Tigers Sign Corey Payne

[themanonthehill]

Maybe he was signed to pop offloads for junior burger when Hodgo leaves ?

 

[simon says]

Someone posted above he has size?????? He's aboput 6 foot 1, but seriously lightweight for a second rower - he's barely 96kgs.

Agreed he has some potential however Sheensy will need to make him work on his error rate and the amount of penalties he gives away. Started ok a couple of years back, but has never been the same since his couple of really serious concussions he suffered this season and the season before.

He is listed at the start of the last season as 188cm and 102 kg.

I reckon he has beefed up since then.

And you cant measure aggression in cm and kg.

 

[N.C.]

Just spoke to a mate of mine who is a Kogarah boy through and through. He hadn't heard the news. He was a bit distraught when I asked him for the goods on this guy.

"Big bopper with a fair bit of potential - I can't believe our forward pack is being picked to pieces" pretty much sums up his response.

I think some new blood in the second row, despite our obvious existing depth in the area, is not a bad thing. But I guess that will all depend on the extent to which Sheens wants to play favourites next season. If people aren't performing, why keep them in the side when there are a half-dozen potential replacements training hard and lining up for a run?

I'll be rather jaded if we don't sign some good players in other key positions, but I don't regard the signing of Payne as a major debacle in it's own right.

We shall see...

 

[rupertpupkin]

If it is that important, and the crowd of 2nd rowers we already have, is so lacking in this department, that we have to blow what little there is, on yet another 2nd rower... ensuring it is yet harder to obtain what position/s are desperately needed... why retain the bunch of ineffective 2nd rowers that we have? Let alone upgrade and/or extend their contracts?

 

[N.C.]

He is listed at the start of the last season as 188cm and 102 kg.

I reckon he has beefed up since then.

And you cant measure aggression in cm and kg.

Tigers web announcement says:

Corey Payne File
DOB: 7/5/84
Place: Sydney
Junior Club: Chester Hill
Position: Lock/second-row
Height: 186cm: Weight: 96kg
Rep Honours: Nil
Previous Clubs: St George-Illawarra Dragons 2005-2007
First grade debut: St George Illawarra Dragons v Bulldogs, Telstra Stadium, 11/3/05 (Rd 1).
First grade games: 47

But I agree, just because he's not 118kg's doesn't mean he's a soft touch.

 

[N.C.]

If it is that important, and the crowd of 2nd rowers we already have, is so lacking in this department, that we have to blow what little there is, on yet another 2nd rower... ensuring it is yet harder to obtain what position/s are desperately needed... why retain the bunch of ineffective 2nd rowers that we have? Let alone upgrade and/or extend their contracts?

What makes you think there's nothing left in the bank?

All I'm saying is Payne will be a useful addition to the pack, but he's hardly the answer to our problems.

 

[themanonthehill]

MAybe we are going to revert to our style of 2001 and 2002. We'll trade Benji and get Fitzy back at 5/8. Have 3,000 forwards and we'll piss farah off and sign lincoln withers. This will all free up valuable cap space so the geniused wayne cousins can put out a press release headlined `Superstar SHannon a Tiger for life' and pen a press release with more fantasy about the genius that the Harry Potter collection. He has form for it

 

[rupertpupkin]

What makes you think there's nothing left in the bank?

All I'm saying is Payne will be a useful addition to the pack, but he's hardly the answer to our problems.

The post was intended to address the concept that it is a good buy, due to a dire need of aggression and size, in the 2nd row. Have been led to believe, from a number of statements, that WT has little to nothing left under the cap, even after the departures this season. Not asserting that this is the god's-honest-truth, just that is what has been implied.

RE- Payne, certainly he may be an OK buy, as far as 2nd rowers go. But, why yet another 2nd rower? If the 2nd rowers on the books are so lacking, that Payne is not just going to be an effective addition, but a much needed one, why retain the backrowers (both normal, and "manufactured") that are lacking these qualities? If WT were shedding more of these passengers, then Payne's sig would make more sense. Because WT have more pressing issues, in regards positions. Unless Payne has been obtained to play another position? Kind of like Morris the utility to be HB, D.Galea the centre to be a 2nd rower etc.

