What will Maguire do to the roster?

[Mario chalmers]

Alright gents, lets talk forwards. I for one am fine with our current backs for 2019. Yes I would love an experienced centre to take up that left side spot, but its not gonna happen. Let Momo and Fonua fight it out for that spot.

Farah will cover 9 until Liddle is ready. If Liddle can't take the reigns in 2019, well I doubt he will get much of a contract extension then and Tigers will go into the market.

A lot of criticism regarding 2nd row but I think we are actually good here. Lawrence was a gun last season, he will take left edge. Matterson will likely make the right edge his own. Then we have MCK and Aloai putting pressure on them, with Garner still developing his game.
McQueen is also a wild card. Highly unlikely he will get back to regular FG, but would be crazy stroke of luck if Madge got him back to his bunny days.

Middle forwards - we are f**ked. Seriously, we are completely f**ked here. Packer, Matulino, Twal are the only established props, and while I like all 3 of them, they are not impact middle forwards. We have some juniors coming through but you can't just throw them in and expect them to shine. ET will likely play lock with Eseinhuth playing off the bench, but I just don't see it working. ET should re-develop as an 80 minute 2nd rower, not a middle forward.

Eseinhuth is a bit of a wildcard though. My prediction is that he will either excel under Madge and find his career best form, or won't be up to it and ship off to Super League.

We need an experienced Prop (not back rower) before Christmas

I hope we can sign Curtis Rona to play left centre. He was heavily linked to the club last year and has been dropped for the Wallabies tour. Had a great strike record before he left the NRL. Covers wing and centre too.

Aloiai is a middle forward for mine. He's been shipped around plenty of times but I don't think he has the stamina nor the mobility to play on the edge. I think Eiso should be lock forward and should be told to do less ball playing. That would leave 5 middles with Mikaele as the 6th.

McQueen was woeful in the magpie games I watched this year. He came through the grades at Souths and when I used to watch him play for the bears at North Sydney he'd often win MOM. That player is gone IMO. Rochow is another who is only ISP standard.

 

[gordsy]

I hope we can sign Curtis Rona to play left centre. He was heavily linked to the club last year and has been dropped for the Wallabies tour. Had a great strike record before he left the NRL. Covers wing and centre too.

Aloiai is a middle forward for mine. He's been shipped around plenty of times but I don't think he has the stamina nor the mobility to play on the edge. I think Eiso should be lock forward and should be told to do less ball playing. That would leave 5 middles with Mikaele as the 6th.

McQueen was woeful in the magpie games I watched this year. He came through the grades at Souths and when I used to watch him play for the bears at North Sydney he'd often win MOM. That player is gone IMO. Rochow is another who is only ISP standard.

He wouldn't be coming for small change though. Big risk going after someone who has been out of the game for several years now.

 

[benched tiger]

IMO the first two players Madge has to get rid of are Rochow and McQueen,both are ordinary and offer no impact to our team.

 

[Vic Mackey]

IMO the first two players Madge has to get rid of are Rochow and McQueen,both are ordinary and offer no impact to our team.

Agree but interesting to note that Madge has worked with them both in the past.

 

[Tigers Tale]

Agree but interesting to note that Madge has worked with them both in the past.

Like most I think McQueens best days are behind him but when he was first signed by the club I was happy simply because at his best he was a very good attacking backrower. I think you may be right Vic in that if anyone will get McQueen firing or anywhere close to his best again it will be Madge.

I also think Madge has the courage to say to McQueen if he can't get back to near his best because of his neck it is time to pull the plug on his career. In the first few weeks of next season we will know if McQueen is either up for it or not in Madge's top team.

 

[WT2K]

Can't see any club wanting to take on mcqueen and his 400k cap hit. We'd have to cover a large % just to move him and I can't see that happening. Unfortunately I think we'll be stuck with him for the duration of his contract. Just have to hope that madge can't get something out of him and rochow.

 

[Tiger05]

Can't see any club wanting to take on mcqueen and his 400k cap hit. We'd have to cover a large % just to move him and I can't see that happening. Unfortunately I think we'll be stuck with him for the duration of his contract. Just have to hope that madge can't get something out of him and rochow.

I assume you are hoping Madge can get something out of McQueen and Rochow. I think Rochow went okay last year. He did a good job at the start of the season but he fell away. I figure he is on minimal dollars though and will struggle to get a spot this year.

