Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Let them be excited.by this prospect... People. see him running hard and breaking the line.... Being put into holes... Yes his defence needs a lot of work.... As. They all. Do

Half full half empty type. Of. Thing... We have a choice to. Be either post or neg

I'd agree with you if I saw him chopping up Ressies
- In 3 years, for whatever reason - I've not seen it?

Dunno man,
I think the squad is more than half full of Prospects....
if he's the best of them, Elevate him and get rid of another (Prospect)

We need more NRL Players, In my experience - Blokes who aren't making a decent
impact in ressies rarely go on to be NRL Players.
 
Hard to shine in our reggies squad, as its hard to shine anywhere at WTs,,,need to be very special ala LG
I dont see much if any reserves so cant comment...but yeah we need guys like Bud & Naden putting pressure on thos in the NRL squad
 
If we pay 200/300 k to manly to let them have Bateman it’s a poor decision.
Bateman is a player who never gives up in a game .
Bateman is a solid defender .
Benji could be the problem being suck a rookie coach old Johnny who has been round the block may have just blurted out the truth , they need a sit down as we are already in need of 2 props and a back rower , why pay up to 300 to get rid of one
 
I'd agree with you if I saw him chopping up Ressies
- In 3 years, for whatever reason - I've not seen it?

Dunno man,
I think the squad is more than half full of Prospects....
if he's the best of them, Elevate him and get rid of another (Prospect)

We need more NRL Players, In my experience - Blokes who aren't making a decent
impact in ressies rarely go on to be NRL Players.

Your point that he hasn't carved up reggies is not relevant here as I have already pointed out but you ignored. Sione played 4 KOE cup games last year. In his 12 NRL games he showed great signs to build on. If your more interested in the 4 KOE cup games than his 12 NRL ones than I believe your deliberately being negative as your point makes no sense.

His KOE cup form in 2023 is only relevant in evaluating him now in a positive way. Yes he showed nothing that year, he was overweight and ineffective. If you look at his body shape that year compared to this year it's a completely different player. For me this is a positive highlight. He did the work to get the best out of himself. Huge plus.

Look, only time will tell where Sione gets to. So we will wait and see. However your argument against him is making zero sense.
 
If we pay 200/300 k to manly to let them have Bateman it’s a poor decision.
Bateman is a player who never gives up in a game .
Bateman is a solid defender .
Benji could be the problem being suck a rookie coach old Johnny who has been round the block may have just blurted out the truth , they need a sit down as we are already in need of 2 props and a back rower , why pay up to 300 to get rid of one

At the end of the day , Will he work with Benji ot not ? Its on the player rather than the coach …bit like if you have a disagreement with your boss at work … the employee isn’t going to win the argument …

Because if he won’t , then 650k is a lot to be paying someone to play in reserve grade and taking up a roster spot …paying $300k to get rid of him is better than paying $650k to be a permanent reserve grader because he is no speakies with the coach …
 
If we pay 200/300 k to manly to let them have Bateman it’s a poor decision.
Bateman is a player who never gives up in a game .
Bateman is a solid defender .
Benji could be the problem being suck a rookie coach old Johnny who has been round the block may have just blurted out the truth , they need a sit down as we are already in need of 2 props and a back rower , why pay up to 300 to get rid of one
A coach should be holding the senior guys to a higher standard than rookies.

Benji did exactly what he is supposed to do. Bateman should've been doing it to himself.
 
See Johannson filling the middle void this year. Brought alot of energy off the bench and could be the bloke to stiffen up the middle defence and roll on for that 15min before and after halftime which was poor this year .. use Klemmers large contract ( 26 club or mutual option I think) to buy one quality frf. Hoping luai and benji can manufacture a 2rf for this year, where and when to run etc. but mainly with DEFENCE in mind .. our spine looks pretty good but if we let in similar points this year it'll test the loyalty of our young kids coming through( especially their managers). Alot of tries were scored out wide this year, that was plain to see but they also rolled through our middle pretty easily which put alot of pressure on our outside backs.
Defence is the main priority this year and hopefully benji puts this as the first priority every Tuesday.
2026 should be different again with some of these kids hopefully filling those spots of need.
I guess that's the plan as Richo and benji have said all along.
Looking forward to get off the bottom.. think we will ..
 
See Johannson filling the middle void this year. Brought alot of energy off the bench and could be the bloke to stiffen up the middle defence and roll on for that 15min before and after halftime which was poor this year .. use Klemmers large contract ( 26 club or mutual option I think) to buy one quality frf. Hoping luai and benji can manufacture a 2rf for this year, where and when to run etc. but mainly with DEFENCE in mind .. our spine looks pretty good but if we let in similar points this year it'll test the loyalty of our young kids coming through( especially their managers). Alot of tries were scored out wide this year, that was plain to see but they also rolled through our middle pretty easily which put alot of pressure on our outside backs.
Defence is the main priority this year and hopefully benji puts this as the first priority every Tuesday.
2026 should be different again with some of these kids hopefully filling those spots of need.
I guess that's the plan as Richo and benji have said all along.
Looking forward to get off the bottom.. think we will ..
Keen to see how he goes next year.
Looks a real find.
 
