Fonua Pole #257

[Needaname]

disappointing he's going to market, but not surprising.

I doubt he'll get as much money as we have offered him elsewhere. it'll come down to whether he believes in where we're going. and if he doesn't believe in it, then you replace him with someone who does.

as much as we as fans love the idea of Pole.
I was one waxing lyrical about him last season, though I did watch him a bit closer and he is still in development mode and not ready to lead the pack.
That’s fine IF we are paying him a reasonable contract. He has played 3 seasons now but still looks like he struggles to read the defence. At this stage of our development as a squad. We cannot over pay for that.

 

[jrtiger]

I heard he is interested in going back to Melbourne where he is from, for personal reasons …if that is actually true then the money won’t matter unfortunately…

it's always been the worry with Fonua. wouldn't surprise me if it's true.

 

[Tom Shines]

it's always been the worry with Fonua. wouldn't surprise me if it's true.

Maybe if it is true and the Storm sign him, they might trade us NAS?

 

[Needaname]

Maybe if it is true and the Storm sign him, they might trade us NAS?

That’s my hope too mate!
They will sign him for about half of what they are paying NAS but for us NAS would only cost us a couple more hundred then we would have to cough up for Pole. That’s good business.

 

[jrtiger]

as much as we as fans love the idea of Pole.
I was one waxing lyrical about him last season, though I did watch him a bit closer and he is still in development mode and not ready to lead the pack.
That’s fine IF we are paying him a reasonable contract. He has played 3 seasons now but still looks like he struggles to read the defence. At this stage of our development as a squad. We cannot over pay for that.

the problem is the fact that there is next to nothing in regards to quality middles on the market and our youngsters are nowhere near ready. it puts us in a tough position. good front rowers are as rare as hen's teeth at the minute and we're gonna have to pay over the odds to retain Fonua and replace Klemmer given our standing in the league.

we need an enforcer. Xavier Willison and Leo Thompson are the two best front rowers in that mould on the market, and I doubt they will consider us as a viable option if they decide to leave their current clubs.

the next tier down is guys like Wiremu Greig, Oregon Kaufusi, Jack Hetherington and Davvy Moale. sure we're a chance of attaining them, but I think Fonua is as good a prospect as any of them, even if he does have work to do defensively.

it might come to a point where we need to do what we did a few years ago and try and sign the next big thing, as we did with Stefano. that's probably Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga, but the Dragons know what they're sitting on there.

point is, we're in some strife. Taupau-Moors is going to be a first grader, but he's a long way off. even Johannssen, who I'm a big fan of, is at least 18 months off regular grade.

TLDR: Fonua's a huge priority and even if he isn't the finished article, it will hurt if we lose him.

 

[Kelce68]

We could tell ourselves that but imo I think we can cope with losing Stef but losing Pole as well… it’d be hard to come back from that.

I love Pole and think he's an important part of the rebuild.

But he is very replaceable. He wouldn't feature in the Top 20 props in the competition at the moment.

May not even feature in the Top 5 up and coming props.

Really hope he stays. But it is not dire straits if he doesn't.

 

[upthetigers]

it might come to a point where we need to do what we did a few years ago and try and sign the next big thing, as we did with Stefano. that's probably Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga, but the Dragons know what they're sitting on there.

Is he loko when running the ball up?

 

[Needaname]

the problem is the fact that there is next to nothing in regards to quality middles on the market and our youngsters are nowhere near ready. it puts us in a tough position. good front rowers are as rare as hen's teeth at the minute and we're gonna have to pay over the odds to retain Fonua and replace Klemmer given our standing in the league.

we need an enforcer. Xavier Willison and Leo Thompson are the two best front rowers in that mould on the market, and I doubt they will consider us as a viable option if they decide to leave their current clubs.

the next tier down is guys like Wiremu Greig, Oregon Kaufusi, Jack Hetherington and Davvy Moale. sure we're a chance of attaining them, but I think Fonua is as good a prospect as any of them, even if he does have work to do defensively.

it might come to a point where we need to do what we did a few years ago and try and sign the next big thing, as we did with Stefano. that's probably Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga, but the Dragons know what they're sitting on there.

point is, we're in some strife. Taupau-Moors is going to be a first grader, but he's a long way off. even Johannssen, who I'm a big fan of, is at least 18 months off regular grade.

TLDR: Fonua's a huge priority and even if he isn't the finished article, it will hurt if we lose him.

I agree, I’m not downplaying the quality of Pole he is a decent player and has loads of improvement; but he isn’t going to improve us in isolation. It’s a sad predicament we are in; though Newcastle are in the same boat with Thompson, guarantee though Pole and their manager would be wanting around the same coin that Thompson ends up getting.

 

[Needaname]

I love Pole and think he's an important part of the rebuild.

But he is very replaceable. He wouldn't feature in the Top 20 props in the competition at the moment.

May not even feature in the Top 5 up and coming props.

Really hope he stays. But it is not dire straits if he doesn't.

It is in the short term. If we don’t supplement the loss with some quality experience.

 

[jrtiger]

I agree, I’m not downplaying the quality of Pole he is a decent player and has loads of improvement; but he isn’t going to improve us in isolation. It’s a sad predicament we are in; though Newcastle are in the same boat with Thompson, guarantee though Pole and their manager would be wanting around the same coin that Thompson ends up getting.

fair enough. if it comes to it we may just have to swap for something that benefits us, I'm just hopeful it doesn't.

 

[balmain boy]

He's currently our best prop, and no one will be offering him more than what we do. We can't really afford to lose him as it's unlikely we'll be able to sign better, we need to keep him and sign 2 more forwards, if he goes then we need 3 more forwards

 

[king_sirro]

The Klemmer contract is killing us

 

[Needaname]

The Klemmer contract is killing us

Agree. IMO it was not worth it. It was a four year contract wasn’t it? It is killing us in terms of personnel not in terms of salary though.
I’d be very surprised if he sees out his contract.

 

[jrtiger]

The Klemmer contract is killing us

another masterstroke from Tim Sheens and Warren McDonnell. they've nearly set us back as badly as Ivan.

 

[WesternSuburbsBoy]

I love Pole and think he's an important part of the rebuild.

But he is very replaceable. He wouldn't feature in the Top 20 props in the competition at the moment.

May not even feature in the Top 5 up and coming props.

Really hope he stays. But it is not dire straits if he doesn't.

Maybe he's replaceable maybe he's not but ask majority of WT fans this time last year who you thought our two long term props would be & 95% would've said Stef & Pole. If they both leave it'll show that two of our most promising young forwards don't see a future for themselves at this club which isn't a good thing when you're trying to rebuild from the bottom up.

 

[Needaname]

Maybe he's replaceable maybe he's not but ask majority of WT fans this time last year who you thought our two long term props would be & 95% would've said Stef & Pole. If they both leave it'll show that two of our most promising young forwards don't see a future for themselves at this club which isn't a good thing when you're trying to rebuild from the bottom up.

The optics are bad.

 

[Needaname]

another masterstroke from Tim Sheens and Warren McDonnell. they've nearly set us back as badly as Ivan.

Further I think.

 

[Spartan117]

If we can jag a forward or two, then retaining Pole will be easier.

 

[Buttface]

Yes I know that, hence I said if it comes with a swap deal for 25 I’m ok with it.

Sorry if that came across as if I was saying you didn’t know.
It was as much as me just repeating and saying how much I hate it.
Just another way that makes a contract seem pointless.
We might as well shake hands and hope they honour their word. And if you get that from me it’s as good as a contract.

 

[Bellend]

Would a great shame if Pole does leave. But it is another black eye coming via media very shortly and this is what we need to stop.