Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[hank37w]

Safiti

Which one, or is it a BOGOF deal?

🤣🤣🤣

 

[hank37w]

Sorry if I missed it, has the club announced or indicated whether Parra took Offa on full salary? Are we paying any freight for the transfer?

Have asked the same question a few times now and there has been complete silence on the matter.

Call me suspicious if you like, but the complete silence and lack of detail on the matter only makes me suspect that we are subsidising the deal in some way.

I'm sure if we had done such a great deal they would be boasting about what a great benefit it was to the club, I mean, Lee just wouldn't be able to help himself.

Lee was even going on about what a great bloke Joe was and how he was sad to see him go in the last Ask the Boss segment.

 

[Tucker]

Have asked the same question a few times now and there has been complete silence on the matter.

Call me suspicious if you like, but the complete silence and lack of detail on the matter only makes me suspect that we are subsidising the deal in some way.

I'm sure if we had done such a great deal they would be boasting about what a great benefit it was to the club, I mean, Lee just wouldn't be able to help himself.

Lee was even going on about what a great bloke Joe was and how he was sad to see him go in the last Ask the Boss segment.

My suspicions exactly.
If we are paying a cent for him to be there, heads need to roll.

 

[Odessa]

Why the Pantherisation of NSW needs to stop​

Story by Andrew Webster • 4h ago

There are many versions of Brad Fittler. Silly Freddy. Reflective Freddy. Big-hearted Freddy. Pass-the-ball Freddy.
Then there’s Under-the-Pump Freddy - which inevitably surfaces at some stage during an Origin campaign, and never more so than after his side’s calamitous 26-18 loss to Queensland in Origin I at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday night.
Coaches wear too much of the blame when their side loses, and are lavished with too much credit when they win, but this loss must reside squarely on Fittler’s shoulders.
This was a tightly wrapped burrito of misguided selections, superstar players desperately out of form, and a brand of Pantherised football that Queensland’s superior defence had little trouble reading.
The Blues can no longer ignore what the rest of us can see; that up against the coaching team of Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, and Johnathan Thurston, they are being out-thought, out-strategised, out-played.
They terrorised NSW as players, now they are doing it as coaches. It’s like being chased by Terminator: it never ends.

Fittler knew he’d cop it if his whacky selections didn’t work out, so he can’t say he didn’t see it coming. He took a wild chance on rookie firebrands Tevita Pangai jnr and Hudson Young and got his fingers burnt. Whatever “aggression” the pair brought was negated by penalties and handling errors. Both made dumb plays that led to Selwyn Cobbo tries.

Conversely, Slater’s selection gambles turned into selection masterstrokes. Fullback Reece Walsh’s big green eyes didn’t blink at any stage while centre Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow carried his club form into the Origin arena.

Unfortunately for NSW, so did many of their players. Tom Trbojevic was tentative at best. Josh Addo-Carr looked like a player still finding his way back from injury, probably because he is.

But the player of most concern was captain and fullback James Tedesco, who is no longer the rock to which NSW can cling in times of need.

In this match, he was caught out of position, slipped off tackles and then faced the ignominy of being out-leaped by Maroons prop and Roosters teammate Lindsay Collins for the final try to Cameron Munster.

When Tedesco had the ball, he gobbled up plenty of metres like he always does with his quick leg-speed and vision, but he overplayed his hand.

His numbers look good on a stat sheet but the way he’s playing kills the attack, a little like Paul Gallen when he took it upon himself, as NSW captain, to touch the ball two or three times a set.

What mostly sabotaged the Blues’ ability to score points was their intricate, disjointed plays that fizzled out time and again.

Fittler has been criticised for the Pantherisation of the NSW team but, as long as the Blues were winning, the preference to pick players from the NRL’s most dominant team of the last three years made perfect sense.

Now it’s starting to feel like misguided loyalty and stubbornness in the face of unfounded accusations that Fittler and his adviser, Greg Alexander, favour their old team.

The Blues have lost three of their last four Origin matches running the same Panthers plays, on both the left and right side of the ruck. Queensland defenders pick them off like they’re shooting fish in a barrel. Clearly, they have adopted the rushing defensive strategy used by Melbourne in the 2020 decider against Penrith — because it works.

They did in last year’s series and did something similar in Adelaide. How did the Blues not see it coming?

Onwards, now, to Brisneyland for game two at Suncorp Stadium on June 21. It already feels like a funeral.

Fittler faces the trickiest of dilemmas: let the players who cornered themselves into this position find their way out of it — or perform emergency surgery on his squad?

Latrell Mitchell, who’s had a problematic relationship with NSW since being dropped for game two in 2019, looms as an obvious saviour.

His Souths teammate, Campbell Graham, was brought into the squad for game one but then told he could go home when medical staff learned he required painkilling injections on his sternum just to train.

But he’s been named to play against the Gold Coast on Saturday and should be considered for NSW ahead of Trbojevic, who has been stood down for 11 days because of concussion suffered late in the match.

The biggest call, however, needs to be made in the halves.

Halfback Nathan Cleary isn’t going anywhere, and five-eighth Jarome Luai did little wrong, but for the sake of variety, of salvaging the series, how about something different?

NSW went very close to picking Cody Walker for game one, not just because of his form for Souths but the way he pinballs around Mitchell, confusing everyone except themselves.

