Wesser To Souths

[Newcastlerabbit]

Wesser To Souths
Roosters in Hunt for Mini replacement
Dan Koch and Brent Read | July 18, 2008

THE Roosters are preparing for the possibility of life without star fullback Anthony Minichiello and have earmarked the man who replaced him in Australia's Test side, Brisbane ace Karmichael Hunt, to fill the sizeable void his departure would leave.

Minichiello's career with the tri-colours hangs by a thread, as the hard-running custodian battles to overcome the latest in a series of spinal problems. Having battled chronic back injuries for the past three seasons, Minichiello was last month grounded by a bulging disc in his neck.

While the determined 172- game veteran has vowed to return before the finals series, his long-term future is in grave doubt.

Those doubts are believed to have led to the Roosters floating the possibility of luring Hunt when his contract expires at the end of 2009.

With Wayne Bennett at the helm of St George Illawarra next season, and the club flush with funds due to the departure of Jason Ryles, Mark Gasnier and Josh Morris, the Dragons are also believed to be ready to make a play for Hunt. And the Panthers could also join the race should Rhys Wesser accept an offer to join Souths in the spring.

Hunt has indicated his first preference would be to remain with the Broncos, but said he would consider any offers.

Complicating the issue for Brisbane, which will need to offer Hunt a significant contract upgrade, is the fact captain Darren Lockyer also comes off-contract at the end of 2009.

Assistant coach Ivan Henjak, who takes over as head coach next season, said he was desperate to retain the star duo.

"They are together next year and we will worry about 2010 then," Henjak said.

"The club will talk to both managers when the time is right and hopefully they can work something out. I am certainly hopeful they will both be able to stay with us."

Of more immediate concern to Henjak was tonight's derby with the injury-ravaged North Queensland Cowboys.

Coming off a surprise loss to the second-last placed Bulldogs last week, Henjak said there would be no excuse for any complacency from the Broncos.

"It's not dissimilar to last week against the Bulldogs when we were expected to win and we came up short," Henjak said.

"We've certainly talked about the ambush. And it's not going to be an ambush because we know it's coming."

Veteran lock Tonie Carroll was ruled out yesterday with an ankle injury. Ashton Sims moves into the starting line-up. David Stagg has also dropped back to the bench from the centres in favour of Joel Moon.

"There's no pressure on them. They're not expected to win," Henjak said. "They've lost 10 in a row and this is a game where they can redeem themselves.

Cowboys coach Ian Millward called on star off-season signing Travis Burns to start repaying the debt he owes the club after a season which has been riddled with injury and suspension.

"Travis will play there and he probably owes the club something," Millward said.

"He owes us a couple. He probably owes the club eight good games to end the year.

"I'm pretty confident (Burns) understands what we want from him and he's pretty excited about the challenge."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...012431,00.html

 

[NZ Warrior]

Someone check his "used by" first. I'm not sure about this one.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

If we signed Wesser and that excluded us from being able to make an offer for Hunt, that would be the worst signing decision in history!

 

[murraymob]

there is no reason you can not offord both
Nigel Vagana ... his money to hunt
Ben rogers ... his money to Wesser

 

[Dave Q]

Wesser could and should come at a reasonable discount.

He boasts an RPI of -2 which means he's slighty worse than the average player atm.

You find he's particularly strong in some areas but not others. Unstable.

Hunt is a +2 this year. Underperforming I think....not worth big money IMO.

Plus he turned his back on NZ and that might create some dissention amongst the guys.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

I think a fair slab of Vagana's money will have already been spent. Sandow, Capewell and a few other youngsters have been upgraded and they are looking to upgrade Isaac Luke again. Wesser would be a quality siging for us if we offered him say 1 year with an option in our favour for 2 but judging by what I have seen from Richo, it'll be more likely 3 years with an option in Wesser's favour for 4. Then he'll play a year and a half in 1sts and spend the rest of his time with the Bears. You cannot sign blokes near 30 to long term deals anymore.

 

[African Monkey]

Yeah i'd give him 1-2 years max but anymore than that is just stupid.

 

[Aaron_sfas]

I think a fair slab of Vagana's money will have already been spent. Sandow, Capewell and a few other youngsters have been upgraded and they are looking to upgrade Isaac Luke again. Wesser would be a quality siging for us if we offered him say 1 year with an option in our favour for 2 but judging by what I have seen from Richo, it'll be more likely 3 years with an option in Wesser's favour for 4. Then he'll play a year and a half in 1sts and spend the rest of his time with the Bears. You cannot sign blokes near 30 to long term deals anymore.

the sooner they upgrade luke the better. he and sandow are our future

 

[Ike E Bear]

If I was a betting man I'd say Hunt will be wearing a Red V. Those guys deadset love Bennett and will follow him when and if they can.

Plus, I think he'll cost more than he'd be worth.

