TSP
Well-known member
A somewhat forceful submission.
Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion
- Thread starter MacDougall
- Start date
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
Bulldogs will be seeking outside back reinforcements with Skelton leaving too. Wonder if Gus/Ciraldo would entertain taking Staines which would free up a roster spot for us.
Blake Wilson up next
He's got it
WestsEffTheRest
Well-known member
Keep Charlie, give them Naden Lol
weststigerman
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Cleary did that
Don Kershane
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Nofa ready and willing.
Dennisspicer1
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TSP
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One won’t cavil with it.
liltiger
Well-known member
Sam Burgess
Kaito
Well-known member
Nado or To'a hey, Staines can stay 4 sure
TSP
Well-known member
He fell from grace pretty quickly.
I bet he wished he’d laced up his mouth!
He may have had a point, but it got lost in dispatches. He didn’t play it very well and it seemed he picked up a bad reputation. Deserved or not.
Madge’s downfall was because of Madge . The appointment of sheens / Benji afterwards whilst incorrect was only exacerbated by the fact they shafted sheens and Benji with the same knife they used to shaft Madge .
The whole shemozzle was caused by insecure , incompetent men not sticking to any direction , and listening to outside noise like fox media , to help drive outcomes of which fox is generally invested in keeping those outcomes to failure . It’s like asking the bloke who won’t stop hitting on your missus for relationship advice lol
Madge really had to fix his man management . The run on him was how he could really alienate a locker room , despite being a good bloke . Promised everyone he’d learned his lesson , and then after losing the locker room in his second season , any changes he did make went out the window from then on .
The sheens decision was dumb especially from a football point of view because it undermined the whole game plan we had had built around Madge , which would have affected recruitment and retention all the way through the grades .
Then even more stupidity when they couldn’t even last the 2 years to blood the kids and try and turn the ship , by shafting sheens and creating all that upheaval .
Now that Richo is in , I’m confident that we have a direction , and I think we will look back on this period regardless if Benji fails as a winning coach , as a positive one , as he has achieved his ultimate outcome of getting wests tigers players and juniors in playing in the wests tigers jersey .
I think we might make the 8 in the next 2 years but it won’t save Benji . But it will create a positive platform for a coach with credibility to take over .
yeahcaz
Well-known member
Oregon Kaufusi now a free agent for next season, surely we can go back to the sharks for seconds ? Looked really good at the back end of this year
Bula
Well-known member
Bateman not going anywhere. Kill me now.
Year_of_the_Tiger
Well-known member
Phil Gould (grain or two of hard salt) - thinks he is the best player this year
king_sirro
Well-known member
How many middles do we need? We simply can't sign RCG unless it's replacing Klemmer.
Year_of_the_Tiger
Well-known member
Madge would have stayed / been kept if Richo was in charge.
lol he’s the one who sacked him from Souths … what ? Like if we’re making up narratives and hypotheticals how do you connect dots to that outcome ?
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
SMH / Michael Chammas:
John Bateman’s agent has contacted Shane Richardson to inform the Wests Tigers boss of his client’s intention to return to the club for the next two seasons.
The Tigers had been privately hoping Bateman, who still has two years to run on his deal worth close to $600,000 a season, would remain in England or join another NRL club to free up a roster spot and salary cap space.
It comes as an irate Richardson lashed out at a group of injured and fringe NRL players in the aftermath of last week’s defeat to Parramatta in the “spoon bowl”.
Richardson noticed a number of players sitting in the stands laughing after the defeat consigned the Tigers to a third consecutive wooden spoon, prompting an angry response from the CEO.
Sources with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity in order to speak freely told this masthead that Richardson, who was also sitting in the designated Tigers dugout to the side of the tunnel, told players they should be embarrassed and at least pretend to care about the plight of the club.
The players who were sitting behind the Tigers’ bench included Brent Naden, Aidan Sezer, Justin Olam, Jayden Sullivan and Tallyn Da Silva. The fans sitting nearby allegedly heard the exchange between the CEO and the players.
