Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Ok guys I have a plan. Some will criticise, others will understand.

It’s more & more likely we are not going to land a big name recruit in the current state of our roster.

It is right to go down the development pathway but these young guys need more leaders & mentors amongst their team mates in addition to Api, Klem & Bateman especially our backline which has NO genuine leaders or players that lead by their deeds. It’s damning! We saw what can happen last Sat night.

So I’m releasing the following players to create room for 1) players who have experience, have hunger & motivation to prove a point, do the extras at training, bring energy and nental toughness, & 2) the young guys we need to promote.

OUT: Nofa, Kepaoa, Laurie, Wakeham, Tuki, Seyfarth, Jake Simpkin, Api Saukuru in addition to Brooks, Talau & Offa. (11)

IN: In addition to the Fainu brothers …

Sean Keppie - reportedly hard trainer, experienced, aggressive, brother or cousin of the Keppies in our CUBS, community award recipient, gettable.

Connor Tracey - to play 5/8 where he did play & then centre when fainu is ready, fast/elusive, experienced, good D, apparently a great clubman.

Jake Clifford - one if the few available halfbacks with loads of ability, killing it in SL, great kicking game, goal kicker & importantly a point to prove.

Adam Clune - backup halfback, very good mentor & clubman apparently, much better than Wakeham, having a great season in NSW Cup in a poor squad.

Connor Watson - role to be our #14 utility & backup hooker until Tallyn is ready, brings energy & experience, off contract, can play halves/lock if needed off bench, one of the fittest players.

+ Feledy, Mansfield, Da Silva & Galvin (11)
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
Ok guys I have a plan. Some will criticise, others will understand.

It’s more & more likely we are not going to land a big name recruit in the current state of our roster.

It is right to go down the development pathway but these young guys need more leaders & mentors amongst their team mates in addition to Api, Klem & Bateman especially our backline which has NO genuine leaders or players that lead by their deeds. It’s damning! We saw what can happen last Sat night.

So I’m releasing the following players to create room for 1) players who have experience, have hunger & motivation to prove a point, do the extras at training, bring energy and nental toughness, & 2) the young guys we need to promote.

OUT: Nofa, Kepaoa, Laurie, Wakeham, Tuki, Seyfarth, Jake Simpkin, Api Saukuru in addition to Brooks, Talau & Offa. (11)

IN: In addition to the Fainu brothers …

Sean Keppie - reportedly hard trainer, experienced, aggressive, brother or cousin of the Keppies in our CUBS, community award recipient, gettable.

Connor Tracey - to play 5/8 where he did play & then centre when fainu is ready, fast/elusive, experienced, good D, apparently a great clubman.

Jake Clifford - one if the few available halfbacks with loads of ability, killing it in SL, great kicking game, goal kicker & importantly a point to prove.

Adam Clune - backup halfback, very good mentor & clubman apparently, much better than Wakeham, having a great season in NSW Cup in a poor squad.

Connor Watson - role to be our #14 utility & backup hooker until Tallyn is ready, brings energy & experience, off contract, can play halves/lock if needed off bench, one of the fittest players.

+ Feledy, Mansfield, Da Silva & Galvin (11)
Click to expand...
Could do a lot worse than follow that plan.
Personally I’d take Blake Taafe as a 5/8 ahead of Connor Tracey only due to Tracey not playing any 5/8 for quite a long time.
I’d happily take Tracey as a centre.
I believe one of many weaknesses within our squad is lack of speed and inability to score long range tries. Xavier Savage doesn’t look like getting back in the Raiders NRL squad, he along with hopefully re-signing Charlie Staines would give us ability to score long range tries.
 
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BlackWhiteGold said:
Ok guys I have a plan. Some will criticise, others will understand.

It’s more & more likely we are not going to land a big name recruit in the current state of our roster.

It is right to go down the development pathway but these young guys need more leaders & mentors amongst their team mates in addition to Api, Klem & Bateman especially our backline which has NO genuine leaders or players that lead by their deeds. It’s damning! We saw what can happen last Sat night.

So I’m releasing the following players to create room for 1) players who have experience, have hunger & motivation to prove a point, do the extras at training, bring energy and nental toughness, & 2) the young guys we need to promote.

OUT: Nofa, Kepaoa, Laurie, Wakeham, Tuki, Seyfarth, Jake Simpkin, Api Saukuru in addition to Brooks, Talau & Offa. (11)

IN: In addition to the Fainu brothers …

Sean Keppie - reportedly hard trainer, experienced, aggressive, brother or cousin of the Keppies in our CUBS, community award recipient, gettable.

