Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

diedpretty said:
I think your underplaying Lui's speed. He was very quick off the mark which allowed him to get through the first line of defence. He was a top notch half. What we are really lacking can be seen in all its glory at around the 1'50" mark of this video.

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Stand corrected on Lui. He looked faster than I recalled. Not fast, but good acceleration over 10-20m, which is enough to make a break/score/try assist.
 
Re Nofoaluma

Staines is faster and hopefully a better defender than our "narcist emblem kisser"!
If we can only play Twal and Staines in defence, and then in the attack Simpkins and Nofoaluma!
 
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Roar_Power said:
Very interesting that Staines is for 1 year only. A mere stop-gap solution it seems. Appears even the WT's dont see him as a viable long-term replacement. Maybe waiting for Teddy to recommit lol.
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Staines wanted 3yrs from reports which would take him into Benji's years, from what POM and others said we were willing to go to 2yrs.

What would look bad for us is if he gets announced with us today for next year and then in 10 days or so he announces he joins a different club for 24.
 
The Chad said:
Just my 2 cents.

Laurie is often "out of position" in defence at fullback. His attack has generally been ok. He is quite willing to jump for a high kick. I don't think bravery or effort are an issue. Positioning, however, is. And if he is in charge of organising the defensive line, this could lead to even bigger problems. What he IS, is quick & agile. Now, if he is playing a support role in the halves, running off either Hastings through the middle, Douiehi out wider or any of the forwards that can offload (Papali'i for example), Laurie could be quite dangerous.

Doueihi is a big body. I've always thought we was a bit like Scott Hill, the former Storm 5/8. He's not as fast as Brooks. BUT, he is more decisive, and being a bigger body, he can offload when he runs (see Laurie above). His kicking game isn't as rounded as Brooks, but in the same breath, Brooks hasn't been a consistant kicker for the club for a couple of years. Not sure we are LOSING there. If Doueihi is getting the ball more as this suedo-halfback role, I expect a more direct attack as I'm pretty sure he'll run often.

Hastings at lock offers the creativity and control we probably lack through Doueihi & Laurie. His kicking game is only ok. His speed, as has been discussed ad nausium, is only ok. But he does scheme well. We will LACK an effective hit-up runner at #13 if Hastings is our guy, and more importance will then fall on having props that look for 2 runs per set (Hello Klemmer) to carry the weight.

Staines at fullback works IF his positional play is an improvement on Laurie. Is it? Don't know. But the reports are promising. He's pretty quick, so he offers that as well coming back. His defence is no better than Laurie. So long as he isn't missing when grubbers go into the in-goal, in my opinion, this is potentially an upgrade positionally (although I believe Laurie is a superior footballer).
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I think Hastings was surprisingly effective at tackling and hitting it up. Often in runs he was also able to get hands free for an offload and wasn't dominated in the tackle. He is actually pretty speedy when playing as a forward and like Radley and Cameron Murray he uses his speed and creativity to overcome lack of size.

It will be interesting how he goes in that position over a season and the workload and contact wear him down, but in the few games he played lock I thought he added to both our defensive strength and our go forward.
 
The fact that after 3 years at the club about 50% of the fans still don't know if AD is a center, fullback or 5/8 shows that he's no certainty for any of those positions.

And the fact that after 9 years (or whatever) at least 50% of the fans can't decide if Brooks is the solution or the problem - pending on the troops around him.

I would say we are better as a club letting both of them go and starting again.

Would prefer to suffer for one year and try and sign a proper 5/8 and a fresh 1/2 - then sign or be stuck with either of them for any longer.

Same with Laurie - "he's a better 5/8", "he's an ok fullback" - I would say same thing - try him at 5/8 for a couple of games or keep him at fullback for a year or get rid of him now.

We need to make quick cuts rather than drag things out.

Short term pain and a better chance at long term gain.

We always try and put square pegs in round holes (Moses Mbye etc) - lets just get players who are proper defined role playing specialists.

Cheerio
 
Roar_Power said:
Don't know if there'll be suitors paying an upgrade. He was red carded and will miss a match. Not the greatest stage for him so far....
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Seriously, Douhie is an “OK” player. He’s already on $450k and will no doubt be seeking an upgrade for his next contract.
He’s 24 (or thereabouts) he has quite a few limitations in his game (defence, tackling, pace, etc) and despite his age and quite a few years in first grade nobody is any wiser as to his best position (as opposed to his preferred position which is 5/8). There is an opportunity cost to keeping/re-signing Douhie. My preference would be to let him leave at the end of his contract (or sooner if we need his roster spot) and divert his pay packet and roster spot into more of a sure thing i.e. known position and track record of performance.
 
I don't think anyone doubts that Doueihi can play.

If he hits the open market, there will be a number of teams that chase an athlete of his quality.

Question would STILL be though if he is being chased as a 1, 3, 6 or 7.

But regardless- there WILL be a market for a player like him.

Simple thing for the Tigers- can they AFFORD to lose a player of his quality at this stage? I don't think they can. There are no suitable replacements in place. Unless they are equally as confident of getting a better player from elsewhere, I think you sign him & find a spot for him.
 
Roar_Power said:
Very interesting that Staines is for 1 year only. A mere stop-gap solution it seems. Appears even the WT's dont see him as a viable long-term replacement. Maybe waiting for Teddy to recommit lol.
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I see fullback as where we need to focus some bigger money for the future. We need size, speed and experience here.
 
Roar_Power said:
Very interesting that Staines is for 1 year only. A mere stop-gap solution it seems. Appears even the WT's dont see him as a viable long-term replacement. Maybe waiting for Teddy to recommit lol.
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Assume ties in with peach.

Maybe give him time to cement spot and if he does offer longer term
 
Mighty_Tiger said:
Staines wanted 3yrs from reports which would take him into Benji's years, from what POM and others said we were willing to go to 2yrs.

What would look bad for us is if he gets announced with us today for next year and then in 10 days or so he announces he joins a different club for 24.
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I’m not sure it matters. Even if that did happen, having Staines for 2023 is better than Tyrone plodding away in the Reggies.
 
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