Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Lee's fedora]

A big thank you to all the Forum Members with inside information. Much appreciated.

So to sum up the last couple of pages it appears WT have meet with Euan Aiken (Centre/Second Rower) - 26 years old with 143 NRL games and 49 tries.

WT interesting in some of the Faiders Clean Out Players

Joseph Tapine (turns 28 today so May the 4th be with you) - Second Rower with 146 NRL games

Hudson Young (23) - Second Rower with 55 games. Aggressive player. Was done for eye gouging in the past so hopefully that shit is out of his game

Kade Dykes - Young fullback from Cronulla and son of Adam Dykes. Back up full back needed

Matt Komolafe - Young Eels winger with speed and can find the line.

Whilst he has talent and plays hard I hope Jack Bird does not come to WT. We have signed these type of players before and have been burnt. Let's learn from the past.

Players leaving seasons end from top 30 (I have at least 9)

Leilua - Cowboys (one I hope we don't regret leaving us)

Tuilagi - Manly

Roberts - Dolphins maybe

Tamou - retirement or maybe offered one more year

Gardner - Penrith maybe

Mikaele - Dolphins maybe

Liddle - Parra maybe

T Simpkins - released.

Kei - released

We have only 2 confirmed signing for 2023 so lots of spots available.

Jet to be medically retired potentially

 

[getagrip]

Reminds me of Tedesco the way he runs - and no i'm not saying he is as good as him.

He can certainly run. Wonder if he can catch and tackle.

 

[jirskyr]

In the past our character judgement has been absolutely ridiculous. Bellamy puts blokes on construction sites to get a feel for their ethos. We give three quarters of a million dollars to Oporto ambassadors

Whilst Bellamy's strike rate of getting players to perform is unparalleled, let us not pretend or fantasise that Melbourne does not or has never had it's own serious string of bad eggs, lazy or stupid players, on and off-field.

Cameron Munster far from a saint, only saved by his precocious skill. Storm were home to former bad-boys like Arana Taumata and Ryan Tandy. Matt Lodge's first indiscretion was to threaten to punch a Melbourne coach. Rodney Howe with his steroids conviction, Danny Williams and his king-hit. They had to change the rules to outlaw Billy Slater leading with his legs and knees in defence and bomb defusal.

They've also had a very long list of dud signings who didn't perform or were unreliable. Have a look through the list of former Melbourne Storm players, it might make for surprise reading how many duds they've had.

And the obvious ones - ongoing cocaine controversies and the systematic salary cap rorting, that required club-wide participation and complicity by the players.

The difference with the Storm and everyone else is that Bellamy is so good at assembling a very competitive Top 24 that we forget the indiscretions - they melt away under piles and piles of success.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

He can certainly run. Wonder if he can catch and tackle.

In that highlights package he picked up a bouncing ball above his head with players on him and then ran to score a try. That takes some skill.

 

[jirskyr]

New era.

I hope you are right, and Sheens is top of the list for rugby league re-births, but his career is also littered with very long droughts.

Sheensie hardly returned to Australia on the back of UK triumphs - sacked by Hull KR and resigned from Widnes after just 7 matches.

 

[jirskyr]

Raiders seem like a real toxic working environment. Remember what happened to George Williams? And the way John Bateman left? Williams especially got treated like garbage on his way out. Jarrod Croker was frozen out of FG until this week.

They have a good roster which they are going to throw away because they refuse to sack the coach.

In defence of those specific players Bateman and Williams, Raiders have rolled the dice heavily with UK players and sometimes it backfires with homesickness and lack of adjustment.

I think they have overall done well with UK signings, but it's tough to criticise a club too much when players from O/S have a change of heart mid-contract, especially halves. I can only imagine the drama George Williams caused by asking to go home, even if it's perfectly valid from a human-being perspective, as their first-choice halfback.

