Joe Ofahengaue #240

Jedi_Tiger said:
again it is the 600k for Joe as a bench player in 2024 and 2025 that is the issue
who in the starting side is Joe replacing
klemmer or stef ?
papali or Bateman?
Pole ?
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We are weaker without him in our 17. We didn't replace him, we aren't blooding a young player, we are playing a plodder on the bench instead of him. This decision has made us weaker. Does this make you happy?
 
gregjm87 said:
There were plenty of rumours about him and Benji not getting along. Every new piece of information only furthers my belief that the rumours were accurate.
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Yeah, I mentioned it on here previously.

I believe Benji told Joe that he didn't rate him as a #13 and it went down hill from that time on.

Joe would have been much too nice to tell Benji that he didn't rate him as a coach. 🤣
 
BAGNF05 said:
In our backline we have Bula, a kid with talent but not yet on big coin. An overpaid winger on about 500. Our centres are average and couldn’t/shouldn’t be on more than 400 (Naden) and maybe 300 (To’a). Tupou would not be on big money although you could argue he’s worth upgrading. Doueihi is probably chewing up 600K.

Sure, you don’t want to pay your bench players 600K but when all the million dollar backs don’t want a bar of us, there should be no issue keeping Joff. Come back and dispute this if we actually manage to sign a star player in the backs. Until then, the club is just useless and shouldn’t let go of anyone half decent.
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Touché
 
Assuming he is on same coin at parra then he was at tigers it probably shows he should have been kept . They have same depth if not better in front row and lock position yet still got him .
Even if he does not provide impact off the bench he is worth being on bench as all he has to do is keep the middle tight and be cover for injuries and suspensions .

Difference between the top clubs and lower ranked clubs tends to be after initial interchanges occur and bench rotation comes on. That’s why eels got him for when rcg and Paulo get subbed they don’t get exposed in the middle and that’s why he should have been kept
 
Joffa was a tough one. We certainly are short on middles depth now, especially with Uto playing SOO. We could have used Joffa this season as our bench depth is poor.

On the other hand, he was on pretty big money for a bench prop playing 20-30 mins a game. He was not in his best form either (although his last game for us had some intent about it). Watching him play closely, he tended to lose all lateral movement in D when he got tired and was often slow to get off the ground or turn around in our red zone causing holes near our line.

When we took the opportunity to let him go I thought it was a calculated decision based on roster space, cap space, his future potential in the squad, and perhaps that we had a replacement option in mind that would upgrade us. However no such replacement has been made and now we are left short.

I now wonder what more there is to the reasoning behind the decision.
 
TigerSJ said:
Joffa was a tough one. We certainly are short on middles depth now, especially with Uto playing SOO. We could have used Joffa this season as our bench depth is poor.

On the other hand, he was on pretty big money for a bench prop playing 20-30 mins a game. He was not in his best form either (although his last game for us had some intent about it). Watching him play closely, he tended to lose all lateral movement in D when he got tired and was often slow to get off the ground or turn around in our red zone causing holes near our line.

When we took the opportunity to let him go I thought it was a calculated decision based on roster space, cap space, his future potential in the squad, and perhaps that we had a replacement option in mind that would upgrade us. However no such replacement has been made and now we are left short.

I now wonder what more there is to the reasoning behind the decision.
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Atasi James would replace Joe and do a better job given a chance imo
 
Demps said:
600k bench prop that offers minimal impact ?

It's business.
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He was no frills, and offered very valuable leadership. He did his job well, there was a period where he was in great form. Dipped slightly for a few rounds, but was on a whole consistent.

If we had someone of equal or greater quality lined up, that would actually accept our offer, fine - good business. But we don't get players of Joe's caliber very often - like I said, that doesn't necessarily speak highly of Joe, moreso who comes here.
 
Moh said:
He was no frills, and offered very valuable leadership. He did his job well, there was a period where he was in great form. Dipped slightly for a few rounds, but was on a whole consistent.

If we had someone of equal or greater quality lined up, that would actually accept our offer, fine - good business. But we don't get players of Joe's caliber very often - like I said, that doesn't necessarily speak highly of Joe, moreso who comes here.
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100% agree, more short term pain for the long term gain that never eventuates.
 
Former Wests Tigers forward Joe Ofahengaue has opened up on his departure from the club, revealing he never wanted to leave but was forced out just months into a three-year deal.

The Tongan international has settled in nicely at the Eels but it’s foreign territory for a man who just last year won the Kelly-Barnes Medal as the best player at the Tigers.

He collected the award hours after he inked a new deal to stay at the club because he could see a bright future despite the Tigers claiming the wooden spoon in 2022.

“I don’t want to go too far into details, but everyone knows I didn’t want to leave that club. Sometimes you’ve just got to read the room. I just put my best foot forward and backed myself to come here,” Ofahengaue said.

“I don’t think it was that hard when it wasn’t really my choice.

“Everyone knows how passionate I was about that club. I signed three years for a reason because I wanted to stay there to be a part of the changes that were going to come. Things changed, and what happened was out of my control.

“It was a no-brainer for me to come to a club that really wanted me. I’m so grateful that I get to experience this locker room.”

The decision to release Ofahengaue was a strange one given he provided invaluable experience to a forward pack full of emerging stars who looked up to him.

It’s why there were emotional scenes at Leichhardt Oval when he crashed over for a try in his final game for the club before making the move to Parramatta.

“I felt for my mates because they didn’t deserve for me to leave halfway through the year. I didn’t think I deserved that either, but sometimes you can’t control things,” he said.

“I’m just glad that the club wanted me here and that allowed me to bring a positive out of it.”

It’s been a hectic few weeks for Ofahengaue, who was rushed into the Eels starting side to take on the Cowboys just days after he’d played against them as a Tiger but lasted just 10 minutes in his Eels debut before he injured his calf.

He’s back to full fitness now and punched out 30 minutes off the bench in the big win over Manly, although he admits he still needs to learn the team song.

“I’m just glad I got to play more than 10 minutes,” he said, paying tribute to Eels coach Brad Arthur for believing in him.

“My first game was disappointing because I came off early with an injury.

“I’ve been around long enough to know that things just happen and you can’t control everything, but I promised Brad that I’d do everything I could to get back as quickly as possible.

“I was happy to get through a good chunk of the second half because I wanted to get through some work and test out the calf.” (DT)
 
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