Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Since 2020 we have let a heap of players go, our team now only contains AD, & Twal,

& the King of halfbacks Luke The Brooks, who currently play in our team so anybody with a brain can figure the constant thing within our team thats not changed,
Luke of course, nor have our results changed, yes lots of players make mistakes, but in nearly every game luke plays in, you can work it out, in todays game against manly he made a glaring error in defence that delivered them there 2nd try, lost two balls when tackled, dropped a pass with the chance to score close to post creating an 8 point lead for us with 8 minutes left on clock. And this did not only happen today, it happens in most games he is in.

But he will play next week and they will give him another contract.
 
Dennisspicer1 said:
Since 2020 we have let a heap of players go, our team now only contains AD, & Twal,

& the King of halfbacks Luke The Brooks, who currently play in our team so anybody with a brain can figure the constant thing within our team thats not changed,
Luke of course, nor have our results changed, yes lots of players make mistakes, but in nearly every game luke plays in, you can work it out, in todays game against manly he made a glaring error in defence that delivered them there 2nd try, lost two balls when tackled, dropped a pass with the chance to score close to post creating an 8 point lead for us with 8 minutes left on clock. And this did not only happen today, it happens in most games he is in.

But he will play next week and they will give him another contract.
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As I’ve stated in another thread, if we had Tedesco at 1, Moses at 7 and Brooks at 6 along with the rest of this current side the same, how many games would we have won this season ?
I say at least 6 and if that’s in any way correct, just maybe lack of a quality 7 and 1 is as much if not more the problem than Brooks alone.
On the flip side, Brooks is supposedly earning 1 million per season, Wakeham supposedly the bare minimum top 30 wage of approx 120k per season, Laurie supposedly a fraction more than Wakeham and Will Smith much less than Wakeham as he doesn’t have a top 30 contract. Essentially there is not much between all of them, although Will Smith is probably the best on field communicator and has the best kicking game, while Laurie had the most x-factor out of them when running the ball.
So obviously based on facts and figures no point in keeping Brooks beyond this season.
 
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From what I saw of Daine Laurie today in reserves, I thought he started off a bit quiet and got the impression he wasn't initially too keen on getting involved or in making contact.

As the game progressed he seemed to start getting a bit more involved and started doing a bit more talking.

For his first run in the halves I thought he was far from being a stand out but wasn't terrible either.

Played on the left side with Will Smith over on the right and on that display I don't know if I would be rushing him into first grade right away, but may be worth persevering with him in the halves in reserve grade for a while, but with Sheens in charge who knows what will happen.
 
Vicious said:
I’ve seen a bit of his acceleration at times in the lower grades, hence the reason I stated he’s has all the tools to be a quality halve.
He’s tall, strongly built, fast, has good hands and a big boot.
What he doesn’t seem to have at the moment is the toughness or desire to succeed at higher levels.
You could say that’s a massive problem and yes it currently is, but not every young person develops mentally and toughens up at the same stage.
It could just be as simple as a conversation with Benji & Farah to make him realise he has all the tools to become an NRL star except for the most important ones which are the toughness and desire to win at all costs/succeed.
IF he started playing much tougher, playing much more direct and running the ball deep into the line, willing to take a hit to create space for his outside players and also regularly taking on the defence running the ball at top speed aka Nathan Cleary and brush up on his short kicking game, he would become an extremely valuable halve.
I’m sure other clubs are seeing this and if we don’t persist, another club will have a red hot go at moulding him him into the player he can potentially become.
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But his passing and kicking games are very average. That's why he's struggling to hold down a spot in flegg
 
Unfortunately we have nothing to offer Souths to relieve them of Blake Taafe. But I think he would be an excellent addition right now. Kurt Falls could be had easily enough. I know- not an exciting signing. But his kicking game is solid & he directs play around the field. Is that worse than what we already have?

Off season needs to bring in a centre of note- someone that drags an extra defender over & creates gaps outside.
 
For those mentioning signing Kurt Falls and those disappointed we let Hastings go, I’m pretty sure the Bulldogs would be happy to offload Kyle Flanagan ASAP if we wanted him and he plays that structured style of game.
I’m far from sold on Kyle Flanagan being a decent quality NRL player, but at the same time he’s got a far better resume than most halves his age.
Just making the point he’s one we could easily get straight away if we purely want a structured type of halfback.
 
Vicious said:
For those mentioning signing Kurt Falls and those disappointed we let Hastings go, I’m pretty sure the Bulldogs would be happy to offload Kyle Flanagan ASAP if we wanted him and he plays that structured style of game.
I’m far from sold on Kyle Flanagan being a decent quality NRL player, but at the same time he’s got a far better resume than most halves his age.
Just making the point he’s one we could easily get straight away if we purely want a structured type of halfback.
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In all honesty, he's not the worst option. He won't break the salary cap. He's no worse than what we currently use. And if someone young comes through the ranks, it's not an agonising proceedure to move him on to make way. While the club works toward getting the playing roster right, Flanagan isn't the worst place holder at a reasonable price.
 
hank37w said:
From what I saw of Daine Laurie today in reserves, I thought he started off a bit quiet and got the impression he wasn't initially too keen on getting involved or in making contact.

As the game progressed he seemed to start getting a bit more involved and started doing a bit more talking.

For his first run in the halves I thought he was far from being a stand out but wasn't terrible either.

Played on the left side with Will Smith over on the right and on that display I don't know if I would be rushing him into first grade right away, but may be worth persevering with him in the halves in reserve grade for a while, but with Sheens in charge who knows what will happen.
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will smith played much better than laurie. who is number 3 in the center?
 
The Chad said:
In all honesty, he's not the worst option. He won't break the salary cap. He's no worse than what we currently use. And if someone young comes through the ranks, it's not an agonising proceedure to move him on to make way. While the club works toward getting the playing roster right, Flanagan isn't the worst place holder at a reasonable price.
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I’ve had similar thoughts. Have watched Flanagan closely for a couple of weeks and in all honesty, I don’t see it as an option. He doesn’t dig into the line and commit, he shifts the ball without drawing in defenders and doesn’t get many try assists (first 4 rounds he had 1). He also is not overly quick and doesn’t really qualify as a running half.

He is 24 now and played 70 games. Quite enough for us to least see his style - not saying he can’t improve but we aren’t starting off a high base. He is defensively sound as is his general kicking and goal kicking.

The other issue is that he is still at an age where I believe he will want a longer term contract and I don’t see him being a long term solution. Perhaps better to get an older head (Shaun Johnson type) for a year or two while the kids develop.
 
Camel2281 said:
He's been free to sign with anyone since Nov 1 last year and it's crickets.

Luke Brooks is bordering on having done more damage to the Tigers than another other person in Tigers history
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Bordering on???

There will be an asterisk next to the Tigers records this last decade.
 
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Vicious said:
For those mentioning signing Kurt Falls and those disappointed we let Hastings go, I’m pretty sure the Bulldogs would be happy to offload Kyle Flanagan ASAP if we wanted him and he plays that structured style of game.
I’m far from sold on Kyle Flanagan being a decent quality NRL player, but at the same time he’s got a far better resume than most halves his age.
Just making the point he’s one we could easily get straight away if we purely want a structured type of halfback.
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Nah, I can't stand Brooks, but Flanagan is quite easily the worst half in the comp.
 
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