Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[fainty]

Let’s go all in for welsby. I think a spine of
1.welsby
6.doueihi
7.brooks
9.Api
Can get us somewere.

 

[ovoevo]

There's options to target. Dodd from St Helens, Williams at Wigan, Pezet at Storm

You might struggle to get Williams. Ricky Stuart really did a number on that kid. The way he and the club fed their mates in the media (Kenty, in particular) a stream of negative headlines about George (who had been living away from home for a long time with a young kid on the way) was scandalous. I lost a lot of respect for Sticky on that one. Remember, the stories were so bad his teammates were forced to take unprecedented steps to attack their own club. Wouldn't be surprised if Williams is scarred for life. Dodd will definitely come to the NRL. I know this for a fact. He's made no secret about it. Top, top class player. Maybe the best scrum half I've seen coming out of the UK in thirty years. He's nearly two years younger than Welsby and yet he plays like a veteran. To give you an idea about his influence - St. Helens went from an average winning margin of +20 points to +6 immediately after he ruptured his Achilles. I was extremely worried about what impact that injury would have on him - but he went straight into the Panthers game after nine months out and looked as good as ever. We were "fortunate" he suffered that horrific injury just after he turned 20 while the body still has peak blood circulation to the legs and those growth hormones are still flowing. Had he suffered it five years later - big problems. The upshot is that Achilles probably set Dodd's NRL plans back by a year or so. He'll want to get at least one or two seasons of top form into his game in SL so he can maximise his earning potential. Coming over now wouldn't be a good idea.

 

[tigermate]

@THE_POM isaac moses plays Pascoe again?

How else can club justify signing brooks on a 2 yr extension before a ball has been kicked and we haven’t played finals in 9 years of him playing half back?

In what world does that make sense?

Just means we no longer are going to be looking at other half options which may or may not come up in the next year…. As we all know players break contracts / get home sick / want more money / fall out with coaches etc …

Why not wait until round 8 at least to sign brooks?

Even if ISaac is telling the club he has offers elsewhere - if brooks loves the club surely we have a bit of leverage and if not move on.

I’d rather sign brooks in round 8 for $850k per year for two years knowing he was succeeding and playing well rather than sign him now for $650k for two years and take the risk by round 8 he’s still not performing….. and that’s assuming we signed him now for circa $650k (you can bet we paid more and that’s not even the point)


Pascoe is honestly isaac moses golden ticket b*tch…. Isaac moses probably loves negotiating with the tigers. He gets everything he wants. Gus could picked it early.

 

[loklok]

The biggest problem with our halves isn't their footballing ability, it's decision making and execution under extreme pressure. Moses would not have fixed that, he would have only improved it slightly. Is that worth 1.3m? Not in my opinion.

Brooks and Doueihi will do well in general, and at times be fantastic. I do fear those high pressure moments though. But how many halves out there nail those moments? Not many.

And that's the thing .people are saying brooks will be better behind a better forward pack . Over the nine years there have been countless games that our forward pack has matched the opposition and we have came out with the loss. Decision making with pressure is not Luke Brooks best thing .

 

[hank37w]

You realise we only really got on top once they took off their starters and we kept ours on. Context is huge. The first 20 mins we were pretty awful generally speaking, a better side would have put 20 on us. Our goal line defence was improved, but they didn't throw a lot at us either

We have better forwards now, yes, but if they're coached to stand still in the defensive line and let players run at them at full speed while they're back pedalling then we'll still be spoon contenders. Line speed is what will see us avoid another bottom 4 season

Agree 100% with what you are saying.

After seeing what Titans showed a bit later in the day on Sunday had me far from convinced that round 1 is 2 competition points in the bag like some on here are suggesting.

Very hard to determine how teams are going to go based on trial form, but with Brooksy, Offa and Api to still come back into the team there is some hope that given a few competition rounds for combination to gel under "real match" conditions we can hopefully end up being competitive and consistent.

Just hope that the Injury Gods and match officials who at times think they are God, are kind to us this season.