A visibly angry Richardson also demanded the players make their way around the ground to thank the fans who had turned out to watch their team earn the dubious honour of finishing bottom of the ladder for the third year in a row. Richardson declined to comment when contacted on Friday.
In the days immediately after the team’s poor showing against the Eels at Campbelltown, the club received a phone call from Bateman’s agent, Isaac Moses, to clarify misconceptions around the veteran back-rower’s future given the widespread impression the Tigers did not want him next season.
Bateman, who signed a four-year deal at the start of 2023 when Tim Sheens was head coach of the Tigers, has struggled to live up to his price tag since returning to the NRL.
He was granted permission to leave the Tigers mid-season to play under former England teammate Sam Burgess at Warrington in the Super League.
Richardson has a close relationship with Burgess from their time together at the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Under the terms of the release, the Tigers had to terminate Bateman’s existing contract. Under NRL rules, any payouts would have had to go into this year’s salary cap.
The Tigers and Bateman then drew up a new contract to replicate the final two years on his deal. The NRL would not have approved the contract termination-renewal unless Bateman went into the salary cap for 2025 and 2026 at the value of the original deal.
The Tigers, who were willing to release Bateman to free up salary cap space this year, were hopeful he would decide not to return to the club after his stint in England.
But Moses this week contacted Richardson to confirm his client’s intention to see out the remaining two years of his contract.
Several Tigers players have been told they are free to explore options at rival clubs – including Sullivan, Naden and Charlie Staines – but are yet to secure deals elsewhere.
John Bateman’s agent has contacted Shane Richardson to inform the Wests Tigers boss of his client’s intention to return to the club for the next two seasons.
The Tigers had been privately hoping Bateman, who still has two years to run on his deal worth close to $600,000 a season, would remain in England or join another NRL club to free up a roster spot and salary cap space.
It comes as an irate Richardson lashed out at a group of injured and fringe NRL players in the aftermath of last week’s defeat to Parramatta in the “spoon bowl”.
Richardson noticed a number of players sitting in the stands laughing after the defeat consigned the Tigers to a third consecutive wooden spoon, prompting an angry response from the CEO.
Sources with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity in order to speak freely told this masthead that Richardson, who was also sitting in the designated Tigers dugout to the side of the tunnel, told players they should be embarrassed and at least pretend to care about the plight of the club.
The players who were sitting behind the Tigers’ bench included Brent Naden, Aidan Sezer, Justin Olam, Jayden Sullivan and Tallyn Da Silva. The fans sitting nearby allegedly heard the exchange between the CEO and the players.
A visibly angry Richardson also demanded the players make their way around the ground to thank the fans who had turned out to watch their team earn the dubious honour of finishing bottom of the ladder for the third year in a row. Richardson declined to comment when contacted on Friday.
In the days immediately after the team’s poor showing against the Eels at Campbelltown, the club received a phone call from Bateman’s agent, Isaac Moses, to clarify misconceptions around the veteran back-rower’s future given the widespread impression the Tigers did not want him next season.
Bateman, who signed a four-year deal at the start of 2023 when Tim Sheens was head coach of the Tigers, has struggled to live up to his price tag since returning to the NRL.
He was granted permission to leave the Tigers mid-season to play under former England teammate Sam Burgess at Warrington in the Super League.
Richardson has a close relationship with Burgess from their time together at the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Under the terms of the release, the Tigers had to terminate Bateman’s existing contract. Under NRL rules, any payouts would have had to go into this year’s salary cap.
The Tigers and Bateman then drew up a new contract to replicate the final two years on his deal. The NRL would not have approved the contract termination-renewal unless Bateman went into the salary cap for 2025 and 2026 at the value of the original deal.
The Tigers, who were willing to release Bateman to free up salary cap space this year, were hopeful he would decide not to return to the club after his stint in England.
But Moses this week contacted Richardson to confirm his client’s intention to see out the remaining two years of his contract.
Several Tigers players have been told they are free to explore options at rival clubs – including Sullivan, Naden and Charlie Staines – but are yet to secure deals elsewhere.
