Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Coastie_Tiger said:
So the nuts and bolts of it is the Balmain side of things is getting neglected? If thats the truth i don't see why they don't just make Ball, Fleg ect WT have the best of the best in one team. Theres no point in having 2 talent pools and the forgetting one exists, thats worse than not having one at all imo.
Another factor to all this is, supposedly Fulton has an eye on all the top talents in the West maybe he has some even younger ones identified.
Either way things still seem to be woefully disjointed and for a "Development club" thats criminal, hope this review can also highlight such inadequacies.
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Then in a few years we let a generational talent slip through cause roosters now have the Balmain area and everyone complains
 
jrtiger said:
1. categorically yes. while losing Conti and Nassar is disappointing, you have to look at recruitment and retention in the halves. Fainu and Sullivan have signed, Galvin's in the top 30 and Onitoni Large is regarded as the future of the club. i've had a feeling for a little while that the club has also prioritised Alex Isdale over Conti, and there's also young Jonas Peni who looks to have a big future.

Luke Laulili'i has been prioritised over Nassar, simple as that. there's also William Craig, Makasini, Heath Mason and others that are contracted to the club that are in the backs.

2. I believe Benji along with Api, Klem, Bateman and others are turning the culture of the club around. throw in a number of local juniors who have always supported the club and suddenly you have a place where these youngsters want to play. no issues here.

3. it comes down to ensuring they feel wanted and are well looked after. given the size of our junior base, kids are going to fall thru the cracks sometimes. the key is to show that there is a path to first grade if you're good enough (we've done that – look at TDS and Kit) and lock up those that we want to keep. as local juniors, they will have had an affiliation with the club in some form.

while they may not support us due to our lack of success, being in development squads with their mates and doing clinics with the club does a lot to encourage youngsters. ultimately the ground we've made in the pathways space over the last couple of years has helped immeasurably, and given the golden generation coming thru in the next few years, it will be very exciting times rather shortly.
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KingRobbie said:
You can't keep all of them, some will be offered better opportunities at other clubs i.e. Top 30 or Development spots, whereas we wouldn't be able to.

Just have to hope we're retaining the right players.

In Nassar's case, it looks like we've prioritised retaining Luke Laulilii over him.

In Conti's case, Dogs simply might've offered him a Development spot for 2024 (or future Development/Top 30 spot) that we weren't prepared to, or we might've decided to prioritise Alex Isdale, who's a year younger.
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You both mentioned Luke Laulilii and he is amazing but isn’t he going to sorta be like nofa where he is a fullback in the juniors and becomes a winger in nrl
 
People think our club is run bad, but Dragon must be a very close 2nd..
They release Sullivan to us and now have a massive halves problem.
Just shows our club did a great job picking up 3 halves in a market with little available.
Time to get on board this train as we are heading upwards.
 
ROZELLE.O.G said:
Conti & Nasser wouldnt have any expectations of even thinking about first grade. Conti is two years younger than Galvin and Nasser is only 16 years old. They would have aspirations and dreams of playing first grade but they know its a few years away. The missing point is if you know you have great juniors, keep them in your system. Both were offloaded for the wrong reasons and that was because there is war happening between Marshall and Fulton.
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Thanks for all your info on this situation @ROZELLE.O.G .

What I'm confused about is what they weren't offered? Were they not invited to be part of the Balmain SG Ball summer squad with the 40-odd others in the squad, or were they not offered some sort of Wests Tigers Pathways contract which are not made public?

Surely they could have still stayed in the Balmain system, continued to excel & progress that way if they were that determined to stay.
 
Hbom said:
Could be related to Willett coming in? Read an article that said his best position was centre, but can play fullback and halfback. Big boot too.
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You don't limit the number of good youngsters you have. You need competition, a strong squad in case of injuries too. Given Willett hasn't even trained with us yet we can't compare the two. Willett is 2 years older too so unlikely competing for a spot directly just yet.
 
If we are serious about Luai, then the plan must be for Sezer to be the 6 this year.
Sullivan and Finau to fight for the 7 spot, then Laui goes into the 6 for 2025.
It's not the worst plan, but if our offer to Luai is something like 4 years at $1.3m then it could ruin the balance of our roster for that period.
It's a huge swing, that could either work massively or fail miserably. I think the chance it works is a lot less than the alternative....
 
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