Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[weststigers]

EXCLUSIVE: Civil war erupts in Wests Tigers as club contemplate move to new Liverpool Stadium

Wests Tigers are in serious turmoil, with pressure mounting for chairman Lee Hagipantelis to stand down as the club considers its future all over its departments. The club has also mooted a potential home ground switch, as it begins lobbying for a new stadium in Liverpool which would mean...

www.2gb.com

Hope he gets punted. He’s simply been an embarrassment for the club.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

That’s where he has played his best footy so where would you put him genius

Doueihi is a young man but this will be his third major knee injury. He needs to consider his long term health in any decision about his future.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

My observation is success is built from within the club and is not purchased via big name signings. The Panthers are the best example with the team having developed together with replacements for losses coming through their system. We hang on to our best youngsters and success will come.

 

[bptiger 0]

My observation is success is built from within the club and is not purchased via big name signings. The Panthers are the best example with the team having developed together with replacements for losses coming through their system. We hang on to our best youngsters and success will come.

U can’t compare the panthers to many other clubs they have a massive junior base , I live at erskine park and have coached at st Clair over the years and the talent that doesn’t make is more than makes it , the islander kids out here make up more than 60% of the kids , and they make up a large portion of the panthers teams

 

[pawsandclaws1]

U can’t compare the panthers to many other clubs they have a massive junior base , I live at erskine park and have coached at st Clair over the years and the talent that doesn’t make is more than makes it , the islander kids out here make up more than 60% of the kids , and they make up a large portion of the panthers teams

It is true the Panthers have a big junior base, but so do we and it is continuing to grow. Take a drive to the construction of the Wilton Ridge development on the Picton Rd, it is just huge. Our issue has been the inability to retain our best youngsters. We have made great strides in our Pathways system. I remain optimistic Marshall and his team right through the grades to the juniors are on the same page and recognise the necessity to build the club from within hence bringing in former 2005 players on staff.

 

[PabloX]

Hopefully Staines stays. Not sure why we would sign Lam after signing Sullivan, Sezer and Fainu.

Happy Star is staying, any news on a Junior Toupou extension @kade7

Our outside backs are part of the problem, but we keep on extending them

 

[2041]

U can’t compare the panthers to many other clubs they have a massive junior base , I live at erskine park and have coached at st Clair over the years and the talent that doesn’t make is more than makes it , the islander kids out here make up more than 60% of the kids , and they make up a large portion of the panthers teams

I just don't think there's a choice, though - if you're not developing your own talent you're dead in the water anyway, because you'll never be able to find enough genuine bargains on the free agent market to put together a strong, deep roster (hello the Bulldogs and Titans).

We always focus on who we're signing but the Tigers' fundamental problem for the past decade has been that it hasn't brought through any meaningful talent. Seriously, have a look at the list of club debutants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wests_Tigers_players There's not a single name you'd call a high-level talent between Moses in 2014 and Bula in 2023 apart from Addo-Carr, and we didn't manage to keep him.

That's shameful. In the same period Souths debuted Api Koroisau, Cam McInnes, Alex Johnston, Damien Cook, Angus Crichton, Cam Murray, Campbell Graham, Keaon Koloamatangi, Lachlan Ilias and plenty of others - I'm not even bothering to name the likes of Corey Allan, Tevita Tatola and others who were decent contributors.

It seems to me that there are three factors at play. One is that the talent simply hasn't been there. We seem to be resolving this now, at least based on how many players 1-3 years out we are talking about in relatively excited terms. The second is that we don't keep those players - they go elsewhere before or just after reaching first grade level, eg Papenheuysen and Addo-Carr. That seems to be improving, too, at least if the Bula extension is anything to go by.

The third problem, and the one I'm most worried about, is that we don't turn good talent into first-grade output. I honestly don't know if Liddle or Talau or Marsters or any of those ever had it in them to be as good as we thought they might - but they sure as hell didn't reach what we thought their potential might have been at the Tigers.

 

[BAGNF05]

My observation is success is built from within the club and is not purchased via big name signings. The Panthers are the best example with the team having developed together with replacements for losses coming through their system. We hang on to our best youngsters and success will come.

Never observed the Roosters or Storm then? It’s silly to say something is not possible just because you aren’t good at it now (recruiting).

