The Rumours Thread

[TheRev]

Anyone else not really buying it.... like in their heart? Feeling like we are in an infinite loop until we die off forever? What's more, by the time we land a decent player or two the other good ones will be given up as payment anyway and we haven't converted a decent junior in yonks.

I like to extrapolate data/trends.. so at times I can seem a bit dramatic.. there is a huge gap between the signing power of us versus the other teams.. that gap makes it very difficult to recruit 1st graders externally... or retain our current 1st graders (Sua, Frank, Lomax etc), or retain our best juniors... and even if we succeed, it will be by paying them overs or over-promising our juniors early Top30 spots. What's sad is that we should have a fleet of outside backs ready for 1st grade right now.. but we lost them.. and it wasn't our choice.

Flanagan is making a huge difference, I've heard whispers that for the first time those at the club feel part of a professional organisation.. the fitness difference is right there in front of us.. Flanno is the real deal.. but if he cant "close that recruitment gap", if it gets wider while the Dogs, Tigers, Titans, Dolphins & Raiders keep signing players and developing gun juniors.. oh man we are in genuine trouble... and they are the bottom feeders..

This is why AFB was an absolute disaster, i would have paid 1.5mil to land that fish... it was a cheat-code to close that gap.. lead our pack... and we could have really built off the back of it for 2025.. so now we need to do it the hard way, we need our current roster to get plenty of wins this year, we need people to respect us as a destination.. or that gap grows.. and at some point.. were in strife.. and im not sure a bunch of 18year old juniors that are quite possible 5 years away (if indeed we can even keep them AND develop them).. can possibly save us.. winning has got to come from the top and the bottom (the juniors) at the same time.

Anyway I think Flanno will get us there.. but legit your concerns are valid.. we need to break out of the death-spiral we have been on.

 

[thebigredv]

I like to extrapolate data/trends.. so at times I can seem a bit dramatic.. there is a huge gap between the signing power of us versus the other teams.. that gap makes it very difficult to recruit 1st graders externally... or retain our current 1st graders (Sua, Frank, Lomax etc), or retain our best juniors... and even if we succeed, it will be by paying them overs or over-promising our juniors early Top30 spots. What's sad is that we should have a fleet of outside backs ready for 1st grade right now.. but we lost them.. and it wasn't our choice.

Flanagan is making a huge difference, I've heard whispers that for the first time those at the club feel part of a professional organisation.. the fitness difference is right there in front of us.. Flanno is the real deal.. but if he cant "close that recruitment gap", if it gets wider while the Dogs, Tigers, Titans, Dolphins & Raiders keep signing players and developing gun juniors.. oh man we are in genuine trouble... and they are the bottom feeders..

This is why AFB was an absolute disaster, i would have paid 1.5mil to land that fish... it was a cheat-code to close that gap.. lead our pack... and we could have really built off the back of it for 2025.. so now we need to do it the hard way, we need our current roster to get plenty of wins this year, we need people to respect us as a destination.. or that gap grows.. and at some point.. were in strife.. and im not sure a bunch of 18year old juniors that are quite possible 5 years away (if indeed we can even keep them AND develop them).. can possibly save us.. winning has got to come from the top and the bottom (the juniors) at the same time.

Anyway I think Flanno will get us there.. but legit your concerns are valid.. we need to break out of the death-spiral we have been on.

Very, very well said as always, Rev.

Typically things in footy aren't as good or as bad as they may seem. If we had beaten Dolphins, like I believe we could have, I would be focusing on that. Right now I am fuming from one particular performance, I get that, but it doesn't excuse the fact that we are still putting a whole lot of faith in one man in particular to somehow bridge this huge gap which seems to have pervaded our game.

Enough water has passed under the bridge to see where the clubs stand in regards to perks a shirks and unfortunately we were one of those clubs that got locked out in the cold. I feel entitled to be elsewhere and although I love what I have seen from Flanagan, realistically there is going to need to be a review into the inner working of NRL for this to be rectified and none of us are holding our breath waiting for that. I don't see how the same clubs should be down for so long.

 

[Nanadragon]

I still worry that Flanagan's history as a coach (the peptides debacle) might turn players off coming to us. Hopefully that is ancient history.
Regarding the favouritism of some clubs over others I think harks back to the super league days maybe. Who knows but I'm sure we get the rough end of the pineapple with a lot of decisions from the NRL.