Connor Tracey - to play 5/8 where he did play & then centre when fainu is ready, fast/elusive, experienced, good D, apparently a great clubman.

Jake Clifford - one if the few available halfbacks with loads of ability, killing it in SL, great kicking game, goal kicker & importantly a point to prove.

Adam Clune - backup halfback, very good mentor & clubman apparently, much better than Wakeham, having a great season in NSW Cup in a poor squad.

Connor Watson - role to be our #14 utility & backup hooker until Tallyn is ready, brings energy & experience, off contract, can play halves/lock if needed off bench, one of the fittest players.

+ Feledy, Mansfield, Da Silva & Galvin (11)
Click to expand...
Some good ideas here.

The really sad part about this reality is Clifford was let go because he wasn't the answer at Newcastle where Hastings has come in and made the 7 his own. Similarly Clune is a back up half and can't get a run due to Hastings' form. Hastings was contracted to WT in 2023 and we could really use him right now.
 
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Vicious said:
Could do a lot worse than follow that plan.
Personally I’d take Blake Taafe as a 5/8 ahead of Connor Tracey only due to Tracey not playing any 5/8 for quite a long time.
I’d happily take Tracey as a centre.
I believe one of many weaknesses within our squad is lack of speed and inability to score long range tries. Xavier Savage doesn’t look like getting back in the Raiders NRL squad, he along with hopefully re-signing Charlie Staines would give us ability to score long range tries.
Click to expand...
Taafe and savage would be great pickups
 
teddy23 said:
Personally always seen Savage as a centre. He has the perfect centre build and can beat a tackle pretty easily just has the occasional mistake in him which can be costly to do in that fullback position.

I'd defs look at him..... think you'd find Canberra would want Simpkins as they've been looking for a 9 for a while.
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Savage in the centres certainly couldn't hurt.

Or the wing. Just so long as his defence holds up.
 
When we talk about players looking for their opportunity- Taaffe & Savage really fit the narrative. Both would be upgrades for the Tigers. Taaffe would fill that running role well & Savage is a flier.

Best part- the game hasn't passed them by. They have room to improve as well.

Tigers need to tighten up the defence & eradicate the errors out wide. A strong defensive centre would not hurt. Momorovski or Brad Parker could help there.

The key, obviously, will come at the other halves position. Fainu would be nice! And a mentor style player in addition as well, so that Fainu & Taaffe actually need to WIN the position. Clune, Sezar could be 'value' options. Drew Hutchison could as well. Mitch Pearce would be great though.

Our forwards only need tinkering. A tackling #13 won't hurt to help dominate the middle. Zac Fulton has been linked & makes sense in a lot of ways. Doesn't have to be flashy. Just brave & add some leg speed around the ruck. And a rangey backrower to add penetration out wide. Sam Fainu is the obvious name there.

Additionally- the Tigers probably wouldn't have to mortgage the future of the salary cap to fit nearly all these guys in. And they don't stand in the way of the younger stars coming through- they can be beaten out by better players when they are ready.
 
The Chad said:
When we talk about players looking for their opportunity- Taaffe & Savage really fit the narrative. Both would be upgrades for the Tigers. Taaffe would fill that running role well & Savage is a flier.

Best part- the game hasn't passed them by. They have room to improve as well.

Tigers need to tighten up the defence & eradicate the errors out wide. A strong defensive centre would not hurt. Momorovski or Brad Parker could help there.

The key, obviously, will come at the other halves position. Fainu would be nice! And a mentor style player in addition as well, so that Fainu & Taaffe actually need to WIN the position. Clune, Sezar could be 'value' options. Drew Hutchison could as well. Mitch Pearce would be great though.

Our forwards only need tinkering. A tackling #13 won't hurt to help dominate the middle. Zac Fulton has been linked & makes sense in a lot of ways. Doesn't have to be flashy. Just brave & add some leg speed around the ruck. And a rangey backrower to add penetration out wide. Sam Fainu is the obvious name there.

Additionally- the Tigers probably wouldn't have to mortgage the future of the salary cap to fit nearly all these guys in. And they don't stand in the way of the younger stars coming through- they can be beaten out by better players when they are ready.
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Exactly my way of thinking The Chad.
Most of our supporters seem to think we need a few superstars otherwise we will be stuck on the bottom of the ladder for years to come.
Obviously a few superstars would have been nice, but we have tried and can’t convince them to come at the moment.
Plan B is to sign some elite young players to go with the ones we already have and compliment them by recruiting some under rated players who could be looking for opportunity to play more regular NRL.
As per your post and plenty of other suggestions, these type of players are out there in bucket loads, just a matter of signing the right ones that help cover our current deficiencies.
Build a strong squad with genuine competition for NRL positions and we will improve dramatically in 2024.
 
