Zeb goneeee

[Holla if ya hear me]

SQUEEZED OUT: Zeb contemplates move to England


BY ROBERT DILLON
11 May, 2012 09:25 AM
IN-form forward Zeb Taia is set to part company with the Knights at season’s end to accept a rich deal in the English Super League.
Off contract at the end of 2012, Taia will almost certainly be squeezed out, freeing up room under the salary cap to accommodate new signing Beau Scott from St George Illawarra.
The 27-year-old New Zealand Test representative learned this week that the Knights were unlikely to make an offer to retain him.
Taia’s manager, John Frare, said his client had already attracted interest from two NRL clubs and three Super League outfits, two of whom have tabled lucrative three-year deals.
‘‘At this point, I’d say it’s not likely that Zeb will be staying in Newcastle,’’ Frare said yesterday.
‘‘It sounds like they can’t fit him into the salary cap.
‘‘He’s a bit devastated about that, because he loves Newcastle and was hoping to play out his career for the Knights and live there for the rest of his life.
‘‘He’s disappointed, but he’s playing good football and there are clubs interested.
‘‘There are a couple of NRL clubs – one of which he is keen on, but they said they might not be able to make an offer for another two or three weeks.
‘‘I don’t know if Zeb can wait that long, because the offers from England are huge.’’
Taia is one of a handful of free agents on Newcastle’s books, along with Joel Edwards, Evarn Tuimavave, Richie Fa’aoso, Siuatonga Likiliki, Marvin Filipo and Luke O’Donnell.
Edwards is reportedly close to re-signing with Newcastle but the futures of Tuimavave and Fa’aoso, who have both spent time in the NSW Cup this year, appear uncertain.
Likiliki, who played two NRL games last year after joining Newcastle from the Warriors, has not been sighted in the top grade this season and may decide he needs to link with a club who will give him opportunity.
With nine tries in as many NSW Cup games – including five tries in his past two outings – the 22-year-old appears ready to make his mark in first grade.
Taia has been an outstanding clubman for Newcastle since his unheralded arrival in 2007 from Parramatta.
Now in his sixth season with the Knights, the back-row workhorse has racked up 87 appearances in the blue and red, including all nine games this year.
He will have to play in 13 of their remaining 15 games this season to rack up his century for Newcastle.
After a slow start to the season, Taia has returned to top form in the past month.
He has played the full 80minutes in four consecutive matches, averaging 128metres and 35 tackles per game.
But earlier in the the year he appeared to be struggling to put his best foot forward after a career-saving spinal fusion last May.
Even though Taia returned from a five-month hiatus for Newcastle’s semi-final loss to Melbourne last season, it took time for him to build form and momentum.
‘‘The first two or three weeks, Zeb was terrible,’’ Frare said.
‘‘Even though he played in that semi-final last year, it still took him a while to get back his confidence in his neck.
‘‘And also, under Wayne Bennett, the Knights are playing a different style and it took Zeb a while to adjust.
‘‘But he’s been playing some great football the last few weeks.’’
Frare said that when Taia signed his most recent contract with Newcastle, in 2010, he was a Kiwi Test forward and had considerable bargaining power.The agent said Taia ‘‘probably wouldn’t be looking for the same type of cash again’’ to stay with Newcastle, although it sounds like English clubs are willing to pay that, and more.

 

[Rod]

Enter Bird?

Would be disappointed if we lost Likiliki.

 

[Frances the Mute]

There's always word about Marshall and Farah being at eachothers throats.

 

[perverse]

Wow... losing Zeb but keeping Eddy just seems... so wrong. I'm pretty devo'd, but expected as much when we signed Scott. Yeah... shitty news to wake up to. You better get them playing well, Mr Bennett.

 

[aqua_duck]

No big loss IMO. He tries hard and runs the ball ok (nowhere near as devastating asbhe was before his injury) but the bottom-line is his defence simply isn't up to scatch for a backrower

 

[Serc]

Definitely an NRL quality player, surely a bunch of clubs here would try to snap him up before he ended up playing over in the UK? Big waste if he ends up playing over there.

Edit: I should also add that if he really is not going to be re-signed for us next year, I find it very odd that he is an 80 minute backrower along with Houston...if he starts losing minutes in the coming weeks then that would sound right if the article is correct. We haven't got many injuries in the backrow and once Taia has been right (since around round 3-4) he has been getting optimum time each week and been given lots of ball.

 

[Big Tim]

Devastated.

 

[aqua_duck]

Definitely an NRL quality player, surely a bunch of clubs here would try to snap him up before he ended up playing over in the UK? Big waste if he ends up playing over there.

I personally think a team like Parra could do alot worse than Zeb, but he would annihilate it in the UK where defence isn't really as emphasised as it is here

 

[Serc]

Yeah for sure, my second thought was that he would look like a footballing god over in the UK with his attacking abilities...as a result he would probably back in the NRL as soon as his ESL contract was over.

 

[RABK]

Meh outside his purple patch of 2009 he really is and always has been just a stock standard fringe running backrower.

