Rumours and Stuff

[eels_fan]

Lomax

Lomax was not an Eels Junior

 

[EppingEel]

He’s played what, six New South Wales cup games in his career? Not even a sample size to see if you might be a half decent cup player.

If he hadn’t of got a 20 minute spell due to us having 10 injuries, and scored two tries against a 12 man outfit where his opposing winger was off the field - no one would give a crap

21 games.

 

[EppingEel]

Also while I am here, whats the consensus on Apa Twidle on here? He's been my favourite junior for the past few years, and although he hasn't played cup yet (more so due to his lack of size), he has the skill, and the raw pace to be a successful NRL player.

But no one would care about Apa if he hadn't played first grade.

 

[eels_fan]

21 games.

Didn’t realise it was that many, that actually is worse as his defensive and positioning deficiency have not improved. Everyone raves about that four try game he had, ignoring the fact his poor defence gave the opposing team four tries, and then in a pressure moment he misses a conversion to win the game. He’s not ready for regular first grade, and to be honest, I doubt he gets it even at Perth

 

[Parrapat]

He’s played what, six New South Wales cup games in his career? Not even a sample size to see if you might be a half decent cup player.

If he hadn’t of got a 20 minute spell due to us having 10 injuries, and scored two tries against a 12 man outfit where his opposing winger was off the field - no one would give a crap

So, other than the years of everyone telling us he's a future star, his great form in NSW Cup this year and his brilliant debut game that should have won us the game if Moses could kick a goal, he's ordinary and worth 80K.

Right. Gotcha.

 

[Parrapat]

Lomax was not an Eels Junior

Oh, I see. You want to know a junior who we've bought back after they became stars at another club?

Ok, ya got me.

 

[eels_fan]

So, other than the years of everyone telling us he's a future star, his great form in NSW Cup this year and his brilliant debut game that should have won us the game if Moses could kick a goal, he's ordinary and worth 80K.

Right. Gotcha.

No one with any brains has said he’s a future star, they’ve said he has potential. He hasn’t been in great form for NSW cup - only if you read score sheets and don’t watch games. Easy to say, oh he scored four tries, score doesn’t show he let in four.

And yes, he’s only worth a development contract, whatever that is valued out by the Club.

 

[EppingEel]

Oh, I see. You want to know a junior who we've bought back after they became stars at another club?

Ok, ya got me.

Not trying to join in on that discussion, but how many stars have we signed in the past 10 years? Outside of Moses, Lomax and Sua, im struggling to name them. Even then Moses hadn't played origin at that point.

 

[Parrapat]

Not trying to join in on that discussion, but how many stars have we signed in the past 10 years? Outside of Moses, Lomax and Sua, im struggling to name them. Even then Moses hadn't played origin at that point.

Exactly. It's a pointless point.

 

[eels_fan]

The same people blowing up now were the same people blowing up when we let Zach docker clay leave, saying it would come back to haunt us. Blokes played four games in six years.

Yes, every now and then we get a call wrong, but 90% of them we get right, and that’s despite having stupid people in our recruitment team

 

[JokerEel]

He’s played what, six New South Wales cup games in his career? Not even a sample size to see if you might be a half decent cup player.

If he hadn’t of got a 20 minute spell due to us having 10 injuries, and scored two tries against a 12 man outfit where his opposing winger was off the field - no one would give a crap

How many RMC games has he played?

I give a crap because I like players coming through and getting a go I am even more excited to see him get more of a chance in the NRL at the bears..

Saxon Pryke is another I am excited to see play for NRL lagged in cup for a few years had some injuries but took his chance last weekend 30 tackles 100m.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Ethan Sanders, Blaize Talagi, Apa Twidle and Stefano Utoikamanu were all backups.

All young players start out as backups. Whether they stay backups or get more responsibility depends on a lot of factors including opportunities in the first team.

Pezet's a backup too. Cost us a lot of coin that could have gone to Twidle or others.

Pezet is at worst a depth player (higher than a backup); his long contract with the a Broncos proves that. And whatever we’re paying him this year is a lot more than Twidle deserves. Whatever we offered Twidle for next year has nothing to do with Pezet because he won’t be on our books.

This is a debacle no matter how much you guys want to polish the turd.

Losing Drown and Lomax was a debacle. This is normal movement of a fringe player looking for opportunity.

 

[hindy111]

He’s still not a good defender. See there’s these people called talented team mates who can carry a weak defender.

If they didn't think they could fix his defense then he doesnt get signed. It's why him and C.Mclean where dropped last season. Both have improved but neither are great defenders YET. The raw talent however is untapped.
Twiddle might be in the same boat. We will find out at the Bears.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

This gets worse:

"His preference was reportedly to remain at the club, however Parramatta powerbrokers were only able to table an $80,000 development deal for the 2027 season."

Source

You are f**king kidding me.

How much is he worth? How much would be too much?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Let’s we what those geniuses come up with, as stated before , info is that there is enough cash and roster space for 4X $800k signings for each of the next 2 years. Currently wouldn’t trust those in charge to make 4X$80k players properly after the last 6/7 years they have had the opportunity.

Struggling to understand why they are still in position.

Maybe Tuivaiti wants to be one of those $800k players?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

When we bucket down multiple premierships within the next decade, all will seem apparent looking back to these days.....

I think it was about 2023 when I started listening to the Rugby League Digest and I had a backlog of a couple of years. It was funny to hear them pre-2021 criticising Gould and his ‘development club’ at Penrith. The exact line was something like “when are you going to start developing some premierships?”

 

[hindy111]

I think the problem is we're letting go of potential solid first graders and then we have to sign them for 600k per year. Clearly this goes against the Dev club philosophy.

What if you rate other juniors on the books as better prospects? When we lost Sanders and Blaize we had nobody better so it was dissapointing. But comparing then and now is a different situation. Different coaches and we didn't have better kids similar ages.
Twiddle could end up a superstar and the kids we backed busts. That would hurt but you can't just stockpile them. Other clubs will offer more and the players will leave.

Why do you think Bamblet left Penrith?

 

[hindy111]

Oh, I see. You want to know a junior who we've bought back after they became stars at another club?

Ok, ya got me.

Junior Paulo

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Joash is a decent backup wont ever be a superstar.

The biggest mistake we made develop Blaize infront of Twidle. They had a good chance to develop Twidle as Gutho's replacement. But maybe it was lucky for us as we ended up with Iongi.

The experts (and me) knew in 2023 that Talagi had more potential than Twidle. Blaize Talagi was no big secret to anyone with an interest in junior development. Why do you think he kept knocking back our offers to extend?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Well done! Now you're getting the idea of what the coach's role is...

It’s not the coach’s job to sign players.