I am not denying that I think Raiders have culture issues, and I think unfortunately they peaked at the last GF and now Ricky is trying vainly to wring every last inch out of a fading roster. I also think Ricky Stuart himself is done as their coach - I don't think it ends well for Ricky Stuart-coached clubs after they peak.

 

[Kelce68]

Whilst Bellamy's strike rate of getting players to perform is unparalleled, let us not pretend or fantasise that Melbourne does not or has never had it's own serious string of bad eggs, lazy or stupid players, on and off-field.

Cameron Munster far from a saint, only saved by his precocious skill. Storm were home to former bad-boys like Arana Taumata and Ryan Tandy. Matt Lodge's first indiscretion was to threaten to punch a Melbourne coach. Rodney Howe with his steroids conviction, Danny Williams and his king-hit. They had to change the rules to outlaw Billy Slater leading with his legs and knees in defence and bomb defusal.

They've also had a very long list of dud signings who didn't perform or were unreliable. Have a look through the list of former Melbourne Storm players, it might make for surprise reading how many duds they've had.

And the obvious ones - ongoing cocaine controversies and the systematic salary cap rorting, that required club-wide participation and complicity by the players.

The difference with the Storm and everyone else is that Bellamy is so good at assembling a very competitive Top 24 that we forget the indiscretions - they melt away under piles and piles of success.

Good analysis.

 

[batboy]

In defence of those specific players Bateman and Williams, Raiders have rolled the dice heavily with UK players and sometimes it backfires with homesickness and lack of adjustment.

I think they have overall done well with UK signings, but it's tough to criticise a club too much when players from O/S have a change of heart mid-contract, especially halves. I can only imagine the drama George Williams caused by asking to go home, even if it's perfectly valid from a human-being perspective, as their first-choice halfback.

I am not denying that I think Raiders have culture issues, and I think unfortunately they peaked at the last GF and now Ricky is trying vainly to wring every last inch out of a fading roster. I also think Ricky Stuart himself is done as their coach - I don't think it ends well for Ricky Stuart-coached clubs after they peak.

I think the Raiders over-performed to get to the GF....
Heard it referenced the other day - It's a problem they made a GF they never should have made....

They have done well with UK Signings - And agree homesickness would always be in the back of your mind... But if you've ever lived in Canberra - It's not the best place in Australia to live - So that wouldn't help.
You'd think it would be a let down for a young bloke who's moving to Australia.

Ricky has literally blown up every club he's been at... It's no different here.
He gets grace because of his history with the club - And how much he's embedded himself in the community down there....
That can't last forever though.

 

[tigerap]

Jet to be medically retired potentially

JTJ signed only for this year....whats the point/advantage of medically retiring him?

 

[TillLindemann]

I hope you are right, and Sheens is top of the list for rugby league re-births, but his career is also littered with very long droughts.

Sheensie hardly returned to Australia on the back of UK triumphs - sacked by Hull KR and resigned from Widnes after just 7 matches.

Brett Hodgson I think has done better as a coach in the UK than Sheens did (not saying Hodgson is a better coach than Sheens generally, but I hope we can get him back to the club in some role down the track).

 

[Spartan117]

Jet to be medically retired potentially

Sad if true,.

 

[Spartan117]

Whilst Bellamy's strike rate of getting players to perform is unparalleled, let us not pretend or fantasise that Melbourne does not or has never had it's own serious string of bad eggs, lazy or stupid players, on and off-field.

Cameron Munster far from a saint, only saved by his precocious skill. Storm were home to former bad-boys like Arana Taumata and Ryan Tandy. Matt Lodge's first indiscretion was to threaten to punch a Melbourne coach. Rodney Howe with his steroids conviction, Danny Williams and his king-hit. They had to change the rules to outlaw Billy Slater leading with his legs and knees in defence and bomb defusal.

They've also had a very long list of dud signings who didn't perform or were unreliable. Have a look through the list of former Melbourne Storm players, it might make for surprise reading how many duds they've had.