Perhaps it’s time to pull the trigger on Luai and try something different. If not Walker at five-eighth, then start Nicho Hynes and use Walker off the bench against tired defence?

For years, Blues coaches complained about never having the depth in the halves enjoyed by Queensland. Fittler is the first NSW coach in 15 years or more to have myriad options so he should explore them.

I mean, what else does he have to lose, apart from the series and, possibly, his job? We’d rather a Winning Freddy than a Sacked Freddy.

Thanks

 

[balmain boy]

Did you read his post. Said it'd be a swap for Sipley

As another poster said, we just let a prop go because our forwards are well stocked for now and players coming through.
We have no depth in the halves or backs. That's where we desperately need to recruit

 

[Bones]

We just let go of a middle forward because we had too many props. We have multiple backs with long term injuries so I'd suggest swapping a back for a prop benefits Manly much more than us.

We didn’t let Joffa go because we have too many props, we let him go because he was on too much money for a bench prop. We 1 injury away from having to go outside our top 30 for a prop.

We still have Naden, Laurie and Staines will be back as depth in the outside backs, plus Kepaoa. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Feledy gets some games as Sheens has shown he is more than willing to put the young blokes in.

 

[bptiger 0]

As another poster said, we just let a prop go because our forwards are well stocked for now and players coming through.
We have no depth in the halves or backs. That's where we desperately need to recruit

Well I disagree that our forwards are well stocked , just look at our bench for tonight’s game , it would have been so much better with joffa there , yes we need halves but that ain’t going to happen till next year

 

[Lee's fedora]

Why would we do that? No benefit to us

Sipley covers lock , prop and 2nd row hes a good hand plus manly came to dance with us

 

[Camel2281]

Sipley covers lock , prop and 2nd row hes a good hand plus manly came to dance with us

Plus Sipley would be on at max half of what Offa was

 

[pawsandclaws1]

Well I disagree that our forwards are well stocked , just look at our bench for tonight’s game , it would have been so much better with joffa there , yes we need halves but that ain’t going to happen till next year

If your looking at it short term, yes it would be better to keep Talau until the end of the season. If you take the view he's gone anyway and we're building a competitive team over the longer term, I can agree his departure is a good decision.

 

[Tim Sheens]

Don't see any drama with swapping a centre for a forward, as WT will be filling the Joffa hole, whilst still having a top 30 spot available to fill with a back.

 

[hank37w]

Plus Sipley would be on at max half of what Offa was

That would be great if it happened and if it was true, but only if Manly paid full freight for Joe to begin with.

 

[Tim Sheens]

That would be great if it happened and if it was true, but only if Manly paid full freight for Joe to begin with.

Huh?

 

[OzLuke]

Don't see any drama with swapping a centre for a forward, as WT will be filling the Joffa hole, whilst still having top 30 spot available to fill with a back.

If we get an injury or two, our forward depth would be looking pretty thin. 100% this would be a good thing for us.

 

[Wiz]

Sipley would be a great get. The type of wrecking ball impact prop we need. Maybe Fulton’s first catch!

I would do the Talau for Sipley swap pronto.

 

[Wiz]

Centres are the least impactful position in the game and if we let Talau go and then have an injury we’d be able to get an adequate fill in via Kepoa, Staines, etc. not a perfect fill in, but adequate for this season given we’re not winning the comp and building for the future.

 

[Snoz]

Prop Toafofoa Sipley is one of those players and characters every club needs.

A man who works tirelessly on improving his craft, Sipley's naturally infectious personality brings that feeling of belonging and togetherness to the squad.

Sipley will be looking to become a permanent mainstay of the Sea Eagles engine room in 2023.

He was a popular and well deserved winner of Manly's Clubman of the Year award in 2021.

Off the field, Sipley has a Bachelor of Education Degree

 

[Tucker]

Centres are the least impactful position in the game and if we let Talau go and then have an injury we’d be able to get an adequate fill in via Kepoa, Staines, etc. not a perfect fill in, but adequate for this season given we’re not winning the comp and building for the future.

Acknowledging that what you have said here is widely viewed this way, I have to say I dont get this way of thinking.
It was only 2 years ago that a NSW centre combination absolutely pulverised QLD. So incredible was their impact that even QLD players admitted there wasnt much they could do to combat it.

If Sheens wants to play 'out of the box' footy, using his centres like the league world used to use them 15 years ago would be an intelligent start. How much impact did To'a have against Cowboys? They simply could not handle him and most of us gave him MOM. You could do far worse than challenge this ill considered belief that has festered in the game and make the centres the focus of our attack.

 

[Spidercam]

Sipley is a like many of the manly players, upset they shafted Dessie… I know for a fact he’s open to coming to the tigers 🐅

 

[Lukic]

Blore would make a lot of sense on the bench as someone who can play some middle and edge. Versatility in the line-up with Bateman too - have Blore defend middle and attack on an edge while Bateman defends on an edge and then plays as a ball-playing 13 in attack.

Seyfarth tries hard but I just can't justify him being there over Blore. I actually think Seyfarth could develop into an ok lock who can ball-play a pinch, but his physical attributes are just too poor to expect him to be anything more than a quality depth guy.

Sipley would be a good add on the bench I think. We're well enough off at prop between Klemmer, Twal, Pole and Utoikamanu but Sipley has some genuine size and can be a tough man to stop. Api's service and getting him on the front foot could definitely see him make some huge gains.