Rumours and Whingers and Occasional Optimism XXIX

[Poupou Escobar]

Well he is worth a shitload more than Benji Marshall.

Which means he would cost a shitload more as well. This isn't just about paying players what they're worth, but deciding how much quality we need at a given position. With Foran already contracted as one of our halves we probably don't need the best, most expensive half we can buy (or re-sign) in that other halves spot. hence why not re-signing Norman might be best for our squad balance.

The Storm have two halves off contract and might be looking at replacing Cronk with someone younger as their dominant half. I reckon they will re-sign Green (and move him to the right) while throwing huge money at Norman or Mbye. Cronk would be a good fit at the Tigers for a year or two. Brooks could end up at either Parra or the Dogs, depending on who loses their half to Melbourne.

That player swap would give each club the best squad balance. IMO.

 

[The Colonel]

Nobody wants to replace him. We are just working out what he is worth.

Why does everyone want to replace Norman?

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

Because he is apparently not worth the big money being speculated by the forum. :crazy:

IMO he is the best fit available for our club.

 

[emjaycee]

Which means he would cost a shitload more as well. This isn't just about paying players what they're worth, but deciding how much quality we need at a given position. With Foran already contracted as one of our halves we probably don't need the best, most expensive half we can buy (or re-sign) in that other halves spot. hence why not re-signing Norman might be best for our squad balance.

The Storm have two halves off contract and might be looking at replacing Cronk with someone younger as their dominant half. I reckon they will re-sign Green (and move him to the right) while throwing huge money at Norman or Mbye. Cronk would be a good fit at the Tigers for a year or two. Brooks could end up at either Parra or the Dogs, depending on who loses their half to Melbourne.

That player swap would give each club the best squad balance. IMO.

And yet no club with the best squad balance in the HALVES has made the last 3 grand-finals.

 

[Bigfella]

Which means he would cost a shitload more as well. This isn't just about paying players what they're worth, but deciding how much quality we need at a given position. With Foran already contracted as one of our halves we probably don't need the best, most expensive half we can buy (or re-sign) in that other halves spot. hence why not re-signing Norman might be best for our squad balance.

The Storm have two halves off contract and might be looking at replacing Cronk with someone younger as their dominant half. I reckon they will re-sign Green (and move him to the right) while throwing huge money at Norman or Mbye. Cronk would be a good fit at the Tigers for a year or two. Brooks could end up at either Parra or the Dogs, depending on who loses their half to Melbourne.

That player swap would give each club the best squad balance. IMO.

The tigers have let Martin and Austin go because they see brooks and Moses as their future.

He will end up on similar coin to Norman on the next contract. It will cost more to get him.

 

[Bigfella]

Because he is apparently not worth the big money being speculated by the forum. :crazy:

IMO he is the best fit available for our club.

Agree. And he is obviously a leader and a big part of club morale.

I don't think he wants to go. We will get him cheaper than other clubs would need to pay him to leave.

And any of the replacements are not really as good, questionable as to whether they gel with Foran, or will cost shitloads to get - ie brooks or mbye

 

[Poupou Escobar]

The last 3 grand final playing halves pairings.

Milford & Hunt
Morgan & Thurston
Keary & Reynolds
Reynolds & Hodkinson
Maloney & Pierce
Foran & DCE


Norman & Foran are up there with any of those pairings and we need to keep them together.

I'd say Norman and Foran are better than most of them, meaning we could get away with replacing Norman with someone not as good. Those teams all played grand finals because of their overall squad strength, not just because of their halves.

 

[eel01s]

I think you need two quality halves to challenge for a premiership. We now have them in Foran and Norman IMO. I think we have enough room under the cap to keep both and still field a competitive spine given our cheaper hooker and fullback options.

If Corey is happy here he will take less than what he could get elsewhere.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

And yet no club with the best squad balance in the HALVES has made the last 3 grand-finals.

How many of those teams had two halves on top dollar?

