The Rumours Thread

[Crush]

Did he earn his 600k a year ? Jury still out on that. Hope we didn’t give him an increase.

Hard to judge the last couple of years as all players haven’t been playing to their potential. Moses Suli is a proper first grader, I’m really happy we’ve signed him long term, he has been solid thus far but expecting him to rise next season.

 

[blacksafake]

Did he earn his 600k a year ? Jury still out on that. Hope we didn’t give him an increase.

Yes you could say it’s debatable but he hasn’t been poor just playing in a bad side under ordinary coaches.
I think his best is still to come, especially with a good coach & hopefully some better players around him moving forward.

 

[since77]

Yes you could say it’s debatable but he hasn’t been poor just playing in a bad side under ordinary coaches.
I think his best is still to come, especially with a good coach & hopefully some better players around him moving forward.

Agree. Proper coaching, some decent attacking structures and plans and he'll do well.

 

[qld redvee]

Agree. Proper coaching, some decent attacking structures and plans and he'll do well.

Won't they all..

 

[TruSaint]

Yes you could say it’s debatable but he hasn’t been poor just playing in a bad side under ordinary coaches.
I think his best is still to come, especially with a good coach & hopefully some better players around him moving forward.

He was stifled under Hook bro.

Our attack was so pedestrian that by the time he got the ball, all he could do was barge. Give the lad some space, and we know he has the skills.

 

[Como Connection]

He was stifled under Hook bro.

Our attack was so pedestrian that by the time he got the ball, all he could do was barge. Give the lad some space, and we know he has the skills.

Remember he took an intercept last year and ran 80 metres to score with pace.
CC

 

[TruSaint]

Remember he took an intercept last year and ran 80 metres to score with pace.
CC

Like i said, he is a great big centre whom needs space. I think he will shine in 24.

 

[blacksafake]

He was stifled under Hook bro.

Our attack was so pedestrian that by the time he got the ball, all he could do was barge. Give the lad some space, and we know he has the skills.

 

[dragon thomo]

Suli is a very good player if given early clean ball

 

[This Year?]

I'm not sold on Suli.
On his day he is a great player, but it feels like the stars have to align to make it happen.
Needs decent early ball and needs support around him. He can't just barge. He got lots of ball for Tonga but wasn't very effective.
I'm really hoping Flanno gets the most out of every player in 2024 and this side surprises us all.

 

[shiloh dc]

We are so far away from signing any half-decent players that in some supporters' eyes the resigning of Suli is a great achievement by the club?? Do you think Suli is a premiership winning player - No. Honest player and from what i hear a good kid but with far too many skill limitations.
It really feels like the game is conspiring to ensure we don't sign any major players.
Jack Wighton signing for Souths for 700-750K per season should never have been allowed by the NRL in the face of a 1.1M offer from the Raiders.
Cronulla signing AFB and the Warriors foregoing requesting a player in return stinks to high heaven - has anyone given the Warriors something on the side to keep them happy - if so who?
Now the Rorters are floating a plan to have Manu play Jap rugby and then come back mid season with a significant NRL salary cap discount. This is a joke. If another team has lodged a fair offer for Manu - and he still wants to play Jap Rugby and return mid- season - then the Rorters should be forced to credit their salary cap by 90% of that offer.

 

[The Word]

We are so far away from signing any half-decent players that in some supporters' eyes the resigning of Suli is a great achievement by the club?? Do you think Suli is a premiership winning player - No. Honest player and from what i hear a good kid but with far too many skill limitations.
It really feels like the game is conspiring to ensure we don't sign any major players.
Jack Wighton signing for Souths for 700-750K per season should never have been allowed by the NRL in the face of a 1.1M offer from the Raiders.
Cronulla signing AFB and the Warriors foregoing requesting a player in return stinks to high heaven - has anyone given the Warriors something on the side to keep them happy - if so who?
Now the Rorters are floating a plan to have Manu play Jap rugby and then come back mid season with a significant NRL salary cap discount. This is a joke. If another team has lodged a fair offer for Manu - and he still wants to play Jap Rugby and return mid- season - then the Rorters should be forced to credit their salary cap by 90% of that offer.

You've got to credit Easts for thinking outside the box, wish our board were looking for solutions as vigorously as they are.

However the idea of Manu going for a short stint in union and coming straight back to the same club is absolutely not going to fly when it comes to gaining an exemption. No chance whatsoever.

 

[Dragon David]

We are so far away from signing any half-decent players that in some supporters' eyes the resigning of Suli is a great achievement by the club?? Do you think Suli is a premiership winning player - No. Honest player and from what i hear a good kid but with far too many skill limitations.
It really feels like the game is conspiring to ensure we don't sign any major players.
Jack Wighton signing for Souths for 700-750K per season should never have been allowed by the NRL in the face of a 1.1M offer from the Raiders.
Cronulla signing AFB and the Warriors foregoing requesting a player in return stinks to high heaven - has anyone given the Warriors something on the side to keep them happy - if so who?
Now the Rorters are floating a plan to have Manu play Jap rugby and then come back mid season with a significant NRL salary cap discount. This is a joke. If another team has lodged a fair offer for Manu - and he still wants to play Jap Rugby and return mid- season - then the Rorters should be forced to credit their salary cap by 90% of that offer.