 

[Hound of Dracula]

Parramatta Eels enter race for Dragons youngster

He represented the U19s NSW team last year.

www.zerotackle.com

Yep - developing is one thing - retaining another
Hope we don't lose Tamale to the Eels - we only just poached him from Union.

i also note the quote "News Corp has also reported that Zac Lomax has been told that the club won't hold talks with his management over his future until after Round 4 - two weeks away.

What happened to Nov 1?

 

[Slippery Morris]

With the AFB signing Saints had no chance once Sharks entered the race. Even 1.5 mil would not have got him. His main reason for choosing Sharks is that they have a better chance of winning a comp than we did. Flanno needs to work on that and make Saints a force where players actually start to think that they are a premiership force and the players will come. After the Titans game that started looking ok, but the Dolphins game put them back again which is disapointing. It's a long season and if Flanno get's Saints competing for finals and looking more probable of winning a comp than the Dogs Tigers, Dolphins and Titans, then they are on the way to landing the big fish.

The Dogs have the best salesman in Gus who has players think they are going to a club that will win a comp in 5 years. Tigers have Benji who the young generation idolise. They want to play for a guy they see as a legend of the game, which I can see as well. I think that is why Bud jumped at the chance.

 

[Dragons4me]

With the AFB signing Saints had no chance once Sharks entered the race. Even 1.5 mil would not have got him. His main reason for choosing Sharks is that they have a better chance of winning a comp than we did. Flanno needs to work on that and make Saints a force where players actually start to think that they are a premiership force and the players will come. After the Titans game that started looking ok, but the Dolphins game put them back again which is disapointing. It's a long season and if Flanno get's Saints competing for finals and looking more probable of winning a comp than the Dogs Tigers, Dolphins and Titans, then they are on the way to landing the big fish.

The Dogs have the best salesman in Gus who has players think they are going to a club that will win a comp in 5 years. Tigers have Benji who the young generation idolise. They want to play for a guy they see as a legend of the game, which I can see as well. I think that is why Bud jumped at the chance.

I don't think AFB was ever coming back, and was surprised when there was discussion about. The bridges were burnt the first time when we tore his contract up. Hell, he didn't even use us for leverage for more money and I reckon there was a "Feck you Dragons" wry smile after signing with the Gummies.

 

[Dragon David]

I don't think AFB was ever coming back, and was surprised when there was discussion about. The bridges were burnt the first time when we tore his contract up. Hell, he didn't even use us for leverage for more money and I reckon there was a "Feck you Dragons" wry smile after signing with the Gummies.

Yep, just forget he was even in the conversation. His heart would not have been with this club one iota however high $$ we could offer him. The white pointers from the Shire will have him as their leader and I have a strong feeling that they will win a premiership with him possibly as early as next year. They will even go close this year without him.

 

[TheRev]

AFB has been all about dropping contracts to increase his money.. I think we would have got him with some sort of outraegous bid.. but thats not how Flanno rolls..

Apparently we are one of the parties talking to the May brother at penrith, tbh I dont really follow any of the May bros, but atleast were still out there looking.. if we could land the May-combo that might be a real boost.

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

If we could land the May Brothers that would be a good, need another prop and May slips straight into Birds position and Bird fly's off to UK super league

 

[Dragonslayer]

Apparently we were/are interested in re-signing Jai Field.

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

Apparently we were/are interested in re-signing Jai Field.

Red V Forum

 

[Dragon David]

Apparently we were/are interested in re-signing Jai Field.

He would be great for us as our fullback and put Sloan on the wing.

Field has toughened up a lot since his stints with us and the Eels in my opinion and his defence has improved and his attack will be very helpful for us.

https://nit.com.au/27-02-2024/9967/jai-field-hints-at-nrl-return-after-aiding-indigenous-teammate-to-win-over-penrith

 

[TheRev]

We already 'tried' to get Jai Field more specifically (its in the Red V Forum post), but until he wants to come, there is no point getting too excited about that one.

