The Rumours Thread

[RedVee]

I coudn't remember the details. I probably only ever knew
1. that he was signed
2. that his contract was terminated after the medical
I must have made a leap in trying to remember what happened. I shouldn't have said he tried to hide the injury.

If the Warriors were so incompetent in their diagnosis, then he should be due compensation. He had 2 years left with Warriors that he agreed to forego for 1 year at Dragons. In the end he gets nothing and neither team looks after him medically. This should be remembered the next time a player is accused of disloyalty to a club. Shame on both clubs.

Warriors are paying his medical costs

 

[Dragon the chain]

Warriors are paying his medical costs

OK. They weren't initially.

 

[Gardenia]

Lachlan Galvin would be a good target

 

[Kolum Kid]

He's the flavour of the month. All the "legends" spruking his capabilities. One of the power clubs will grab him and put him into their player warehouse

 

[TruSaint]

who's a young promising halfback we can get realistically? it's all well and good to wish on this, but it's just so unrealistic.

Jack Cogger. Seems to be out of the rotation at Newcastle. Lachlan Ilias but some on here don’t rate him at all but personally I think he was fed a big fat shit sandwich and made the fall guy at Souths instead of the blow torch being put on Walker and Mitchell

Yep, Ilias was royally farked over by Souths. Dropped after 2 poor games, and then busted his leg on the last tackle in the reggies. It's as if the stars at Souths were playing well. Mitchell is untouchable and JD dropped Lachlan to appease the hierarchy. Didn't work out for him. It was a gutless move.

 

[carltonsouth79]

Lachlan Galvin would be a good target

Definite talent but from reports earlier loyal to Benji

 

[justadragon]

How about Walker from the Roosters, he comes off contract soon, ok you can all start laughing now

 

[John moz]

D Cook linked back to Dragons

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

D Cook linked back to Dragons

Is that from NRL360?

 

[redv13]

D Cook linked back to Dragons

Source??

 

[TheRev]

NRL360 just toyed with us as a good fit for Cook.. which ofcourse we would be for him to come home.. and being close to retirement.... but nothing more than that.

 

[TheRev]

It is clear to me that this is the only way out of the cellar. There will be no quick fixes for the Dragons. Trying to buy our way out of this mess will only prolong the pattern.

I know what you mean.. we wont buy a quick fix.. mostly because we are Choice number #17 for most players.. who 'want to win a premiership', the stuff going on with JFH, Fifita, Chrichton is a perfect example.. its a merry go round of availability with the big clubs picking and choosing who they will retain or purchase.. we may have landed Chrichton before he found form again.. now we are well down the pecking order.. and it may well cost us Su'a too, if he goes to one of the clubs who miss out.

But I should point out that we do need to keep trying to buy players.. trying to sign everyone is the current method.. but we need to lower our expectations dramatically.. and we need to start thinking outside the box.. which is why we need a recruitment manager too, someone who can invest every day on the search.

Eisenhuth and Leilua are probably the only 2 that were useful puchases so far.. RFM probably not but he did give us depth.. we need to keep finding small upgrades where we can... and I would love to see a couple of the baby dragons get promoted into cup asap.. surely 1 or 2 of them could surprise us.

I look at the Raiders... Ricky has reputation as someone who blooks youth and as someone who looks after his english recruits.. so he has 2 avenues of recruiting there that we do not... we need to start thinking bigger.

 

[KogarahWarrior]

Definite talent but from reports earlier loyal to Benji

I'll tell you what even if the Tigers footy hasn't set the world on fire, it's so good to see a coach that has all the support and backing of the players. I don't think it's just because Benji was all of their idol either. He seems completely honest and firm, even in press conferences. Genuinely wants the best for the team and players and wants to set a good example for them

 

[Parko1310]

Cook is awful. Hasn't been good in years, absolutely not. Not to mention his two forward passes he throws per set would get called in a Red V jersey. Jayden Brailey should be our target for 9, actually a genuine chance Newcastle let him go and is the perfect type of hooker for us to then allow Liddle to come on either side of the half and rip up tired defences.

In terms of halves we could look at: Jonah Pezet, especially after having done his ACL. Would Melbourne be more willing to let him go now? Would he reconsider staying with how long he's going to have to wait for a shot down there? Sexton is killing NSW cup and is off contact as we speak. A much better half than people give him credit for. Clear upgrade on Kyle as well, who I'm sorry, just isn't good enough. He's fine as a back up, nothing more. Ilias is complete shit, I wouldn't even consider him. Latu Fainu. Is he happy to play 14? He'll be stuck behind Galvin and Luai, potentially even Sezer for another year, who is a stop-gap option for a year himself. Ethan Sanders off to the Raiders, interesting he'd leave a place where he's stuck in reserves for another place he'll be stuck in reserves. Eventually one of Strange or Fogarty would have to make way. How long is Sanders going to sit in reserves in Canberra? It's worth asking the question, particularly around Fogarty as he'd be more likely.

