Luciano Leilua

balmain boy said:
Pretty much my thoughts too Paws

Cows wanted him but hadn't got their ducks in a row yet. We ask for a trade and they say no. We release the player immediately putting the onus on the Cows to sign him, with Sheens knowing well that they can't afford to do so. We have no obligation to the player for any future payments as his contract was mutually terminated. For the Cows to be cap compliant they need to release a player from their top 30 (who is willing to go) to free up the necessary cap space. If we make an offer for one of their players it may make it too hard for them to say no to, even if they don't want to trade.

Is that giving us too much credit? Sheens has always been known for being Shifty and very strategic.

On the other hand if we did announce it before the contract was officially terminated in writing by both parties then that would be extremely amateur, especially for a club who's chairman is a high profile lawyer.

Players i'd accept: Drinkwater, Hammer, Tuilagi, Luki, Nanai, McLean, Neame, Taunoa-Brown as possible targets. All (except Luki - 2025, Mclean 2022) are off contract at end of 2023 and can open discussions for 2024 in november. If we were to 'unofficially sign' one of these players on big money for 2024 then hopefully we negotiate an early release for the final year of their contract.
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It has to be a forward and to make the transaction easier It has to be one off contract this year.
Options
Mitch Dunn (recovering from ACL)
Brendan Frei (bit of a lower grade journey man, good for development assistance in cup / depth)
Emre Pere; Big human, has played about 20 first grade games, 23 years old and for whatever reason hasn’t made that consistent transition to firsts. More mobile forwards Tanua Brown and Neme preferred up there.
Finally McClean; a solid player, big human also, experienced in finals and Melbourne system. Playing in top form this season but has an air of James Tamou about him. Regardless, he could be a solid prop partner for our current and developing props.
 
Mighty_Tiger said:
If we didn't sign the paper work I disagree.

The club needs to shut down this one quickly if it's not our issue otherwise it will blow up.
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Let's see what happens. I'd do nothing but that was my standard approach when it comes to managing outside noise. It's a valid approach and I'm being serious. There is no issue so there is nothing to do.

If someone raise the issue to you state I don't understand what you are stating and get them to explain it. Then you state we did this due to blah and then shut the .. up.
 
gallagher said:
Not really. We've released him so no longer have anything they want. They can offer up a player to any club now.
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I think the point Paws and Balmain Boy are making us that the cowboys will be forced into making an early release to free up the cap space. Sure they could go to other clubs but our squad especially 1-17 is pretty much open for any new applicants. I would like to see a forward exchange and would even consider Mitch Dunn as an experienced back-row pair next year.
 
Earl said:
Let's see what happens. I'd do nothing but that was my standard approach when it comes to managing outside noise. It's a valid approach and I'm being serious. There is no issue so there is nothing to do.

If someone raise the issue to you state I don't understand what you are stating and get them to explain it. Then you state we did this due to blah and then shut the .. up.
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I'm use to the no comment approach, been apart of my DNA work wise for a very long time (gov).

It comes down to the timing, who a statement came from & type of activity.

This isn't the media starting a rumour, the Cowboys GM was very direct with his statements.

Let's see what unfolds over the next few days.
 
BAGNF05 said:
Is that out of a WT statement? Or are the club just scrambling behind the scenes to figure this out?
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"Wests Tigers have granted Luciano Leilua an early release from his playing contract, effective immediately." That was the statement on the clubs website on 14/6. Seems pretty straightforward however maybe a QC would twist it to say we are only releasing him from playing with us and not from any financial remuneration.
 
diedpretty said:
"Wests Tigers have granted Luciano Leilua an early release from his playing contract, effective immediately." That was the statement on the clubs website on 14/6. Seems pretty straightforward however maybe a QC would twist it to say we are only releasing him from playing with us and not from any financial remuneration.
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And after NQ claimed the paperwork hadn’t been signed. Crickets.
 
Needaname said:
I think the point Paws and Balmain Boy are making us that the cowboys will be forced into making an early release to free up the cap space. Sure they could go to other clubs but our squad especially 1-17 is pretty much open for any new applicants. I would like to see a forward exchange and would even consider Mitch Dunn as an experienced back-row pair next year.
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I know what they are saying. But I'd argue that all we've done is opened up the opportunity for then to move a player onto another 14 clubs. They apparently offered Robson to us now they can offer him to everyone.
 
gallagher said:
I know what they are saying. But I'd argue that all we've done is opened up the opportunity for then to move a player onto another 14 clubs. They apparently offered Robson to us now they can offer him to everyone.
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Yep. There is no advantage to this and we haven't played anyone. That NQ official though sounds like a moron to me. I think they've stuffed up and they are trying to cover their backsides.

