Rumours and Stuff

[JokerEel]

As an outsider looking in it amazes me that everyone is assuming Iongi slots straight into fullback. He has had only one game in firsts so untested in NRL. Has plaed three years at NSW Cup level so I find it strange that every assumes he will be better than Guffo who has performed for you guys for a long time.

Iongi may turn out to be a superstar but he has Laurie/Staines vibes for me. Strange to see the hype in here.

Laurie and Staines are good players at a good club...

Iongi will be a decent first grader he has been stuck behind Edwards but I agree he may start on the wing with Gutho at Fullback

 

[Obscene Assassin]

Laurie and Staines are good players at a good club...

Iongi will be a decent first grader he has been stuck behind Edwards but I agree he may start on the wing with Gutho at Fullback

Staines is at a good club?

 

[hineyrulz]

Completely agree.
I'm shocked that pretty much everyone in here thinks he'll just waltz in and take over from our best fullback.
I would have thought he needs to earn the right to that position.
I for one would still be starting the season with Gutho at FB.

What if both in the top 17 works out even better?? Longi at 1 and Gutho at 14 is improvement on having Lussick anywhere near the side.

Let Ryles work it out it’s nice to have options.

 

[Gazzamatta]

He worked with Lomax with the junior Kangaroos.

Maybe he was so desperate to get away from Flanagan that he was prepared to take a cut price contract and a cheap meal from the first club that showed interest in him.
Maybe he now can't believe his luck that he will be under a bloke that most commentators and clubs believe is the next big thing in the coaching world.
He's probably thinking that he struck gold.
One theory is as good as another.

 

[Gazzamatta]

Completely agree.
I'm shocked that pretty much everyone in here thinks he'll just waltz in and take over from our best fullback.
I would have thought he needs to earn the right to that position.
I for one would still be starting the season with Gutho at FB.

We have only seen Gutho these past years flogging himself to a standstill and losing effectiveness. He deserves an opportunity working to a different plan. One that will best utilise his skills. Less is more and it could have Gutho discover his lost spark. I'm so looking forward to watching this develop.

 

[hineyrulz]

Maybe he was so desperate to get away from Flanagan that he was prepared to take a cut price contract and a cheap meal from the first club that showed interest in him.
Maybe he now can't believe his luck that he will be under a bloke that most commentators and clubs believe is the next big thing in the coaching world.
He's probably thinking that he struck gold.
One theory is as good as another.

Yep, just like the theory there was nobody better than Brad…………

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

old fart, most here would not get that

Well, to be fair, I was only 10 at the time.

The whippersnappers can Google it.

 

[Twizzle]

surely Gutho starts at No 1 and we see what develops from there

he has an off season to get over his injuries and we haven't really seen what Iongi can do yet, he's still a pup

 

[Poupou Escobar]

And lets hope Ryles convinces him that winger is his best position which should be even obvious to Lomax due to what he has achieved this year (SOO, team of year).

And my opinion only but Gutho (as a player earning around 900k) is wasted as a backup sitting on the bench. Centre is where I'd play him, a very expensive centre admittedly, but we'd get more value out of him there.

He can start on the bench and not be a backup. Matterson comes off the bench and he contributes more than most centres.

 

[JokerEel]

Staines is at a good club?

Is he still at the Wests Tigers?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

you can't possibly know that Poops, this is an opinion only and you have every right to it, but it is not a fact

Of course it’s an opinion. It was stated as an opinion: “There’s no reason…”

As soon as we talk causality we are in opinion territory. As if facts could prove why anybody would or wouldn’t do anything.

What’s more, everything we post here is an opinion. When we link a source that is someone else’s opinion. Even stats are an opinion; somebody needed to record them from observation. From there we need to trust they were accurate to start with and then haven’t been changed.

So there are facts but some are nearly impossible to prove on the internet. Video is still fairly reliable but with AI generated deepfakes it is becoming less so.

Ryles may have had contact with some of the new recruits at various stages of his tenures at other clubs

And they might’ve been unimpressed or hated him

 

[Poupou Escobar]

In our SG Ball team we have also signed a fair few forwards over the past couple of years. Ocean Vaivela, recruited from Souths Logan. Beau Lucien recruited from Sunshine Coast Falcons. Elijah Shane Tapau from Townsville Blackhawks.

Yes it's disappointing to lose some of these kids, especially after they've been picked for the Australian schoolboys, it isn't as if we have been sitting on our hands in this regard. But we do need to get better at securing young talent to contracts as we have had too many talented players leaving.