 

[earl]

There's options to target. Dodd from St Helens, Williams at Wigan, Pezet at Storm

We should look at other options. I really hope we don't give away a stupid contract. A reasonable 2 year contract probably isn't that bad though. Hopefully that is the worst case option right now.

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

@THE_POM isaac moses plays Pascoe again?

How else can club justify signing brooks on a 2 yr extension before a ball has been kicked and we haven’t played finals in 9 years of him playing half back?

In what world does that make sense?

Just means we no longer are going to be looking at other half options which may or may not come up in the next year…. As we all know players break contracts / get home sick / want more money / fall out with coaches etc …

Why not wait until round 8 at least to sign brooks?

Even if ISaac is telling the club he has offers elsewhere - if brooks loves the club surely we have a bit of leverage and if not move on.

I’d rather sign brooks in round 8 for $850k per year for two years knowing he was succeeding and playing well rather than sign him now for $650k for two years and take the risk by round 8 he’s still not performing….. and that’s assuming we signed him now for circa $650k (you can bet we paid more and that’s not even the point)


Pascoe is honestly isaac moses golden ticket b*tch…. Isaac moses probably loves negotiating with the tigers. He gets everything he wants. Gus could picked it early.

Get your frustrated but Sheens and Benji call the roster and recruiting shots not Pascoe.

 

[ovoevo]

Are you from the UK?

Yes, St. Helens. Home of the World Champions! Was planning to come over with the other 900 fans but the wife put the foot down and said no lol.

 

[tigermate]

Get your frustrated but Sheens and Benji call the roster and recruiting shots not Pascoe.

Pascoe is sheens and benji boss and has to approve any recommendation they put to the board.

If he had any football nous he would suggest to sheens and benji they wait.

This is why in 9 years under Pascoe we haven’t played finals football bc he leaves all football decisions up to the coach’s (whom he picks) and then when they fail sacks the coach’s and says he had no say in the football department.

And yes I know the board picks the coach but he has the most say in it.

He left clearly to sign all the muppets, then left Madge and adam do the same, etc. at some point he can say “let’s wait and see”

Even just sign brooks for an extra year…. Seriously can you imagine the shit storm if we are near the bottom of the ladder mid way through the year and we gave brooks a 2 year extension…

Actually if Pascoe came out in the media and said he lives and dies by his decision to appoint sheens and trusts him implicitly (which he wont) I wouldn’t care…. Therefore if sheens fails , Pascoe agrees to leave …. Then let’s see how much he decides to intervene

 

[BAGNF05]

Get your frustrated but Sheens and Benji call the roster and recruiting shots not Pascoe.

Pascoe sits on the recruiting committee. The worst committee to ever committee. I suspect his side hustle is the Dragons recruiting committee.

 

[Dino]

2 years for brooks if it's only lik 600k isn't to bad, worse case scenario we have a slightly expensive deph player but you would hope they would wait to see him play

 

[tony soprano]

No, is most definitely not a win win .
They have have an elite halfback. We have nothing. They win, we lose, without any doubt

Their money is very top squad heavy wouldn't leave much left over for juniors.

Pros and cons with anything

 

[ovoevo]

We should look at other options. I really hope we don't give away a stupid contract. A reasonable 2 year contract probably isn't that bad though. Hopefully that is the worst case option right now.

The danger when attempting to fill such an influential position is getting a millstone contract wrapped around your neck which you can't get out of. Top class scrum halves are incredibly rare. Just look at the Titans. Holbrook made the foolish mistake of thinking he could get rid of Fogarty (who isn't even elite) and they blew a ton of games because they didn't have someone sufficiently influential to take control of the game when momentum started to shift. If you aren't 100% certain about a potential #7 I'd always err on bolstering the pack and waiting until the right guy comes available. But there are ... what ... six or seven real difference making #7s in the NRL? A lot of competition. I recently saw a photograph on Twitter where the Bulldogs and Gould had invited St. Helens CEO Mike Rush and coach Paul Wellens to dinner at the club while they were over for the WCC. Whilst there are good relations between St. Helens & the Dogs stretching back to the James Graham trade I imagine the futures of Welsby and Dodd were high up on the agenda for discussion.

