Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Holman Barnes #1 Fan]

Plus it's pretty tough for him I reckon he's Parras version of Brooks always under the microscope cause of assumed nepotism. If my old man was a coach and I was in grade I'd be playing for a completely different team to get established, once I could hold my own fine, but starting out in grade is hard enough plus the added scrutiny, the pressure must be immense.

Isn't that exactly the reason that Mitchell Pearce didn't play for us? Didn't wanna be in his old man's footsteps/shadow.

 

[hank37w]

As a career-revival option, Waqa Blake could just about be our best centre if he played for us..

Blake could be okay if the price is right as back up depth to replace Tommy Talau because we definitely need some depth for centre, but I wouldn't get involved in a bidding war for him as I believe he is out of contract at the end of this season.

I haven't heard anything about Parramatta wanting to extend him or anyone making offers so far which could have been made since last November if he is off contract this year.

That guy has been known to destroy us when he has played against us in years gone by, but you could guarantee that the way he has been playing in more recent times, dropping bombs and suspect defence wise, if he was playing for us he would destroy us from within.

The guy has some mistakes in his game, admittedly there is the odd flash of brilliance but that isn't too often these days.

I would argue that Toa is as good, if not better than him at the moment and seems to be improving every game with the added advantage of still being young with plenty of up side.

 

[hank37w]

He’s not an upgrade, we have Naden, who I’d say is a better version of Blake. He ain’t replacing Star who has locked down right centre through hard work reducing his errors and improving well in attack, I reckon he’s a star, I love watching a young bloke improve his game.

Star by name and star by nature.

 

[jrtiger]

I think WT have weighed up cost-to-benefit analysis for Joffa.

$600k would cover the contracts of Miller, Laulili’i and Fa’agutu when they come into grade for the first couple years. guys like Fainu, Saukuru and Simpkins heading for the exits will free up the space in the top 30 required, and Joffa’s contract gives us the ability to ensure all of them are duly compensated. guys like Blore, Utoikamanu, Twal and Matamua are all up for renewal come November 1 which will mean they’ll also be topped up.

smart move in this sense. a lot of excellent middle forward prospects coming through that will need to be paid for appropriately.

 

[Plato]

I

It would be a great move if we had someone lined up , other wise it’s a joke . Why don’t we just put a fire sale up at the tigers, come and take who u like , and we will chip in for there wages , it really is getting harder to be a loyal supporter

Could the Joffa to Parra move be a sweetener towards getting Mitch? I'm not convinced that deal is dead in the water as Zero Tackle have him on a player option for 2024 rather than a contract, and we're not paying Fulton for doing nothing.

 

[Wiz]

We need to be realistic. We are not playing finals this year. If we want to play finals next year or the year after we need to be putting Joffa’s $600k per year to better use. For comparison, I believe Spencer Leniu signed with the Roosters for $550k per year (on the books that is…). Joffa was way overpaid by that comparison. We brought Fulton in to do a job and now we’ve backed him with more salary cap to spend and an additional roster spot free. Let’s see how it turns out. There’s no guarantee it will work but at least we aren’t being half arsed about it.

 

[Kelce68]

Thats code for Forfeiting. Better run Clubs never need to have Millions in the hope of a player becoming available 2 years from now.

Wot.

In a market where no-one of note is available, what exactly do you propose? Teams can only work with what is available at the time. If somebody becomes agitated or unwanted/underutilised, but is under contract, they become an option too. This is how we got Klemmer, this is how the Eels have gotten Joffa.

I really like Joffa, but a reported $600k for our 4/5th choice prop (which is what he's become this year) in the rotation who is playing 30/40 minutes off the bench is bad business. Our forward pack has quickly become our strength and likely greatest depth, therefore, we've got some toys that we can trade in to hopefully strengthen other areas of the squad that are glaringly in need of an upgrade. How is freeing up that cash and a roster spot a bad thing?

Unless of course you're suggesting that we keep paying him $600k to play off the bench for the next 2.5 years.

 

[Holman Barnes #1 Fan]

The only downside I see is it weakens the depth of our squad. We have really struggled with injuries over the last few years. We're only two injuries away from starting reserve graders. Joe O is a good guy to have if two of Stefano, Klemmer, Twal, and Pole were to go down. Now my memory isn't perfect but I feel like that exact situation happened last year and is how Austin Dias and Thomas Freebairn were getting a run.

 

[Kelce68]

What a load of crap , so u want us supporters to wait till 2026 now , we have been waiting for 10 years already, can’t see how this helps us in any way , but if we sign someone NOW who is a better player I will stand corrected

My post was a load of crap?

Thanks.

Is that what you got from my entire post? Plenty of other posters have laid out the numerous ways this situation will help us, I suggest you have a read of these perspectives.

I'm not suggesting we have to wait for anything, I'm saying that smart operators, if there's a dearth of options available in the present, will store resources patiently for a time in the future where they can responsibly and deliberately spend that money.

The alternative is spend millions on what is around now, regardless of what quality is available, i.e. the Ivan approach. If you'd like to go back to Packer, Reynolds, McQueen and Matulino, then best of luck.

