Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[TIGERS]

Not sure but congrats to them they have themselves a great buy

Nope. Not a great buy. He's past it and he's gone where the people who are past it typically go. I'm glad he's not with us.

 

[weststigerman]

Times running out to offload Naden, Bateman, and Sullivan. Pretty sure we start paying them for 2025 November 1.

Fingers crossed they are farewelled on Friday. Wishful thinking though.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Times running out to offload Naden, Bateman, and Sullivan. Pretty sure we start paying them for 2025 November 1.

Fingers crossed they are farewelled on Friday. Wishful thinking though.

I don’t like your chances

 

[88]

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.

I think a factor that needs to be considered in the signings is the value we signed them for. Guys like Turuva and Skelton have signed for well balanced salaries (not the overs we often paid to attract players in the past). Even the Luai salary I think is reasonable for your marquee.

What the other signings do, though, is start to put your salary cap in a better overall position. It will still take a while to fully straighten out but if we continue in that vein we will gradually improve our squad and also leave some money in place to go hard for other genuine elite players when they pop up.

I’ll take the glass half full view and believe we aren’t just looking for quick fixes but are committed to a medium to long term process of building a balanced NRL squad.

Purchasing character is just as important as talent as well. Keeping and developing the best of our juniors also another important task.

 

[weststigerman]

I don’t like your chances

If Dragons took Mbye and Musgrove, anything is possible my friend.

 

[Needaname]

Murray isn't in his league, respectfully. He's bigger
and faster. Playing GPS XV as a starting winger at
16 is a monumental feat in itself. I know as tigers
fans we're a bit cynical when it comes to these things
but it's a genuine assessment & not emotionally driven

Not suggesting he is or isn’t more talented, just reminds me of the impact and style Tulagi has on the wing for the Cowboys. He is big, reasonably quick and skillful.

Extract from Taulagi’s player profile prior to debuting in first grade…

“Still eligible for under 20s and in just his second full season of rugby league, Murray Taulagi emerged as one of the brightest talents in rugby league in 2018.

The 19-year-old spent the entire season wreaking havoc on the wing for the Cowboys feeder club the Northern Pride in the Queensland Cup.”

That said he debuted at 20 the following year.
Makahisi is 18 next July isn’t he? And given the way the tigers have blooded players recently I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get some time at the end of next season.

If he is just as impactful against men as he is against kids he will have a long career.

 

[The Chad]

While I understand the desire to move on players like Bateman, Naden & Sullivan- I will just say it's more important that the club free up Top 30 spaces than Top 30 money right now.

If the club can afford to keep them, letting players like Tumeth, Lobb & Matamua leave is just as useful.

Remember- we aren't paying the wages, even if we think they are overpaid.

If Galvin, Luia or Fainu get hurt long term- the security of a player like Sullivan is far more comforting than Brandon Wakeham.

If Bateman is returning- he's a starting forward next season. Like him or not- he's one of the starting backrow along with Sam Fainu. Probably puts Bird at lock or in the centres. Which would strengthen the centres at the very least. Probably also means that a Kobe Hetherington is the only other addition required from outside the club, and retaining Sione Fainu can be done.

If Naden is your KOE centre along with Feledy, with Doueihi at fullback in KOE, Mason & Sullivan in the KOE halves...Lualili'i & Faataape & Staines...that is some far more comforting depth than we have had in years.

 

[rugbygoated]

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.

I never quite understand the comparisons of Luai/Tigers to Crichton/Bulldogs. Both teams are polar opposite. One is very defensive. The other has no defence at all. One has a great defensive coach. The other a guy who is living on his legacy as a player without any coaching experience. The utilities and depth they signed is very different too. And experienced and older. Our best players are teenagers and Api. He's got a huge job on his hands

 

[crazycat]

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

I kinda like how Newcastle managed it with Chris Heighington and Jacob?? get two older players and use one as a spare for the other.


Olam had 2x ACL's. He was carrying 1x ACL all year and was our best back.

I want to see an uninjured Olam take the field. We saw some of the old brillance and if he actually heals up. ... Which a preseasion + surgery that actually repairs the damage caused can do...

We will have a total weapon on our hands.

 

[innsaneink]

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.

Their coach,.bringing panthers defensive system with him eventually will be their best signing... It took him a season to get the ball rolling - how much more can they improve next year

 

[balmain boy]

I'd put my balls on the fact Bula is on nothing like that money.

It was reported he signed for 700-800k per season at the time. Back ended.

Yes often the numbers in the media are exaggerated but we were trying to fend off a few clubs and have to overpay to keep players

 

[Jolls]

I never quite understand the comparisons of Luai/Tigers to Crichton/Bulldogs. Both teams are polar opposite. One is very defensive. The other has no defence at all. One has a great defensive coach. The other a guy who is living on his legacy as a player without any coaching experience. The utilities and depth they signed is very different too. And experienced and older. Our best players are teenagers and Api. He's got a huge job on his hands

The comparison is useful when looking at the rebuilding process. We are behind them but following a similar path, less the coaching staff. A CEO that undersands how to build a club, signing key players to bolster deficiencies (less a couple of forwards at the moment) and locking up the best juniors. I don't recall anyone stating that we should emulate the Dogs playing style.

