Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[getagrip]

From The Mole
The Tigers have all but lost giant prop Thomas Mikaele to English club Warrington for next season.

Wolves officials were at Magic Round last weekend and held talks with Mikaele's management.

The 24-year-old is off contract at season's end and the Tigers are keen to keep him.

Mikaele made his NRL debut for the club in 2019 and his best football is clearly still ahead of him.

But the Tigers will find it hard to match the three-year deal that Warrington has put to the Kiwi-born forward.

Warrington has been desperate to bolster its small pack for next season and has already signed one of the biggest men in the game - massive former Bulldogs prop Sam Kasiano from Catalan.

"His best football is clearly ahead of him." ha ha. That's a nice way of putting it. Maybe if he actually tried and looked interested he could turn into a decent footballer. No great loss from what I have seen.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

He's a bit too large and slow for fb I think

if you buy Burton it is for 6
if we do that then you have to look at what you do with Doueihi and Brooks

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

That’s correct but who are the Dogs going to sign?

I think the dogs coming knocking in 2024 for Douhie or Brooks if we dont sign them

 

[SeanT]

if you buy Burton it is for 6
if we do that then you have to look at what you do with Doueihi and Brooks

Yeah not sure where this fullback talk came from. He's a 5/8 or centre.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

Surely he could get a deal in Aus ?
Lol, either way.... happy to move on from his contract.

woukd have thought dolphins would have taken him for sure

 

[weststigers]

You’re missing the point.
This isn’t a Wests - Balmain thing.
It’s an issue of identity
Playing a few games in the area every season isn't good enough to instil any local connection.

I think the grand plan is to move games to Leichhardt and Campbelltown 50/50. I believe the club appreciates the junior pathways and connection to the area argument and is trying to do something about it.

Prior to now, our finances had been terrible and we were forced to find income through stadium deals like ANZ and Bankwest.

With any luck, these suburban grounds will get an upgrade in the coming years.

As far as identity goes, Manly's feeder club is Blacktown. Melbourne have Sunshine Coast Falcons and Brisbane Tigers. Cronulla have the Newtown Jets and it goes on. We have a tighter affiliation to our reserves team than the ones mentioned in my humble opinion.

 

[Devon Head]

Out with concussion for two weeks ?

Saw on IG, he was posting he just got his teeth whitened.

Hopefully nothing dubious going on off field.

Is getting your teeth whitened a metaphore for caught rubbing coke into his gums?

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

Of course that’s not the primary reason.
All I’m saying is the tribal pull of playing for your local club, right through to the NRL level is not a factor when it comes to kids from the south west.
Years of Wests Tigers neglect has seen to that.

the Roosters don't have juniors neither do Melbourne doesn't stop good young players wanting to play for them out of local area
Southwest will still have 4 or 6 games a year and hopefully the junior academy based at campbletown too
The club can cement inner west and kill off the dogs footprint and still keep Southwest

 

[Devon Head]

Talks of Kikau backslapping?

Only signed with the dogs cos his Penrith mates were there and wanted to be coached by Baz...

Got some mates at the Tigers now.

Would the big cat look good in a Tigers jersey?

Based on his form so far this yr Id say yes. Kiks and Paps would be a big, mobile back row

 

[Tigers_Wests]

From The Mole
The Tigers have all but lost giant prop Thomas Mikaele to English club Warrington for next season.

Wolves officials were at Magic Round last weekend and held talks with Mikaele's management.

The 24-year-old is off contract at season's end and the Tigers are keen to keep him.

Mikaele made his NRL debut for the club in 2019 and his best football is clearly still ahead of him.

But the Tigers will find it hard to match the three-year deal that Warrington has put to the Kiwi-born forward.

Warrington has been desperate to bolster its small pack for next season and has already signed one of the biggest men in the game - massive former Bulldogs prop Sam Kasiano from Catalan.

Not making our Top 17 regularly and his performances when he gets a chance are ok only. A player that I don't think we will be going out of our way to retain. Showed a lot of promise early, but haven't seen enough since.

 

[jirskyr]

I was simply correcting the fact that we was originally from the Campbelltown system rather than Balmain as was stated.

Your point is valid.

That being said, people can still be proud of their region within a catchment at large, so I don't agree that it means nothing. For example, I played for the Sawtell Panthers and we despised the Coffs Harbour Comets, but we all played for the Group 2 or Mid North Coast rep sides. It was an important point however, that I wasn't mistaken for a Comet.

Trivial as it might seem, that's simply the counter-perspective.

I didn't say he was from Balmain. I think everyone knows very well that Nofo is from the Magpies system. What I said "all-Tigers junior", and that encompasses both feeder districts. Adam Doueihi is as equally an all-Wests junior, if that's the word you choose.

Also I didn't say local pride means nothing. I said that the concept of a kid aspiring to play for the "local first grade side" is mostly dead. I definitely agree to your point that parochialism can be significant, and arguably more so in country towns, i.e. local derbies.

But I believe that pride in the local district, if it exists to some degree, is almost entirely independent of specific loyalty to a first-grade club for a boy in his teenage years. They will be loyal to whomever pays them well and offers opportunity and an enjoyable workplace condition.

