Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Mighty_Tiger said:
He is 100miles an hour effort player. He is like an energizer bunny that never runs out of charge…. He isn’t a world beater but would instantly make our squad better and make an impact for us.

Can basically cover any position asked outside of Prop, if given a good off season think he could be a decent 13. Has the speed, ball playing, defensive work rate and knows when to run straight v sideways.

He would be a very astute pickup.
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If available, between Hopgood and Wishart which one would you go for to be our 13 then?
 
weststigerman said:
I agree. Hopefully Turuva can handle the defensive side in the centres.

I think Staines leg speed and Skelton’s size is a good combo for yardage sets. Skelton first hit up, then Staines uses his speed.
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I see a lot of comments regarding our back-line defensive deficiencies and no doubt opposing teams eyes must light up when they run plays against us. I hear from ex players how important the fullback is in organizing the defensive line and the best ones are constantly doing the numbers and barking instructions at their outside men. Kind of like an on field, real time defensive coach.
We’ve heard how shy and quietly spoken Bulla is. Great individual talent and plenty of ticker, but perhaps that part of the fullback role, strong on-field presence, is something he will need to really develop if the Tigers back line is ever going to hold up defensively.
 
Tucker said:
I dont think Id bring anymore backs to the club for 2025.
Weve signed three good ones and we do have choices already here. One of the possible lineups could be as follows:
  • 1. Bula
  • 2. Turuva
  • 3. Galvin
  • 4. Olam
  • 5. Skelton
  • 6. Luai
  • 7. Sezer
This list has lots of points in it. Backups include Staines, Laulilii, Fainu, To'a, Faataape, Saukuru, Doueihi, Feledy, Sullivan, Alaimalo.

Get them a specialised backs coach who will re-familiarise them with what it takes to form a cohesive unit.

Now get them some hard working pigs to join Api, Pole, Seyfarth and Sam
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Galvin in the centres, Luai coming to play 2nd fiddle to an aging and average Sezer hahaha. Come on, even you are better than that. That's a ridiculous backline and will never happen.
 
Furious1 said:
The problem with Douiehi is he says all the right things, but rarely backs it up. It would be great for us especially on his contract value if he could somehow turn it around, but IMO there have been too many times he has shown lack of effort in certain areas, which i think is just a flaw in his character and not something he can turn around.
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His positional play could be coached and improved. His attitude is defence is all on him. The bulldogs miss a lot of tackles but chase and scramble and cover for 80 minutes. How often do we see AD turn and chase really hard when he or a teammate gets beaten. Never. There are two sides of the ball in footy. AD thinks he’s only really accountable for the “in-possession” side. He could be a really good player, but he’s not really a team first guy unfortunately, despite his big talk.
 
gregjm87 said:
Stimson is in no way a rock in defence. Hes been just okay in reserve grade and ordinary in 1st grade. Jollife, Croker, Horsburgh, Herherington yes. Stimson no, no way.
Horsburgh I think is easily the best forward on the market but linked to everyone but us.
Mason Teague is the first bloke I'd target. Dolphins lock who has been surpassed by Plath. West Sydney kid who I'm pretty sure would have captained Turuva in lower grades at Penrith. Very good defender (much better than Stimson) and has some ball skills to go with it.
If not him than Puru from Canberra. Another panthers junior with his pathway blocked in his current system. Decent enough defensively, better than Stimson not as good as Teague but offers a little more with the ball in both running metres and ball skills.
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I think you sell Stimson short.

94% tackle efficiency in 1st grade suggests he's pretty solid defensively.

But, he hasn't played more than 6 games this year- so there's that. The Titans did win 3 of those 6 though.

But then, playing lock & prop in Hostplus Cup for Ipswich- 91% tackle efficiency coupled with 180m per game on average with 3 games well over 200m in a game, while playing entire matches, so fatigue factored in....I'd say that's some pretty dominant performances.

Don't get me wrong- he's not going to suddenly be Payne Haas. But he'll hold the middle together at a price that won't stop the club retaining it's stars. When Bellamy & Hasler are his coaches- chances are, he's fit & disciplined.
 
Canadian Club said:
If we are moving on players on big money and signing guys like Skelton and Hassett on modest deals, surely that means the war chest is growing?

With very limited roster spots, not sure how we are going to spend 2mil+ and comply with NRL spending rules (95% of the cap must be spent) unless we sign a couple of big names.
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I think the 'war chest' is probably overstated and guess that a significant portion will be spent on paying out players of the final year of their deal
 
Tom Shines said:
Bula yes … Turuva I’m not so sure ?

Galvin, Olam and Skelton are slow …

I would like the other Center to have a bit more pace …im hoping this player isn’t at the club yet …

If they decide to move on from Galvin at 6 ( I’m not sure they will BTW) then try him at 13 first … I have said repeatedly that he needs to put some weight on this offseason regardless of where they play him…

I also think there is little doubt that Luai will be the 7 next season
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I saw highlights of Skelton scoring a 90 meter try down one flank against the roosters. He’s no Jason Saab or Fox, but he’s not pedestrian either. Held his pace for the full 90. A lot of big backs look like they’re in quicksand after 40m. Maybe only Staines would have him covered for speed in the current back line, but he wouldn’t have broken the first tackle that put him away in the first place.
 
king_sirro said:
The following line gives less excitement though
"As the club continues to strengthen its depth".

