The Raiders did it to Orford....

[BuffaloRules]

Yeah but on his day Jennings is a gun, I'd be happy to have him in my team.

No doubt Jennings is the better player...

My point is that we are stuck with Blair... people just think you can tear up a valid contract these days....

He has to agree to leave, and that will either involve a lump sum ( extremely unliklely), or the Tigers contributing about $250K a year for him to play elsewhere - again not an ideal situation...

 

[aqua_duck]

To me Blair just looks disinterested most of the time and only starts getting involved when the tigers are in the oppositions half, hardly ever see him taking a hit up on early tackles. Then there's the dumb penalties he loves to give away

 

[gronkathon]

Put him in NSW Cup for a week and see how he reacts. Rhys Curren would be more than good enough to play in the void left

 

[The Charlatan]

Put him in NSW Cup for a week and see how he reacts. Rhys Curren would be more than good enough to play in the void left

If Blair was playing under Cleary he'd be lining up in the #11 for the Wolves this weekend.

Talk about a shit attitude.

 

[DanOz]

If our club had any balls the loss of Gibbs and Fifita to accomodate the signing of Blair should result in Sheens sacking. Love to see them both go.

 

[R2Coupe]

Sheens in an article stated the Sharks were always going to sign two of the four props - Groat, Woods, Fifita and Gibbs. It was a matter of keeping the best long term prospects for the Club. While Groat has been unlucky with injury, I doubt anyone could argue Woods is the best of all of them, Groat with a lot of potential.

 

[T.T]

wasnt gibbs offered as a packaged deal? thats what sharks said

 

[macnaz]

Gibbs had just re-signed with us and didnt even know he was being shafted

 

[madunit]

Yes, Gibbs had signed a deal not more than 4 weeks before being signed by Sharks.

The deal from memory was for 4 or 5 years.

We could have let fifita and groat go and kept Gibbs and Woods, I reckon that would have worked out better for us. God, imagine that prop rotation now!

 

[Shanghai Charlie]

Yes, Gibbs had signed a deal not more than 4 weeks before being signed by Sharks.

The deal from memory was for 4 or 5 years.

We could have let fifita and groat go and kept Gibbs and Woods, I reckon that would have worked out better for us. God, imagine that prop rotation now!

Easy to say in retrospect. In reality Gibbs has been nothing more than workmanlike for eight years with us. He's taken his game up one level since joining Cronulla but still isn't more than standard first grade level.

 

[madunit]

I'm not saying that in retrospect. hardly anyone here would be.

We shouldn't have let Gibbs go, we didn't want to see Gibbs go and now we're seeing why we didn't want Gibbs to go.

As far as the rest of your post is concerned, I'll consider that as you basically laying out a bait, thus I shant bite.

 

[DanOz]

Easy to say in retrospect. In reality Gibbs has been nothing more than workmanlike for eight years with us. He's taken his game up one level since joining Cronulla but still isn't more than standard first grade level.

What a crock of shite. Gibbs is the best defensive prop in the game. When he was on against the Warriors in the semis we were winning. As soon as he left the field they bent us through the middle and dominated. Letting him go was absolute stupidity.

 

[DanOz]

Sheens in an article stated the Sharks were always going to sign two of the four props - Groat, Woods, Fifita and Gibbs. It was a matter of keeping the best long term prospects for the Club. While Groat has been unlucky with injury, I doubt anyone could argue Woods is the best of all of them, Groat with a lot of potential.

Why the hell did we let any of them go when it resulted in us needing to sign Bell and Cashmere to cover the loss? The answer is simple - Adam useless Blair. A poor decision by a senile coach which should be answered with his dismissal

 

[innsaneink]

Sheens in an article stated the Sharks were always going to sign two of the four props - Groat, Woods, Fifita and Gibbs. It was a matter of keeping the best long term prospects for the Club. While Groat has been unlucky with injury, I doubt anyone could argue Woods is the best of all of them, Groat with a lot of potential.

Yeh but we all know sheens is fulla shit

Fifita gamble pays off for Flanagan

Ian McCullough

January 23, 2012
AAP
Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan revealed he called Wests Tigers' bluff in a bid to ensure Andrew Fifita would become a Sharks player in 2012.
Having lost key front-rowers Luke Douglas and Kade Snowden to the Gold Coast Titans and Newcastle respectively, Flanagan was desperate to sign experienced replacements.
The Tigers, facing salary cap pressures after agreeing a massive deal for Melbourne's Adam Blair, offered Bryce Gibbs to the Sharks despite the 27-year-old, who won a premiership with the club in 2005, having three years left on his contract.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Although he was more than happy to sign Gibbs, Flanagan admitted he gambled by threatening to pull out of the deal unless the hard-running Fifita was part of the package.......................
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/fifita-gamble-pays-off-for-flanagan-20120123-1qdhr.html

 

[Shanghai Charlie]

What a crock of shite. Gibbs is the best defensive prop in the game. When he was on against the Warriors in the semis we were winning. As soon as he left the field they bent us through the middle and dominated. Letting him go was absolute stupidity.

Agreed. He's one of the best defensive props I've seen in the last decade. Temper that against his lack of offensive skills and inability to get over the advantage line or create second phase play and you have what is a very standard first grade prop who would be a rotation prop for most teams. Just my thoughts on the guy.

 

[canberra_raiders2k2]

His pretty shit. I don't buy into the whole 'he isn't used to playing in an unstructured team' argument that gets mentioned by the media.

Fifita lost for Blair, shocking. The tigers are my second team and it just kills me watching this bloke considering what he was paid.

 

[Ron's_Mate]

I do think the Blair signing and some other recent ones (Reddy, Iosefa) shows that the talent spotting and recruitment skills are somewhat lacking at the Tigers.

 

[Matchball]

Humphreys needs to grow a sack and take charge.
Deal Blair to England and split up the little partnership of Benji/Sheens that makes these f**ked up decisions.
Benji is as much to blame as Sheens, players shouldnt have this much influence over a team.

 

[The Gambler]

Agreed. He's one of the best defensive props I've seen in the last decade. Temper that against his lack of offensive skills and inability to get over the advantage line or create second phase play and you have what is a very standard first grade prop who would be a rotation prop for most teams. Just my thoughts on the guy.

Interesting point you make there - because it is a pretty accurate description of how Gibbs played for us. Mind you in the last season or two with the Tigers his attacking impact definitely improved.

Now at the Sharks, my calculations have him only averaging about 23 tackles a game. However he is averaging over 120m a game in runs! That is the polar opposite of how he performed at the Tigers I would have thought.

Good on him.

 

[legend]

You can have Tom LL. He'd go well with Blair in the back row. You can also have Bronson Harrison back if you like...