 

[Buttface]

Doueihi is a young man but this will be his third major knee injury. He needs to consider his long term health in any decision about his future.

After the effort he put in this year all, I care about is the long term health of the club.

 

[earl]

The third problem, and the one I'm most worried about, is that we don't turn good talent into first-grade output. I honestly don't know if Liddle or Talau or Marsters or any of those ever had it in them to be as good as we thought they might - but they sure as hell didn't reach what we thought their potential might have been at the Tigers.

I'm not worried about this at all. I don't think any of those players have the ability to be top tier players. Talau and Liddle might come good and have average careers but they aren't guys like Tedesco and Moses who are top tier players.

I agree with basically everything else in your post. The roosters are a team that can buy players. The Storm just recruit top talent from the lower grades and they lose players all the time.

My concern is that players like the Fainu brothers, Sullivan, Large brothers, Galvin, Laluilla brothers etc don't have the ability to be top tier NRL players. They may have been great in the junior leagues but some players just don't kick on at the next level.

Then we have to keep the right ones.

I think we have a bunch of guys we can build around now though. Pola, Bula, To'a and maybe Tupou are good examples of smart recruitment of development players. I hope the next bunch of development players coming through are going to give us that class to compete but we'll have to wait and see if they do progress.

 

[BAGNF05]

I just don't think there's a choice, though - if you're not developing your own talent you're dead in the water anyway, because you'll never be able to find enough genuine bargains on the free agent market to put together a strong, deep roster (hello the Bulldogs and Titans).

We always focus on who we're signing but the Tigers' fundamental problem for the past decade has been that it hasn't brought through any meaningful talent. Seriously, have a look at the list of club debutants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wests_Tigers_players There's not a single name you'd call a high-level talent between Moses in 2014 and Bula in 2023 apart from Addo-Carr, and we didn't manage to keep him.

That's shameful. In the same period Souths debuted Api Koroisau, Cam McInnes, Alex Johnston, Damien Cook, Angus Crichton, Cam Murray, Campbell Graham, Keaon Koloamatangi, Lachlan Ilias and plenty of others - I'm not even bothering to name the likes of Corey Allan, Tevita Tatola and others who were decent contributors.

It seems to me that there are three factors at play. One is that the talent simply hasn't been there. We seem to be resolving this now, at least based on how many players 1-3 years out we are talking about in relatively excited terms. The second is that we don't keep those players - they go elsewhere before or just after reaching first grade level, eg Papenheuysen and Addo-Carr. That seems to be improving, too, at least if the Bula extension is anything to go by.

The third problem, and the one I'm most worried about, is that we don't turn good talent into first-grade output. I honestly don't know if Liddle or Talau or Marsters or any of those ever had it in them to be as good as we thought they might - but they sure as hell didn't reach what we thought their potential might have been at the Tigers.

Liddle, Talau and Masters have proven enough times they are not elite players, here and elsewhere.

All clubs need to recruit elite players. Period. Funny thing is we actually did it in 2022/23 but couldn’t back it up in 2023/24 because we are run by muppets who couldn’t stick to their own plan.

 

[earl]

All clubs need to recruit elite players. Period. Funny thing is we actually did it in 2022/23 but couldn’t back it up in 2023/24 because we are run by muppets who couldn’t stick to their own plan.

You need smart recruitment. We've done exceptionally well however I worry guys like Klemmer and Bateman are taking up too much cap space.

I can't blame the muppets for not sticking to their plan. Sheens screwed us the previous year and then talked his attacking footy up and we came dead last with terrible attack.

 

[Tucker]

Yep, the plan was to fix the forwards leading into season 23.
We added Api, Klemmer, Papa and Bateman whilst continuing to bring through young guns.
TICK
The plan was then to shift focus to the backline ahead of season 24, continuing to blood young guns so that by season 25 we had a strong first 17 backed up by a full stable of young guns and experienced squad members. Sheens was to oversee this and hand Benji a competitive squad in 25.
I can’t see a tick coming for either of these so far.

 

[2041]

Liddle, Talau and Masters have proven enough times they are not elite players, here and elsewhere.

All clubs need to recruit elite players. Period. Funny thing is we actually did it in 2022/23 but couldn’t back it up in 2023/24 because we are run by muppets who couldn’t stick to their own plan.

