The Rumours Thread

[mattw5]

De Belin's career is almost over, M Molo I can't imagine gets another extension, Eisenhuth doesn't have long left, RFM is coming off contract and may not be re-signed. There is plenty of opportunity opening up for the Couchman's and I doubt they want to leave and I would say we want to keep them. I don't see us losing either of them at this stage. If we do, we are even worse than I possibly imagined. There is probably already an agreement of some sort, whether it be a done deal, or a wait and see how much first grade they play early next season to determine their value for their next contract/s. I don't feel it's a pressing matter if the club wants to keep players who also want to stay. A deal will get done, but in saying that, we do have to remain vigilant and not just piss around like we've done in the past.

What is the hype around Finau i don't understand it's not detrimental if we lose him seems too injury prone.

 

[Jubilee]

Really irrational stuff. Signs of certain things influencing their behaviour maybe??

This is very possible. It may be through the entire club.

 

[Slippery Morris]

I am not too concerned about the Couchman's as I believe they will stay and have intentions of becoming 1 club men. In past interviews they talk highly about the club and love being part of it. I think the family is all massive dragon's fans. Another reason is that the good youngsters usually get chased by the big clubs and the press are all over it. The Couchman's have not been in the press or linked with others. I am sure clubs like the Dogs would have been sniffing around but must have been told not to bother. Just like Iro at the Sharks. He had an outstanding season and I was surprised Saints did not chase him like they did Blaize but that is probably why as he clearly was not interested in moving. Iro has now re-signed with the Sharks. I am sure they will work it out with the Couchman boys soon but possibly waiting to see what players they bring in and they fill the roster.

I think Flanno's experience will see him bring in quality players with the right attitude. With all these off field dramas to come, Saints may snap up a pretty good player out of the blue. Now Ezra Mamm, if he somehow becomes available, that will be the Ben Barba type player Flanno would get the best out of like he did at the Sharks when Ben was on the outer. I see them pretty similar. But it sounds like the stand down rule will apply and he will be wasting a year or 2 waiting on the courts. This is when we see how pathetic the Saints Management was as the Bronco's will get some salary cap exemption for this and actually use it somehow snag Ben Hunt, whilst Saints did nothing when JDB was out to cover the loss.

 

[TheRev]

Yes I cant understand the lack of action from Dragons management to renew the Couchman and Finau contracts?, I thought they were the future obviously not, back to the drawing board then !

I commented before that these 3 were very hard to price.. Flanno I have no doubt will have offered them a modest offer, but its in their best interest to a) test the market and/or b) play some 1st grade footy in 2025 in order to prove their worth and improve their contracts.

The Couchies are either fringe bench props, or they are the future captains of the club.. how do you price that? Being 2 of them adds twice the squad risk also (if they dont work out).... Sione is as good a wing prospect as we have currently, but is injured a lot and has yet to put together a block of games in 1st grade, how do you price that? Sione however is a melbourne boy so no real ties here, his brother I dont think will be extended either.. Couchies are different.. I would think they r staying put, its just money.

 

[Old Timer]

OT,
1. can you enlighten me why the 2024 squad was substantially better than 2022. Looks comparable to me.
2. Your soft draw rant does not wash unless you pull apart the whole season and every game analysis looking at every mechanism of the draw which you have not so you are clutching at straws to dour anyone that dare see some light with our coach who you hate (that is clear as a bell)
3. It was not a marvellous nor successful year, we had defensive issues and yes fizzed out when we had a chance..but their were a lot of subtle improvements when you take your blinkers off.. on field
4. The fact is Sua, Suli and Lomax improved this year greatly under Flanno.. cant credit a soft draw for that..riduculous notion.
5. You are right it was a comparable overall season to 2022 but was that a soft draw too?

Don’t your points 3 & 4 already answer your own question about the quality of the squads or do you also need reminding that the 2022 side had Mybe, Mc Cullough, Mc Guire, Burns, Gosieweski, Woods, Burgess and Amone in its ranks?

If they are equal to the 2024 squad then who would you swap any of them for?

Liddle, Leilua certainly huge upgrades on what we had especially as they weren’t sin binned or constantly suspended like others.

Kyle Flanagan, Tom Eisenhuth were considered good signings or are you saying they aren’t?

3 byes and play the 2 premier teams in the comp during origin was certainly a softer draw and on top of that 2024 had the complete implosion of Souths, Broncos and Eels who have all sacked their coaches.

But somehow in your opinion it was like for like well I don’t agree and TBH I don’t think anyone with a fair mind would.

 

[KingFlanno7]

Interesting..7:30min in Flanno says we are pretty close to getting a good union player

 

[Parko1310]

Interesting..7:30min in Flanno says we are pretty close to getting a good union player

Interesting, would have to be back you would think as union forwards don't tend to make the transition

 

[Saints Forever]

Interesting..7:30min in Flanno says we are pretty close to getting a good union player

I hope it’s a gun half back

 

[Jubilee]

Interesting, would have to be back you would think as union forwards don't tend to make the transition

Tyrone Thompson, Leo's brother? Or the guy they were scouting to come over mid year this year?