 

[hank37w]

NRL 360 last night no more Kent but the ridicule continues as when discussing Tigers failed attempts at Munster ,Moses , Pearce and now Johnson as highly unlikely as he's happy and back home . Hooper said Tigers cant recruit these players as we are a laughing stock ! To hell with you hoops

What? and he isn't.

 

[Tigerstigerstigers]

I

Could the Joffa to Parra move be a sweetener towards getting Mitch? I'm not convinced that deal is dead in the water as Zero Tackle have him on a player option for 2024 rather than a contract, and we're not paying Fulton for doing nothing.

player option possibly expired as well. where there is smoke there's fire.

 

[Lukic]

Cap space is always good to have. We can front load contracts and pick up players who suddenly become available a lot easier.

Ofahengaue is a good player and teammate for sure, but his role in the team and going forward didn't match up with his contract.

We have four props in the first grade team already without Joe. Klemmer, Stef, Twal and Pole. We also want to shift towards having a ball player at 13. Joe's the odd man out and an easy choice if we can move his salary. Matamua to 13 and Pole to 16 and we're not much worse off, if at all.

We're 2 and 8 this year. I'm not worried about depth this year because we're not winning a comp. We can fix that next year. Klemmer, Bateman, Koroisau, Twal and Papali'i means our pack has plenty of experience without Joe.

 

[Holman Barnes #1 Fan]

I was confused when we released Maumalo. It meant we could sign Bula to a top 30 contract. That was a great move. Hoping we have someone good lined up.

 

[balmain boy]

We have to have someone lined up, whether from eels or not. We have so much cash to splash and now even more

My guess is Schuster.

 

[balmain boy]

Staying ahead of your cap is never a bad thing.

If there's a big fish on the market at the time, you're well in the fight, if not, contracts remain front ended across the squad which keeps cap space available into the future. This future-proofs your options when it comes to the future player market and can insure teams against having money at the 'wrong' time only, as we have now.

Eventually, the market turns and it's a buyer's market flush with quality off contract players. Front-loading and being patient with your funds allows the Tigers to sit in wait and be well equipped to make an impact on the market at that time, whether it's '24, '25 or '26.

These decisions aren't always about the current season only...

We've been doing this for years and still can't spend our money. This is the last resort on the planet kind of option.
Not spending our cap every year is why we won the spoon last year, and why we're coming last this year. Other teams have quality players, we don't.

 

[Plato]

player option possibly expired as well. where there is smoke there's fire.

Everything went quiet on that one, but Mitch has the opportunity to set himself up for life and extend best buddy Luke for a few more years, so no downside for him that I can see. Could be plenty downside for the Tigers, but it could work too.

 

[tigertuff]

Cap space is always good to have. We can front load contracts and pick up players who suddenly become available a lot easier.

Ofahengaue is a good player and teammate for sure, but his role in the team and going forward didn't match up with his contract.

We have four props in the first grade team already without Joe. Klemmer, Stef, Twal and Pole. We also want to shift towards having a ball player at 13. Joe's the odd man out and an easy choice if we can move his salary. Matamua to 13 and Pole to 16 and we're not much worse off, if at all.

We're 2 and 8 this year. I'm not worried about depth this year because we're not winning a comp. We can fix that next year. Klemmer, Bateman, Koroisau, Twal and Papali'i means our pack has plenty of experience without Joe.

You can through Blore into that prop rotation as well. I reckon he offers more than Offa.

 

[balmain boy]

Blake could be okay if the price is right as back up depth to replace Tommy Talau because we definitely need some depth for centre, but I wouldn't get involved in a bidding war for him as I believe he is out of contract at the end of this season.

I haven't heard anything about Parramatta wanting to extend him or anyone making offers so far which could have been made since last November if he is off contract this year.

That guy has been known to destroy us when he has played against us in years gone by, but you could guarantee that the way he has been playing in more recent times, dropping bombs and suspect defence wise, if he was playing for us he would destroy us from within.

The guy has some mistakes in his game, admittedly there is the odd flash of brilliance but that isn't too often these days.

I would argue that Toa is as good, if not better than him at the moment and seems to be improving every game with the added advantage of still being young with plenty of up side.

Blake would be appalling under any circumstances. We currently have no depth, and very little quality at centre. All of our centres are pretty bang average. Having 5 average centres in the squad doesn't help us win matches. We need to sign stars, ideally current, and if we can't we at least need to sign the hottest youngsters around. We've been doing neither in recent years, though Api, Papa and Klem is a step in the right direction

 

[hank37w]

He’s aloud to play now already as of round 11 you can play players from outside top 30 I was thinking more for next year

It would be just like us to promote him to the top 30 now when we can actually play him and see how he goes in the top grade first and keep our options open.

That would be a completely brain dead move just like extending Doueihi for a year before a game was even played and now we carry the Salary Cap liability and a top 30 spot taken up for an extra year for nothing in return.

 

[gregjm87]

There must be more to this you don’t just release a player you just extended for 2 more years if you don’t have to

Rumour he and Benji don't get on