Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Tucker]

And coming back from Koori games

I wonder if anyone had a look there.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

I wonder if anyone had a look there.

The good teams im sure. We have juniors. We good. We be covered.

 

[Tucker]

The good teams im sure. We have juniors. We good. We be covered.

Yep, we have a heap of young blokes who did something good somewhere sometime…best crop ever seen.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

Yep, we have a heap of young blokes who did something good somewhere sometime…best crop ever seen.

Just like the last ones....

 

[tigertuff]

We actually haven't produced much talent for a long time: Moses debuted in 2014 and between him and Bula there's not a single Tigers junior who played his first game for the club who is a difference making talent. The best we've done is players who came through who we thought were going to be good but ended up disappointing: Liddle, Suli, Marsters, Talau and Simpkin, for instance. Compare our list to what the Raiders or Panthers have brought through in the same period and it's screamingly obvious where the problems lie: we're perpetually trying to build a roster out of cast offs.

You make some valid points. Talent comes through in waves at most "development clubs" though. We seem to have a stack of talent coming through all together now. Let's just hope they all turn out to be what we want and more importantly, need.

 

[hammertime]

@kade7 - are we in the hunt for this Kiwi?

Clubs hunting Tuivasa-Sheck clone after code switch

'The guy has everything'

wwos.nine.com.au

This is the type of signing we should be making. Great highlights package. https://fb.watch/nsQpbMlfQb/

Not sure about his representation though. PSM is the mob who pulled Ryan Matto.

 

[Lestronge]

Ok, I have an opinion - you shit on it, you give your own -I shit on that and then you throw your toys about?
If you are happy with the season we just spewed out, fine.
Some are very easily pleased I guess.

I posted a long reply . But deleted it . Whatever dude is what I really want to say …. Good luck to you. And just because I I said your take was recency bias …. Cause it is …. Doesn’t mean I’m happy with the season I don’t know where you learned maths but 1 plus 1 doesn’t equal 4

 

[Kaito]

This is the guy we need ... Shaun Stevenson ... All Blacks winger who can play fullback & centre. Keen on NRL too and off contract this season (not sure if that has changed recently).

Shaun Stevenson on his All Blacks debut, missing the World Cup and his big Super Rugby year

Stevenson's natural game is an uncanny ability to prize open defence with a combination of swift footwork and calculated, intuitive running. His kicking has grown but there is a persistent narrative that he struggles defensively.

www.rugbypass.com

Stevenson reveals details of chat with NRL coaching great, call on future plans

“It was just nice to meet the guy and talk about league.”

www.sen.com.au

Benji, get on the blower!

He would be a massive get but a bit unrealistic
considering he's still pretty young and only
just got considered/selected for the all blacks
he's a gun though. I was hoping that Benji would
sign Julian 'the bus' Savea for a couple years
(à la Tuqiri) before he signed with Moana Pasifika!

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

Sometimes hope is the dope.

 

[Tigrr2]

I can remember. Then we played our home games at Sydney Sports Ground for 2 years I think while Leichardt oval changed and grandstand built. Geoff Starling made his first grade debut there one Friday night at Sydney sports ground.

I can remember playing on it as a kid when it was east to west

 

[crazycat]

Dragons: Kyle Flanagan and Hame Sele.
Bulldogs: Stephem Crichton, Jaeman Salmon, Bronson Xerri, Blake Taafe.
Titans: Keenan Palasia.
Dolphins: Jake Averillo, Herbie Farnworth, Thomas Flegler.
Manly: Luke Brooks, Aitasi James, Jaxson Paulo, Tommy Talau.
Cowboys: Jake Clifford, Viliami Vailea.
Parra: nobody.

That's the bottom half of the ladder and I'll give you two clubs we could perhaps be envious of. The Dolphins I think are a bit of a special case given their combination of cap room, the Queensland factor and Wayne Bennett. With the Dogs we're talking about one player, aren't we? I'd rather have anyone we've signed than the second best player they've signed.

So what you're saying basically comes down to "I wish we'd signed Stephen Crichton". Even there, isn't the story that he wants to play fullback - which we don't need?

Very fair points...

However the dogs have more then Stephen Crichton...
Bronson Xerri was a gun at Cronulla and should be a gun for the dogs. I have no idea why a player can leave a club for off field incidents/cheating and another club picks them up. IMHO it should be the original club that keeps them or makes a decision to release.
Likewise Blake Taafe is a great signing.

After the grand final though. yea Dogs may have edged Dolphins but both have done well.

 

[crazycat]

2022 we had an injury riddled side, no proper stars, our coach sacked mid season, players let go mid season, an interim coach who had never performed at top level, players lent out to other clubs….they had no option but to come last, yet they still tried.
2023 we had our injured players back on deck, we had our premiership winning coach in charge, we had our two favourite sons helping him, we brought another experienced coach in to help, we had three blokes join the team who played in the previous years GF, we had an international join the team who featured for a teir 1 team in the previous years WC, we had an experienced prop join us who has done it all, we unearthed a fullback who won a heap of awards by the year’s end, …should I go on? 23 was a vastly worse year.