The significant difference is in the coaching staff where we were gifted Benji, Morris and Farrah by the previous regime and with the move of Farrah replaced him with Hodgo. I get that Marshall lacks experience and Hodgo hasn't had the greatest success in his coaching career to date but I'm not seeing quality coaches lining up at the front gate of the COE looking for a job with us.

I have yet to see one piece of evidence from the "Benji can't coach corner" other than we won another spoon. Is that on the coach or the players? Some of our 2024 attacking stats have us doing pretty well by NRL standards, our defence on the other hand not so good. Maybe that is related to the coaching, maybe it is that we have the youngest side in the competition. I'm not convinced either way on Benji yet.

The useful thing from the comparison with the Dogs is that at a similar stage in the development process, and with a much more expereinced coach, the Dogs went close to winning the spoon and then bounced back to finish 6th.

I'm not suggesting that our turnaround will be as dramatic as we are still a year or so behind where they were this season and we are relying more on our pathways than Laundy's $$$. We are on the right track and in the forseeable future we will be able to pull a big name coach if we need one.

Richo and Benji have a plan. It may not be the best plan and we may not have the players or coaching staff that we want, but a plan that is executed with passion is much better than stumbling rudderless from season to season (sound and feel familiar?)

As painful as it was to watch us win another spoon the pathway to improvement has been illuminated by the Dogs. We don't have to follow their steps exactly, and why would we? We have an experienced and successful administrator, a passionate staff and a plan to create a Wests Tigers approach.

At the end of 23 most Dogs fans were calling for the head of Ciraldo too. As painful as it is, we need to give the plan some time to bear fruit. If Benji, Hodgo and Morris aren't cutting it by 26 I'm pretty sure a door will open for an experienced coach looking forward to taking the glory after the hard yards have been done.

Who is the next Ciraldo?

 

[derekderekson]

Bateman just said his thanks and farewells to Warrington fans on Instagram.
Said he back In Australia end of the week to see wife and kid.
No mention of Tigers.
But does say thanks to those in Warrington who ‘helped him find the love back In the game and enjoying what I do again’

My guess he not coming back to play for Tigers.

 

[Camel2281]

The kid is only 17 and the club is shouting his signing from the rooftops. Top 30 in 2026. Nice way to lay on the pressure on him. Another thing you wouldn’t see at Melbourne, Penrith or Roosters.

You did with Sualii, ARU were really after him just like in this instance

 

[finnzo]

Bateman just said his thanks and farewells to Warrington fans on Instagram.
Said he back In Australia end of the week to see wife and kid.
No mention of Tigers.
But does say thanks to those in Warrington who ‘helped him find the love back In the game and enjoying what I do again’

My guess he not coming back to play for Tigers.

I reckon he’s coming back and yes in for the crocodile roll hopefully he doesn’t get selected for England and he can actually have a full pre season for once

 

[king_sirro]

It was reported he signed for 700-800k per season at the time. Back ended.

Yes often the numbers in the media are exaggerated but we were trying to fend off a few clubs and have to overpay to keep players

I'm not sure we were fending off clubs at that moment. He was contracted to us for a couple of years wasn't he? My thoughts were it was more of a goodwill upgrade by the club, realising they have him locked in on massive unders. I also thought it started closer to the 500k mark rather than 700k. I can't recall why i have this in my head, so I could be wrong. Pascoe was in charge after all.

 

[Tommy_the_Tiger]

Murray isn't in his league, respectfully. He's bigger
and faster. Playing GPS XV as a starting winger at
16 is a monumental feat in itself. I know as tigers
fans we're a bit cynical when it comes to these things
but it's a genuine assessment & not emotionally driven

Tualagi played GPS rugby at the same age

 

[Tcat]

Bateman just said his thanks and farewells to Warrington fans on Instagram.
Said he back In Australia end of the week to see wife and kid.
No mention of Tigers.
But does say thanks to those in Warrington who ‘helped him find the love back In the game and enjoying what I do again’

My guess he not coming back to play for Tigers.

I'm guessing he's coming back to cash in at the Tigers because no one else will pay him the same $$

 

[Robbie's Love Child]

I'm guessing he's coming back to cash in at the Tigers because no one else will pay him the same $$

Hopefully he gets arrested for smuggling drugs into the country and never represents the Tigers again. He is a worthless pommie bum.

 

[jadtiger]

Bateman just said his thanks and farewells to Warrington fans on Instagram.
Said he back In Australia end of the week to see wife and kid.
No mention of Tigers.
But does say thanks to those in Warrington who ‘helped him find the love back In the game and enjoying what I do again’

My guess he not coming back to play for Tigers.

I think you will be sadly disappointed as i am sure he will be coming back to collect the pension that Sheens kindly gave him