Saint trent ?

[Miller was a legend]

off season sucks. Bring on the footy

 

[possm]

Sika Manu
Rein
Creagh
Docker / De Bellin
Frizzell
Thomson

or

Creagh
Rein
Packer
Plum / De Bellin
Frizzell
Thomson

With Rose as well as Plum, Thomson or Debellin coming off the bench for some minutes.
Pretty damn good forward pack. Would not have too many teams calling them soft that is for sure.

Our backrow forwards are fine. De Belin should move to lock and if he can't do 80min, he can rotate with Creagh who would also play prop.

This year we have a few big props that may just do the job. O'Brien, Rose, Packer together with Creagh, Cooper and maybe Ah Mau is a good start. If Merrin stays for 2015, he should play prop and if he leaves, we need a 400-500k prop to replace him.

Of course we have now left it very late if Merrin moves on however, we should not be rushed into buying anybody. We only need one big topline prop to replace Merrin. Not a bunch of backrow forwards.

 

[Slippery Morris]

The Management could have handled this better. For a start I would not have waited till 2014 to extend his contract. You could see from 2010 this guy was going to be special. In 2013 he had a great year. I would have rewarded him back then with an extension and extra cash. Why wait till the final season? THe better he gets the more he will want so you strike when it is hot and never let it get to that stage. If opposition teams know a guy has 1 year left it's all over but 2 years they stay away. If Management know someone is going to be a standout you should offer them longer contracts ( I think they offered Nighty a 5 year deal from memory), increase it slightly each couple of years.

They should do this for Aitken, Runciman, Fanou-Blake, I would even start talking to Nabuli for next season now if he has a could of solid games upto rd 6. If they are on 100k put them on 150k-200k for 3-4 more years. They would take it as it has their future secured and they don't have to go through this rubbish.

I am sure Mullholnd will probably be on top of this and the retention of players after this season will be much better.

 

[giboz71]

If he does end up at the Panthers can you blame him? Other than the fact that they are allegedly offering more money, they are a team on the rise, with one of the best coaches in the game and Phil Gould running the show.

I wasn't impressed with his performance last year, but he's still an Origin player and will likely flourish given the right environment.

It's a sad indictment of our club that players fail to flourish here. Just once it would be nice for a player to play his best footy whilst playing for us.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Docker,Manu and Plum are much better than Au Mau and O'Brien. That is a huge step up.

 

[Get2dachopper!]

Probably but is pretty big and could proably play front row. Similar to Frizzel I would say.

110kg, 182cm. Around 1 centimetre shorter than Sam Moa however 5kg heavier.

A nuggetty type front rower that we have not had since Weyman.

 

[grouch]

I am sure Mullholnd will probably be on top of this and the retention of players after this season will be much better.

Mulholland is the one who came out with the rather unprofessional "biggest offer to a forward in the clubs history" comment, which seemed designed to make Trent look greedy and the villain. Trent is now clearly gone, quickly following Brett Morris. Both gone under Mulholland's watch. I question his status as "saviour".

 

[Weipa Dragon]

Bugger. Was hoping he stayed but he must must really be out to make as much money as he can from footy. As wise old men say in hushed tones, " It all comes back to the back pocket". More than half a million a year plus origin and sponsorship and whatever else, f**k Trent, you should have joined the Wolf of Wall Street.

Not too many one team men at Saints anymore. Same goes with most teams to be honest. Only a select few stay and are good enough to be wanted for ten years or so at the one club.

 

[st.phil]

Mulholland is the one who came out with the rather unprofessional "biggest offer to a forward in the clubs history" comment, which seemed designed to make Trent look greedy and the villain. Trent is now clearly gone, quickly following Brett Morris. Both gone under Mulholland's watch. I question his status as "saviour".

agree Mulholland ran his mouth too early

 

[love my saints]

He stated a fact. The offer they put forward was the biggest offer to a forward we have offered, ever! Instead of saying it was said to make merrin look like the villian, look at it this way, it was said to show merrin he IS wanted?
Either way, the soap opera is finally over. He is leaving, i stand by my comments he is a good player but not worth his asking price. The article has his manager saying "considering what the club forked out for Dugan, Widdop, and Marshall, the offer to merrin is frustrating"??? (Artcle in the newspaper)
Evan at $550k that is similar money to benji and widdop, if he wants Dugan money then imo he need to improve 10 fold. Dugan is a game breaker, marshall and widdop are international halves, can not win us a game single handed like these players.
frizzell is a beast, what money is he on? Creagh has stepped up and is doing more damage up front then merrin, what money is he on?
Thompson is similar to merrin in that he can be destructive, but lacks consistency, he is on $400k, what has merrin done to warrant even close to $600k? Played origin? Wow, has he dominated at that level? No! He hasnt even dominated at club level consistantly yet!
The issue is he is a junior, but that doesnt automatically mean you hold the club to ransom. If you can get $800k a year as reported, then by all means go, do whats best for you, the club has a salary cap to play by, and $800k on a average forward isnt how we operate.
Trent, remember justin poore.... i see the same thing happening here.