And the obvious ones - ongoing cocaine controversies and the systematic salary cap rorting, that required club-wide participation and complicity by the players.

The difference with the Storm and everyone else is that Bellamy is so good at assembling a very competitive Top 24 that we forget the indiscretions - they melt away under piles and piles of success.

Funny that all of these three were part of our club at a stage Arana Taumata, Ryan Tandy and Matt Lodge.

In the end The Tally of premierships is the only thing that becomes History.

The Storm under Bellamy are no nonsense, Simple and Hard working. They play for 80Minutes.

This is where the Tigers are now headed after 20 odd years.

The Wins will come and the better players will stay

 

[diedpretty]

JTJ signed only for this year....whats the point/advantage of medically retiring him?

It would free up a space in the top 30 - even though we have to fill our top 30 by end of June. Maybe we have a couple of signings to be added to the books this year.

 

[Long Term Fan]

Players living in areas like Many and Cronulla would enjoy the beaches and cafes , but I think money still would be a major part along with a real chance to play top grade , Older players with solid history could go to these areas for a bit less and still enjoy what’s on offer , makes it harder for the Tigers but I still think we can purchase players for next year and complete well

So true but with Dykes he may want to not follow in the shadow of his famous Dad.

Mitchell Pearce played for Chooks and Knights and not WT where his Dad was a legend (Balmain side), Both Josh and Brett Morris moved away from the Saints, Both Sironens moved from WT.

Sharks appear to have a lot of young talent coming through and current full back Will Kennedy and Nicho Hynes can play the position so maybe Dykes needs to move on for his shot at NRL

 

[Demps]

Sorry who is our number one priority? Euan Aiken or Hudson Young. I would be happy with both of them. Still need some pacey backs that can score points and a back up full back.

Young > Aiken.

Young is a legitimate second rower and plays incredibly hard.

Aiken is just OK.

 

[Demps]

So true but with Dykes he may want to not follow in the shadow of his famous Dad.

Mitchell Pearce played for Chooks and Knights and not WT where his Dad was a legend (Balmain side), Both Josh and Brett Morris moved away from the Saints, Both Sironens moved from WT.

Sharks appear to have a lot of young talent coming through and current full back Will Kennedy and Nicho Hynes can play the position so maybe Dykes needs to move on for his shot at NRL

Signn the contract Dykesy 🖊

 

[Long Term Fan]

Funny that all of these three were part of our club at a stage Arana Taumata, Ryan Tandy and Matt Lodge.

In the end The Tally of premierships is the only thing that becomes History.

The Storm under Bellamy are no nonsense, Simple and Hard working. They play for 80Minutes.

This is where the Tigers are now headed after 20 odd years.

The Wins will come and the better players will stay

All true but the way the Storm identify, recruit and deal with the player and his family sets them apart from most other clubs. Also they can sell success to most players over money and that is very hard to knock back. I know a player who signed with the Storm and the background information they had on him about his playing style, his strength and weakness was amazing.
Legends on their team pick potential recruits up from the airport and show them around. Bellamy meets the player and parents separate to agents. Storm tell you what they can do for you and where you fit into their program. The player I know and parents were blown away even through he had two better financial offers on the table. To have Slater as his mentor and flown back and forwards from QLD to train with NRL team and QLD Cup team. Storm just appear to do things better and more professionally. You can always get bad eggs in all organisations no matter all the systems in place to weed them out.

 

[Coastie_Tiger]

Jet to be medically retired potentially

Wonder if we keep him around after that work with the koori kids coming through looking after their pathways maybe. As a player he'd lost it once he came here but i believe hes had a shift in attitude and could be good in a role such as that.

 

[tony soprano]

Doubt sharks let him go that easily

 

[Elderslie_Tiger]

Aitken as a centre not a second rower- remembering he was a state of origin player-
gotta be disappointed with jet jackson - he must have been really crook not to have played yesterday

It was reported he had surgery for his vack problem