The Rumours Thread

[Hound of Dracula]

They do / did. Years ago. Tonya the Bus

The low-down on Tonya the Bus

The patrons of Tonya the Bus speak about the fun they had on their daily trips from Sydney to Wollongong.

www.dragons.com.au

I remember in 1977 Billy Smith knocking off the Penfolds bus during a visit to a winery. He drove it somewhere off track, jumped in a Pond, then returned to the winery claiming to have sunk the bus.

He was sacked shortly after

 

[hewi]

From the SMH.
Jack Bird, a shame

Jack Bird, meanwhile, will remain a Dragon for at least another season after taking up the option in his contract for 2025.

There was a mutual option in Bird’s current deal for next season, which needed to be triggered before June 30. The former Blues representative opted to activate it before the deadline to give himself and the club certainty over his future

 

[FlickFlano]

He activated the option to get 2025. We didnt want him and chose not to activate his 2025 from teh club side but that is how the contract was written.
Pretty sure if he was able to find a different deal elsewhere we would let him. Just gives him something for next year.

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

whats best guess $200k to $300k pa base............plus game payments $3k per game?

Im guessing that would have been acceptable given we didnt want to do 2025 hence the MO but equally we wanted Bird for 2024...........hence the compromise

Its a long way from the rumoured $550k pa for 2023 / 24 etc

 

[offiah]

They do / did. Years ago. Tonya the Bus

The low-down on Tonya the Bus

The patrons of Tonya the Bus speak about the fun they had on their daily trips from Sydney to Wollongong.

www.dragons.com.au

Yep I remember Tonya, which from memory it was the players who self-organised this. I meant more of a the club should be proactive, buy and organise the bus to solve any recruitment issues relating to the commute and not sit on their ass like they usually do.

 

[Mojo]

Yep I remember Tonya, which from memory it was the players who self-organised this. I meant more of a the club should be proactive, buy and organise the bus to solve any recruitment issues relating to the commute and not sit on their ass like they usually do.

Remove seats from the board room and install them on the bus instead.

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

i dont know if i could make the distance without peeing !!!!

after a few beers i seem to be heading straight for the toilet last couple years

things change

 

[Old Timer]

I refer back to my original post....have a look at some of the other areas players are willing to go to play NRL eg Canberra .... surely you would have to concede that the Illawarra is not an inferior area in comparison. I still say location is a furphy ... and it didn't stop Wayne Bennett assembling a team in 2010. Some players are pulling up and moving to North Queensland. There is definately an issue with SGI attracting quality players but trotting out location is off track and just muddying the waters.

Then why tell why didn't The Steelers play lots of finals footy, maybe win a premiership or 2 and ultimately collapsed / imploded as an entity with an extremely poor record?

The only reason we have St GI is because the Wollongong franchise proved to be unsustainable as 1 team 1 location club in a substantial working class area on the outskirts of Sydney.

If it isn't location then what the hell is it and obviously it can't be the anything to do with the St George part of the organisation?

Bennett inherited a fantastic young roster and was able to add a group of great mercenaries nearing the end of their careers and largely unwanted at other clubs and that proved a winning combination and no doubt timing can be everything but by the end of 2011 it all turned to mud and the decline began.

No Bennett and Wollongong just became Wollongong.

 

[BLM01]

Anyone else seeing the rumours of Alex Johnston maybe also free to negotiate?

29yrs old
primarily a left side winger but good enough cover for FB when required

Turns 30 Jan 2025

Would you offer 2025, 26 plus a 27 CO ?

220 games and 191 tries !!!!

Johnston overtakes Slater

Alex Johnston overtakes Slater in the all time try scorers list

www.nrl.com

In Bennettd plans

 

[BLM01]

Some players move states or even to NZ to play NRL and yet they won't come to Wollongong? Seriously if that is their reason then why would you want them to represent the Dragons. We need people who want to wear the red V no matter what not because they can't be ar$ed travelling. Kogarah to Wollongong is 1hr drive. A lot of people I know that live in the west travel more than that one way to go to the City.