As the saying goes, "there's more than one way to skin a cat". Several of the successful clubs have multiple ways of accomplishing a task and they think outside the circle and find loopholes to achieve what they want.

If these clubs can get away with doing things because they know that they can, then good luck to them. Just like in a game, the coach can plan ways to win and they may not be totally within the rules but they are such that they get away with it somehow.

So there is the other saying that Confucius said - "man who just sits on bum and does nothing has the shits"

 

[justadragon]

Did he earn his 600k a year ? Jury still out on that. Hope we didn’t give him an increase.

I ask you this DP. Did any of our coaches prior to Flanno and Barr Bennett actually earn their salary ?

 

[baggygreen man]

Select Hunt at 9, hopefully, he will walk but if he stays, we have him in our spine.
Kyle Flannagan and this new half may be what we need going forward.

Yes. Perhaps these two newbies will play better without Hunt's influence in the halves. Besides the disloyal sook is a better hooker than half. This does, tho, leave newly extended Liddle on the outer.

 

[baggygreen man]

As the saying goes, "there's more than one way to skin a cat". Several of the successful clubs have multiple ways of accomplishing a task and they think outside the circle and find loopholes to achieve what they want.

If these clubs can get away with doing things because they know that they can, then good luck to them. Just like in a game, the coach can plan ways to win and they may not be totally within the rules but they are such that they get away with it somehow.

So there is the other saying that Confucius said - "man who just sits on bum and does nothing has the shits"

Very philosophical post DD.

 

[baggygreen man]

The first words that came out of Young’s mouth were “players need to want to play for this great club before we go any further”

Perhaps a touch of nostalgia from Albert, but on the money all the same. There is one downside to that theory, kids that wanna come and play for the Dragons know little about our clubs previous famous history. It was after all, under the old regime and in their fathers time or dare I say, even grand fathers.

 

[baggygreen man]

If it is to be Lomax at fullback, then it should be Allen to left center, Suli to right center,

Has Flanno considered Suli as an edge forward. This will negate his lack of skills, as if there is one thing Suli does well it is to use his size to barnstorm a line. With a centre position then open there is room to debut Savelio Tamale or Sione Finau.

Sloan should kill it on the left wing.

With his current size I can see him being rag dolled into touch by monster islander outside backs more often than he can bring the crowd to its feet. Specially if he receives poor inside service and that is on the cards. He needs to add bulk to his frame and is the job of new fitness guru Dan Lawson to impress on him how crucial this is as the kid says he is fine with his present build. Once he has at least five extra kilos, betting we will see a more confident Tyrell Sloan.

 

[SEAT 1A]

I ask you this DP. Did any of our coaches prior to Flanno and Barr Bennett actually earn their salary ?

I reckon Carr earned his cash.

He wasn't going to turn the boys into scoring machines however, you could see the difference in defence and attitude.

I thought he did a great job with the team environment after a hell of a year on and off the field.

 

[kit66]

Has Flanno considered Suli as an edge forward. This will negate his lack of skills, as if there is one thing Suli does well it is to use his size to barnstorm a line. With a centre position then open there is room to debut Savelio Tamale or Sione Finau.

With his current size I can see him being rag dolled into touch by monster islander outside backs more often than he can bring the crowd to its feet. Specially if he receives poor inside service and that is on the cards. He needs to add bulk to his frame and is the job of new fitness guru Dan Lawson to impress on him how crucial this is as the kid says he is fine with his present build. Once he has at least five extra kilos, betting we will see a more confident Tyrell Sloan.

Agreed, Sloan definitely needs to add around 5-6 kilos (currently 84kgs) as he's one of the lightest regular fullbacks in the comp, even little Reece Walsh is 88kgs. Sloan actually needs to up more than just his weight and defensive skills though. His workrate is well below par, metres, try assists, defence, all among the lowest for fb's. His overall involvement needs to increase as well, not just by him getting more ball but also our halves bringing him into the game more as well. He could be our deadliest strike weapon but in Dragonball can go unsighted for a few sets at a time. Look at Walsh, Tedesco or Dylan Edwards, those guys are in there injecting themselves into the game for the whole game, even too much at times like Tedesco (bit of a hog) but they're doing their job and then some and the results are there for all to see.
Sloan's defence is ordinary but for a young fullback not as bad as some, Walsh, Will Kennedy, Josh Drinkwater all hover around the same mark as Sloan but they make up for it in other areas - Drinkwater and Walsh, 25 and 26 Try Assists respectively (Sloan 8). A spine player being a liability in defence and offering little in attack won't impress Flanno.
Sloan is also poor at making metres - av 119, compared to Tesco - av 185, Turbo - av 193 and Dylan Edwards - av 207mtrs. In fact nearly every other fb makes an average of over 150 mtrs a game.
If Flanagan can't get Sloan making big improvements across the ledger by round 8 or so I'd be looking at other options, recruiting someone qualified or try Allen or even Lomax although I'd rather he stayed in the centres.
No wonder Manu is on his wish list.