See Johannson filling the middle void this year. Brought alot of energy off the bench and could be the bloke to stiffen up the middle defence and roll on for that 15min before and after halftime which was poor this year .. use Klemmers large contract ( 26 club or mutual option I think) to buy one quality frf. Hoping luai and benji can manufacture a 2rf for this year, where and when to run etc. but mainly with DEFENCE in mind .. our spine looks pretty good but if we let in similar points this year it'll test the loyalty of our young kids coming through( especially their managers). Alot of tries were scored out wide this year, that was plain to see but they also rolled through our middle pretty easily which put alot of pressure on our outside backs.
Defence is the main priority this year and hopefully benji puts this as the first priority every Tuesday.
2026 should be different again with some of these kids hopefully filling those spots of need.
I guess that's the plan as Richo and benji have said all along.
Looking forward to get off the bottom.. think we will ..
He's only eligible to play the second half of the season. I'd move him to a development contract and punt one of the others on there currently. He's much more of a first grade prospect
 
Your point that he hasn't carved up reggies is not relevant here as I have already pointed out but you ignored. Sione played 4 KOE cup games last year. In his 12 NRL games he showed great signs to build on. If your more interested in the 4 KOE cup games than his 12 NRL ones than I believe your deliberately being negative as your point makes no sense.

His KOE cup form in 2023 is only relevant in evaluating him now in a positive way. Yes he showed nothing that year, he was overweight and ineffective. If you look at his body shape that year compared to this year it's a completely different player. For me this is a positive highlight. He did the work to get the best out of himself. Huge plus.

Look, only time will tell where Sione gets to. So we will wait and see. However your argument against him is making zero sense.

I didn't ignore your point - And I saw his NRL games this year....
And he was just OK.

All I see you talking about Is what he 'Could Be'...
My counter (not really an argument) that you seem to be ignoring
- Is we have a Squad more than half full potential would be's or could be's....
We need more NRL Players.
in the top 30 alone in middle forwards, We have Matamua, Miller, Fa'agutu, Laulili'i, Fainu,
About 20 games total on 5 Spots in the same (Or similar) position.
(Not even mentioning what we're not getting out of the Senior Players)

Having the potential to be an NRL Player, Isn't going to teach you how to be one.
I'm wanting more Names, More Games - Not more unproven kids.

As I said, There are at least 2 spots in next years top 30 he could be taking
- That were of no worth to us this year...
If he's the best of them, Give him a spot
- But one of the other kids has to move, And Miller wouldn't be my first pick.
 
Anyone know what happened to Will Craig this year? He played some matches in SG Ball, then one or two matches in Flegg and that seems to be it.

For someone who moves into our NRL system next year it seems odd that he wasn't playing Flegg all season. I'm guessing he must've been injured?

In the end we need to make some decisions around the likes of Feledy, Craig, L Laulilii, Mason, Faatape. There's only really room for 2 to be involved with the first team squad. It says a lot about our lack of depth that all 5 are in there
 
Sione is potentially our best middle. Need to lock him in first before looking outside.

The Dogs showed this year its more about effort. If Pole, Hunt, Sione and Twal/Seyfarth play with the right intensity they can do the job. Pole needs to improve his defence, and Sione needs to continue on his current trajectory, but it's very possible they can form a strong group working together. That's the challenge for Benji
We don't have the right players in our team to point to the Dogs example and say all they need is effort. None of our forwards have the leg speed to simulate the Dogs line speed amd most of them don't have the right body shape to play at that intensity. Additionally the Dogs pack really struggled to make metres often making 10-15m a set less than any of their decent opponents. Burton's boot, compared to most,however made up that 10-15m so they could stay in the territory battle. Luai has shown a decent kicking game but not a particularly long one.
Their is an unlikely chance that our current pack can find their own style to 'do the job' but no chance it will be by doing what the Dogs do.
 
We don't have the right players in our team to point to the Dogs example and say all they need is effort. None of our forwards have the leg speed to simulate the Dogs line speed amd most of them don't have the right body shape to play at that intensity. Additionally the Dogs pack really struggled to make metres often making 10-15m a set less than any of their decent opponents. Burton's boot, compared to most,however made up that 10-15m so they could stay in the territory battle. Luai has shown a decent kicking game but not a particularly long one.
Their is an unlikely chance that our current pack can find their own style to 'do the job' but no chance it will be by doing what the Dogs do.

Some good points. I think we can take heart from what the Dogs pack did and look to do something similar, but not to that crazy (and cheating) extent. I think our leg speed is fine to do it. We did it against the Sharks. It's about mentally and physically maintaining that effort. Pole, Sione and Seyfarth are mobile middles. Throw in Bird at lock and its very mobile. I see your point regarding Klemmer, Hunt and Twal. We can't have all e of these guys in the team.
 
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