The Rumours Thread

[Dragon David]

Damn shame , however with those extra dollars the Dragons will still be able to sign a couple of quality forwards for season 2025 .

Well, well dear ol' Gareth pops his head in. How have you been sir?

Nice to see that you are still taking an interest the Forum.

Hope you have a happy Christmas and a safe and healthy New Year.

 

[denis preston]

Very unfortunate but some of us "can see clearly now" where we are heading.
We recruited a coach who supposedly had the ability to sign some top line players.
We have been all over the papers signing every one and the results so far have been bananas.
We all need to accept that this is a huge FAILURE and no excuses.
If you lose a two horse race then it's simple, you have finished LAST.

Please remind me, who should be the coach ?

 

[bad boy bubby]

Guys I'm not here to gloat one iota.
I've seen over the last few weeks some posters basically writing us off in the chat for AFB.
I wanted to explain then what we have in our cap but it would have just caused shyte, and I didn't want that, and don't now.
When we sold Tracey and Moylan that gave us 750k, not 1m. But we also had to pay the young fella from the Dogs and your Burns, so that took it back to maybe 500k.
The anomaly that you wouldn't know is that we had 350k or more spare for this year, so add in the 500k and there's a shot at a decent player, and as Mooney said in that article recently we had one more spot available.
Now this means not much in regards to AFB and 2024, but it does mean we do have the cash to get him next year, without a player swap if necessary. Don't forget he has already been paid a few months of this year's salary.
I digress, in 2025 the big play we have is that Finucane drops to 300k for the years, automatically opening up 450k. That is now AFB money.
When the Sharks won the camp it wasn't just Flannos coaching, it was Mooneys managent of the cap that was a major bonus.
When Fkanno got in charge he bought Dugan, Moyza, SJ on huge money, i can't include Woodsy as I know for a fact he got him dirt cheap the first two years.

Cap management is THE BE ALL AND END ALL.
Get that right and you'll be fine. No more big contracts for players not worth it.
AFB may come and bight us on the arse, whi knows.

 

[Dragons4me]

deleted

 

[possm]

Two massive low blows within hours of each other.
The AFB one is massive as most mail was , as he was , app , over the line..then this ...
Thinking if it came down to Us n Sharks on similar coin , i guess most would go to the Sharks
Good roster , professionally run and realistic hope of making Finals
US ...Been in a rut for years , a dis jointed Board and Captain who publicly declared he wanted OUT..
The last point is the KILLER .If your Captain doesnt want to be here , why would any other intending player ???
Positives
Still plenty of cash to spend
BMM doesnt have to be kept now
Luai still available....Offer him an amount he cant refuse.....
Cowboys Luki and the promising back rower ?? become serious targets with Cows unlikely to keep both
Now maybe the time to open the gates and anyone wanting out have the opportunity to Walk inc our Marquee Player
Give players the opportunity who bleed red n white , and are busting their arses to do this famous Club proud
Hopefully these rejections can galvanise the squad and get them to adopt an us against them mentality
from here the only way is up

I do agree with letting go the players who want out, they will only be a drain on the positive narrative we are hoping to develop under Flanno.

BMM
Hunt
Su'A
Suli

If any of these players want out, let them go now.

The club should sack our recruitment team and advertise widely for people with the skills needed. Millward, Millard, and Haran have nothing to offer our club when it comes to recruitment. Our CEO should fall on his sword because after all, it is his responsibility to ensure people are doing a proper job at the club.

Go out and find the people we need.

We also need to tap Doust and Craig Young on the shoulder and let them no that their services are no longer needed.

It is time to clean out as much rubbish as possible.

 

[Dea]

Not blaming Flanno for no signings, the damage was done well before him and have said before if he can and I think he can improve players some 10 , 20 and 30 percent, then it may keep us of the bottom , and on the edge of the 8 .....

This is what I think also. I can’t blame Flanno for the years of decline in the club. He is doing what he can to turn the club and its reputation around. But to date, he is the only change. Board still the same. Captain hasn’t really changed his position of wanting out. Players haven’t as yet showed any improvement. If they can, then maybe we can start looking like a team others want to play for.

 

[possm]

Not until 2025 anything can happen in that time he might renege on the deal with Nulla he has form

It all starts at the Board level, they should have sacked Griffin 12 months earlier and appointed Flanno then. Get involved in all off-contract deals that the club is interested in and I'm sure, we would have settled some of them.

I'd be searching high and low for a couple of props and a left-edge forward.
Let Hunt go and recruit Williams from the ES or buy Manu and play him at 6.

 

[Dragon David]

Come on everyone,! We are used to missing good recruits. Keep your chin up, there are still some good players out there and maybe, just maybe a couple will want to come to the Dragons.
- Williams - former Raiders halfback now in the ESL
- Kyle Flannagan may step up at 7 and Hunt to 6
- Manu - from the Rosters would be great at 1, 4, or 6

- Luki - from the Cowboys is still available
- Leilua - from the Cowboys is still available

- I agree Welsby is a long shot but he is still available and so, now that we have missed out on Dearden, we have a little extra cash to bring him over as a 1 or 6.