He, Sau and Vuna all had their purple patch in unison so that left edge was brilliant in 2009 and made them all look like internationals but really it was a flash in the pan and all 3 of them reverted to their usual average first grader form in 2010 and beyond.

I think a few forum members get nostalgic about that period but Zeb really is, to be frank, a dime a dozen and expendable.

 

[perverse]

he was a flash in the pan that lasted from more or less the moment he got here, up until his broken neck.

i do agree with you about his current state, though. you are selling him way short on how much he has offered us over the years, though. way, way short.

 

[RABK]

Guarantee we'll regret it if we don't give Likiliki a chance in first grade to earn a new contract.

The guy carries backrowers on his back every run, he is just near impossible to dominate and makes 10m+ EVERY run whether it's a one out hit up on our goal line or running with no space on the fringe. He's a good centre who is scoring and setting up a shit load of tries.

Some club will snap him up and make him a star.

 

[perverse]

I would like to see more of Likiliki. If Sau doesn't set the world on fire in his second stint of first grade then anything is possible, i would say. who knows how Bennett feels about most of these NSW Cup guys, though? he doesn't give much away, and isn't giving any a shot at the moment.

 

[RABK]

he was a flash in the pan that lasted from more or less the moment he got here, up until his broken neck.

i do agree with you about his current state, though. you are selling him way short on how much he has offered us over the years, though. way, way short.

Have i? What did i say that sold him short?

Look in 2009 he was averaging 10m every run, a try assist every game and a line break assist every game. On stats he was a top 3 fringe running backrower.

Outside 2009 he is a guy who averages 5m a hitup running at centres and halves with very little try or line break assists to his name. He plays 80 minutes makes 30 tackles. He is a guy with a lot of quantity but not much quality.

Bottom line is if Bird is heading here is is twice the player Zeb is for 1.5 times the pay.

 

[Big Tim]

Could it be something to do with cap issues?

If these guys arent in the top 25, dont their salaries get added to the cap if they are 'selected' over the main 25?

I am not sure, just a guess.

I would imagine, if this is the case, its probably too early in the season to start bringing in NSW Cup guys.

A quick think back leads me to believe NSW Cup 'bolters' get selected towards the end of the season.

 

[perverse]

Have i? What did i say that sold him short?

Look in 2009 he was averaging 10m every run, a try assist every game and a line break assist every game. On stats he was a top 3 fringe running backrower.

Outside 2009 he is a guy who averages 5m a hitup running at centres and halves with very little try or line break assists to his name. He plays 80 minutes makes 30 tackles. He is a guy with a lot of quantity but not much quality.

Bottom line is if Bird is heading here is is twice the player Zeb is for 1.5 times the pay.

my stats don't at all agree with what you're saying, but ok. lol.

once again, i dont disagree with you about Bird... but your stats are way off and you are wrong about Zeb only being good in 2009. he has always had the odd game where his metres per run were low, even in his prime in 2009, but it's been far away from his average. i respect your opinion of him is low, but you don't have to make stuff up to justify it.

 

[RABK]

If Zeb forever maintained his 2009 form we'd be laughing because the guy loves the club and town and we'd have one of the worlds most dangerous backrowers for 250k a year.

But as it is, he got a horrific injury which would have ended his career 15 years ago and he lost a lot of good friends last year and has never felt secure about his own future.

Despite that he's no found for a lack of effort - 80 minutes, 18 hit ups, 35 tackles... that's a shitload of effort. But whatever sparked him in 2009 just isn't there anymore. Hopefully he get's 500k a years in the ESL and can retire wealthy and not have to worry about working his fragile neck hard.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I have mixed feelings about this.

He is basically the only "damaging" back-rower that we really have, his ability to hit a gap at speed and make line-breaks on the fringes as well as his passing and offloading is something we don't have a lot of in our forward pack.

However, his defence can be pretty sup-par at times and his one-on-one tackling has let in two tries in our last 3 games. If the guy was able to fix that aspect of his game and become the kind of player that the opposition doesn't want to run at then I'd argue we don't have much need for Beau Scott as Zeb probably offers more in attack.

But hey he's had 5 seasons here now and has had one barnstorming year (2009) and a few up and down years, partially due to injury. I think Scott will provide us with a much more consistent player who will add a lot of badly needed mongrel to our pack.

 

[RABK]

Scott was the player who ran straight through Zeb to score the match sealer at Kogarah a few weeks back. Probably the worst attempt at tackle i've ever seen from a Knights forward.

Scotts attack > Zebs defence
Scotts defence > Zebs attack

 

[perverse]

if reported figures are true, then i think we're paying overs for Scott. you're right, though, he's much better than current model Zeb. far better. you don't seem to want to have a bar of the fact that Zeb is only 11 odd games into a post-broken neck career. there are reasons why he's playing the way he is. he may well never be the same again, though.

ultimately what you say is true, we're not going to miss him on the field. i'm gonna miss him, though. one of the best line runners we've ever had. my attachment is certainly sentimental on past results, i don't make any illusions about it. doesn't make me feel any better about it, though. it's always a sad day when a hero retires or moves on, even if he is over the hill.