 

[Kelce68]

I didn't say he was from Balmain. I think everyone knows very well that Nofo is from the Magpies system. What I said "all-Tigers junior", and that encompasses both feeder districts. Adam Doueihi is as equally an all-Wests junior, if that's the word you choose.

Also I didn't say local pride means nothing. I said that the concept of a kid aspiring to play for the "local first grade side" is mostly dead. I definitely agree to your point that parochialism can be significant, and arguably more so in country towns, i.e. local derbies.

But I believe that pride in the local district, if it exists to some degree, is almost entirely independent of specific loyalty to a first-grade club for a boy in his teenage years. They will be loyal to whomever pays them well and offers opportunity and an enjoyable workplace condition.

Ah, I've misinterpreted that then, sorry mate.

They will be loyal to whomever pays them well and offers opportunity and an enjoyable workplace condition.

Hard to argue with that, definitely.

 

[GCfan]

I think the dogs coming knocking in 2024 for Douhie or Brooks if we dont sign them

Gus often talks up Brooksy and says things like “maybe the Wests Tigers is the wrong club for Luke right now”. Who knows it might be a Burton for Brooks swap??

 

[jirskyr]

You’re missing the point.
This isn’t a Wests - Balmain thing.
It’s an issue of identity
Playing a few games in the area every season isn't good enough to instil any local connection.

Like I said, I don't believe "local connections" to first-grade clubs are common any more. That's an out-dated concept for a modern teenager.

It's got nothing to do with specific Tigers neglect (or not - let's not open up an argument about whether or not Tigers are actually neglecting the area).

It's very easy to prove this just by a quick survey of clubs.

Who is the Bulldog's most prominent current player? Well he's from Dubbo via Penrith. Who is the Roosters #1 player? He's a Magpies junior. Melbourne's Top 3 players, no matter how you dice it, are not from Melbourne. Titan's biggest-name signings are from Brisbane (Fifita) and Orange (Fa'asuamaleaui).

Tiger's best player is Stefano (from Parramatta) and the guy currently turning everything around (Hastings) is from Wollongong. You would have a point if you identified Doueihi as Tigers' best - an actual local junior.

Shark's star imports in 2022 are from Central Coast (Hynes) and Bega (Finucane). The Dragon's #1 paid player is from Queensland. Warrior's dynamic young fullback is also from Queensland. So is the Raiders' #1 representative prop. Jack Wighton is from Orange. Cody Walker was born in Nowra and went to school in QLD. Payne Haas is from NSW and the Broncos are experiencing a resurgence under a former Rabbitoh halfback. The Knights star fullback is a Kiwi via Townsville. The Eels halfback is a Balmain junior and their fullback is a Manly junior. The Cowboys million-dollar lock is a Tongan/Kiwi.

I can only really think about 2 current examples of truly localised players / groups. First is Manly and the Turbo brothers - legitimate family local dynasty. Though, I would argue if any other club picked up Tom and Jake as a young pair, they would be equally as wedded to that club.

Second example is Penrith. You can fairly argue that they are a very local very tribal group. However in my opinion that is somewhat separate from a specific loyalty to the Panthers and arguably unique amongst NRL clubs. My opinion is also that guys like Nathan Cleary are more loyal to their mates before the club, and Penrith have the fortune of having a boom group of juniors all presenting and playing together at the same time, not being picked apart by other clubs.

Even still - Nathan Cleary began playing rugby league in New Zealand at the age of 13 and might not still be at the club if Panthers didn't bring his Dad back. Their star backrower is a Fijian brought into the NRL via North Queensland. Their #1 prop is a Kiwi. Their representative lock is from Dubbo and the son of a former Tigers/Bears player. Api Koroisau is a Berala Bear originally signed by the Rabbits.

 

[Lee's fedora]

Dogs could potentially be moving cap space for a play at Cam Munster

 

[tony soprano]

Dogs could potentially be moving cap space for a play at Cam Munster

Bwafe doesn't sound keen

 

[jrtiger]

given the changes made to loading I wouldn't mind us looking at Hetherington. isn't as much of a risk to spend time off the field and we need an enforcer. comes down to financials and whether he fits in the roster, but I reckon he'd kill it under Madge.

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

Gus often talks up Brooksy and says things like “maybe the Wests Tigers is the wrong club for Luke right now”. Who knows it might be a Burton for Brooks swap??

It's an interesting one.
Issue would be salary, Brooks for this/next year is on alot more than Burton.

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

Dogs could potentially be moving cap space for a play at Cam Munster

They could but I can't see Munster moving to the Bulldogs over the Roosters/Dolphins based on coach/roster wise alone.

 

[DALLAS68]

Wests Tigers are considering making a massive play for Sydney Roosters and NSW State of Origin forward Angus Crichton.
The Daily Telegraph understands Crichton and Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire have a close friendship from their days together at South Sydney.

Off contract after this year, Crichton has agreed to a two-year extension at the Sydney Roosters but the contract hasn’t yet been signed or registered with the NRL.

From the daily telegraph