Suggests that they may be depth players.
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I figure Hassett is definitely one of them and probably a middle like a Peter Hola or Mat Croker.

depth has been our biggest issue so happy to strengthen it, but we will need replacements for Bateman and Utoikamanu.
 
SwervinMervin said:
I saw highlights of Skelton scoring a 90 meter try down one flank against the roosters. He’s no Jason Saab or Fox, but he’s not pedestrian either. Held his pace for the full 90. A lot of big backs look like they’re in quicksand after 40m. Maybe only Staines would have him covered for speed in the current back line, but he wouldn’t have broken the first tackle that put him away in the first place.
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I think there is no substitute for speed … look at The Hammer and Fox,,,. They get a gap and they are gone …4 points…thank you ma’am ….

We haven’t had a regular player with real elite level speed in years that I can recall …
 
king_sirro said:
Mate there have been plenty of soft players that record good stats every game. I'm not a stats man, I rarely take notice of them. I'm much more interested in hearing from people who have been watching him. If some reasonable judges say he has turned things around from earlier on in the year then I'd go with that. No way I'm going with stats on paper. Mighty Tiger who seems a good judge said he has watched him and he is terrible. So I'm more inclined to go with that. Happy to hear from others who have watched him recently and certainly happy to be proven wrong on Liam. However I just don't see how all of a sudden he is a good player. He was always average with terrible hands, went downhill badly early this year, so at 30, it's hard to imagine him suddenly becoming a good NRL regular. It's just doesn't happen like that, ever.

That's just me though.
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All good- but stats do suggest that the narrative is wrong. Bulldogs are 5th in KOE, 4th best For & Against- so the team is performing, & he's performing in it.

Like my argument for Joe Stimson- not suggesting he's the second coming of Payne Haas. But look at the coaches he's played for- he's professional, fit & knows what is needed to win games. Plus, he won't bust the salary cap. If at worst he's the guy that makes Sione Fainu play at a 1st grade level each week to retain his spot, I say he's a decent addition to the squad.
 
We need guys with experience given Stef, Paps and potentially Bateman is leaving.

I'd expect our forward signings to have more than a few games under their belt.
 
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Tucker said:
I dont think Id bring anymore backs to the club for 2025.
Weve signed three good ones and we do have choices already here. One of the possible lineups could be as follows:
  • 1. Bula
  • 2. Turuva
  • 3. Galvin
  • 4. Olam
  • 5. Skelton
  • 6. Luai
  • 7. Sezer
This list has lots of points in it. Backups include Staines, Laulilii, Fainu, To'a, Faataape, Saukuru, Doueihi, Feledy, Sullivan, Alaimalo.

Get them a specialised backs coach who will re-familiarise them with what it takes to form a cohesive unit.

Now get them some hard working pigs to join Api, Pole, Seyfarth and Sam
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Like you- I think Galvin can be moved to centre, lock or the second row & be effective. He's that kind of player. If it puts our best players on the field- what is to lose? Numbers on their back doesn't stop what they can produce & how they play.

Sezar would be there until Latu earns the spot- & then we are likely stronger still. That's a pretty dangerous backline with guys like Staines, To'a, Doueihi, Fainu, Faataape & youngsters like Lualili'i & Makasini in the wings.

Again- I'll say- we are not THAT far away. Not as far as some might believe.
 
jrtiger said:
definitely agree that right edge, 13 and at least one prop has to be the focus. the issue is there really isn’t much out there.

Jack Williams is a must sign at this point, but he’s pretty ingrained at the Sharks.
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Such a shame none of our high potential locks have worked out so far. Looks like they will be giving Seyfarth a shot on the edge for the remainder of the season. Hope he takes his shot. I would be stoked with Horsburgh but with Val leaving Dragons I reckon he will go to the Cowboys. RCG would be my next pick as he offers a different profile to our current rotation.
 
Tom Shines said:
I think there is no substitute for speed … look at The Hammer and Fox,,,. They get a gap and they are gone …4 points…thank you ma’am ….

We haven’t had a regular player with real elite level speed in years that I can recall …
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The Fox was probably the last one. Prior to that Darren Clarke 😆. Prior to that Larry Corowa 😆😆
 
Tom Shines said:
Bula yes … Turuva I’m not so sure ?

Galvin, Olam and Skelton are slow …

I would like the other Center to have a bit more pace …im hoping this player isn’t at the club yet …

If they decide to move on from Galvin at 6 ( I’m not sure they will BTW) then try him at 13 first … I have said repeatedly that he needs to put some weight on this offseason regardless of where they play him…

I also think there is little doubt that Luai will be the 7 next season
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You are right Luai is coming here to play with the 7 on his back and that is fact no matter how many arm chair generals want otherwise
 
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