The Rumours Thread

[BLM01]

Disagree, welsby is special

How would we go here? He might do well
I am only going on last 30 years till now and hardly any backs last
They said that about Tomkins who went to Warriors about bring special. He was one the highest paid at the time

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

Gus’ secret meeting with Luai revealed as bombshell player swap plot ignites $4.5m race

Gus’ secret meeting with Luai revealed as bombshell player swap plot ignites $4.5m race

www.foxsports.com.au

Wow some clubs are seriously gets ng smarter re their lists

What an incredible counter move by Penrith

Instead of losing they might actually win in this trade possibility!

Should we be doing the same with say JDB to a club that sees they are in a window and want more grunt at no13?

Ie position ourselves for the future be swapping / trading of talent we desperately need?

Could JDB or FMolo be heading to the Warriors for AFB ?

 

[BLM01]

Sam Burgess probably the best prop I have seen in a while came from the ESL. Won a comp. Jame Graham did not do too bad either.

Good point 2 more forwards in the one era but still rare finds.
Did Sam come over as a kid though And had little top grade over there?

 

[BLM01]

Gus’ secret meeting with Luai revealed as bombshell player swap plot ignites $4.5m race

Gus’ secret meeting with Luai revealed as bombshell player swap plot ignites $4.5m race

www.foxsports.com.au

Wow some clubs are seriously gets ng smarter re their lists

What an incredible counter move by Penrith

Instead of losing they might actually win in this trade possibility!

Should we be doing the same with say JDB to a club that sees they are in a window and want more grunt at no13?

Ie position ourselves for the future be swapping / trading of talent we desperately need?

Could JDB or FMolo be heading to the Warriors for AFB ?

Brandy just called this story as it was BS thus morning in radio. Completely made up

 

[RedVee_8]

Yes quite a lot of the Super League guys that have come and gone were not much chop BLM01. One that the Roosters signed up in 2019-2020 played 11 games and scored zero tries. His name is Ryan Hall. Remember him? 1.84 metres tall (6 feet) and 105kg. Had plenty of wraps but useless in the NRL.
But to be fair, he was past his best and into his injury phase before coming here.
I reckon he would have done well if he’d come over 5 years earlier based on his form in the Tests he played then.

 

[Nutz]

Good point 2 more forwards in the one era but still rare finds.
Did Sam come over as a kid though And had little top grade over there?

Is this clickbait BLM

Sam killed it at the Bulls and England before coming over. Souths reaped the rewards.

Sam Burgess - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

As far as backs are concerned there have been and still have some quality backline players. Back in the day when Balmain were competitive the had a plethora of quality backs.
I bet you you wouldn't mind Herbie Farnworth or Dominic Young in your backline.
England have some nancy boys but also some tough ass ones, depends on what part of the dart they were raised in.

 

[CozDragon]

Is this clickbait BLM

Sam killed it at the Bulls and England before coming over. Souths reaped the rewards.

Sam Burgess - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

As far as backs are concerned there have been and still have some quality backline players. Back in the day when Balmain were competitive the had a plethora of quality backs.
I bet you you wouldn't mind Herbie Farnworth or Dominic Young in your backline.
England have some nancy boys but also some tough ass ones, depends on what part of the dart they were raised in.

I think what he was getting at is backs that had an actual career in the Super League prior to coming to NRL.
Herbie never played and has been in Aus since 2017. So at this point he has basically had more time playing through juniors to NRL here than in England.
Young played a total of 2 games in the ESL before coming to Knights.
The backs that had established ESL careers and then tried their hand at NRL, for the most part, failed.

 

[Nutz]

I think what he was getting at is backs that had an actual career in the Super League prior to coming to NRL.
Herbie never played and has been in Aus since 2017. So at this point he has basically had more time playing through juniors to NRL here than in England.
Young played a total of 2 games in the ESL before coming to Knights.
The backs that had established ESL careers and then tried their hand at NRL, for the most part, failed.

My initial remarks were a reaction to Sam pre oz. He smashed everything in front of him in attack and D.
As far as backs are concerned, yes this is true, Herbie didn't have a career in ESL as he went from soccer to league at school level.
It is a gamble, even with their so called stars like Wests Tiger's dud Oliver Gildart. The key to recruiting is with good talent scouts and signing the right ones at bargain prices.
As I said before, Balmain had some beauties like Schofield and Ellery to name a few. Just have to pick the best whilst cheap, otherwise I agree, don't bother.

 

[The Word]

Good point 2 more forwards in the one era but still rare finds.
Did Sam come over as a kid though And had little top grade over there?

Sam debuted very young for a rugby league forward so although he was still young when he came over here he had already played 3 years at Bradford. In that time he set the world alight. NRL can't get any credit for turning him into the player he was, that was already there by the time he got here.

And by the way despite our issues with George, you'd have to say the twins also had successful careers over here so you can probably add them to the list.

There does seem to be a trend though, if you can get them over here young they seem to adapt better.

 

[BLM01]

N

Is this clickbait BLM

Sam killed it at the Bulls and England before coming over. Souths reaped the rewards.

Sam Burgess - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

As far as backs are concerned there have been and still have some quality backline players. Back in the day when Balmain were competitive the had a plethora of quality backs.
I bet you you wouldn't mind Herbie Farnworth or Dominic Young in your backline.
England have some nancy boys but also some tough ass ones, depends on what part of the dart they were raised in.

