Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

weststigersfinals2025 said:
A hooker and an Edge arent going to help a side that had poor halves, props, and outside backs. On top of that the club had been in shambles with the Board and constant sacking of coaches. Winning does start from the head office and the club prior were not professional at all. I am more then happy with the signings we have gotten so far. Jeral Skelton, Jarome Luai, Turuva, Jack Bird, Royce Hunt. Not only have these players come from clubs who have experienced a winning culture aswell as extensive coaching only good things are going to come from here. These are not signings we would have years before where we would sign players like Russell Packer. Jarome Luai has played in the last 5 grand finals won 4 and will be spilling all the winning secrets. Come November 1st rumours will start to spark up again and potential signings. Patience.
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At the time it wasn't just a hooker and an edge. It was also former international Klemmer after being named his clubs player's player the previous year, England rep Bateman as well as premiership winning winger Staines. The chat then was just as it is now about How this influx of representative players whom all had finals experience was going to rejuvenate the roster.

Its not that I'm unhappy with any of the signings thus far. Aside I said they are all an upgrade on what we have. No need to recite Luai's resume. I pointed him out as the 1 signing who truly is "REALLY good". I'm just far from convinced that it will be enough to see us make any great improvements. Not unless a few younger forwards really lift next season. I'm hopeful but I'm not confident.
 
gregjm87 said:
Cant speak for Vicious but The last 3 years is why I'm pessimistic. It wasn't so long ago that we made the "really good signings" of Api and Papali'i and we were told things were on the up.
I also think that outside of Luai we haven't made any really good signings. I think the rest are certainly an upgrade on what we've got in their respective positions but none are better than average at their position when compared to the rest of the competition. Additionally we still haven't replaced what we've lost.
I'd like to be positive and want to believe good times are ahead. If we can retain a lot of the quality youngsters long term I even believe that in time they will come good. I just can't see that being any time soon.
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I believe the issue was not things that Api and Papa could help with. The team is inherently young and we lack depth in our backs which can be fixed with the signings of Skelton and Turuva and the chance that Doueihi can stay healthy playing centres. The issue was always in the club culture which could be seen in a majority of our forward pack, with Papali'i looking uninterested along with Stef, plus players like Klemmer who had fallen off majorly from when he was on Knights only a season prior. While they may not instantly fix up the team into a top 8 finish, Luai and Turuva certainly will help with the club's culture - nothing will happen in one offseason.

The thing which is most promising about this team would be the younger players such as Galvin, the Fainu brothers, Pole and now Makasini who can come in for Olam when his time is up, or even sooner. This is going to provide depth, culture and chemistry which is some of the things this team has been lacking for a long time. Obviously we arent going to come in and be contenders, however when you look at teams like the Bulldogs, they made a couple big name signings but loads of solid signings over the course of a few years in order to improve their team heavily. While we won't be contending immediately, the future definitely seems brighter than it has in recent seasons and there is really no reason to be pessimistic.
 
gregjm87 said:
At the time it wasn't just a hooker and an edge. It was also former international Klemmer after being named his clubs player's player the previous year, England rep Bateman as well as premiership winning winger Staines. The chat then was just as it is now about How this influx of representative players whom all had finals experience was going to rejuvenate the roster.

Its not that I'm unhappy with any of the signings thus far. Aside I said they are all an upgrade on what we have. No need to recite Luai's resume. I pointed him out as the 1 signing who truly is "REALLY good". I'm just far from convinced that it will be enough to see us make any great improvements. Not unless a few younger forwards really lift next season. I'm hopeful but I'm not confident.
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The best example you should look back on is the bulldogs. They signed Kikau, Mahoney, Addo-Carr and Burton which could arguably be worse than the Tiger's signings you listed however after the Crichton signing they immediately improved. This is proof that big name signings arent going to immediately change a teams entire identity. The rest of the team was still poor at the time with the halves being a horrible fit to the team, but with the rejuvenation of both the teams halves and backs with the development of young players, this offseason was marginally different to the time we had made those signings.
 
gregjm87 said:
At the time it wasn't just a hooker and an edge. It was also former international Klemmer after being named his clubs player's player the previous year, England rep Bateman as well as premiership winning winger Staines. The chat then was just as it is now about How this influx of representative players whom all had finals experience was going to rejuvenate the roster.