Other players in other positions we should be targeting: Angus Crichton, Trey Mooney, Blaize Talagi, Reimis Smith (and this is just for 2025), I'm sure there's more too, especially with players wanting out of their current contracts for varying reasons

 

[KogarahWarrior]

Cook is awful. Hasn't been good in years, absolutely not. Not to mention his two forward passes he throws per set would get called in a Red V jersey. Jayden Brailey should be our target for 9, actually a genuine chance Newcastle let him go and is the perfect type of hooker for us to then allow Liddle to come on either side of the half and rip up tired defences.

In terms of halves we could look at: Jonah Pezet, especially after having done his ACL. Would Melbourne be more willing to let him go now? Would he reconsider staying with how long he's going to have to wait for a shot down there? Sexton is killing NSW cup and is off contact as we speak. A much better half than people give him credit for. Clear upgrade on Kyle as well, who I'm sorry, just isn't good enough. He's fine as a back up, nothing more. Ilias is complete shit, I wouldn't even consider him. Latu Fainu. Is he happy to play 14? He'll be stuck behind Galvin and Luai, potentially even Sezer for another year, who is a stop-gap option for a year himself. Ethan Sanders off to the Raiders, interesting he'd leave a place where he's stuck in reserves for another place he'll be stuck in reserves. Eventually one of Strange or Fogarty would have to make way. How long is Sanders going to sit in reserves in Canberra? It's worth asking the question, particularly around Fogarty as he'd be more likely.

Other players in other positions we should be targeting: Angus Crichton, Trey Mooney, Blaize Talagi, Reimis Smith (and this is just for 2025), I'm sure there's more too, especially with players wanting out of their current contracts for varying reasons

This is a great post Parko. Very well informed and thought out stuff

 

[BLM01]

Cook is awful. Hasn't been good in years, absolutely not. Not to mention his two forward passes he throws per set would get called in a Red V jersey. Jayden Brailey should be our target for 9, actually a genuine chance Newcastle let him go and is the perfect type of hooker for us to then allow Liddle to come on either side of the half and rip up tired defences.

In terms of halves we could look at: Jonah Pezet, especially after having done his ACL. Would Melbourne be more willing to let him go now? Would he reconsider staying with how long he's going to have to wait for a shot down there? Sexton is killing NSW cup and is off contact as we speak. A much better half than people give him credit for. Clear upgrade on Kyle as well, who I'm sorry, just isn't good enough. He's fine as a back up, nothing more. Ilias is complete shit, I wouldn't even consider him. Latu Fainu. Is he happy to play 14? He'll be stuck behind Galvin and Luai, potentially even Sezer for another year, who is a stop-gap option for a year himself. Ethan Sanders off to the Raiders, interesting he'd leave a place where he's stuck in reserves for another place he'll be stuck in reserves. Eventually one of Strange or Fogarty would have to make way. How long is Sanders going to sit in reserves in Canberra? It's worth asking the question, particularly around Fogarty as he'd be more likely.

Other players in other positions we should be targeting: Angus Crichton, Trey Mooney, Blaize Talagi, Reimis Smith (and this is just for 2025), I'm sure there's more too, especially with players wanting out of their current contracts for varying reasons

No to Smith, Sexton and Talagi.. all the others worth considering

 

[denis preston]

NRL360 just toyed with us as a good fit for Cook.. which ofcourse we would be for him to come home.. and being close to retirement.... but nothing more than that.

For no more than450-500 2 years then worth it.

 

[hewi]

NRL360 just toyed with us as a good fit for Cook.. which ofcourse we would be for him to come home.. and being close to retirement.... but nothing more than that.

It’s a great fit in their opinion as he is close to retirement he can top up his super while not having to do much which is what we are known for. Sad.

 

[<StGeorgeDragons>]

It’s a great fit in their opinion as he is close to retirement he can top up his super while not having to do much which is what we are known for. Sad.

100000%

Exactly what I thought when I saw it. would Anasta take Cook at his Roosters or Dogs? Nope, as he is not a prized player anymore. But the Dragons can do with another ‘experienced’ hooker.

Some people say we are irrelevant but it’s worse than that. To the media we are just a spit bucket or a punching bag.

All those years of “the Dragons fans are a passionate lot but they need to be patient”. Where’s that patience got us?

And the irony of it all is we will probably end up with Cook and our club will paint it as a great coup. We are simply serving a role in the NRL to lay a platform for the actually legit clubs.

 

[hook hook]

Tom

who's a young promising halfback we can get realistically? it's all well and good to wish on this, but it's just so unrealistic.
the players available in this scenario are either a) unproven, b) unwilling to come to sit behind hunt

there's an absolute shortage of good halves running around

Tom weaver