Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[tigermate]

Did Marshall sleep with your partner or something? Lol

lol I’m single. But that’s a fair call. I sound like a scorned lover … hang on. Don’t all of us that are sick of 3 Woden spoons?

I probably would let Benji sleep with my partner if it meant we could trade him for Wayne Bennet

 

[balmain boy]

Do you think he is better than ravalawa? Have only seen him play twice - seemed very similar player, great at yardage with a few more errors than you’d like.

Much better. He's younger and less erratic. He's no Tuqiri but we've had the likes of Faatape, Laulilii, Toa and Naden playing first grade this season. He's on par with a Junior Tupou.

Why did we sign Reilly from rugby when Skleton was available? Again we went for the small nuggety type, with average pace over someone who was a physical beast. We should have gone hard for Skelton mid season this year too, he'd have played every week in first grade and got an extension, but it seems we just can't sell the idea of coming to a basketcase of a club with no idea how to change.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

UPDATE!

Stefano notified the club this morning that he intends on leaving at the end of the year. Any reports this decision has been made a week ago or earlier are false. He told the club his priority was the warriors game and he’d take the weekend before announcing his decision. He let us know of his exit first thing this morning and Richo was quick to make sure our members/fans heard of this news first before the media got onto it - hence the member’s announcement.

I’ve been quietly told that Stefano wants the Panthers move…. it hasn’t been reported anywhere about this potential link but that’s what I’ve been told. If those feelings are mutual I’m unsure, but when JFH was announced to the Warriors. The door opened up for sure. If Penrith come knocking or if they already are expect him to join his roommate Papalili next year, the Bulldogs also have a very good shot but his next club is unclear at this stage.

Any indication that Benji has been given any deadline is completely false and inaccurate. Both Richo and the board are completely behind Benji and are 100% focused on building the club around him.

Pole and the club are in deep discussions over a potential 3 year deal. Wouldn’t be shocked if that’s official in the coming weeks. The club are extremely high on Pole.

Don’t expect to see John Bateman back in 2025.

I’ve been calling for it for a while but it also seems like Benji is going to pull the trigger on Latu Fainu at 13 in 2025.

In regards to new signings everything is pretty hush hush within Wests Tigers circles - however, I was told there’s some serious whispers going around that if Taylan May is able to be registered back in the NRL by next year that we will be favourites. Taylan wants to stay within Sydney and Api, Luai and Turuva apparently have strong links to him. The expectation is May’s next contract won’t be big $ as well.

Thanks for the info @teddy23 , any murmurings on your recent Cobbo mail in light of today's news up in Qld? Hopefully Kotono Staggs is high on the target list come Nov 1.

 

[hank37w]

Fly the witch doctor in to concord and he can heal every player at the same time.

Nothing to lose by giving it a go.

The Witch Doctor is not that good that he could do all of our mob, and incidentally he doesn't do house calls, you have to see him up in the New Guinea Highlands.

Nothing to lose up there except maybe your head.

 

[Tcat]

Would love May, game breaking mongrel.

At this point in time, I couldn't give a shit about what a player is like on a personal level. Sign him if he's any good on the field.

 

[balmain boy]

Kepaoa and Talau come to mind, tall, fast but get crucified on here and leave. We tried.

Talau has some height, not huge, but above average, Asu is small. Neither are fast.

We have not tried.

 

[WT46]

Latu at 13 is crazy…

 

[balmain boy]

On paper we’ve lost probably our three best forwards (Stef, Paps and Bateman) from a pack already getting dominated.

Hard to be hopeful for ‘25 with no sign of any replacements.

On paper perhaps. Based on on field performance we've lost 3 of our worst performers, taking into consideration both output and salary.

It is hard to be hopeful, until their replacements are named, only then can we judge how we're moving forwards.

 

[hank37w]

Taylan May is likely to be going to gaol.

No where near as bad as a sentence at Wests Tigers, but to be fair we do offer early parole and allow our prisoners the opportunity to get out early.

 

[WestsEffTheRest]

Thanks for the info @teddy23 , any murmurings on your recent Cobbo mail in light of today's news up in Qld? Hopefully Kotono Staggs is high on the target list come Nov 1.

If something comes of the Cobbo situation you'd think Brisbane will make Staggs a priority.

 

[Halbrowne61]

Would love May, game breaking mongrel.

And that’s just off the field !

 

[TSP]

The Witch Doctor is not that good that he could all our of mob, and incidentally he doesn't do house calls, you have to see him up in the New Guinea Highlands.

Nothing to lose up there except maybe your head.

The squad could charter a plane there for Mad Monday celebrations.

 

[balmain boy]

Our BIGGEST problem is we're not a development club.

We just like to pretend we are.

We do not develop players into better versions of themselves. Players join the club at a certain level and leave the club either at that same level or even worse than when they joined us.

That is why we can't recruit. Players routinely get worse here, which means the cap is wasted, we can't compete against other clubs and are stuck in a perpetual cycle of crap.

We need to become a professional club. Having a shiny COE does not make us professional by default. We need better coaches, better trainers, we need players who will build a culture of excellence that other players want to buy into. We need to recruit players with the physical skillsets to make an impression in the NRL and be ruthless on juniors who don't have these traits. Players must earn NRL contracts through outstanding performances in Flegg and or NSW Cup.

 

[TSP]

We sign Taylan May then I’m done.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

On paper perhaps. Based on on field performance we've lost 3 of our worst performers, taking into consideration both output and salary.

It is hard to be hopeful, until their replacements are named, only then can we judge how we're moving forwards.

I agree. The optics aren't great when representative forwards all depart but really Bateman does not have the body or game nowadays to warrant his salary, Stef isn't an $800k prop and doubts whether he will get there & Papali'i didn't want to be here if we're all honest. He's probably our biggest loss as he could have made a good modern day smaller prop but he's replaceable.

I'm seeing this as part of the 'clearing' the roster of many of our overpaid types so we have the spots to recruit 3 or 4 experienced, tough, effort-driven, high IQ players, who can guide our younger guys. These recruits with skills & qualities we need (not short, nuggety, slow types).

Apart from extending Pole & hopefully some news on Onitoni Large & Makasini etc, I doubt we'll hear much on external recruits until our season finishes and also of the recruited player.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

If something comes of the Cobbo situation you'd think Brisbane will make Staggs a priority.

Unfortunately probably correct

 

[Spartan117]

Would love May, game breaking mongrel.

Me Too,

We all do stupid things when were young....

He can bring his older brother to replace Stefano also

 

[hank37w]

The squad could charter a plane there for Mad Monday celebrations.

With any luck we would never see them again.

I guess that's one way of opening up spots in your top 30.

 

[Tcat]

We sign Taylan May then I’m done.

Why? He's better than anything we have. He's a scumbag, but plenty of NRL players have skeletons in the closet. Hell, even our precious Api was up to some shenanigans a few years ago.

 

[teddy23]

Would love May, game breaking mongrel.

If May and Turuva both join the club in 2025 that’s a serious upgrade on our outside back depth.

Both players also very familiar with Luai and Api who are gonna be the two most influential players in our spine next year running the attack.

For low $ it’s a no brainer for me.