Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[magpies forever]

It was stated on here that he had made it clear he thought he was too good for us.

Yes I recall that as well. Whether it was a direct quote from him to someone or just a 'feeling' who knows.

 

[earl]

Yes I recall that as well. Whether it was a direct quote from him to someone or just a 'feeling' who knows.

It was from one of the posters who gives good info. I think it was @CCTW.

 

[diedpretty]

Whats the squids game thing?

Tedesco apologises for 'Squid Games' slur

James Tedesco has apologised for the racial slur that led to the NRL handing him a $10,000 fine.

7news.com.au

 

[Scare]

It was stated on here that he had made it clear he thought he was too good for us.

Rts better anyways

 

[earl]

Rts better anyways

It's pretty close. I suppose it depends how they go in the backend of their careers.

 

[TheDaBoss]

Mattamua to take the 13 reigns in 2023

 

[liltiger]

It's pretty close. I suppose it depends how they go in the backend of their careers.

Who has better leadership qualities, that's the one we need more atm.

 

[earl]

Who has better leadership qualities, that's the one we need more atm.

We aren't getting Tedesco but he is probably as good a leader as Woodsy.

 

[tigertragic]

I sadly agree.

Api will be quality, at least for his first year.

I am really looking forward to Robbie Farah working with Api Koroisau and I reckon Robbie will have a few tricks up his sleeve and might add a slight playmaking dimension to Api. The difference being API will play a solid hooker and give good ball to the halves.

Which is why I totally agree with you, Hastings + API means we will have a spine working together. Brooks + Api means Brooks is going to get the best ball delivery of his career....

?? Brooks time to perform. ok that was five years ago but you better deliver now.

While on Newcastle, I kinda disagree. 6 months ago they may have traded Klemmer without a swap. Now I could see them holding out. IMHO Hastings was far too big a prize, we could have offloaded AD.

I’m a Hastings fan, but just thinking the JH to newcastle may have been a Sheens manoeuvre to block Brooks option ??
Just a thought

 

[tigerballs]

That is a bottom 4 backline + RTS....thankfully our pack is coming together

We'll see I guess

 

[Tigerwould]

Nathan Brown won't be joining the WT.

Good. I don’t see him in the starting side. It would be 20mins off the bench. I’d prefer Pole, Kautoga, Ma'anaima getting more NRL game time this year. Then there’s Saukuru, Tumeth, Fainu ect who would love to be given a chance if they prove themselves at SC level playing next to experience NRL players like Klemmer, Bateman, J’Offa, Papali’i & Api.
We also have Twal, Blore, Steph. I can’t see why we’d need Brown when the backs are needing fixing.
If it was for lock, I’d prefer J’Offa, Papal'li or Bateman over Brown.

 

[Coastie_Tiger]

Nathan Brown won't be joining the WT.

Smart choice i think we can promote from within seeing as we've added much needed experience already. Papal'li wanted to move to the middle Joffa can play there then theres the kid coming through we can blood him throughout the year.
Even Sheens mentioned Bateman but i'd rather him on the edge personally.

 

[sleeve]

Can't think who it was but someone said successful sides have 17 top players and the rest are on less money.
With Staines, he's not a world beater and atm neither is Laurie so it doesn't make sense tying up Staines on good money for a longer term.
If a better player comes along we get rid of both Laurie and Staines.
I still have high hopes for Daino though.

Stains at 22, has had little exposure, due to the fact Penrith are full of stars, but he has shown very good form in his preferred position of fullback in the lower grades. He is a natural fullback. AD was too slow, and Laurie tried hard without being convincing, but is still very young. I would not be spending big $$ on old fullbacks at this stage, but if they do not fire, we must get one elswhere, it is critical for the attack of all sides.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

Mattamua to take the 13 reigns in 2023

I agree with you. His emergence may have made the decision to release Hastings feasible. Will he be the first Campbelltown junior at WTs to emerge in the NRL since Nofoaluma?

 

[ancient_magpie]

Indeed, based on the past couple of years, Brooks may "just scrape into the top ten halfbacks in the comp". Certainly not ideal, as we want and need his form returning to amongst the best.

WT are though trying to sign Moses, who is playing at that level and has been for few seasons. I always rated him as being slightly the better overall of the two, even if he goes missing more often and seen very much as a "flat track bully" type.

We must remember that without his current great Parramatta forward pack, Moses was copping as much criticism as Brooks is now, when the former led his team to the spoon, whilst Luke was concurrently performing at the upper level. Regardless of whether Mitchell returns, let us all watch how both perform behind decent pack in 2023.

 

[Tigerwould]

I agree with you. His emergence may have made the decision to release Hastings feasible. Will he be the first Campbelltown junior at WTs to emerge in the NRL since Nofoaluma?

