The Rumours Thread

[denis preston]

Ok I’m going to address the elephant in the room…. once again the Dragons off season recruiting has been abysmal compared to other teams. We were told that come November 1 the Coffers would be opened and there would be quality recruits. We were told by the CEO that KF was a stop gap halfback for last year and that we would be very active in the recruitment market. Nothing to date…

Shane Flannaghan told us “We have a plan”… stick with us. And yet here we are half way through November and nothing. Other clubs making announcements on a daily basis yet absolutely nothing from our blokes… not even a serious rumour.

I feel we have been mislead with all the promises of a new dynasty …. we have a new executive team… all means nothing unless you have a “WINNING” football team.

Time will tell if you have gone off prematurely!

 

[mattw5]

Curran will not be at the Bulldogs in 2027, he will go to the team that pays the most and we are in the mix along with Perth & the Cowboys.

 

[jay mac]

Conspiracy theory crap. But if even that nonsense was true, I'd rather a premiership winner who represented the club with class his entire career hold the prestigious title of most capped player instead of a player who made a grand total of 3 finals apperances in his entire career with the club, derailed our 2019 season before it began and was part of one of the most depressing decades of Dragon's history I can remember......
The most capped player should be a legend. JDB ain't that.

You forgot to include that he hid under a table.

 

[qld redvee]

You forgot to include that he hid under a table.

wasnt it a bed

 

[twinkletoes]

Time will tell if you have gone off prematurely!

I always was premature

 

[Bayside Dragon]

I think Jack was very easily our best forward in 2025.. Klem picked it up at the back half.. we need to replace them with atleast 1 thicc boy who can do that first big hitup.. my fear is even if we do land a decent prop its looking like 2027.. remembering we held that #30 position open up all season hoping someone would become available.

But yes we desperately need Toby, Ryan (and Dylan) to stay fit and healthy in 2026.. but even if they do, we're still 1 big body short (2 ideally).. and chances are they won't all stay fit... dont mean to be a downer.. but just realistically injuries happen.. especially to younger guys who arent hardened yet, you dont get full seasons out of kids... Toby/Ryan are a little bit older.. but still young.. and Ryan missed the entire season too... plus they are taking hitups they shouldnt be... i.e. they really shouldnt be taking too many of those first hitups.. theyre better to follow up the thicc boy, we want to utilise their footwork and superior fitness in attack/defence.. long minutes etc.. but not impact.

Good post. Just answered why Cake will continue being featured in the 17 in 2026.

 

[Macedonian Dragon]

I really don’t understand why we aren’t reported going for Keaon. Eels and Raiders want him but don’t have as much salary cap space as us. We can easily get him for around 900-950k and stop wasting time trying to overpay for Tino at 1.5mil. If we waste time and miss out on Tino and then be too late for Keaon, it’ll be an absolute disaster.

 

[mattw5]

I really don’t understand why we aren’t reported going for Keaon. Eels and Raiders want him but don’t have as much salary cap space as us. We can easily get him for around 900-950k and stop wasting time trying to overpay for Tino at 1.5mil. If we waste time and miss out on Tino and then be too late for Keaon, it’ll be an absolute disaster.

We are too tight or have been told they are not interested in coming.

 

[adragon4over50years]

i feel halangahu as well is an option there

In the last 5 games that a very young Jacob Halangahu played, he made 148 tackles and missed only 4. He would be a very capable option as you mentioned Biglance

 

[The Word]

In the last 5 games that a very young Jacob Halangahu played, he made 148 tackles and missed only 4. He would be a very capable option as you mentioned Biglance

In my opinion he’s the best of the lot. He’ll be one of our leaders. I’m hoping LPT has more impact this year as he’s the only junior coming through atm with genuine size.

 

[Maximus]

Forget Tino

He'll only forget Tino when he finds a new name to spam endlessly. It used to be Haas, then he moved on to Tino.

 

[saints4ever]

Indeed
Ridiculous

 

[twinkletoes]

Broncos now sniffing around Tino

 

[saints4ever]

Tino is holding out to see what Haas is doing

 

[Murfy]

It looks like in terms of big names we have been told we aren’t in the mix. I reckon Ando is looking at the younger player who are on the cusp of becoming a star. They might not be household names now or have even played any nrl but he has confidence they will be a star. He did mention on the podcast that if you aren’t one of the big clubs and the big names come talking to you, you have to look at the younger players that you can see becoming stars. Makes sense why we aren’t filling our our remaining spots for 26 cause apparently we aren’t holding out hope that some of these signings for 27 will be allowed to come early. Not sure your keaons, Penrith boys etc would be allowed to do that. Not sure who the players we would be looking at running my eyes over the off contract list but interested to see what plays out.

 

[twinkletoes]

It looks like in terms of big names we have been told we aren’t in the mix. I reckon Ando is looking at the younger player who are on the cusp of becoming a star. They might not be household names now or have even played any nrl but he has confidence they will be a star. He did mention on the podcast that if you aren’t one of the big clubs and the big names come talking to you, you have to look at the younger players that you can see becoming stars. Makes sense why we aren’t filling our our remaining spots for 26 cause apparently we aren’t holding out hope that some of these signings for 27 will be allowed to come early. Not sure your keaons, Penrith boys etc would be allowed to do that. Not sure who the players we would be looking at running my eyes over the off contract list but interested to see what plays out.

So as we suspect another rebuilding year

 

[mattw5]

So as we suspect another rebuilding year

Always was going to be that Tim Watsford told me this a members fan day. They expect to make a rise in 2027 & 2028.

 

[Murfy]

So as we suspect another rebuilding year

Think the expectation is a few of our juniors make the leap to origin players/ contention in 2027/28 (Couchman x2, Egan, Stewart) with Loko and Halangahu close behind. These guys are the bones of our side going forward. All the signings will complement them and add what these guys are missing.

By 2027 when all these guys have taken the next step and we are a better footy side adding the top off contract players will be so much more attainable.

 

[thebigredv]

If Vlandys is really a man of the rugby league people then he will rejig the whole application of the salary cap as it stands in 2025. The cap did its job fir a while but now we clearly see the star players rotate around the power clubs and those with 'influential' men at the helm. This is why Broncos were able to rebuild so quickly after a couple lean seasons, just for example.

Conversely, look how the same clubs flounder around unable to get anyone unless they offer half their cap. We, being the absolute worst of the lot.

Meanwhile, in other related news, Victor Radley will only miss 5 matches of the season (half the penalty he was punished with) because of his England rep games. Who didn't see that coming? We are not all fools who thinks this is a fair competition.

 

[twinkletoes]

If Vlandys is really a man of the rugby league people then he will rejig the whole application of the salary cap as it stands in 2025. The cap did its job fir a while but now we clearly see the star players rotate around the power clubs and those with 'influential' men at the helm. This is why Broncos were able to rebuild so quickly after a couple lean seasons, just for example.

Conversely, look how the same clubs flounder around unable to get anyone unless they offer half their cap. We, being the absolute worst of the lot.

Meanwhile, in other related news, Victor Radley will only miss 5 matches of the season (half the penalty he was punished with) because of his England rep games. Who didn't see that coming? We are not all fools who thinks this is a fair competition.

Bulldogs and Tigers were basket cases at bottom of ladder not so long ago…. they have recruited massively compared to us in last 3 years…. so it’s not because we are a floundering club that we can’t recruit. Anderson may prove to be more savvy than Haran and Flano but it will take him some time to undo the previous damage