In agreement with your question, basically.

 

[madunit]

At the start of the 2008 season, the following players need to be told that if they don't perform better than they ever have every week, they will have their contracts terminated.

Dean Collis
Danny Galea
Dene Halatau
Benji Marshall
John Morris
Ryan O'Hara
Keith Galloway

These guys are taking up a lot of our cap and quite frankly, they have been playing below par for almost 2 complete seasons now.

These guys are getting paid better coin than they would get at other clubs, and they are comfortable here, thus, there is no real incentive for them to play really well anymore.

This started becoming quite evident towards the end of the season.

 

[themanonthehill]

Mate Benji is a kid who has had a horror run with injuries. He's playing beside a spastic in John Morris and has been brought back early so many teams because his coach knows (like most of us know deep down) that he is our matchwinner and game breaker. Whatever we are paying Benji mate pays for itself with bums on seats, TV exposure, sponsors etc. In essence we ain't paying him 400k, he is making us a million a yr.

Collis was playing on one leg last yr mate. Was meant to be out for a month after melbourne at gosford and was back the next week but not on all cylinders. He is utter utter class.

Halatau might well head back to the centres .. runs hard and straight, decent defender, decent pace and can still scoot from dummy half

 

[rupertpupkin]

At the start of the 2008 season, the following players need to be told that if they don't perform better than they ever have every week, they will have their contracts terminated.

Dean Collis
Danny Galea
Dene Halatau
Benji Marshall
John Morris
Ryan O'Hara
Keith Galloway

These guys are taking up a lot of our cap and quite frankly, they have been playing below par for almost 2 complete seasons now.

These guys are getting paid better coin than they would get at other clubs, and they are comfortable here, thus, there is no real incentive for them to play really well anymore.

This started becoming quite evident towards the end of the season.

Agreed on all those (though have not actually seen much of D.Galea). There are more than just a couple of players, who have been handsomely signed, resigned, extended, upgraded since 2005 (or later).

 

[N.C.]

Mate Benji is a kid who has had a horror run with injuries. He's playing beside a spastic in John Morris and has been brought back early so many teams because his coach knows (like most of us know deep down) that he is our matchwinner and game breaker. Whatever we are paying Benji mate pays for itself with bums on seats, TV exposure, sponsors etc. In essence we ain't paying him 400k, he is making us a million a yr.

Collis was playing on one leg last yr mate. Was meant to be out for a month after melbourne at gosford and was back the next week but not on all cylinders. He is utter utter class.

Halatau might well head back to the centres .. runs hard and straight, decent defender, decent pace and can still scoot from dummy half

Which way do you want it - a winning team, or a financially sustainable club?

The two are by no means mutually exclusive, but when all your eggs are in the one basket as far as both of those desired outcomes goes, and the basket turns out to be full of holes, then you've got some serious problems on your hands. Benji is a wunderkind, no doubt about it, but he's not going to win matches (or comps) on his own, and whether he's playing beside Prince, Morris, Farah or Kimmorley is quite beside the point.

You want a club with a sustainable future, both on and off the field, then you've got to spread the load a little.

I agree that Collis is the goods but he underperformed last year, but I can't see Halatau in the starting side unless he has some kind of a major epiphony during the off-season...

 

[Spank]

I think Galloway showed plenty of potential last year, but he needs to cement his palce this year... potential wont cut it for another year.

 

[themanonthehill]

When Benji is fit and has a decent (even adequate) half beside him he is a world beater. We have all seen what he can do and we all know that in 05 no benji = no comp. He's still a kid and has had a horror run with injuries, all of which must be playing on his mind. He is the best option at 5/8 and if you can suggest a better 5/8 for us to pursue should we get rid I'm all ears.