 

[since77]

This is very possible. It may be through the entire club

To be fair I think that particular vice is probably a problem within most clubs and it wouldn't surprise me if its sprinkled (poor choice of words!) to some extent throughout ours too. The question for me is - are the clubs aware of it and turning a blind eye until they have to act because a player gets caught? I find it hard to believe that clubs with certain notorious marquee players (like a certain overhyped clown in Dubbo) are blindsided when these players are "allegedly" caught in the act.
We only get to see the cases that someone either photographs / videos and then puts out on social media or if they get caught by the police. Imagine all the cases we don't ever hear about. Huge problem IMO.

 

[Victoire]

Intriguing! I know the lawsuit he's talking about involves the Melbourne Rebels, so perhaps it's one of them? I never watch Yawnion so I don't know any of the players

 

[St Tangles]

Interesting..7:30min in Flanno says we are pretty close to getting a good union player

We have been close to signing a few players

Would be good if we landed a few

 

[redandwhite4evr]

For what it's worth (and it may be worth nothing), Peter Peters claimed on 2KY Sunday morning big sports program that Flanno had effectively caught the Craig Young disease of many years ago when he was in charge of Dragons recruitment. He said that player managers were avoiding him due to him being difficult to deal with resulting in us missing out on players who fans could reasonably have expected us to sign.

As far as I'm concerned if the club (and particularly our very ordinary ex CEO Ryan Webb ) had their act together, Flanno wouldn't be in the position of having to be a (probably) very stressed one man band.

 

[since77]

For what it's worth (and it may be worth nothing), Peter Peters claimed on 2KY Sunday morning big sports program that Flanno had effectively caught the Craig Young disease of many years ago when he was in charge of Dragons recruitment. He said that player managers were avoiding him due to him being difficult to deal with resulting in us missing out on players who fans could reasonably have expected us to sign.

Another way of saying that might be that Flanno isn't letting player managers bend us over and have their way with us like they have in the past. Good for Flanno.
Did they have to airlift Peter Peters out of his house with a helicopter to get him to 2KY?

 

[getsmarty]

Return home on cards for Wishart as rivals circle

The Storm have a club option for the utility in 2026.

www.zerotackle.com

 

[Hound of Dracula]

To be fair I think that particular vice is probably a problem within most clubs and it wouldn't surprise me if its sprinkled (poor choice of words!) to some extent throughout ours too. The question for me is - are the clubs aware of it and turning a blind eye until they have to act because a player gets caught? I find it hard to believe that clubs with certain notorious marquee players (like a certain overhyped clown in Dubbo) are blindsided when these players are "allegedly" caught in the act.
We only get to see the cases that someone either photographs / videos and then puts out on social media or if they get caught by the police. Imagine all the cases we don't ever hear about. Huge problem IMO.

The reason Cocaine is player's drug of choice?
Here's the typical detection times by test type:

• Urine: up to 4 days
• Blood: up to 2 days
• Saliva: up to 2 days
• Hair: up to 3 months

I highly doubt the players association will allow 'Hair testing', so unless there is a very strict and costly testing regime, players will get away with it and only get caught via on-line photos and unplanned police stops.

 

[redandwhite4evr]

Another way of saying that might be that Flanno isn't letting player managers bend us over and have their way with us like they have in the past. Good for Flanno.
Did they have to airlift Peter Peters out of his house with a helicopter to get him to 2KY?

Phoned in from his sun deck on the northern beaches more likely.

 

[Dragon David]

Dragons target Storm star to play No.7 amid conjecture over Hunt’s future — Transfer Whispers

Dragons target Storm star to play No.7 amid conjecture over Hunt’s future — Transfer Whispers

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[justadragon]

There are 3 of our blokes on market from Nov 1 that would be sought after, Sione and the Couchmans.. looks like all 3 will go to market by the sound of it, to be fair though.. all 3 are very difficult to price.

If Sione had remain uninjured, he would have played atleast another half dozen games of first grade.. and he was my first pick for right wing in 2025.. but if hes leaving.. he prob drops down the heirachy.. and lets see if JAC signs.

Although we do have really young wingers in Kirk/Williams or one of the young fullbacks in Sloan/BRumble/Borg that could maybe play wing... setting aside Sloan for now.. the rest are yet to start their reserve grade journey.. I dont think any of them looked so good in Flegg that they will be 19 or 20yr old prodigies.. so there is atleast 2yrs I'd suggest that we need to fill with older players.

I cannot believe we are sending the couchmans to market, if we lose these guys I will be well and truly pissed off.

 

[Jubilee]

To be fair I think that particular vice is probably a problem within most clubs and it wouldn't surprise me if its sprinkled (poor choice of words!) to some extent throughout ours too. The question for me is - are the clubs aware of it and turning a blind eye until they have to act because a player gets caught? I find it hard to believe that clubs with certain notorious marquee players (like a certain overhyped clown in Dubbo) are blindsided when these players are "allegedly" caught in the act.
We only get to see the cases that someone either photographs / videos and then puts out on social media or if they get caught by the police. Imagine all the cases we don't ever hear about. Huge problem IMO.

Random testing is cheap and easy.