All clubs don't need to recruit elite players, though - just because you say "period" doesn't make it true.

The Panthers haven't signed a single "marquee" free agent, nor have the Broncos, nor have the Storm, nor have the Warriors - that's this season's top four to start with. Last year's top four was the Panthers, Sharks, Cowboys and Eels, only one of which - Parra - you could argue was primarily based on external talent. The year before, Storm, Panthers, Souths, Manly - again, only one has significant marquee signings, and as my original post noted they have also been a production line of their own players. Literally every one of these teams, with the exception of Parra, is based on its own, in-house talent.

If you're producing talent or poaching it young enough, you don't have to go out with big contracts for free agents or - more to the point - you can focus your free agent spending on absolute game changers because you don't need to recruit half the lineup.

 

[TonyTiger]

Doueihi is a young man but this will be his third major knee injury. He needs to consider his long term health in any decision about his future.

Goneski

 

[BAGNF05]

All clubs don't need to recruit elite players, though - just because you say "period" doesn't make it true.

The Panthers haven't signed a single "marquee" free agent, nor have the Broncos, nor have the Storm, nor have the Warriors - that's this season's top four to start with. Last year's top four was the Panthers, Sharks, Cowboys and Eels, only one of which - Parra - you could argue was primarily based on external talent. The year before, Storm, Panthers, Souths, Manly - again, only one has significant marquee signings, and as my original post noted they have also been a production line of their own players. Literally every one of these teams, with the exception of Parra, is based on its own, in-house talent.

If you're producing talent or poaching it young enough, you don't have to go out with big contracts for free agents or - more to the point - you can focus your free agent spending on absolute game changers because you don't need to recruit half the lineup.

Adam Reynolds? Key to Brisbane’s success. They also signed Walsh back from Warriors. You’re cracking jokes.

 

[2041]

Adam Reynolds? Key to Brisbane’s success. They also signed Walsh back from Warriors. You’re cracking jokes.

You're right, I forgot Reynolds - that was a brain fade. I didn't count Walsh as he was their product anyway but if you like, sure. But this reinforces my point: if you have a squad made up of your own talent you can focus your free agent spending on getting the one or two pieces that put you over the top. If you start with the free agents, you've got no chance.

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

All clubs don't need to recruit elite players, though - just because you say "period" doesn't make it true.

The Panthers haven't signed a single "marquee" free agent, nor have the Broncos, nor have the Storm, nor have the Warriors - that's this season's top four to start with. Last year's top four was the Panthers, Sharks, Cowboys and Eels, only one of which - Parra - you could argue was primarily based on external talent. The year before, Storm, Panthers, Souths, Manly - again, only one has significant marquee signings, and as my original post noted they have also been a production line of their own players. Literally every one of these teams, with the exception of Parra, is based on its own, in-house talent.

If you're producing talent or poaching it young enough, you don't have to go out with big contracts for free agents or - more to the point - you can focus your free agent spending on absolute game changers because you don't need to recruit half the lineup.

Broncos signed Walsh & Reynolds

Warriors signed most of their best players last 2yrs AFB, Harris, Johnson etc.

 

[BAGNF05]

You're right, I forgot Reynolds - that was a brain fade. I didn't count Walsh as he was their product anyway but if you like, sure. But this reinforces my point: if you have a squad made up of your own talent you can focus your free agent spending on getting the one or two pieces that put you over the top. If you start with the free agents, you've got no chance.

That Panthers team is the exception to the rule. The very best clubs have been buying comps for 20 plus years. Those are the facts.

Even Penrith bought in some stars like Api , Maloney and Petero to build their success over time.

You need juniors yes. But elite players win you games.

 

[2041]

That Panthers team is the exception to the rule. The very best clubs have been buying comps for 20 plus years. Those are the facts.

Even Penrith bought in some stars like Api , Maloney and Petero to build their success over time.

You need juniors yes. But elite players win you games.

Ok, let me ask you straight up: do you think the Tigers can become competitive just by signing players? Even the Roosters of 2018-19, a squad that was obviously loaded with imported players, had Manu, Mitchell, Tupou, Waerea-Hargreaves, Friend/Verrills, Cordner, Radley and various lesser lights.