 

[BLM01]

Parramatta Eels enter race for Dragons youngster

He represented the U19s NSW team last year.

www.zerotackle.com

Yep - developing is one thing - retaining another
Hope we don't lose Tamale to the Eels - we only just poached him from Union.

i also note the quote "News Corp has also reported that Zac Lomax has been told that the club won't hold talks with his management over his future until after Round 4 - two weeks away.

What happened to Nov 1?

Club can talk to its own players anytime

 

[Parko1310]

AFB has been all about dropping contracts to increase his money.. I think we would have got him with some sort of outraegous bid.. but thats not how Flanno rolls..

Apparently we are one of the parties talking to the May brother at penrith, tbh I dont really follow any of the May bros, but atleast were still out there looking.. if we could land the May-combo that might be a real boost.

The two May brothers would be absolutely great if we can land them. Is it only Taylan specifically or both brothers? Realistically we need to fill the positions they both play. Taylan is an absolute gun and will fit into the way Flano plays. He also signed with Black Money (Luai's management company that got him the outrageous Tigers deal). They are all about the $$$. As long as we don't pay outrageous money for him I'd be happy, just enough to please his management. Flano isn't as dumb as the Tigers and Benji thankfully. With Penrith's cap situation, there's a chance there. Terrell will be very good for us in the front row too if we get him. Defences struggle to put him on the ground, which means fast play the balls. Extremely fit for a prop too as he demonstrated playing big minutes first 2 rounds, and got a handy offload. There's every chance we are also just simply being used as leverage for a better deal elsewhere, but it would be amazing to land one or both of these two.

 

[Parko1310]

Hastings dropped by O'Brien at Newcastle this week too. Could be a few legs in that story a couple months back that the Dragons enquired about him. Maybe people in the game have heard O'Brien would be willing to cut him loose. Pretty harsh blaming him for Newcastle's losses too I reckon

 

[TheRev]

The two May brothers would be absolutely great if we can land them. Is it only Taylan specifically or both brothers? Realistically we need to fill the positions they both play. Taylan is an absolute gun and will fit into the way Flano plays. He also signed with Black Money (Luai's management company that got him the outrageous Tigers deal). They are all about the $$$. As long as we don't pay outrageous money for him I'd be happy, just enough to please his management. Flano isn't as dumb as the Tigers and Benji thankfully. With Penrith's cap situation, there's a chance there. Terrell will be very good for us in the front row too if we get him. Defences struggle to put him on the ground, which means fast play the balls. Extremely fit for a prop too as he demonstrated playing big minutes first 2 rounds, and got a handy offload. There's every chance we are also just simply being used as leverage for a better deal elsewhere, but it would be amazing to land one or both of these two.

They were just talking about the centre/winger Taylan, but I cant help but think if we got 1.. then maybe we are a decent chance of getting 2.. us and the Roosters circling supposedly...

But given is it Tago got 750k.. Taylan May will be expecting something similar.. tbh its annoying that the Dogs got Chrichton for not much more.. but this is the sort of new economy.. we would have to be paying that to be a chance of securing him.. which is Lomax money which everyone is already crying about.. but I would love a couple more proper first graders in our line-up, wherever they end up... although if I had my choice.. someone who could also play fullback is what i really wanted.. I dont like that Sloan is all we got at the club..

 

[Parko1310]

They were just talking about the centre/winger Taylan, but I cant help but think if we got 1.. then maybe we are a decent chance of getting 2.. us and the Roosters circling supposedly...

But given is it Tago got 750k.. Taylan May will be expecting something similar.. tbh its annoying that the Dogs got Chrichton for not much more.. but this is the sort of new economy.. we would have to be paying that to be a chance of securing him.. which is Lomax money which everyone is already crying about.. but I would love a couple more proper first graders in our line-up, wherever they end up... although if I had my choice.. someone who could also play fullback is what i really wanted.. I dont like that Sloan is all we got at the club..

I think Flano is all in on Sloan at the moment. Obviously we need a back up fullback, but there aren't many external candidates to recruit that would be comfortable being a backup. Lomax will be the backup this year I think, and we've got Corey Allan to return from injury next year who you would think would be the fullback backup.

 

[Hound of Dracula]

Club can talk to its own players anytime

My statement was more because I thought Flanno wasn't going to entertain any discussions with Lomax's manager till closer to end of season but, seems I was wrong.

 

[St Tangles]

They May Brothers will both be at the Roosters next year.