 

[Merlot]

Brooks is definitely not more than a 600k player, on the numbers we're used to. Under the new, bigger cap that then jumps to 700-750k

think you over valued him bb,if Nicko Hinze just re signed for850x4

 

[Alltheway]

His management officially informed the club this afternoon, hence the timely article.

Looks like him and his uncle screwed us over again. Resigning brooks, Bateman for 4 years, Klemmer. All part of his plan thanks Issac! U ass clown.

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

Pascoe sits on the recruiting committee. The worst committee to ever committee.

I get his role as head honcho, he doesn’t do any of the contract negotiations though. He has empowered Sheens fully - so if Brooks is extended etc the Moses comment should be aimed at Sheens not Pascoe.

 

[BAGNF05]

I get his role as head honcho, he doesn’t do any of the contract negotiations though. He has empowered Sheens fully - so if Brooks is extended etc the Moses comment should be aimed at Sheens not Pascoe.

Recruiting has improved a lot since we got out from under the shit long term contracts Ivan and Justin signed. I’m actually glad we didn’t mortgage the club on Mitch.

 

[GCfan]

Agree 100% with what you are saying.

After seeing what Titans showed a bit later in the day on Sunday had me far from convinced that round 1 is 2 competition points in the bag like some on here are suggesting.

Very hard to determine how teams are going to go based on trial form, but with Brooksy, Offa and Api to still come back into the team there is some hope that given a few competition rounds for combination to gel under "real match" conditions we can hopefully end up being competitive and consistent.

Just hope that the Injury Gods and match officials who at times think they are God, are kind to us this season.

Yep I too thought Titans were crisp on Sunday. We were the traditional razzle dazzle of the early Sheens WT sides but the Titans looked more controlled in their attack. I’m not as confident of a win as many here are but hey, it’s a new season and all we have is hope

 

[hsvjones]

People seem to be giving it to Sheens and Pasco as we missed Moses and might be extending Brooks etc.. Not sure why as this really didn't play out in the media like past and the rest of the recruitment this off season is top class. (I would even say we have had the best recruitment this off season of all clubs)

Just a reminder of what we have lost and gained and its astonishing really:

2023 GAINS John Bateman (Wigan Warriors, 2026), Sione Fainu (Manly Sea Eagles, 2024), David Klemmer (Newcastle Knights, 2026), Apisai Koroisau (Penrith Panthers, 2025), Justin Matamua (2025), Isaiah Papali'i (Parramatta Eels, 2025), Fonua Pole (2025), Apisalome Saukuru (2023), Will Smith (Gold Coast Titans, 2023), Charlie Staines (Penrith Panthers, 2023), Brandon Tumeth (2025), Brandon Wakeham (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, 2023)

2023 LOSSES Fa'amanu Brown (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs), Luke Garner (Penrith Panthers), Oliver Gildart (The Dolphins), Jackson Hastings (Newcastle Knights), Luciano Leilua (North Queensland Cowboys), Jacob Liddle (St George Illawarra Dragons), Jock Madden (Brisbane Broncos), Thomas Mikaele (Warrington Wolves), Zane Musgrove (St George Illawarra Dragons), Tyrone Peachey (Penrith Panthers), James Roberts (retired), James Tamou (North Queensland Cowboys), Kelma Tuilagi (Manly Sea Eagles)

TBH the only player from that Losses list I would have liked to kept was Hastings but the rest were just average 1st graders.

The gains have been outstanding and even without Moses I truly believe we are heading up the ladder..

I grade the Club an "A" and think people will be surprised just how good Brooks and AD will go this year with the freedom to just play eyes up footy.

 

[ovoevo]

2 years for brooks if it's only lik 600k isn't to bad, worse case scenario we have a slightly expensive deph player but you would hope they would wait to see him play

Just my opinion but I would have kept Hastings before Brooks. Sure, he's not the quickest or flashiest. But in terms of intangibles - it's no contest. With top and up-and-coming scrum halves being as rare as a dodo's egg I know if I can't land one I can always sink money into building the most physically intimidating pack possible and Hastings can do a job. I can't say the same about Brooks. His form is just too up and down.