A discounted Wesser would be fine in my opinion ... if he ends up playing at the Bears or on the wing for the discounted $160,000 or so it'd cost then it wouldn't be too bad. Not as bad as the current situation where a $1 million of Rabbitohs money is lining up for the Bears.

Comparing like for like, Wesser doesn't compare too badly stats-wise to many of the fullbacks playing this year. His stats are definitely better than Merritt's, although the fact that Nath has played most of the season on the wing might invalidate that a bit (which should also be considered in terms of Wesser being compared to other fullbacks since his been on the wing in recent weeks too).

If you discount Slater, who is a deadset freak playing for an outstanding team, Rhys is mainly let down by a slightly higher rate of missed tackles compared to other fullbacks.

His averages
All Run Metres - 99.88
Linebreaks - 0.47
Missed Tackles - 1.82
Errors - 1.06

Karmichael Hunt
ARM - 108.69
LB - 0.38
MT - 1.54
E - 0.69

Preston Campbell
ARM - 100.47
LB - 0.59
MT - 1.35
E - 1.12

Brett Stewart
ARM - 111.86
LB - 0.5
MT - 1.43
E - 1.14

I think it'd be fair to say that Rhys is past his best, but I think he's still got a bit to offer. Shrug.

 

[thehattrickrabbit]

So Is Hunt off-contract this year or next ?

Billy Slater is off-contract at the end of next year.

We should make a play for one of them two for sure.

I wouldnt bother with Wesser really, although we did sign David Peachey and he was a great short-term signing for the club.

I dont see how Wesser would help the club though imo, not much of an upgrade from Merritt.

 

[Dave Q]

In my form studies to date, I am amazed to find so many big names with so little to offer.

Weve managed to lift Simpson, Capewell and Sandow.

With Lang on board I think we now have enough strike-power in the training stakes to lift a good player.... with the fundamentals intact .....up to a reasonable NRL level. Fresh young meat who can still play footy without too many chronic injuries.

And when in doubt, there is always the Panthers juniors ranks to purge.

 

[monkey1]

I think a fair slab of Vagana's money will have already been spent. Sandow, Capewell and a few other youngsters have been upgraded and they are looking to upgrade Isaac Luke again. Wesser would be a quality siging for us if we offered him say 1 year with an option in our favour for 2 but judging by what I have seen from Richo, it'll be more likely 3 years with an option in Wesser's favour for 4. Then he'll play a year and a half in 1sts and spend the rest of his time with the Bears. You cannot sign blokes near 30 to long term deals anymore.

guallavo 350000 and cusacks monney not to mention the dead wood

 

[mxlegend99]

Rhys Wesser has been solid this season.

Although i guarantee the Panthers won't be making any serious offers for Karmichael Hunt. We're only trying to offload Rhys Wesser because we have Lachlan Coote who is just too good not to have in first grade.

Wesser would be a solid purchase for the Souths. His only real issue IMO is he can be poor under the high ball at times, and can be poor in defence at the back. Otherwise he is in pretty good form and still has plenty of pace and is great at busting tackles.

 

[mxlegend99]

And when in doubt, there is always the Panthers juniors ranks to purge.

Get Rhys Wesser in the short term, and offer Zoram Watene a contract in the longterm. He isn't the biggest bloke, but his attack would more then compensate for any defensive issue he has due to his size.

 

[Satsok]

wesser has done what the rest of the panthers have done since they won the comp ... SWEET f**k ALL!

if we sign him, jesus christ we must be desperate..

 

[Zetland Rabbit]

Wesser would be a good buy for a 2 year period, (1 year contract with option for second) if he came cheap. After that God id love to make a bid on Slater who is a freak and the best fullback in the game by a county mile.

Slaters contract with Melb doesn't expire till the end of 2010.

Below is a good website with players contracts durations FYI:

http://people.aapt.net.au/darrylbradford/2009_mov.htm

Agree Hunt is very good, but may not gel with Roy, Bully, Frog and Co after the NZ Test side selection dramas...????

I still think we should make a bid on Karmichael Hunt anyway if not to expensive.

 

[Matrix]

We have Rogers,Smith, Manoukafoa,possibly Vagana and a few others leaving plus Cusack and Galuvaos money. We have only signed Best and upgraded a few contracts, we should have plenty left under the cap, but I would only take Wesser if penrith paid at least half.

 

[Appin Rabbit]

What would we want with that washed up bum No Thanks let's go for HUNT.

 

[Dave Q]

Potential pick-ups

*Brad Morrin (playing well)
*Jesse Royal ( worth decent cashola)
*Steve Turner (playing well)
*Mitch Brown ( satisfactory)

Surely that lot shouldnt bankrupt us.

 

[Sugar]

We should hold out until Slater,Inglis and Hunt come off contract and throw the entire nest egg at one off them to wear the Red & Green