Maybe it just means we are producing too many of them. Obviously you can't have too many, but the more you produce the more you have competing for limited places in the senior squad. There is a real bottleneck getting these merkins from semi-pro contracts to the fulltime squad. There are only 30+6 contracts at each club, which means clubs need to prioritise positions. At the bottom of the roster, when you have two players at the same position and age group you can likely only bring one into the squad. Especially for kids not yet ready for the NRL, once the supplementary list is full you have to start burning top 30 spots on keeping them. That affects your depth. Playing Australian Schoolboys doesn't mean a kid is anywhere close to ready for the NRL. Here's the Australian Schoolboys squad from two years ago:

Chris Faagutu (Marsden State High School)
Ethan Ferguson (Lambton High School)
Thomas Fletcher (St Gregory's College)
Harry Hassett (The Hills Sports High School)
Arama Hau (Keebra Park SHS)
Isaiya Katoa (Barker College)
Keano Kinni (Palm Beach Currumbin SHS)
Liam Le Blanc (St Joseph's College, Nudgee)
Jesse McLean (Newington College)
Karl Oloapu (Wavell SHS)
Josiah Pahulu (Ipswich SHS)
Joash Papalii (Holy Spirit College Lakemba)
Michael Roberts (Palm Beach Currumbin SHS)
Gabriel Satrick (Ipswich SHS)
Chevy Stewart (Endeavour Sports High)
Blaize Talagi (Westfields Sports High)
Sam Tuivaiti (Westfields Sports High)

2022 Australian Schoolboys Team announced

The best and brightest schoolboy talent was in action last week with the 2022 Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League Championships taking place in Redcliffe, Queensland.

www.nrl.com

Three years later (for 2025) just over half of them (9/17) have top 30 contracts, but that number is likely to increase. Most notably, almost a quarter (4/17) still don't have fulltime contracts. The point of this is that maybe we've let some of these merkins go because we don't need them now and might never need them in the years to come. You can't keep them all and nor should we want to. But at least bringing them through the pathways lets us make the best decisions on what they are worth.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

As an outsider looking in it amazes me that everyone is assuming Iongi slots straight into fullback. He has had only one game in firsts so untested in NRL. Has plaed three years at NSW Cup level so I find it strange that every assumes he will be better than Guffo who has performed for you guys for a long time.

Iongi may turn out to be a superstar but he has Laurie/Staines vibes for me. Strange to see the hype in here.

He has been playing fullback against grown men since he was 19. Penrith brought him down from Norths Devils while still eligible for SG Ball, put him straight into Flegg where he was far too good (15 tries in 12 games) then he finished the year in reserve grade and hasn't looked back. He is still only 21 and well ahead of Laurie at the same age. And unlike Staines, Iongi has been durable.

He might be fairly ordinary next year, in his first full season of NRL, but he has ticked every box so far. Laurie and Staines had not.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Yep, just like the theory there was nobody better than Brad…………

Still waiting to be proved rong.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

He has been playing fullback against grown men since he was 19. Penrith brought him down from Norths Devils while still eligible for SG Ball, put him straight into Flegg

Interestingly, his first three games in Flegg were in the halves, proving that he has always been a playmaker.

 

[oldmancraigy]

surely Gutho starts at No 1 and we see what develops from there

he has an off season to get over his injuries and we haven't really seen what Iongi can do yet, he's still a pup

I hear you, but I also wonder how does Iongi prove himself unless he gets picked in firsts though?
Hopgood did a nice apprenticeship behind Yeo, and has proven an excellent first grader. Perhaps they see the same in Iongi (behind Edwards).
Hopefully they have been watching him play through the lower grades, and possibly even pay attention to what he does at training!!

It sounds like Ryles has an idea about Gutho not being the FB, so I'll be shocked if he starts the season at 1 (but I do love what Gutho brings, so not fussed if he is the 1!!)

 

[84 Baby]

Presuming he proves he’s somewhat capable in off/preseason, I think Iongi starts at fullback and Guthoat centre. If things don’t work out well, it’s easy to move Gutho back to fullback

 

[hineyrulz]

Still waiting to be proved rong.

4 finals wins in 11 years and a spoon plus a for and against of -140 says

 

[Obscene Assassin]

Presuming he proves he’s somewhat capable in off/preseason, I think Iongi starts at fullback and Guthoat centre. If things don’t work out well, it’s easy to move Gutho back to fullback

I'm unsure what part of Gutho's strengths play to the strengths of a centre. His speed is most notable at 50m+ which is good at fullback as he can back-up on a break whereas at centre speed is most important at 5-30m. He isn't really a tackle breaker other than off a quick play the ball and retreating markers. Defensively he was run around a couple of times this year although his front on defence was still good and his talk out wide would help a lot.

I think overall he's still best in a high work-rate position, for me it's 1,6 or 13 that suit him.

 

[84 Baby]

I'm unsure what part of Gutho's strengths play to the strengths of a centre. His speed is most notable at 50m+ which is good at fullback as he can back-up on a break whereas at centre speed is most important at 5-30m. He isn't really a tackle breaker other than off a quick play the ball and retreating markers. Defensively he was run around a couple of times this year although his front on defence was still good and his talk out wide would help a lot.

I think overall he's still best in a high work-rate position, for me it's 1,6 or 13 that suit him.

He’ll play 6 if Drown is out but I don’t think he has impact to play in forwards. If he plays there it’ll be him starting off bench