, we may be waiting for development players etc, but we seem to move along different roster structure to most other clubs

If the coach has determined an incorrect pathway, there should be a conversation to move direction. That’s simple management 101.

I honestly think our dearth of backs is based on a number of factors, and not all able to be lay at the feet of the HoF.
1) we have a number of backs developing from Flegg that we want to keep (they just arent ready yet).
2) there is a fear that signing too many backs from outside the club will 'scare' the juniors away
3) we have been after a strike centre since Jennings left and I know we have previously chased hard for Staggs, Farnworth and Lomax (before he extended with the Dragons). Just because we have chased and not gotten, doesnt mean we havent chased.

 

[hindy111]

I assume you mean more than Parra thought he was worth. Tigers got him for $300K and it has been worth every cent and he is now starting to repay everyone of those dollars.

Every signing or letting go is an expression of priorities. Parra signed Matterson the year Tigers signed Stef.

275k actually.

 

[Eelogical]

The prospect of Michael Maguire coahcing Kelma, Joffa and Matto...

Im excited.

Yes, yes! The hilarity of it all. At this point I'd take Hineyrulz and Hindy111 as coach and assistant. The only issue is, who gets what position?

 

[eels_fan]

Just because we have chased and not gotten, doesnt mean we havent chased.

We don’t need people at our club that are good at trying, we need people that are good at doing.

successful clubs make deals happen.

 

[emjaycee]

I’ll believe that when I see a single action or hear a single word that reflect it.

to this stage, I haven’t.

Mark O’Neill isn’t fit for duties
Sarantinos & McDuffy are not fit for there positions in a football club.
BA isn’t fit for his role any longer
Barrett isn’t fit for well, anything, short of running water

That is your prerogative.

 

[JokerEel]

I assume you mean more than Parra thought he was worth. Tigers got him for $300K and it has been worth every cent and he is now starting to repay everyone of those dollars.

Every signing or letting go is an expression of priorities. Parra signed Matterson the year Tigers signed Stef.

And even when the Tigers were trash they were making better signings than us...

 

[hindy111]

Yes, yes! The hilarity of it all. At this point I'd take Hineyrulz and Hindy111 as coach and assistant. The only issue is, who gets what position?

I'd be coach thank you. Hineyrulz would be a good assistant

 

[emjaycee]

We don’t need people at our club that are good at trying, we need people that are good at doing.

successful clubs make deals happen.

We dont have a draft in the NRL mate. Players get the final say on where they play, not the clubs.

 

[eels_fan]

That is your prerogative.

No, it’s a fact (maybe I was being a little harsh on Barrett, i reckon he could also be a good gear steward..)

 

[hindy111]

My little birds come to me today with some info.
Moses will be fit for the Brisbane game

 

[eels_fan]

We dont have a draft in the NRL mate. Players get the final say on where they play, not the clubs.

And we have a HoF that refuses to go above a ceiling of a pre-conceived idea he has in his head on the value of players is, regardless of their quality and how much we need them.

he is letting his personal opinions cloud what our club needs. Thats counter productive to us being successful.

 

[eels_fan]

My little birds come to me today with some info.
Moses will be fit for the Brisbane game

I’ve always thought he’d be back after the bye, for Magic round at least, broncos would be even better as it means we’ll only lose by 30 instead of 50 due to his kicking

 

[emjaycee]

And we have a HoF that refuses to go above a ceiling of a pre-conceived idea he has in his head on the value of players is, regardless of their quality and how much we need them.

he is letting his personal opinions cloud what our club needs. Thats counter productive to us being successful.

OK then.

 

[emjaycee]

My little birds come to me today with some info.
Moses will be fit for the Brisbane game

My info was that he won't be out of the moonboot until the week of the bye (following his next scans).
Hopefully your birds know more than Mitchell does.

 

[crocodile]

Is it possible that coaching isn't the problem?

It is possible but certainly a factor. There's more at play than the coach though. A first grade coach should not have teach top level players how to pass and catch a football or how to tackle. Yet how many missed tackles, poor passing and cases of dropsy play in last Friday's lamentable performance. Sure the coach is responsible for tactics and structures. These too, are below par. So, there is more than 1 problem.

 

[Delboy]

I honestly think our dearth of backs is based on a number of factors, and not all able to be lay at the feet of the HoF.
1) we have a number of backs developing from Flegg that we want to keep (they just arent ready yet).
2) there is a fear that signing too many backs from outside the club will 'scare' the juniors away
3) we have been after a strike centre since Jennings left and I know we have previously chased hard for Staggs, Farnworth and Lomax (before he extended with the Dragons). Just because we have chased and not gotten, doesnt mean we havent chased.

1. They won’t be ready for at least 2 seasons, the club can’t sit and wait given the backs we have playing currently.
2. If we have honest discussion and a pathway set out, which other clubs seem to achieve, then why would juniors be scared. Sanders for instance won’t get a walk up start at the Raiders, yet seems comfortable to sign there .
3. Sure we looked at those players, but backed off quickly once advised what they were offered elsewhere. I like Harper and he is an honest and reliable player, but seriously not the standard we should have pursued . Anyway, let’s see if the changes you have heard about occur, otherwise doing the same thing and expecting different results will send the rather large fan base into conniptions.

 

[Eelementary]

I've shown how our spending fell off a cliff in 2020 and has only recently recovered. I doubt we stopped spending because merkins ignored the things we were previously spending on. Covid was the reason. What that lack of spending did was leave a huge hole in our pathways. We seemed to be back last year but this year are having less success. Does it mean we are less committed to junior development? 2023 was a record for us regarding football spending, so I doubt it. Most likely is that we are so keen to fast track youngsters that we have promoted them too soon. Sanders could be playing Flegg, while Talagi, Arthur and Tuivati could've played SG Ball again this year.

But then the coaching staff keeps telling Talagi, "You're a centre. No, wait - you're a fullback. No, wait - you're a 5/8. No, wait - you're a benchie."

Hard to develop youngsters when you keep stuffing their position around.

The club has seemingly looked to a "Moneyball"-type of recruitment strategy in the last few years, and it's beginning to show.

I have nothing against cheap, diamond in the rough signings, but is Arthur's success rate at turning them into quality First Graders that high?

Brian Smith was a master at taking a cheapie from another club, and developing them into consistently solid players - Craig Stapleton, Daniel Wagon, Lee Hopkins, Jason Moodie, Brad Drew, Matthew Petersen...he just had a knack for getting the best out of average players.

Arthur has done well with blokes like Wicks, and Sivo, but that's pretty much it, off the top of my head - but he keeps dipping into that well.

 

[Delboy]

Actually, this is a decent discussion on direction and needs. No real nasty personal insults, just differing options floated