As soon as a player, manager or R&R dude uses that as an excuse then Saints should end discussions then and there.

Saints capt is from Qld for crying out loud so if he can move to the Gong or Kogarah then anyone can for the right price. All they have to do is open the purse strings and travel will not be an issue. Throw in a car FFS.

It's clear the issue is with the management as it appears that Saints enter negotiations, the person gets interested, the media find out and release it for all to see and when it comes to closing the deal it simply breaks down. Whoever does the final step must be doing such a terrible job and questoins should be asked. If I was a sponsor I would be demanding answers before I throw more money into the club. Surely they cannot be happy having their name associated with a club that cannot bring in a player they need to improve their performance.

Players don’t come to the Dragons because we not got the football club staff to support Flanno who have a rapport with agents in getting the deals over the line
I refer you all back to when Doust and Young were running recruiting
Same deal negotiating skills 1/10
Flanno would have to fly almost solo ATM but has other obvious priorities to sort

 

[BLM01]

??? Huh ???

Bird

 

[JamesRustle]

We should have a serious look at Utoikamanu from Wests, he was the only Tigers player that showed any resilience last week. He's apparently not happy there and only has a Mutual Option for 2025. He's big, fast and strong, has an off-load and has an over 95% tackle efficiency, plus he's only 24.
He had one run in SOO, short minutes off the bench but I reckon if he was in a better team he'd have a higher profile.
Flanno could really make use of this big fella, a ready-made replacement for someone like Lawrie or JDB should he accept an offer elsewhere.

I'd be surprised if he left Tigers to join Dragons. The narrative is he wants out of Tigers because he's sick of losing and wants to be competitive and a chance to win the thing. He aint jumping out of a beat up Datto 120-Y into a Commodore VB.

 

[JamesRustle]

Does every team get the same number of byes during the season? If so, why even record competition points for byes?

I reckon the betting agencies want the byes so it distorts the real position of teams and influences punters who take ladder position into account for H2H and top 4 and top 8 during the season.

 

[Lennyb]

Then why tell why didn't The Steelers play lots of finals footy, maybe win a premiership or 2 and ultimately collapsed / imploded as an entity with an extremely poor record?

The only reason we have St GI is because the Wollongong franchise proved to be unsustainable as 1 team 1 location club in a substantial working class area on the outskirts of Sydney.

If it isn't location then what the hell is it and obviously it can't be the anything to do with the St George part of the organisation?

Bennett inherited a fantastic young roster and was able to add a group of great mercenaries nearing the end of their careers and largely unwanted at other clubs and that proved a winning combination and no doubt timing can be everything but by the end of 2011 it all turned to mud and the decline began.

No Bennett and Wollongong just became Wollongong.

St George got given the Illawarra nursery by the powers that be at the time.

Wayne put those degenerates in there place.

When he left, the degenerates milked the premiership for another how many years.

The St George board is a disgrace, hence WIN.

 

[TheRev]

I do agree Stefano coming here makes little sense to me, that said if he is determined to leave (for some reason we don't know about) and only has Sydney teams to choose from.. well.. nothing is impossible.. I also cant imagine we would offer much more than the 800k he already has on the table either.

 

[Rod Coil]

I would take Stefano in a heartbeat. There, I said it.

 

[Lennyb]

Carryonnus on 360 tonight. Must be a Souths fan now.

 

[Hound of Dracula]

I would take Stefano in a heartbeat. There, I said it.

I agree!

Oops - It just came out!

 

[<StGeorgeDragons>]

From the SMH.
Jack Bird, a shame

Jack Bird, meanwhile, will remain a Dragon for at least another season after taking up the option in his contract for 2025.

There was a mutual option in Bird’s current deal for next season, which needed to be triggered before June 30. The former Blues representative opted to activate it before the deadline to give himself and the club certainty over his future

Depth signing hopefully.

 

[Hound of Dracula]

Depth signing hopefully.

I

I'll take this awkward opportunity to award you my grade!

B-

I just feel that he will, when fit, always be in the first 13 at centre.

Hope I'm wrong and you are right.