Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Wasn't talking to you....
But since you're talking to me

He may well be the answer - in 3 years.
That’s my concern, we have a whole contract period to get through before these kids really contribute on a regular basis. Take Tupou for example. 2 years mixing in with the top squad and 26 games…he remains very untrustworthy and may still be until end of next year, start of 25.
We need outside hire for a while yet.
 
The offshoot of that - Is we won't be able to afford outside hire or to school the kids in ressies where they should be,
Because we'll overpay to keep them.... They'll all get top 30 spots.

Rinse and repeat....
So if we pay our best young talent on potential to keep them at the club, what is the problem with that, or what is the better alternative?
Does anyone remember how we were travelling as a club prior to 2005 ?
Not real good, but we discovered some elite young talent and the rest is history.
Therefore under the difficult circumstances we are in, it is common sense to try and do it again.
No guarantees but it’s the only logical way forward,
 
God damn it…we are going to end up with this over priced and over rated turd aren’t we?
The question is - is he a better ball playing backrower tham Paps, Bateman, Blore, Pole etc

I would say possibly yes

I'm not saying I like him as a player but he could add the missing link on this team, a ball playing lock. If he does come at a reduced rate, better attitude and the coaching staff can get him in the right mindset he may be a winner

Its a massive gamble either way - I'm sitting on the fence
 
Weekes is a big yes for me. Pass on Lawton, Tuilagi and Condon. Fulton will inevitably be linked to us with Scott as recruitment manager. However, I don't think we have a top 30 spot for him with Mansfield and Tumeth already "project players" in the 2nd row (unless of course, 1 or both are moved on).
I wouldnt want Zac Fulton anywhere near our side. Not first grade standard at all and shows Scott Fulton looking after his own rather than looking after the club.
 
Was Schuster really an option or did we boost his asking price for Manly to re-sign him to acquire the Fainu bros and possibly Weekes? Now Manly may want to move him along but would have to pick up some of the contract. If so it is a brilliant strategy from the WTs.
Please don't touch Shuster .Manly won't even pick him .
I remember many times we recruited someone who was good at the other club and comes to WT and ends up a dud ! This guy is already a dud !
Starting to get concerned that since we hired Fulton nearly all our recruitment talk is about Manly players ? Does Fulton have any recruitment experience outside of Manly ?
That's a small pond to fish in .
 
Please don't touch Shuster .Manly won't even pick him .
I remember many times we recruited someone who was good at the other club and comes to WT and ends up a dud ! This guy is already a dud !
Starting to get concerned that since we hired Fulton nearly all our recruitment talk is about Manly players ? Does Fulton have any recruitment experience outside of Manly ?
That's a small pond to fish in .

More than the last recruitment guys.
 
Please don't touch Shuster .Manly won't even pick him .
I remember many times we recruited someone who was good at the other club and comes to WT and ends up a dud ! This guy is already a dud !
Starting to get concerned that since we hired Fulton nearly all our recruitment talk is about Manly players ? Does Fulton have any recruitment experience outside of Manly ?
That's a small pond to fish in .
Depends what you mean by recruitment experience outside of Manly. Manly is the only club he has previously recruited for, but all his recruits to Manly came from outside of Manly.
I think the media narrative of links to Fulton is why all the recruitment talk is about Manly players more so than he would not be looking elsewhere. And whilst i dont believe we are not actively pursuing players, unless/until we can move on some players i wouldn't expect a whole lot of genuine recruitment talk.
 
I'm on the side of Kit Laulilii being a better option Schuster at 13 and Fainu a better option at 6.

We've decided to bet on kids. Let's give them a chance. Signings like Sezer make sense because it's a short term contract and we can see how these kids progress.
 
Depends what you mean by recruitment experience outside of Manly. Manly is the only club he has previously recruited for, but all his recruits to Manly came from outside of Manly.
I think the media narrative of links to Fulton is why all the recruitment talk is about Manly players more so than he would not be looking elsewhere. And whilst i dont believe we are not actively pursuing players, unless/until we can move on some players i wouldn't expect a whole lot of genuine recruitment talk.
Sincerely hope you are right .Recruitment is the way forward
 
Newcastle filled their squad really well with capable, hard working and smart players. Even players like Lachlan Miller have played an important role.

On the other hand, we signed Wakeham off the street with about two weeks to go before the season. Who were our backup halves before that? And why did they think Wakeham would be good enough? Did everyone just have complete faith in Doueihi and Brooks? And if so, how did we get that assessment so badly wrong? Sure they got injured, but they were terrible, absolutely terrible, before that. There have been plenty of capable backup halves going around this year, none of them superstars, but they do their job well. Our halves pairing were not only the worst in the league, they were probably also worse than half the other teams' backup option.

It was just really poor recruitment in the area of filling out the squad.

We tend to hyperventilate on here, however, most everyone of us could see that the halves were a huge gaping hole in our squad.

The club must do better at getting the basics right, and it starts with proper management of the squad recruitment.
I’ve always been an admirer of Tim Sheens, but this year some of his choices and team selections had me at my wits end,,. They reeked of his ego running wild and him putting his ego in front of the team’s development and best interests.. how talau and Wakeham kept getting selected and his meddling with edges just as they started to gel with each other reeked of insanity.. seriously inept, prideful stubborn decisions that ruined the season.. bula was the big discovery and trey peni scouted him, McDonnell had niothing to do with it and yet when Fulton was hired to do a better job Sheens made out that it was a betrayal of apocalyptic proportions… I was so over it, Tim didn’t seem to care that much as it had no real impact on his future , or that’s how it appeared and I found the entire thing to be on the nose…
 
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