Its not that I'm unhappy with any of the signings thus far. Aside I said they are all an upgrade on what we have. No need to recite Luai's resume. I pointed him out as the 1 signing who truly is "REALLY good". I'm just far from convinced that it will be enough to see us make any great improvements. Not unless a few younger forwards really lift next season. I'm hopeful but I'm not confident.
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Aside from the players we've already signed, who's off contract that is a "REALLY good" player? Theres limited numbers for players who are and were off contract players this season. Tigers have done well with what was on offer. Sure we missed out on Horsburgh but when your club has had back to back to back spoons there isnt much of a appeal. Props to Richo whos brought in a star player Luai and made some actual decent signings.
 
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weststigersfinals2025 said:
Aside from the players we've already signed, who's off contract that is a "REALLY good" player? Theres limited numbers for players who are and were off contract players this season. Tigers have done well with what was on offer. Sure we missed out on Horsburgh but when your club has had back to back to back spoons there isnt much of a appeal. Props to Richo whos brought in a star player Luai and made some actual decent signings.
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I agree with this completely. It was more that I disagreed with the earlier comment that we have made some really good signings and are on the up. We've made one really good signing and could eventually be on the up if we retain the junior talent and they develop into the players they promise to be.
 
gregjm87 said:
I agree with this completely. It was more that I disagreed with the earlier comment that we have made some really good signings and are on the up. We've made one really good signing and could eventually be on the up if we retain the junior talent and they develop into the players they promise to be.
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Look at Bulldogs. Kurt Mann wasn't deemed a good signing just a fill in player and look how well he's done for the dogs this season. Same goes with tigers. Provided we had some good signings Jack Bird could be a similar player like Kurt Mann for the dogs. We have made good signings. We are improving
 
craigtob said:
Why is it so late for?
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The decision was made to do away with the Grand Final Luncheon. They have no combined 3 events into 1 with the Luncheon, Kelly Barnes and NRLW presentation night all combined into one. Usually the awards night is the first Tuesday after the final round.

I guess in combing the 3 it was decided to have it around the date of the Luncheon but avoid Grand Final week.
 
weststigersfinals2025 said:
Look at Bulldogs. Kurt Mann wasn't deemed a good signing just a fill in player and look how well he's done for the dogs this season. Same goes with tigers. Provided we had some good signings Jack Bird could be a similar player like Kurt Mann for the dogs. We have made good signings. We are improving
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When on the field I think Bird can still do a good job but the problem with him is the injuries. It’s the same with Olam - on paper they are good signings but if their bodies are cooked it’s just a waste of time & money
 
cochise said:
The decision was made to do away with the Grand Final Luncheon. They have no combined 3 events into 1 with the Luncheon, Kelly Barnes and NRLW presentation night all combined into one. Usually the awards night is the first Tuesday after the final round.

I guess in combing the 3 it was decided to have it around the date of the Luncheon but avoid Grand Final week.
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I have felt for more than a decade we really shouldnt be celebrating anything during GF week...hard to explain
 
luaipleasesaveus said:
The best example you should look back on is the bulldogs. They signed Kikau, Mahoney, Addo-Carr and Burton which could arguably be worse than the Tiger's signings you listed however after the Crichton signing they immediately improved. This is proof that big name signings arent going to immediately change a teams entire identity. The rest of the team was still poor at the time with the halves being a horrible fit to the team, but with the rejuvenation of both the teams halves and backs with the development of young players, this offseason was marginally different to the time we had made those signings.
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But it wasn't just signing Crichton. They also signed a new fullback, a new halfback, 2 new centres, a new prop, a new lock and a few depth guys. Plus Kikau was like a new signing having only managed 9 games the previous season. In fact over the last 3 years their entire best 17 has changed. During which time they have also retained their better players whilst ours have seemingly had one foot out the door all season.

I very much doubt Luai is going to completely overhaul the team and don't think he has enough help, at least as yet to do so.
I'm not saying our team can't be transitioned over the next few years. It's very much possible that it can be. This could be the start to that. It could also be another false dawn like a couple years ago.
 
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