Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

supercoach said:
Luai signing should be put to bed sometime today. The way the media are talking you would think it maybe already done and awaiting the NRL to sign off on it.

I think Gus has missed out for once, but you never never know. One thing I would not get in a last minute bidding war, I would stick with the deal that is on the table and if we miss, so be it.

Anyway be very very surprised if it is not a good news day
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It sounds like Luai and Benji have a fairly strong bond. He is a good man manager, the Benj! Hopefully he can bring a few more decent players to the WT's for 2025 and beyond. The tide is turning for this club after a decade of putridity!
 
Roar_Power said:
It sounds like Luai and Benji have a fairly strong bond. putridity!
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This. This is not being mentioned enough when we hear about 10 day periods, and Gus and blah blah blah. I think outside the money, Benji is the biggest draw card. As much of a question mark as there is over him as a coach on game day, it can’t be disputed just how much charisma the man has. He could sell ice to the Eskimo’s. At the very least, he has that going for him. If the club starts winning regularly under him, he could be a force of nature.
 
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supercoach said:
Luai signing should be put to bed sometime today. The way the media are talking you would think it maybe already done and awaiting the NRL to sign off on it.

I think Gus has missed out for once, but you never never know. One thing I would not get in a last minute bidding war, I would stick with the deal that is on the table and if we miss, so be it.

Anyway be very very surprised if it is not a good news day
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He did miss out on the Fainu brothers when he was a snake and visited Manase in jail.
I bet Gus hasn't worried about checking on him again after missing out on the brothers.
Gus is such a 🐍
 
mikey said:
Plenty of videos up now to to take their minds off the club for a while. Stopped posting individual ones because I've been super-busy putting in a kitchen and then getting delayed because of a prostate scare - very luckily all is well.
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It can't have been all bad.
 

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Just read a fox article rating each teams likely starting pack for 2024 and gives our pack of
UTOIKIMANO ,KORISAU ,KLEMMER,PAPALII,BATEMAN,&POLE as a C+ and comments that they are a very good pack and I agree .2023 was a year when our pack was one of the best for meters gained but one of the worst for try involvement
In terms of depth we seem to have enough quality to supply our bench also BUT what about the backline ?
This season 2023 our attack was extremely "clunky " like game 1 where the knights lost Ponga in the 1st minute and kept dropping the ball and giving away penalties such that our rare huge possession should have meant Tigers scoring many tries but super clunky and at the end we lost the unloseable game . Then there was the miracle of Leichardt when we put 66 pts on the Cowboys to prove the skill is there but that was a rare day
What happened that day was
Forwards interacted with the backs smoothly
We got the ball to the wings very often and Bula ,Tupou ,Toa and even Nofo had a field day.IMHO ?Tigers are a team that rarely put our wingers into space in attack .The play always breaks down before if gets that far and our wingers mainly do hit ups out of defence

So ? With all the departures and recruits what is our likely starting 1-7 for 2024 ?
Would like to see everyone's 1-7 as they would select and also what Benji is likely to go with?
Everything hinges on this !
Wests Tigers forwards ok but what about the backline ?
 
GNR4LIFE said:
This. This is not being mentioned enough when we hear about 10 day periods, and Gus and blah blah blah. I think outside the money, Benji is the biggest draw card. As much of a question mark as there is over him as a coach on game day, it can’t be disputed just how much charisma the man has. He could sell ice to the Eskimo’s. At the very least, he has that going for him. If the club starts winning regularly under him, he could be a force of nature.
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He might just be a Bennett type coach who is a great man manager and motivator, the type the players would run through a brick wall for. As long as he has guys under him than can sort out the tactical side of the game, Benji will be a very successfull coach.
 
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Stevec said:
Just read a fox article rating each teams likely starting pack for 2024 and gives our pack of
UTOIKIMANO ,KORISAU ,KLEMMER,PAPALII,BATEMAN,&POLE as a C+ and comments that they are a very good pack and I agree .2023 was a year when our pack was one of the best for meters gained but one of the worst for try involvement
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think a C+ is a crock of shit personally. I feel that only Penrith and North Queensland are better than us.

we have a better pack than the Broncos (since the departures of Flegler and Capewell), Melbourne (backrowers are shocking), Newcastle, Canberra & Redcliffe (Dad's army), Manly, the Dogs & the Dragons (shithouse).

we're on par with NZ, Souths, Parra, Gold Coast and the Chooks, and we likely edge Cronulla given Brailey couldn't hold a candle to Api. our pack was not the issue last year.
 
Stevec said:
So ? With all the departures and recruits what is our likely starting 1-7 for 2024 ?
Would like to see everyone's 1-7 as they would select and also what Benji is likely to go with?
Everything hinges on this !
Wests Tigers forwards ok but what about the backline ?
Click to expand...
even if Tupou is leaving I'd still have him in the backline. his quality is clear.

1. Bula
2. Staines
3. To'a
4. Olam / Naden
5. Tupou
6. Sullivan
7. Sezer

Lobb and Alaimalo are going to need time in Cup. it's an exciting thought having them both there Round 2, but personally I just don't see it. Olam you would think lands on our doorstep after Christmas and given Tupou is on his way out he can forget playing in the centres.

if Olam doesn't turn up then I'd be going with Naden (sigh) at left centre. Feledy isn't ready, Kepaoa is rightly being developed as a backrower and Saukuru is nowhere near imo. our dearth of centres is particularly concerning but ideally Alaimalo develops well and Olam comes across to plug a gap for the next 12-18 months.
 
crazycat said:
Agreed re Dearden, he is a solid player. But not the X factor that other players have.

That's the weird thing with the Cowboys. The only player that really has the X factor there was Hammer. Valentine homes can score and cross the line. They are clearly missing that spark that say a Munster or Ponga has.
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Drinky has a lot of x factor. So does Nanai
 
Roar_Power said:
It sounds like Luai and Benji have a fairly strong bond. He is a good man manager, the Benj! Hopefully he can bring a few more decent players to the WT's for 2025 and beyond. The tide is turning for this club after a decade of putridity!
Click to expand...
Hopefully the lure of Benji and now Luai brings some quality players that can add the cream and link up well with the base which is our plethora of promising juniors
 
Just your yearly reminder re. clickbait articles ……
The writers know the pack is good and much better than a C+. They also know that the wests tigers draw more traffic than any other club .
Especially when they type something outrageous . So rating one of the better packs in the comp as average is a sure fire way to generate clicks , and a spot in the zeitgeist .
ie. don’t jump at these bullshit articles . They’re designed to piss you off …
 
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