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Rumours and Stuff

JokerEel

JokerEel

Coach
Messages
14,577
Poupou Escobar said:
You need to care about the player's perspective to understand why a club did or didn't sign a player. It's not fantasy NRL where they can just cherry pick the ideal team. In real life the players have a say as well.

What the club is doing now is opening the purse strings, especially around pathways staff. They presumably didn't do it earlier because they were funding part of the CoE build. Before that the PLC was on a tight budget due to Covid and before that the club was in administration and axed a bunch of 'unnecessary' spending. In 2017 we won SG Ball and lost the NYC grand final. Between 2018 and 2022 our pathways were very poor, but now they are strong again. The club isn't doing something different, they are just doing something they hadn't been able to do for half a decade.
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Your last lin makes no sense.

I get it the club couldn't afford to do something the way they are doing it now..

Which makes it different...
 
Glenneel

Glenneel

Bench
Messages
3,893
Johnny88 said:

Dylan Brown vs Parramatta Eels showdown on the cards as 2026 Las Vegas contenders emerge​

Dylan Brown’s first game for the Knights could be up against the Parramatta Eels, after both sides put up their hands to play in the 2026 Las Vegas season launch. See which clubs are interested.

Dylan Brown could be headed for a showdown with his former club Parramatta in Las Vegas after it emerged that the Eels and Newcastle were among seven clubs to put their hand up to take part in the season opener next year.

Adding intrigue to their application is the fact that Parramatta have put their hand up to open the season in America as well in 2026, meaning Brown’s first appearance at his new club could be against the club where he made his first grade debut.

The Eels had no desire to lose Brown but officially conceded defeat on Friday when they confirmed that they had waived the cooling off period for the New Zealand international.
It means any hope of a dramatic backflip are now gone, leaving the Knights with a clear path to get Brown’s signature on a contract and confirm the richest deal in NRL history.

St George Illawarra and the Bulldogs are all but certain to be one of the games at Allegiant Stadium having joined forces to launch a bid to play one of their two annual meetings in America.
Their other clash would likely be later in the year – potentially on neutral turf at Allianz Stadium – with the gate takings split between the clubs to mitigate any financial damage suffered as a result of taking a game to America.

With the Bulldogs and Dragons all but locked in, that leaves two spots open for Vegas. Parramatta and Newcastle officials submitted their applications by Friday afternoon’s deadline along with the Melbourne Storm, North Queensland Cowboys and the Dolphins.
It is understood of those sides, most have said their preference is to go to Vegas as the away side. The Knights would be open to being home or away which could leave them in the box seat to secure one of the two remaining places.

The NRL will then be left to decide whether to take a Queensland club or look to another Sydney club or the Storm.
It is understood the Gold Coast Titans and Wests Tigers opted not to apply while none of the sides who have been to Vegas over the past two years put their hand up to go again – the NRL has made it clear that every side will be given a chance over the course of the five-year agreement.
The Sea Eagles are keen to return to the US but could do so in 2027.
With applications to play in Las Vegas closing on Friday, it is understood the NRL wants to be in position to announce the chosen teams within a month.

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You can guarantee if Storm and Parra are selected to play against each other in Vegas that it will be Parra's home match!
 
Poupou Escobar

Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
93,276
Stevie

Stevie

Bench
Messages
3,282
Johnny88 said:

NRL market watch: Broncos move to take Selwyn Cobbo off the market, Kini eyes $1m reward​

The Brisbane Broncos face a battle to get Selwyn Cobbo off the open market but a mega offer from an NRL rival could be too hard to refuse.

Brisbane have begun negotiations on a new deal for Selwyn Cobbo to stave off the threat of $1 million poaching raids for the Queensland Origin star.
This masthead can reveal Broncos bosses have kicked off preliminary talks with the matchwinning utility back ahead of Saturday night’s clash against the Raiders in Canberra.
The Maroons maestro is the hottest rising star left on the open market in the wake of Parramatta Eels pivot Dylan Brown’s decision to defect to Newcastle from next season on a 10-year, $13 million deal.

At least three NRL clubs have expressed interest in Cobbo, who was linked with the Roosters last season to replace rugby defectors Joey Manu and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, but the Broncos are up for the fight.

Currently on around $650,000 this season, Cobbo is happy to play wing or centre at the Broncos but a mega offer from an NRL rival, dangling the fullback carrot, could be too hard to refuse.

TITANIC RISE: KINI ON TRACK FOR NRL’S $1 MILLION CLUB
Keano Kini has been hailed the NRL’s next $1 million fullback with the Titans facing a big-money battle to retain the rising Kiwis star.
Kini has become one of the hottest backline prospects in the NRL as the Gold Coast young gun prepares to launch his 2025 campaign against the Bulldogs at Belmore on Sunday.

Keano Kini averaged more than four tackle busts per game in 2024. Picture: Getty Images

The Titans are screaming out for a marquee spine player and Kini could be that man if the 22-game novice continues his meteoric rise.
PSM player agent Chris Orr this week brokered Parramatta playmaker Dylan Brown’s $13 million, 10-year move to Newcastle and believes Kini is set to join the NRL’s million-dollar fraternity.

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Kini $1mil a year. We have a cheaper version in Papalii.
 