No click bait just a debate and it rhymes
Just asked a question re Sam.
I have answered re Young and Farnworth in the same boat. Picked up before they were established so point taken I would love them in my side now but was it the NRL training coaching etc that got them where they are today.
I think there is enough young home grown talent here before going to England to fill all NRL sides
Clubs and pathways need to do better and I wish people were more patient with development
Anyway I have had my say as many others
Happy to keep debating

 

[BLM01]

My initial remarks were a reaction to Sam pre oz. He smashed everything in front of him in attack and D.
As far as backs are concerned, yes this is true, Herbie didn't have a career in ESL as he went from soccer to league at school level.
It is a gamble, even with their so called stars like Wests Tiger's dud Oliver Gildart. The key to recruiting is with good talent scouts and signing the right ones at bargain prices.
As I said before, Balmain had some beauties like Schofield and Ellery to name a few. Just have to pick the best whilst cheap, otherwise I agree, don't bother.

Agree but I was focusing last 30 years as said before
The modern game is vastly different to the 50s-80s and likely even 90’s

 

[Nutz]

N

No click bait just a debate and it rhymes
Just asked a question re Sam.
I have answered re Young and Farnworth in the same boat. Picked up before they were established so point taken I would love them in my side now but was it the NRL training coaching etc that got them where they are today.
I think there is enough young home grown talent here before going to England to fill all NRL sides
Clubs and pathways need to do better and I wish people were more patient with development
Anyway I have had my say as many others
Happy to keep debating

All good mate, I'm a guest here.
I was one of the gooses who said Gildart would be good for the Tiges as he was an English rep player with an impressive regime but ended up an NRL dud.... egg on my face.
The main reason poms don't do too well over here is the difference in std of competition.
Branding that as a cut and dry argument is flored as there have been some gems even recently.
As I said if you can pick the diamonds out if the rough and sign them before they get too expensive then all good.
Whilst their price tags has blown out now, imagine having a backline with Farnworth, Young and throw in Welsby (as he's got what it takes imo).
My tiges are just full of KOE Cup std backs so I'd take the whole English backline if I had to. ha ha

 

[Victoire]

Welsby would be an amazing signing for any of a dozen clubs, us especially. We even got to see him in action against NRL clubs last year - our mob and the Panthers - and he was a class above

 

[Hound of Dracula]

Welsby would be an amazing signing for any of a dozen clubs, us especially. We even got to see him in action against NRL clubs last year - our mob and the Panthers - and he was a class above

As an added bonus, Sloan will be ready to go should Welsby gets homesick.

 

[dragon thomo]

I would be very happy if we got Welsby.
Top player

 

[dragon thomo]

Welsby AFB and Deardon for 24.
Money talks 3rd party agreement.
Make it happen Twiggy as you are not a direct sponsor next year.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Bring an English player to a club with a good coach and they will go ok I feel. Flanno can probably do well with a couple of big English forwards so suprised he is not going there. He must have a reason. At the end of the day, would you rather a player that has played against men in a weaker comp than the NRL or a kid that has played against kids in the juniors? You could have the same argument for juniors that starred in the lower grades and did not make it.

Elliot Whitehead is another that goes alright and who can forget Gareth Ellis. I thought he was pretty good at the Tigers and one of their best forwards at the time he was there.

As for this panic by the fans to bring in all this new blood. It can be just a case that Flanno sees some quality in our ranks that have not been used properly hence why he is not going to hard in the market. During the Hook period a lot of the guys were really poor but they stepped up once Carr took over and held top 8 sides to close scores unlike Tigers and Dogs who have rookie coaches. If these players come good for Saints like Matt Feagai, Sloan etc we don't want to lose them because Saints bought a panic buy to appease the fans and have no cash left in the kitty. I thought Liddle was pretty good last season and he will only get better under Flanno. He actually changed games for Saints when he came on I feel.

Look at the Dogs, they let go of Averillo, Alamoti and this Gabriel guy which was a promising juniors to get guys that are mid 20's that could not nail a full time role in their current clubs. If these guys were honestly that good would Robbo, Fitzy and Cleary especially let them go? Dogs bought in Mahoney for extra's and got rid of Marshall-King. I thought Marshall-King had a far better season than Mahoney. Mahoney topped the missed tackles.

Bringing in 10+ players from last year wreaks to me of Gould covering up the cracks for his poor decisions such as bringing in Cirraldo for 5 years and letting go of juniors for duds which 12 months later are not good enough. He has deflected the focus of a disastrous 2023 which they went backwards superbly as nobody is talking about their drop from 12 to 15th spot after bringing in a heap of players last season. What's to say these 10+ are not good enough this time next season. Not one player improved their game under Cirraldo which was my gripe with Hook and I feel it will be the same for this next crop of players they brought in. Their best was Jacob Preston who had his first year in NRL. All the others that had NRL experience went backwards. Also How quick did people forget how the Dogs ended last season. The moral was putrid and players wanted to leave and played with no heart. Why players would want to go to that rather than a team like Saints that finished with so much promise is beyond me. Oh sorry I forgot, Hunt undid all that with his media sprays on how he wants to leave. Take that out and Saints may have landed a big fish as I am sure if the teams captain not just any player does this it does raise some red flag.

 

[Gardenia]

We don’t need Tracey.

We have a couple of options at Fullback

coaching matters.

I expect the whole side will play better under Flanno.

What we currently lack in class we will make up with attitude and effort.

Thats where belief comes in hey.

Eff Tracey

Go the Mighty Dragons

 

[Gardenia]

Perhaps we should try and lock Matt Feagai up long term and the Dogs will swoop in and take him off our hands with immediate effect.

You win the internet with that one hahaha

 

[Gardenia]

lol a part time cleaner. Does she also solve impossible equations that are left on the blackboard?

Don't underestimate the handiness of cleaners and gossip. They get around entire companies and people talk to them.