Rumours and Stuff

[Avenger]

Because it was unders, like all player options.

This is true. Everytime a player doesn’t take his option it’s because he can get a better deal either through renegotiating with the current club (like Talagi) sprinkled with manager bullshit) or go elsewhere.

If you are ever going to do an option it should only be in the club’s favour but an elite player will never accept that. I think a player option only works when the club is flying and the player has some type of loyalty to the club and their team mates. If he is playing shit and the club is battling for the spoon then players like Shaun Lane can continue to sponge and give inspiring captain’s run media conferences.

 

[King-Gutho94]

I respect Mannah, post football. He was brutally dropped and never got a farewell game with BA but I cannot recall him carrying on about it. Just vent in private like a normal person.

I thought Fui got treated worse.

He got dropped from the final Parra stadium home game in 2014 & never played again we then went onto lose our last 2 games to Canberra and Newcastle and missed the finals by 1 game.

I think Mannah probably should have been tapped 2 or 3 years earlier then he was.

 

[Avenger]

This just proves BA is a true Eels fan.

Which means you aren’t. You are a devils advocate forum bot or version 3 of chatgpt.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

If Siebold wasn't the coach (dads mate) would manly have picked him up??? Somehow I think not..

Coaches don’t just get to sign whoever they want. There are more influential people in the club and they all have a say. The fact is Jake Arthur’s performance in reserve grade shows his quality as a backup, plus his performance in Manly’s NRL side justifies his selection. He is a solid backup.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Coz probably not worth much

ffs

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Because it was for less money. He knows he can get more.

This is the point of the PO. To protect the player if he can’t get anything better. It’s only a problem if he does take the option and the club wanted him gone.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

for the last5 or 6 years . could that be the Tigers life members doing ?

The “last 5 or 6 years” have been our most successful since 2005-09.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

no, that's not what he said, he said " moving away from POs",
hence why I put the hypothetical of a classy player reaching the end of his career wanting a PO

He didn’t even say that. That’s the journalist’s interpretation, based on what the fans want to hear.

What Sarantinos said was:

“You always need to be able to manage your roster to maintain your ability to make decisions and not be paralysed,” said Eels chief executive Jim Sarantinos.

“We always need to make sure we have a very strong focus on that. If that means, in the future, limiting the number of player options - particularly the number of player options that come up at the same time - then that’s what we will do.”

I don't think you can ever say a flat out no to any player options because it will depend on so many other possible terms written into the agreement and who the player is

Yeah of course. Sarantinos understands the risks and benefits of player/club/mutual options. They aren’t the reason we suck in 2024.

 

[Twizzle]

Yeah of course. Sarantinos understands the risks and benefits of player/club/mutual options. They aren’t the reason we suck in 2024.

agree, I dont believe they are the reasons we suck, the reason we suck is R&R for mine

 

[SLRBRONCOS]

Plenty of bottoms at our club @SLRBRONCOS

I will DM them and mortal kombat their arses just for you

 

[Gronk]

Facts

 

[Stevie]

Facts

I listened to the first 5 minutes of the tct podcast to hear if there was a meltdown about MA. It was hard to listen to. Can anyone confirm if he was crying? He was definitely choked up struggling to talk.

It’s embarrassing.

 

[Gronk]

I listened to the first 5 minutes of the tct podcast to hear if there was a meltdown about MA. It was hard to listen to. Can anyone confirm if he was crying? He was definitely choked up struggling to talk.

It’s embarrassing.

Didn't happen really. But 60's did call out merkins who suddenly are saying that the juniors we are losing are garbage anyway.

Facts are that those three (Sanders, Arthur and Blaize) should be moving up in 2025 and another crop in 2026. The good ones make a mark and the ones that don't end up super good get overtaken by a better kid. That's how it works at Penrith. We lose those 3 and we miss a year. All that effort put into the 2023 Matts , then 2024 S G Ball is mostly down the drain. Yes there are others in that team, but it's such a shame IMHO.

 

[Noise]

60s is a terrible judge of talent.

 

[hineyrulz]

I listened to the first 5 minutes of the tct podcast to hear if there was a meltdown about MA. It was hard to listen to. Can anyone confirm if he was crying? He was definitely choked up struggling to talk.