McQueen was a poor performer in reserve grade. I think it's really unlikely he comes good and he has a tonne of competition for an edge backrow spot.

Lawrence & Matterson to me are shoe-ins for the edge backrow spots. Then there is Chee-Kam & Garner as back-ups who I think performed a lot better than McQueen did last year.

I just think McQueen was a bad signing. It happens.

 

[Mario chalmers]

I assume you are hoping Madge can get something out of McQueen and Rochow. I think Rochow went okay last year. He did a good job at the start of the season but he fell away. I figure he is on minimal dollars though and will struggle to get a spot this year.

McQueen was a poor performer in reserve grade. I think it's really unlikely he comes good and he has a tonne of competition for an edge backrow spot.

Lawrence & Matterson to me are shoe-ins for the edge backrow spots. Then there is Chee-Kam & Garner as back-ups who I think performed a lot better than McQueen did last year.

I just think McQueen was a bad signing. It happens.

First 3 signings might be a sign of how the Madge era plays out at WT. We have too many backrowers.

If he moved 2 and replaced them with outside backs we'd have better balance.

 

[The Charlatan]

First 3 signings might be a sign of how the Madge era plays out at WT. We have too many backrowers.

If he moved 2 and replaced them with outside backs we'd have better balance.

Well he has inherited them all, that's not his fault.

However, we'll be really unlikely to unload McQueen or Rochow. Rochow surely wouldn't be on much more than a minimum contract, we rescued him from reggies in Melbourne. At least he could free up a space to utilise for a class centre, but he's gone at years end anyway. McQueen we have between f**k all and no chance of moving on. We'll just have to try to get something out of him until his contract lapses or hope he has a blinder and we can move him on for close to full fare.

MCK can go for all I care. He improved as the year went on but he's an average second rower and a poor centre. He has poor hands at times and gives away idiotic penalties. Garner will come on I reckon so we need to hold on to him.

 

[Shredder]

In terms of cap management it makes sense to have several minimum wage players in a team. It doesn't matter if they play grade or not - but having players earning smalls means we can make a play for the better players.

Where the issue now is, is roster spots. But if no players come onto the market that are decent, we may as well fill the roster with nuffies to hit our cap spend. I would argue if we have cap space we should front load these guys anyway.

 

[Mario chalmers]

Well he has inherited them all, that's not his fault.

However, we'll be really unlikely to unload McQueen or Rochow. Rochow surely wouldn't be on much more than a minimum contract, we rescued him from reggies in Melbourne. At least he could free up a space to utilise for a class centre, but he's gone at years end anyway. McQueen we have between f**k all and no chance of moving on. We'll just have to try to get something out of him until his contract lapses or hope he has a blinder and we can move him on for close to full fare.

MCK can go for all I care. He improved as the year went on but he's an average second rower and a poor centre. He has poor hands at times and gives away idiotic penalties. Garner will come on I reckon so we need to hold on to him.

You're almost spot on but let's try and be glass half full here.

McQueen is on $400k and no club would jump at that. Still there are clubs around the NRL who might be
A) short on back rowers/ top heavy with backs
B) Might have players on equally inflated contracts who they might want to shed

If you look at someone like Nathan Ross (who I don't necessarily rate), the reasonable RL fan might say he'd be a fair trade for Chris McQueen. If these players switched clubs we'd have a better balance in our squad. The Knights seem to have plenty of front rowers on their books but not as many back rowers?

Clubs with cap trouble based on my review of zerotackle.com appear to be Manly (cap fines), Parramatta (trying to shed players), Melbourne (haven't agreed to terms with Cam Smith yet which would indicate they're having trouble squeezing him in) and potentially Cronulla (cap investigation pending)

Now the Warriors have plenty of cap room, maybe they might look at Elijah Taylor? I've heard Brian Smith (warriors football manager) wrap ET before and NZ need to replace Simon Mannering.

If we can move on 2 backrowers and replace them with versatile outside backs, we'd be in a better spot.

With the talk about Alex Johnston moving from Souths to WT I'd personally be looking at Bevan French who has more upside and is probably seeking comparable money.

 

[Fordy20]

Speaking of swaps, if the Warriors are interested in Taylor, perhaps we could snap up one of their young outside backs who are blocked by RTS, Fusitua and Maumalo, someone like Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.