Demps said:
Savage and Taafe....

Very decent options.

Connor Tracey signed with the Eels so that's not happening.

Hopefully for Fainu bros and Trindal.
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Fainu and any other players who have the ability if not the experience to play NRL. There is little to be gained from signing players who are career NSW Cup players. No doubt the coaching team are across the issue.
 
Taafe is a half that Souths keep playing because he does ok at Fullback - in a similar vein to AD. I'd give him the chance if we couldn't land Hunt or Trindall and neither are looking likely to happen.
 
Pbulk said:
Taafe is a half that Souths keep playing because he does ok at Fullback - in a similar vein to AD. I'd give him the chance if we couldn't land Hunt or Trindall and neither are looking likely to happen.
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I think we'd have a few extras on the list before we turn to Taaffe to play 7. I think we'd even look at Dean Hawkins before we opted for him. Hunt I'd say is extremely unlikely, but other than those mentioned here's the list of attainable targets.

Mitchell Pearce
Braydon Trindall
Jack Cogger
Ronald Volkman
Luke Metcalf
Tom Duffy
Cade Cust
Tanah Boyd
 
teddy23 said:
Personally always seen Savage as a centre. He has the perfect centre build and can beat a tackle pretty easily just has the occasional mistake in him which can be costly to do in that fullback position.

I'd defs look at him..... think you'd find Canberra would want Simpkins as they've been looking for a 9 for a while.
Click to expand...

I don't think Savage has the perfect centre build at all. Too small
 
teddy23 said:
He's about 185cms and 90kgs at 21. Probably one of the best athletic players in the NRL right now as well.
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I’d like to see Charlie Staines as a centre and Xavier Savage as the winger outside him on one edge.
That would give us genuine tackle breaking ability and speed to burn.
It would turn half chances into tries and be an edge our opponents would be fearful of.
Defensively they would likely need a lot of work, but Staines seems to be a player who is very coachable and doesn’t take a backward step. I’m sure Savage would also be eager to improve on any deficiencies in his game to earn a regular NRL position.
Both are also more than capable fullbacks and would keep plenty of pressure on Bula to regularly play at his best, otherwise the option of Bula playing wing and either of them switching to fullback.
As for Taafe, I see him as a 5/8 and utility.
Ideally start him at 5/8 and have Latu Fainu as our number 14 until he matures and proves to be a week to week NRL starter. In the interim a player such as Taafe could also fill in at 9 to allow an ageing Api to have a break during games and allow Latu Fainu to be injected into the game in short bursts until he’s 💯 ready to be an 80 minute NRL player.
Also the possibility they could become a very good 6 & 7 combination down the track with a bit of fine tuning.
 
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jrtiger said:
I think we'd have a few extras on the list before we turn to Taaffe to play 7. I think we'd even look at Dean Hawkins before we opted for him. Hunt I'd say is extremely unlikely, but other than those mentioned here's the list of attainable targets.

Mitchell Pearce
Braydon Trindall
Jack Cogger
Ronald Volkman
Luke Metcalf
Tom Duffy
Cade Cust
Tanah Boyd
Click to expand...
Pearce is expected to be at the roosters next year, trindall staying on at cronulla most likely. Cogger said no but who knows what might happen with the right offer to play NRL full-time. Of the others Boyd will only become available if Hunt ends up at the Titans but I think Taaffe is on par with the rest. Could go well given the right opportunity.
 
jrtiger said:
I think we'd have a few extras on the list before we turn to Taaffe to play 7. I think we'd even look at Dean Hawkins before we opted for him. Hunt I'd say is extremely unlikely, but other than those mentioned here's the list of attainable targets.

Mitchell Pearce
Braydon Trindall
Jack Cogger
Ronald Volkman
Luke Metcalf
Tom Duffy
Cade Cust
Tanah Boyd
Click to expand...
Tom Duffy has just signed a new contract until 2026 I believe.
 
teddy23 said:
Personally always seen Savage as a centre. He has the perfect centre build and can beat a tackle pretty easily just has the occasional mistake in him which can be costly to do in that fullback position.

I'd defs look at him..... think you'd find Canberra would want Simpkins as they've been looking for a 9 for a while.
Click to expand...
They tried to sign simpkin end of last year but pulled out as Wests Tigers were to hard to deal with
 
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