Now you bring up 2001 and 2002 and I laugh at you expense and utter desperation.
2001 saw us win 9 games and draw another. Big difference to this year. We scored 100 more points than this year, with a worse roster as you pointed out. 2002 saw us win 7 games. Not great but better than our 4 this year. We again managed over 100 points more than this year, despite our roster.
Uppercut yourself champ, I’m out of town.

Tucker, take a damn chill pill.
Yes 2023 sucked for us, I totally agree with you that it sucked worse then 2001/2002 because we should have gone places. Instead were dead set last with a roster that should have gotten us bottom quarter if not closer to 9th.. That said, I kind of get how 2001 would look like we were hopeless. Because we looked a lot worse and did a bit better.

No need to uppercut ourselves, Were WestsTigers Fans. We hurt enough.

 

[2041]

Very fair points...

However the dogs have more then Stephen Crichton...
Bronson Xerri was a gun at Cronulla and should be a gun for the dogs. I have no idea why a player can leave a club for off field incidents/cheating and another club picks them up. IMHO it should be the original club that keeps them or makes a decision to release.
Likewise Blake Taafe is a great signing.

After the grand final though. yea Dogs may have edged Dolphins but both have done well.

I guess time will tell. Xerri is talented but he's also very, very far from guaranteed to work out after three years out of the game. And that's assuming his one season in first grade wasn't signifcantly performance enhanced in the first place. I personally think Taaffe is distinctly meh. I'm also not really sure where we'd play him: we don't need a fullback and if we had to use him in the halves I suspect we'd agree that things have already gone very badly wrong. I certainly wouldn't have signed him with the idea that he'd be first choice in the halves.

TBF I don't really mind either signing for the Dogs, assuming they're both pretty cheap. One's a lottery ticket and the other is at worst decent cover (though probably not a great deal more than that even at best). What I will say, however, is that if the Tigers had signed either or both of them the same people who are moaning about our recruitment would still be doing so. A drug cheat three years out of the game and a reject, is this the best we can do waah waah where's my dummy.

 

[balmain boy]

He would be a massive get but a bit unrealistic
considering he's still pretty young and only
just got considered/selected for the all blacks
he's a gun though. I was hoping that Benji would
sign Julian 'the bus' Savea for a couple years
(à la Tuqiri) before he signed with Moana Pasifika!

He's 27, fringe all black who's said he wants to join the NRL. Hardly ungettable

 

[Kaito]

He's 27, fringe all black who's said he wants to join the NRL. Hardly ungettable

Don't get me wrong, I would love to have him.
I just think he re-signs with chiefs again after
finally getting capped. Note he met with Bennett
this year too who was a fan. Very silky player

 

[Tucker]

I posted a long reply . But deleted it . Whatever dude is what I really want to say …. Good luck to you. And just because I I said your take was recency bias …. Cause it is …. Doesn’t mean I’m happy with the season I don’t know where you learned maths but 1 plus 1 doesn’t equal 4

…and a season where we won 9 and also drew one is better than one where we won 4 from 23. Equally simple maths.

 

[Needaname]

I read with interest that Lachlan Lam is looking to come back to the NRL.
I think we should have a real shot at signing him up on a 2 year contract.
This is what the good teams do; lock up their future prospects, I.e Sullivan, Fainu, Galvin on long term contracts whilst also ensuring their top side does not suffer.
A Sezer, Lam halves pairing would be a great way to start the season. Behind that you have Sullivan and Latu running opposition against the first choice halves and building up a combination in reserve grade.
Crazy thought?

 

[Lestronge]

…and a season where we won 9 and also drew one is better than one where we won 4 from 23. Equally simple maths.

Honestly … you have some mental health issues Champ (see what I did there! Pretty condescending huh ? ) . I don’t agree with you . I’ve said it multiple times now . You’re repeating yourself now …

 

[Tucker]

Honestly … you have some mental health issues Champ (see what I did there! Pretty condescending huh ? ) . I don’t agree with you . I’ve said it multiple times now . You’re repeating yourself now …

Haha you keep engaging.
You had a sook this arvo and have backed that up twice since.
Keep coming at me and I’ll come back at you. That how it works son.

 

[hammertime]

I read with interest that Lachlan Lam is looking to come back to the NRL.
I think we should have a real shot at signing him up on a 2 year contract.
This is what the good teams do; lock up their future prospects, I.e Sullivan, Fainu, Galvin on long term contracts whilst also ensuring their top side does not suffer.
A Sezer, Lam halves pairing would be a great way to start the season. Behind that you have Sullivan and Latu running opposition against the first choice halves and building up a combination in reserve grade.
Crazy thought?

I don't think we can have that many halves in the top 30. With AD, Sezer, Sullivan, Fainu, Galvin we're pretty stacked. Large may be there in 25 too. If we could work out something with AD, then maybe. But I can't see space at the moment.