A

AnonymousLurker

Juniors
Messages
2,046
King-Gutho94 said:
Last week showed me we need more forwards.

How many of these young kids coming through in the forwards are going to turn into decent NRL players.

We also need a Spencer Leniu type enforcer.

He may give the odd penalty away but you need that intimidator in our pack.

Certainly isn't Paulo anymore
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We Have always needed more forwards , I’ve always said it Moses has made our forwards look way better than they are due to his kicking game and also due to penalties back in the day Sivo and fergo used to get from rucking the ball back. Thats why we got done in the grand final our forwards were not in that game and that why we used to have blow outs each season under Arthur no matter how high we finished on the ladder
 
Johnny88

Johnny88

Juniors
Messages
1,382
Lachlan Galvin has already ditched the Tigers to join the Eels once, now the stakes are higher
In barely 12 months, Lachlan Galvin has gone from being a promising rookie to being at the centre of a multimillion dollar bidding war – and the Eels could be his home, writes Brent Read.

Want to know the easiest way to get under the skin of Wests Tigers pathways and recruitment manager Shannon Gallant? Suggest to him that Lachlan Galvin is a Parramatta junior.
“To be clear, he is a local junior of ours who spent a couple of years in the Parramatta comp,” Gallant fires back.
“My goal was when I first got the job to get our local juniors back and Galvin was top of the list. He was a local junior.”
Gallant, a former Wests Tigers player himself, played a central role in luring Galvin back to the Tigers after he had defected for a couple of seasons to play for the Eels.
It has been a masterstroke. In barely 12 months, Galvin has gone from promising rookie to one of the best young players in the game.
So good, he is expected to find himself at the centre of a multimillion dollar bidding war if the Tigers can’t tie him to a new deal before November 1.
The Tigers will exhaust all avenues in their attempts to do so and the expectation is that they will table a mega-deal of their own.
Lachlan Galvin has spent time in both the Wests Tigers and Parramatta Eels systems.
Lachlan Galvin has spent time in both the Wests Tigers and Parramatta Eels systems.
If that doesn’t get it done, there have been suggestions the Eels could try to convince Galvin to return to the club and take over the No.6 jersey that will be vacated when Dylan Brown leaves at the end of the season.
It’s a lot for a 19-year-old to handle but Gallant insists that money will be the last thing on Galvin’s mind as he prepares to meet Parramatta at CommBank Stadium on Sunday.
“He’s a footy player mate,” Gallant said.
“He just loves the game of rugby league. The conversations that I have with him, he just loves playing football. Money, in my conversations with him, is not a huge motivator.
“He just loves the game of football and loves to learn the game of football. He lives and breathes it. He’s one of the rare kids these days that will go home and watch games on the weekend that aren’t his.
“There’s not many students in the game anymore. He just wants to enjoy his rugby league. That’s the main thing.”
For the record, Galvin was born in Campbelltown and started his junior career with Eaglevale-St Andrews Magpies in the Western Suburbs system.
His family grew up Parramatta supporters and Galvin temporarily switched to the Eels before returning when Gallant came calling.
“He’s exactly what you see now,” Gallant said.
“That’s what he was doing back then. I was pretty clear with him at the start that he’d have to probably play in the back row because we had two signed halves in Heath Mason and another young fella.

He came into that Harold Matthews team and just took it over. He was the difference. We went through the season undefeated and then … he wasn’t quite physically built enough to go play back row the (next year) and we put him back into his preferred position of six.
“He just jumped leaps and bounce from there. It’s just his ability to be around the football. So he didn’t go missing in situations where there was a close game.
“I look at players like that – we had a fair few in that age group that ….when the going got tough, they gravitated towards the ball and they were around it.
“He just did all the little things. You could tell – not so much verbally – but he was a leader of the group. All those boys, loved having him around.”
They still do. Galvin is part of the reason the Tigers start this season with rare optimism after three consecutive years of the wooden spoon. His partnership with Luai has even the most pessimistic Tigers fan dreaming of top eight charge.
Throw in the return of Jahream Bula and Api Koroisau this weekend the Tigers fans will head to CommBank Stadium confident hat they can topple the home side.

If – and it’s a big if – they can tie Galvin down to a long-term deal, there is hope that the Tigers can win the second premiership in their history.
“I think it was Andrew Johns that said it last year – he’s got the opportunity in Macarthur (region) to create a legacy for himself and others around him to be the turning of the West Tigers,” Gallant said.
“So he understands that. He would love to be a part of that. But as always, other clubs are interested.
“We understand what kind of player he is and he’s one that clubs will no doubt try to grab, but ultimately we just have to make sure from a club’s perspective we’re putting in the right things that make it hard for him to make a decision to want to leave.
“We’ll leave all the drama and the headlines. Ultimately, I know Benji (Marshall) and all the staff are working hard to make sure that they’re playing good footy.
“We understand that the outside noise will be there and it’ll probably always be there. It’ll be there until everything’s sorted.
“But what I suppose Galvin can control is his performance on a footy field and I dare say that he’ll do his best to do that.
“Without being too political around it, like we’d love to see him stay at the club. Yes, I was a part of him being here and coming over. It’s been nothing but great since he’s been here and we hope that it continues.”

 
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