Milford & Hunt
Morgan & Thurston
Keary & Reynolds
Reynolds & Hodkinson
Maloney & Pierce
Foran & DCE

I reckon none of them. The only top dollar halves of the twelve there would be Milford, Thurston and maybe Pearce. Foran and Cherry-Evans are both on top dollar now (which is why they've been separated) but wouldn't have been in 2013.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

The tigers have let Martin and Austin go because they see brooks and Moses as their future.

He will end up on similar coin to Norman on the next contract. It will cost more to get him.

Yeah maybe.

 

[Bigfella]

he won't be happy until we have got rid of every good player and replaced them with Ryan Morgan and Luke kelly

 

[Bigfella]

Because he is apparently not worth the big money being speculated by the forum. :crazy:

IMO he is the best fit available for our club.

Agree. And he is obviously a leader and a big part of club morale.

I don't think he wants to go. We will get him cheaper than other clubs would need to pay him to leave.

And any of the replacements are not really as good, questionable as to whether they gel with Foran, or will cost shitloads to get - ie brooks or mbye

 

[Kornstar]

I think I might be the only one who doesn't really rate Mbye as anything than a solid half. Not worth anywhere near the amounts being spoken about for him.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

he won't be happy until we have got rid of every good player and replaced them with Ryan Morgan and Luke kelly

I think Morgan's good enough for the top 17. Kelly isn't.

Is Morgan really any worse than Kane Linnett?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I think I might be the only one who doesn't really rate Mbye as anything than a solid half. Not worth anywhere near the amounts being spoken about for him.

He's a gun. Obviously looks better playing behind that pack, but behind that pack he's as good as anyone in the game at the moment. Good defender too.

 

[84 Baby]

We certainly don't have a dominant half at the moment, with the two of them sharing the ball fairly equally. Though Foran did set up the only try yesterday.

Here's how they have shared the ball this year. Obviously Norman is our main long kicker, and if we lost him we would need a good kicker to replace him, which is why I like Brooks:

Round two:
Norman had 13 extra touches than Foran (58 to 45), but 12 of those were kicks (15 to 3)

Round three:
Norman had 14 extra touches (58 to 44), but 9 of those were kicks (15 to 6)

Round four:
Norman had 3 extra touches (47 to 44), but made 6 extra kicks (12 to 6)

Anyway, Foran won't have to carry the team on his own. If we lose Norman there are plenty of available halves good enough to control their own side of the field.

I don't understand why you would separate the kicks from a dominant half argument. And I reckon Arfez' is laughing at your left/right half theory, because they, particularly Foran (because he's halfback), are playing very central to the ruck. It's why our attack can look a bit stunted ATM but I hope they stick with it because it disorganises defences.
Also can't believe after the last few years, you'd think signing Luke "Chris Sandow is my defensive coach" Brooks

 

[Avenger]

If we did lose Norman I would entice Mitchell Pearce to come over. He needs a change anyway.

 

[84 Baby]

I think I might be the only one who doesn't really rate Mbye as anything than a solid half. Not worth anywhere near the amounts being spoken about for him.

He's a gun. Obviously looks better playing behind that pack, but behind that pack he's as good as anyone in the game at the moment. Good defender too.

He's a catch-22. He's really good behind a good pack, but in order to afford him you have to trim salary off your pack

 

[yy_cheng]

I feel like we have too much cap tied up in outside backs. I suppose Takairangi and Gutherson wouldn't be too expensive, and Radradra is probably on unders at the moment. Jennings is probably on unders this year due to being subsidised, but next year we're up for full freight.

Jennings will stuff up our cap I reckon.

I reckon we could've got someone not as good but could do a job at centre

 

[yy_cheng]

Yes but we also have an Australian centre and probably the most dominant winger in the game.

It is going to be a juggling act to keep this squad together, as we have already found out with Junior.

It's why I said that Jennings potentially is a poor signing cap wise

 

[yy_cheng]

Seems like the top end of what he's worth (maybe even overs), meaning there's a chance we won't get much value out of him at that price. It might be worth it just to keep the combinations he's already developed here.

I'm glad it's just a hypothetical for us (unless you're actually Arthur, Boulous or Anderson). The decision on the maximum offer for Norman is massively important to the future of the club. I'm glad I don't have to make it.

I'm Seward