- And, AFB is at short odds to join us for 2024 on if we can provide the right players swap deal.

Sorry possm but AFB has signed to play for the Sharks from 2025 and is committed to play for the Warriors in 2024.

 

[Parko1310]

Oh i get it now AFB did not want to come here because of these board members nothing to do with the coach.

This is such a short-sighted reply. It's due to these types of board members over the years, as well as the appointments of mates in very key positions that have led to us becoming such an unattractive prospect to players. Sections of the club are genuinely being run worse than Sydney Shield sides, and it's been that way for a long time. The reason AFB didn't sign is not much to do with Flanno, but rather the fact that the Dragons are such an unattractive proposition.

 

[bad boy bubby]

In regards to the conspiracies with the Sharks and Tracey.
Not true.
Tracey wanted to go to the Dogs because they offered three years, and more money. He was told by the Sharks to come back to them after he had found the offer he wanted. Then they would work it out.
We got a potentially good left centre in return.
If Connor had decided to come to you guys them Mooney would have had the player we needed in his sights.
Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[blacksafake]

Am I disappointed,Yes, but I’m not cutting my wrists. Maybe having his cousin there in Talakai helped when making his decision?
To me he’s a wannabe gangster so living back in Sydney may see him reconnect with those he left behind when moving to NZ.
The sharks are a bit top heavy with middles now so there may be an opportunity to get one of those who’ll be pushed further down the pecking order.

 

[bad boy bubby]

Maybe having his cousin there in Talakai helped when making his decision?

Played a big part.
Family reasons could mean plenty of things.

 

[Budpower]

we should go all oit for welsby or manu aswell as BOTH the NQ backrower guns, enoughs enough...

 

[Titanic]

I am no Flanagan fan but in fairness how many marquee players did the skinny twat miss out on before he put the Porpoises on the map? Must have been twenty at least. Surely it's more about the squad having a crack than it is about an aging prop's resume.

 

[Budpower]

some solace....I think we dodged a bullet, imagine just the moral reprehensible scummy low act of what this buffoon even did! imagine toying us along so long giving us such false hope in our state, what it did to us fans? toying the fans, the club and poor well meaning Flanno along like idiots for so long in the way he did JUST in order to milk more money from Sharks! such a total scummy act of a lowlife character, do we really want such disgusting shitty lumox energy in our ranks with no loyalty at all ? ppfft! enjoy the wife bashing pea brain mercenary you wanker Sharks...hollow victory, he will plod for you and take the money with no club passion or loyalty just loving the money and the sick 'revenge' he must currently feel for what he did to us after sacking him all thise years ago for the dog act of bashing his partner, gross human being, we can do much better, im sure theres a superstar prop out there we can sign whos also an actual class human being aswell, we dont need vermin like this, sad bit true, onwards and upwards fellow Dragons!!

 

[Budpower]

Sharks are a very mediocre team and a one man team at that, he wont improve them with the mercenary attitude, hes aging and got his retirement fund now pfft, we will smash them next season!

 

[saintmar]

Please remind me, who should be the coach ?

Someone who can attract some quality players.
Young imo will do the job with Hornby just fine
He will probably get us at least one of the Cowboy forwards
Wayne is coming off contract at the Dolphins
Appoint him in a Gould role and let Young and Hornby run the show
These three get on well and have done the job in the past

 

[Crush]

Sharks are a very mediocre team and a one man team at that, he wont improve them with the mercenary attitude, hes aging and got his retirement fund now pfft, we will smash them next season!

Look I love the “hate sharks” sentiment, but this isn’t true, they aren’t a one man team. That’s just what the media focus on, assuming you are talking about Nicho. He’s the NRL poster boy but he isn’t the team.
Sharks have a backline with genuine speed and class. Their forward pack is excellent but they were missing an aggressive prop, an enforcer. Now they have him.
I’m not sure if they’ll be a premiership threat (have you seen the roosters roster?) but they will be playing finals every year with that team.

 

[CronullaSaint]

Look I love the “hate sharks” sentiment, but this isn’t true, they aren’t a one man team. That’s just what the media focus on, assuming you are talking about Nicho. He’s the NRL poster boy but he isn’t the team.
Sharks have a backline with genuine speed and class. Their forward pack is excellent but they were missing an aggressive prop, an enforcer. Now they have him.
I’m not sure if they’ll be a premiership threat (have you seen the roosters roster?) but they will be playing finals every year with that team.

Agree.

 

[BLM01]

@BLM01 explain yourself

Yes happy to eat my words and if you like hold me responsible
But if we had a GM / CEO that could get deals over the line it may assist
Sharks must have offered an extra unit to one if his family members
On the flip side I was concerned about the money we were offering and hopefully we lure some mid-good players at good money then build from there
That’s all I got sorry