 

[Craig Johnston]

He stated a fact. The offer they put forward was the biggest offer to a forward we have offered, ever! Instead of saying it was said to make merrin look like the villian, look at it this way, it was said to show merrin he IS wanted?
Either way, the soap opera is finally over. He is leaving, i stand by my comments he is a good player but not worth his asking price. The article has his manager saying "considering what the club forked out for Dugan, Widdop, and Marshall, the offer to merrin is frustrating"??? (Artcle in the newspaper)
Evan at $550k that is similar money to benji and widdop, if he wants Dugan money then imo he need to improve 10 fold. Dugan is a game breaker, marshall and widdop are international halves, can not win us a game single handed like these players.
frizzell is a beast, what money is he on? Creagh has stepped up and is doing more damage up front then merrin, what money is he on?
Thompson is similar to merrin in that he can be destructive, but lacks consistency, he is on $400k, what has merrin done to warrant even close to $600k? Played origin? Wow, has he dominated at that level? No! He hasnt even dominated at club level consistantly yet!
The issue is he is a junior, but that doesnt automatically mean you hold the club to ransom. If you can get $800k a year as reported, then by all means go, do whats best for you, the club has a salary cap to play by, and $800k on a average forward isnt how we operate.
Trent, remember justin poore.... i see the same thing happening here.

a player is worth what someone is willing to pay, and it appears in hindsight his managers due diligence has vindicated this process, so you can't criticise him for believing his value was higher ....because it is.

how the dragons weren't able to convince a local junior to take unders is a different question, which probably should focus more on the dragons than merrin

 

[Jubileeboy]

a player is worth what someone is willing to pay, and it appears in hindsight his managers due diligence has vindicated this process, so you can't criticise him for believing his value was higher ....because it is.

how the dragons weren't able to convince a local junior to take unders is a different question, which probably should focus more on the dragons than merrin

There's a lot of talk (by his manager) about his expectations of a new deal with another club being up towards the $800k mark.
Another poster in JA has just confirmed what I have also been told.... we are the highest offer and 2 of the other offers are lower than ours.
Good luck Mr Beavis !

 

[love my saints]

a player is worth what someone is willing to pay, and it appears in hindsight his managers due diligence has vindicated this process, so you can't criticise him for believing his value was higher ....because it is.

how the dragons weren't able to convince a local junior to take unders is a different question, which probably should focus more on the dragons than merrin

Not many clubs can entice a player to stay for unders. To blame the dragons for that is laughable at in my opinion. Players go where the money is, they dont stay for unders in this day and age.
And i never blamed him, re read my post, i said if he can get more then good luck and good bye. The money he is asking (reported $800k) would buy you packer, kasiano, AND Mose Masoe... if merrin thinks he is that good, then so be it, go get what you can and let the club move forward.

 

[hazzbeen]

If Merrin is asking $800k it would have to include Sally......

 

[Craig Johnston]

Not many clubs can entice a player to stay for unders. To blame the dragons for that is laughable at in my opinion. Players go where the money is, they dont stay for unders in this day and age.
And i never blamed him, re read my post, i said if he can get more then good luck and good bye. The money he is asking (reported $800k) would buy you packer, kasiano, AND Mose Masoe... if merrin thinks he is that good, then so be it, go get what you can and let the club move forward.

rubbish mate, there are more major retentions than there are major signings, and in every case the player staying will have chose to stay despite more money being offered elsewhere, eg thurston and his bookends, cam smith/cronk recently (post rorts)+ proctor and bromwich, lyon and buhrer, mansour, tedesco etc etc etc

 

[love my saints]

Mate, thurston went from $800k per year to a million a year... cronk went from $500k to $750k... smiths money went up, they didnt stay for less money... and if u think the others didnt get big upgrades whether from tpa or wherever, your dreaming. They dont play the game for the love of it. They play to get paid, as much as they can as quick as they can, they have 10-12 years (in most cases) to make enough money to set them up for life.

 

[Craig Johnston]

Mate, thurston went from $800k per year to a million a year... cronk went from $500k to $750k... smiths money went up, they didnt stay for less money... and if u think the others didnt get big upgrades whether from tpa or wherever, your dreaming. They dont play the game for the love of it. They play to get paid, as much as they can as quick as they can, they have 10-12 years (in most cases) to make enough money to set them up for life.

they stayed for less than what they could have got if they moved. that's what we're talking about here with merrin....he hasn't.

 

[grouch]

Not many clubs can entice a player to stay for unders. To blame the dragons for that is laughable at in my opinion. Players go where the money is, they dont stay for unders in this day and age.
And i never blamed him, re read my post, i said if he can get more then good luck and good bye. The money he is asking (reported $800k) would buy you packer, kasiano, AND Mose Masoe... if merrin thinks he is that good, then so be it, go get what you can and let the club move forward.

Absolute solid gold bullshit. You've outdone yourself. Standing ovation

 

[Cagey Mac]

rubbish mate, there are more major retentions than there are major signings, and in every case the player staying will have chose to stay despite more money being offered elsewhere, eg thurston and his bookends, cam smith/cronk recently (post rorts)+ proctor and bromwich, lyon and buhrer, mansour, tedesco etc etc etc

Cowboys have big TP contributors
I don't know what all the fuss is about.

 

[samjam]

Does this mean we get Nappa now ?