It’s embarrassing.

Are they honestly Eels fans?? Or Arthur fans??

Its hard to tell the difference.

It’s been a baaaaaaaaaaaaad year for TCT and Pou a baaaaaaaaaaaaaad baaaaaaaassaaad year.

Roll on the Era of Ryles!!!!

 

[oldmancraigy]

agree, I dont believe they are the reasons we suck, the reason we suck is R&R for mine

Perhaps that's the reason the bottom half of our squad sux

For me there isn't really an excuse for why our top half has performed so poorly the last 2 years apart from the game plan/s.
Ryles is inheriting a nice squad that has savage depth issues - we've played money ball for years (but incorrectly), and tried to bring in turds that can be polished. It actually worked really well a few times, but the last couple of years, all of the turds have been too soft to polish, and the on-field results have reflected the severe lack of depth.

 

[Delboy]

Didn't happen really. But 60's did call out merkins who suddenly are saying that the juniors we are losing are garbage anyway.

Facts are that those three (Sanders, Arthur and Blaize) should be moving up in 2025 and another crop in 2026. The good ones make a mark and the ones that don't end up super good get overtaken by a better kid. That's how it works at Penrith. We lose those 3 and we miss a year. All that effort put into the 2023 Matts , then 2024 S G Ball is mostly down the drain. Yes there are others in that team, but it's such a shame IMHO.

That sort of planning has to be initiated by the HOF, when our own juniors leave without offers from the club how can we emulate the Penrith pathways. Looking back and Cameron who’s been behind the success of Riff juniors was not successful when in the race for HoF at the Eels , and passed over for the current incumbent , tells us enough.

 

[Eelementary]

I have moved on from Reed he showed his true colours.

f**k him he is just a little pest that's all he has got to his game is niggle.

The problem has always been the inability to replace him like Koroisau was on the Market at the same time as Hodgson.

Tigers were going to sign Hodgson then changed there mind to Api after we went after Hodgson.

Sam Verills was available as well.

Instead we signed Josh Hodgson to warm the dummy half spot for a few years before a certain dummy half who was 16-17 years old at the time would be ready for FG.

His service out of dummy-half is way better than anything we have at the club currently.

I'd have him back in a millisecond.

 

[84 Baby]

If winning SG Ball is a proxy for having a strong crop of juniors at that age group, we also had a strong crop six years ago. However the only players to play first grade were Dunster, Parry, Drown and Doorey. Our opponents that day actually had more future first graders. We likely won that comp because we had a true generational talent in Dylan Brown. Four guys played NRL within the next 7 years. We’ve already had four from last year’s SG Ball team play NRL.

Winning junior comp isn’t always the best indicator.
Drown’s ability potential as a junior was the highest since Hayne. He was clearly better than vast majority of opponents and more importantly it was translatable to NRL I.e. he wasn’t just physically better than his opponents to outmuscle them which rarely equates to same thing in NRL.
But his teammates weren’t anywhere near same level. From memory it was Parry that was probably next best and he didn’t kick on, whereas Dunster kept pushing and probably only injury stopped him from at least making rugby league a living for him. Doorey did kick on but his limitations have been exposed.
The current group has no one at Drown’s level but a lot more of them are above where the others were at same age

 

[JokerEel]

Didn't happen really. But 60's did call out merkins who suddenly are saying that the juniors we are losing are garbage anyway.

Facts are that those three (Sanders, Arthur and Blaize) should be moving up in 2025 and another crop in 2026. The good ones make a mark and the ones that don't end up super good get overtaken by a better kid. That's how it works at Penrith. We lose those 3 and we miss a year. All that effort put into the 2023 Matts , then 2024 S G Ball is mostly down the drain. Yes there are others in that team, but it's such a shame IMHO.

100% Sanders Arthur Blaize Guymer should be moving up in 2025 most likely to CUP we should have had them wrapped up past this season but stupidity in our management stopped that ...

You are right on the riff you see them panicking when they lose a player?
Next year they lose May Tuaruva Laui from their backline and replace them with some decent juniors..

Our club can't sell our kids the dream over pay older players on stupid long contracts.