Just think about it logically. It's not our responsibility to ensure they have cap space to take him. Luc and his manager requested a release. We granted it.
 
Needaname said:
It has to be a forward and to make the transaction easier It has to be one off contract this year.
Options
Mitch Dunn (recovering from ACL)
Brendan Frei (bit of a lower grade journey man, good for development assistance in cup / depth)
Emre Pere; Big human, has played about 20 first grade games, 23 years old and for whatever reason hasn’t made that consistent transition to firsts. More mobile forwards Tanua Brown and Neme preferred up there.
Finally McClean; a solid player, big human also, experienced in finals and Melbourne system. Playing in top form this season but has an air of James Tamou about him. Regardless, he could be a solid prop partner for our current and developing props.
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Yeah I agree on McLean and we desperately need an experienced middle to guide the young guys, we’ve simply got very little. You’re right, he’s no JWH or James Fisher Josh Pappalii but he’s more of a chance to come.
 
Earl said:
Yep. There is no advantage to this and we haven't played anyone. That NQ official though sounds like a moron to me. I think they've stuffed up and they are trying to cover their backsides.

Just think about it logically. It's not our responsibility to ensure they have cap space to take him. Luc and his manager requested a release. We granted it.
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Of course there's no guarantee that any player released would come to us, but seeing they need to release someone immediately a lot of clubs either have full rosters or very limited cap space to facilitate a player on big money. We're the only club that could accommodate any player in the league under the cap for this season and future seasons. So we're at least in a strong position. And seeing we've done them a favour them may look more favourably to releasing someone to us rather than a rival for the top 8 this season.
Of course a player may not want to leave a club with a chance of a GF to go to a spoon contender, so there's that too
 
BAGNF05 said:
And after NQ claimed the paperwork hadn’t been signed. Crickets.
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The only paperwork that WT need is a release of contract. NQ are trying to deflect the fact that they pushed for a release and were surprised by how quick it came and they hadn't really done their sums. There was no need for them to jump up and down the way they have if they were ready to sign him. If they had everything in order at the time they pushed for a release all they had to do was say to WT is the contract release done and sent to NRL. But no they made a huge song and dance about it. Smacks of butt covering.
 
Earl said:
Yep. There is no advantage to this and we haven't played anyone. That NQ official though sounds like a moron to me. I think they've stuffed up and they are trying to cover their backsides.

Just think about it logically. It's not our responsibility to ensure they have cap space to take him. Luc and his manager requested a release. We granted it.
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Contracts can be terminated if both parties agree to the terms. It sounds like that’s exactly what has happened. If Luch requested a release and we grant it there’s no ongoing responsibility on our part to ensure he’s signed and paid elsewhere. I can’t see the risk to us in this situation.
 
Needaname said:
I think the point Paws and Balmain Boy are making us that the cowboys will be forced into making an early release to free up the cap space. Sure they could go to other clubs but our squad especially 1-17 is pretty much open for any new applicants. I would like to see a forward exchange and would even consider Mitch Dunn as an experienced back-row pair next year.
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I was thinking about Dunn but there's no real reason for us to target him now. He's off contract we can sign him for next season if we want to. He'll be out until Christmas regardless, so why pay his medical expenses and salary for 6 months if we get no on field benefit? The only potential benefit for us would be an extra 6 months bonding with the boys, and our tactial gameplans etc won't be available for him to start learning as our new coach likely won't be in place until November. Is that enough to warrant spending the extra $$ rather than waiting 6 months?
 
Whether or not this is full truth outlined;
NRL 360 have stated it as Tigers jumped the gun and activated the release immediately as a result to North Queensland enquiring of the possibility.
I’m not sure we have any leverage here.
Apparently the Cowboys were waiting till after the rep round to look at taking Leulia in case he gets injured in the Samoa game. If they back out for the remainder of the year suggestions are that we are still liable to pay out the remainder of Lucy’s contract.
 
balmain boy said:
I was thinking about Dunn but there's no real reason for us to target him now. He's off contract we can sign him for next season if we want to. He'll be out until Christmas regardless, so why pay his medical expenses and salary for 6 months if we get no on field benefit? The only potential benefit for us would be an extra 6 months bonding with the boys, and our tactial gameplans etc won't be available for him to start learning as our new coach likely won't be in place until November. Is that enough to warrant spending the extra $$ rather than waiting 6 months?
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Fair points. What are your thoughts on Pere?
 
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