Ma'anaima looks like a future 13. Hope he gets a bench spot and spends some time at 13 this year. Competition for any spot in the 17 will be way higher than last year.

 

[Tim Sheens]

Ma'anaima looks like a future 13. Hope he gets a bench spot and spends some time at 13 this year. Competition for any spot in the 17 will be way higher than last year.

Hopefully we see both him and Matamua pushing for inclusion by the end of the year, as we need that competition from the young, old and those in between.

 

[Cobarcats]

After spending $2.5m up front, Tigers turn to their backline.
Dan Walsh SMH
December 27, 2022 — 3.55pm

KEY POINTS

▪️John Bateman was the “main domino to fall” in Tigers’ forward pack revamp
▪️An outside back will be targeted to fill the club’s final roster position
▪️Contract discussions with Luke Brooks and Adam Doueihi will begin in the new year

After eighteen months in the NRL’s volatile player market, around $2.5 million in contracts and endless innuendo, December 24 delivered Tim Sheens the Christmas gift he’d been waiting for.

English international John Bateman completed a Wests Tigers forward pack he no longer wants to tinker with.

Sheens described Bateman’s four-year deal, secured with a reported $250,000 transfer fee from Wigan and announced late on Boxing Day, as “the main domino I wanted to fall.”

At 29, Bateman brings more than 200 Super League and NRL games worth of experience as well as 25 Tests for England and Great Britain.

Between he and fellow signings David Klemmer, Api Koroisau and Isaiah Papali’i, the Tigers have added more than 800 games of NRL, Origin and Test experience to a forward contingent badly exposed by injury en route to a 2022 wooden spoon.

The recruitment drive started under Michael Maguire and delivered Koroisau and Papali’i last summer on $600,000-plus per annum.

The latter wavered and looked to stay at Parramatta before Klemmer and Bateman were secured through unconventional negotiations. The Tigers now turn to their backline and playmakers to build upon a vastly improved pack.

“We’ve got some quality forwards now and guys you can genuinely play behind, with grunt and go forward,” Sheens said of his revamped forwards.

“We’ve got one more position to fill in our top 30 and we’ve got a couple of ideas with that.

“John was the main domino I wanted to fall. Now we’ve got him in our forwards we’re looking at the backline and who could be added there.

“The experience of these guys we’ve signed like Klem and John, that’s the real attraction.

“That experience and quality makes a difference given we had issues with depth and injuries to key forwards this year.”

The Tigers’ recruited quartet will be called on to mentor a raft of rising young forwards led by Stefano Utoikamanu and Shawn Blore as they return from lengthy injury lay-offs, with Joe Ofahengaue, Alex Twal and Fonua Pole other regular NRL options.

Half-turned-lock Jackson Hastings and veteran skipper James Tamou have led a Tigers exodus that has also included back-rowers Luke Garner, Kelma Tuilagi, Zane Musgrove, Jacob Liddle and Tyrone Peachey.

John Bateman’s stint at Canberra combined quality and controversy alike.
John Bateman’s stint at Canberra combined quality and controversy alike.

Sheens added that Bateman is an option at lock as well as in an edge partnership with Kiwi international Papali’i.

The veteran coach holds no concern over the four-year deal that will see Bateman turn 33 by its completion in 2026, pointing to Dale Finucane’s impact at Cronulla this year after signing on the same terms at the same age.

While mindful of an ever-shifting market, bringing Nathan Brown back from Parramatta takes a back seat given the Tigers options up front.

Sheens says returning Tigers duo like fresh recruits
Sheens would not be drawn on interest in former Tiger and Eels lynchpin Mitchell Moses after meeting with him in the UK, and said attention eventually turns to who calls the shots long-term behind his new forwards when training resumes on January 5.

Halves Luke Brooks and Adam Doueihi are both off-contract and have never had a Tigers pack of this quality in front of them.

“Brooksy’s been in rehab with a bit of a calf injury and Adam returns next week as planned,” Sheens said.

“I have spoken to the players and they know that the plan is to have those [contract] conversations in the New Year.

“How far into the New Year, we’ll wait and see, but right now the focus is on this team we’re building now for 2023 because we have to get some results right here, right now.

 

[426Tlgerland]

Yes I don’t see him starting bu5 he may get a bench spot , to many players now who can do the job at 13.
Bateman , Blore , Pappi , Joffa

 

[Roar_Power]

Ma'anaima looks like a future 13. Hope he gets a bench spot and spends some time at 13 this year. Competition for any spot in the 17 will be way higher than last year.

As Sheens says, if you’re good enough you’re old enough. Faagutu is 18 and arguably a better prospect than all locks on the WT roster. He won’t be far away from securing a top 17 spot. Maybe 2024….