Stefano Utoikamanu #241

[mtd#2]

Who were we criticised for moving on?

Stefano? We are trying to keep him.
Bateman? He has only been moved on for 6 weeks & is back next year.

The other difference with Bennett is that he would have players wanting to play under him.

Luai came to the tigers because he looked up to Benji as a kid. Can't say its a rational decision considering Benji is unproven as a coach, but he's attracted one superstar!

 

[Harvey]

Luai came to the tigers because he looked up to Benji as a kid. Can't say it’s a rational decision considering Benji is unproven as a coach, but he's attracted one superstar!

The fact he watched Sesame Street as a kid would have seen him sign if Bert and Ernie were coaching when a $1.4m sweetener was added

 

[happy_tiger]

More worried the talk on Pole has dried up ....

 

[stephen]

Nothing dramatic, just another 6-8 quality players required.

We can't afford 6-8 quality players if we overpay shit players, Vicious.
You don't think 800k for Stef is already overs for his output?

 

[Tom Shines]

You don't think 800k for Stef is already overs for his output?

how many other clubs are interested in him? At least 2 isn’t the latest

 

[Vicious]

We can't afford 6-8 quality players if we overpay shit players, Vicious.
You don't think 800k for Stef is already overs for his output?

We need Richo to get to work and keep offloading more players we don’t need.

 

[stephen]

how many other clubs are interested in him? At least 2 isn’t the latest

Maybe. Who knows? Who cares?
What is known is that he hasn't performed for us for whatever reason. Part of the reason WT is a mess is that we've overpaid for underperformance so often.

 

[Halbrowne61]

We need Richo to get to work and keep offloading more players we don’t need.

True V but I’d like Farahs coaching replacement to be around for that discussion !
Wonder if there’s movement behind the scenes on that appointment coz it could be real important for us moving forward.

 

[stephen]

We need Richo to get to work and keep offloading more players we don’t need.

Agree with you 100%. To be fair, I'm sure Richo's trying but he hasn't got top quality to sell.

 

[BAGNF05]

The fact he watched Sesame Street as a kid would have seen him sign if Bert and Ernie were coaching when a $1.4m sweetener was added

Didn’t we get rid of them at the end of last year?

 

[Tom Shines]

Maybe. Who knows? Who cares?

You’re the one asking questions about his value .. that will be determined by others it appears

 

[Halbrowne61]

Agree with you 100%. To be fair, I'm sure Richo's trying but he hasn't got top quality to sell.

Maybe he could outline his visit to the Uk and what has happened out of that( broad based , he doesn’t haven’t to mention names), apart from doing a strange deal with an old South’s mate ?

 

[stephen]

Didn’t we get rid of them at the end of last year?

Bert & Ernie scarier than our pack, Bags!!!

 

[stephen]

You’re the one asking questions about his value .. that will be determined by others it appears

Yeah mate. Nothing I say or think will gave any bearing on the outcome. Will the extra dollars make him run harder, push to make that crucial tackle? Maybe a different coach will unlock his much talked about potential.All unknown at this point. Again, what is known is that he is unable or unwilling to put in for us.

 

[mtd#2]

Hopper on NRL 360 saying to put a line through the tigers for Stef. Saying it'll be the dogs or storm

 

[TYGA]

To will dominate in a strong side he’s worth it to Storm. Tigers need players to lift the squad. Two solid 450k starters would be more beneficial to us in the backs.

I’d target Pearce Paul from Newy can play started strong rookie at NRL level. Knights need to shed players

 

[Buttface]

More worried the talk on Pole has dried up ....

I would love for us to come out with a Pole extension before mighty boy makes up his mind.
Who doesn’t like having their Pole extended?

 

[Halbrowne61]

I would love for us to come out with a Pole extension before mighty boy makes up his mind.
Who doesn’t like having their Pole extended?

Are you on the drink BF, or medication ?

 

[BAGNF05]

I would love for us to come out with a Pole extension before mighty boy makes up his mind.
Who doesn’t like having their Pole extended?

Everyone is getting a bit concerned about a lack of movement on here.

 

[jirskyr]

Half of the geniuses in our supporter base don’t rate Stef, yet the lines of Craig Bellamy rate him extremely highly as do most of the fans of all other NRL clubs.

Well the thing is that Stefano's performances in 2023-2024 have not been great. It's reasonable to be critical of him. If you can only achieve your best by being coached by Craig Bellamy, arguably one of the all-time great coaches, then you have to ask serious questions.

Personally I am a Stefano booster and I think he would do better if Tigers were performing better as a team. Certainly wouldn't hurt if he had more experienced coaches. Also if Stefano had better support at prop; Klemmer was bought to support the front row and is seriously down on form.

So it's not about whether Bellamy rates Stefano, it's about whether Stefano can perform to a good consistent level in the average NRL scenario, or if he can only do it by joining already strong systems. Nobody is doubting that Stefano is a first-grade quality player.

It's already been proven that Bellamy can get good simple performances from many (not all, but many) players. I am sure Bellamy backs himself to do it with Stefano. But saying "Bellamy thinks he can get Stefano to perform" really has little to no bearing for clubs that are not run by Craig Bellamy.

Secondary to all this is the discussion of salary. The rumours are of very significant salary requests, in the area of the top performing players in the entire NRL. If true, nobody can genuinely say that Stefano is at that level currently.