Tiger_Yoshi
Well-known member
Taafe and savage would be great pickups
Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion
- Thread starter MacDougall
- Start date
teddy23
Well-known member
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.
The Chad
Well-known member
Savage in the centres certainly couldn't hurt.
Or the wing. Just so long as his defence holds up.
The Chad
Well-known member
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.
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.
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.
Savage and Taafe....
Very decent options.
Connor Tracey signed with the Eels so that's not happening.
Hopefully for Fainu bros and Trindal.
Very decent options.
Connor Tracey signed with the Eels so that's not happening.
Hopefully for Fainu bros and Trindal.
pawsandclaws1
Well-known member
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.
jrtiger
Well-known member
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
king_sirro
Well-known member
I don't think Savage has the perfect centre build at all. Too small
teddy23
Well-known member
He's about 185cms and 90kgs at 21. Probably one of the best athletic players in the NRL right now as well.
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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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.
Sunnycoast_tiger
Well-known member
Tom Duffy has just signed a new contract until 2026 I believe.
king_sirro
Well-known member
He has no physicality. He would get dominated at centre. Worth a try though of he can toughen up. Good pace.
They tried to sign simpkin end of last year but pulled out as Wests Tigers were to hard to deal with
I think we have to be very mindful when signing of choosing whichever player as our 7 for 2024, yes we need someone who can game manage, straighten the attack and have a decent kicking game, but can we afford to have a 7 who is no running threat ?
I say this as we do not currently offer much if any strike power on our edges, so unless we address that problem we really need halves that have good running games and can at least threaten to make line breaks themselves.
So the slimmmy eels can re- sign Moses and brown to multi million deals then get joffa of us then get Connor as well , yet again we sit on our hands and do bugger all , really is there anyone actually working to get players in at all .
Eternal Tiger
Well-known member
The fear is a team full of young elite players will get smashed most weeks, they won't cop that for long, because their development will stall. Theyll leave for a more successful side.
We have at least $2.5m to spend. Buy elite talent, everyone is off contract in the NRL nowadays.
pawsandclaws1
Well-known member
We only get a small insight into the recruitment at WTs. We have read the club is planning for the future under Marshall which likely means pain in the short term. I am prepared to see what eventuates. There is enough negativity around the place without me adding to it.