Personally, I don't know why we're looking at Johnston. We have Mbye on a long term contract and Johnston wouldn't be interested in coming across unless it was to play fullback, which means Mbye would have to move and while I think a major reshuffle is dubious to accommodate Johnston, I wouldn't even consider it for someone like French. He has pace, but comes across as having an entitled attitude and has does nothing on the field to deserve it.

 

[Mario chalmers]

Speaking of swaps, if the Warriors are interested in Taylor, perhaps we could snap up one of their young outside backs who are blocked by RTS, Fusitua and Maumalo, someone like Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.

Personally, I don't know why we're looking at Johnston. We have Mbye on a long term contract and Johnston wouldn't be interested in coming across unless it was to play fullback, which means Mbye would have to move and while I think a major reshuffle is dubious to accommodate Johnston, I wouldn't even consider it for someone like French. He has pace, but comes across as having an entitled attitude and has does nothing on the field to deserve it.

Agree that there might be merit in a swap deal with NZ. You'd think Taylor would be on more than Nickoll-Klokstad mind you? Though I wouldn't say no to the trade

 

[Mario chalmers]

Here is a quick assessment of the salary cap

Brooks $900,000
Mbye $666,000
Marshall $250,000
Reynolds $750,000
Farah $250,000
Liddle $175,000
Packer $600,000
Matulino $500,000
Twal $250,000
Mikaele $125,000
Aloiai $195,000
Clark $120,000
Chee Kam $225,000
Matterson $350,000
Momirovski $225,000
Lawrence $300,000
Thompson $200,000
Fonua $200,000
Nofoaluma $300,000
Taylor $275,000
Eisenhuth $225,000
Rochow $150,000
Macqueen $400,000
Garner $125,000
McIntyre $100,000
Masters $350,000
Gamble $110,000
Smith $100,000

Assuming the cap is $9.3mill we MIGHT have $984,000 remaining.
Please note these are just my back of the napkin figures.
Take apart my estimates if you think they are out. As a disclaimer, it is very hard to find info relating to salaries. There is some info online which suggests

Brooks was originally offered $2.7mill over 3 seasons
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...s/news-story/ef015c7b91bc17848b66ca352cb2a075

Mbye was on a 3 year $2mill deal at Canterbury before he signed
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/mb...ntract-with-wests-tigers-20180529-p4zi8d.html

Reynolds is on $750k per year
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/ca...-signs-with-wests-tigers-20170426-gvsizg.html

If we could move on a Taylor or a Rochow we'd have more than $1mill in cap space. We could then spend $400,000 each on two established outside backs and leave $200k for a mid season signing next year.

 

[super_coach]

The feeling I am getting is unless something special falls into their lap, they will suck it and see in 2019, fill the last or possibly two positions from within or maybe a very cheap one year contract to a outcast from another club, than go hard in the player market for the following year.

Okay to have any hope of a finals appearance we need some speed and possibly another front rower depending on the outcome with Musgrove...and I doubt that will happen. So hang in there for yet another building year.

 

[The Rosco]

The feeling I am getting is unless something special falls into their lap, they will suck it and see in 2019, fill the last or possibly two positions from within or maybe a very cheap one year contract to a outcast from another club, than go hard in the player market for the following year.

Okay to have any hope of a finals appearance we need some speed and possibly another front rower depending on the outcome with Musgrove...and I doubt that will happen. So hang in there for yet another building year.

True that.
We have so many "Building Years", we mark them with anniversaries.

 

[macnaz]

True that.
We have so many "Building Years", we mark them with anniversaries.

Hmm maybe we should get Masterton back as sponsors .. the proud ole builder

 

[Das Hassler]

3 consecutive preseasons with different coaches .there's certainly rebuilding (once again) in regards structures.
Stating the obvious but....sigh

 

[benched tiger]

Rebuilding the WT virtually has similarities to the amount of time it took the Chinese to build the Great Wall of f**k**g China...lol

 

[BrotherJim05]

3 consecutive preseasons with different coaches .there's certainly rebuilding (once again) in regards structures.
Stating the obvious but....sigh

Jesus f**king christ I never actually thought of it this way. Imagine what the players must feel.

"Madge! Nice to meet you. I wonder who will be coach next pre-season LOL.Okay cool lets get to work. Yep real important we buy into your culture and training and everything. Yep yep, of course."