I also know that if we don't retain him whoever signs him will have him and get 8 injury free years out of him and we'll be crying what if for the next decade. I don't think as a club we can afford to let him go. If we don't tie him up there'll be a stack of clubs that will be after him, for mega bucks because he is a sound football decision and a sound business decision

 

[Gus22]

Benji is an absolute must, agree with everything you said.
Wonder what would happen if you got your wish & Sheens went to St. Illawarra. Considering he has stated on more than one occasion that "as long as Sheens is here, I'm here", next year will be interesting.

IMO there is an even chance of Sheens leaving after 2008. If he were to go to another club I wonder if Benji would follow.

 

[madunit]

Mate Benji is a kid who has had a horror run with injuries. He's playing beside a spastic in John Morris and has been brought back early so many teams because his coach knows (like most of us know deep down) that he is our matchwinner and game breaker. Whatever we are paying Benji mate pays for itself with bums on seats, TV exposure, sponsors etc. In essence we ain't paying him 400k, he is making us a million a yr.

he ain't winning many games for us though at the moment. I know he's a great player, but theres no point in paying a sh*tload of money to a great player who is on the sideline for 75% of the season, and is unable to organise the players on the field. As much as Morris is a sh*thouse half, Benji needs to do some organising out there as a half. I highly doubt Lockyer, Daley, Fittler et al did no organising whatsoever when they played at five eighth. And he needs to learn how to tackle properly. He's only been told a million times and suffered a sh*tload of shoulder injuries because of it.

Collis was playing on one leg last yr mate. Was meant to be out for a month after melbourne at gosford and was back the next week but not on all cylinders. He is utter utter class.

After the City v Country game he played like an absolute nuffy, even prior to his injury. A few good games don't make a great season. Also needs to learn how to tackle.

Halatau might well head back to the centres .. runs hard and straight, decent defender, decent pace and can still scoot from dummy half

Halatau has been disappointing for two seasons now, no matter where he plays. He showed some quality in 2005, but thats a long time ago now.

 

[madunit]

I think Galloway showed plenty of potential last year, but he needs to cement his palce this year... potential wont cut it for another year.

Potential. That word is antiquated nowadays.

These guys have been playing first grade together for at least 3 seasons now. Potential is a tag you put on a premier league player.

We can't win grand finals on potentially good players.

Especially when they've played 3 or 4 seasons with little improvement in first grade.

 

[madunit]

When Benji is fit and has a decent (even adequate) half beside him he is a world beater. We have all seen what he can do and we all know that in 05 no benji = no comp. He's still a kid and has had a horror run with injuries, all of which must be playing on his mind. He is the best option at 5/8 and if you can suggest a better 5/8 for us to pursue should we get rid I'm all ears.

I also know that if we don't retain him whoever signs him will have him and get 8 injury free years out of him and we'll be crying what if for the next decade. I don't think as a club we can afford to let him go. If we don't tie him up there'll be a stack of clubs that will be after him, for mega bucks because he is a sound football decision and a sound business decision

I dunno, not many teams showed much interest in Prince when the tigers bought him, because he was seen as a liability, spending a heap of money on a guy who is injured for the majority of seasons, isn't really a decision made people with good business acumen.

If Benji were to leave, I bet no club would pay him 400k a season, he's defensively weak, he's a liability with injuries and he is a poor organiser.

He has a lot more to fix in his game before he warrants 400k a season anywhere else.

 

[themanonthehill]

Mad Unit city v country was on the thurs and the melb game was the sat night at Gosford. He was injured in the last minute or 2 of that and was playing on one leg. Collis is a class centre and a real footballer with a magnificent offload that was too good.

I also just know that if we let Benji go some other club is gonna have him for 8 yrs and he won't miss a game. He's young, fast, skilful and a matchwinner. We have to keep him

 

[madunit]

Mad Unit city v country was on the thurs and the melb game was the sat night at Gosford. He was injured in the last minute or 2 of that and was playing on one leg.

Sorry, I thought for some reason you said Sharks. I realise i got that arse about now.