Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[GNR4LIFE]

There should be some sort of consumer afsairs investigation into Kayo. They charge more than double what Netflix does.

 

[TonyTiger]

Sometimes I think about Twal being contracted till the end of 2027 and think there’s no way he sees that out. Then I wonder how many clubs he would have willing to take the rest of his contract. Then I realise he’s here till the end of 27.

Nobody wants a heartless, one-dimension forward these days.

 

[Yossarian]

Hey Buttface, I'll tell you how good Mick Neil was. In 1989 Balmain paid out a Motza to bring highly fancied Great Britain five eighth, Shaun Edwards out to partner Gary Freeman in the halves. Shaun Edwards went on to enjoy a glittering career, winning the Man Of Steel award, representing Great Britain on 36 occasions including 14 appearances as captain. He also had an OBE bestowed upon him. However in the 1989 Grand Final Shaun Edwards was relegated to the reserves bench....because 'Ginger Megs' was preferred as five eighth.

From memory he also kept Ellery Hanley at centre in 1988.

 

[kiwitiger]

From memory he also kept Ellery Hanley at centre in 1988.

I always thought a reason for the Shaun Edwards signing was because Freeman was out for eye gouging and our season was not going well around the time of the kiwis v aussies test series...Balmain needed a spark. We got on a role towards the end of year.

 

[Tucker]

I see Galvin as around Brown's level at the moment playing wise. Probably a future origin player, not yet a origin star. ... Yet the bidding war is likely to go crazy, is he worth a 1m a season deal?

Do you? Really???
Brown has played 6 seasons of NRL as a starting 5/8th, playing 123 games.
His teams have made the finals 4 of those years including a grand final.
He has played 8 Test Matches for New Zealand as a starting 5/8, winning 6 of them.
Galvin has done nothing, except make the Mickey Mouse PMs 13 team where he proved out of his depth.

You are right though, they’ll pay him a fortune on his potential alone.

 

[Jolls]

Agreed.

The question is how much would you be willing to pay for Galvin?

I’d pay $650k max per year for two years only.

That’s a good amount for a player with one years experience and a good term to see if he pans out to be as good as he is being built up to be.

One thing I don’t like about Galvin is his arrogance that he won’t play in the second row.

If he walks, you’ve still got Fainu there who has huge wraps on him.

Use Galvins money towards a great second rower and centre.

I’m not sure what all of the hype is about Galvin and his contract or him walking away (in 2027 mind you). He is a 19-year-old and although he made a significant impact on a wooden spoon team in his debut NRL season he is far from the finished product and frankly hasn’t delivered enough to be rewarded with the $ being spoken about.

Galvin has shown that he has creativity, a strong running game and is very composed for a player of his age. He is also willing to take a chance and is not rocked by making mistakes. His work ethic and fitness set him apart from the pack. However, he is not consistent in defence and he also isn’t quick off the mark in attack so a couple of glaring shortfalls. This is compounded by the fact that he is 193cm tall but running around at 85 kegs; that is very light for his height.

Right up his clacker is Latu F. While injured most of 24 he also has wraps on him. He is running around at 182cm and 90 kegs and in his limited exposure at NRL level has shown that he is also composed and has a good passing game. While he hasn’t demonstrated a strong running game, potentially due to injury, his performances at the top level have been excellent for his age. He has demonstrated more sting in defence than Galvin as well, but to be fair it has been in short stints.

For me it is way too early to be offering the Galvin a massive contract based on potential. No doubt we should upgrade him in an effort to keep him here, but not at the expense of unbalancing the cap and not tied to any guarantee that he will be the 5/8 for the foreseeable future. No doubt he is a talent; but based on his body shape, lack of speed off the mark and physical endurance he is, in my opinion, better suited to being developed as a 13. Sure, let him play 5/8 until he fills out or Latu F unseats him but no need to go overboard.

If we are looking towards the future and team dynamics – replacing Bird with Galvin, and having Latu F and Romey in the halves makes sense.

 

[ancient_magpie]

Nobody wants a heartless, one-dimension forward these days.

That's a disgrace calling Twal heartless I'd like to see you do what he does.
.

 

[Tucker]

Nobody wants a heartless, one-dimension forward these days.

A guy who defends his patch as well as he does is not heartless.
In fact you don’t make NRL and stay there for 9 seasons in the toughest of positions without courage, determination and skill.

 

[Donny Brasco]

That's a disgrace calling Twal heartless I'd like to see you do what he does.
.

Add to that how he played the rest of a game with that sternum/rib injury he picked up early in a season which would have been a ridiculous level of pain

 

[liltiger]

Agreed.

The question is how much would you be willing to pay for Galvin?

I’d pay $650k max per year for two years only.

That’s a good amount for a player with one years experience and a good term to see if he pans out to be as good as he is being built up to be.

One thing I don’t like about Galvin is his arrogance that he won’t play in the second row.

If he walks, you’ve still got Fainu there who has huge wraps on him.

Use Galvins money towards a great second rower and centre.

I think your right Tito, 650k seems fair but if Brown is offered 1 million, I can't see us keeping him at that price. Reckon if he does go to market the bidding war is going to go mental. I'm willing to go to 750k to keep him atm, that's heaps on potential. Even that won't be near enough I reckon.

 

[liltiger]

A guy who defends his patch as well as he does is not heartless.
In fact you don’t make NRL and stay there for 9 seasons in the toughest of positions without courage, determination and skill.

He's one of those guys every team needs just a middle defensive workhorse, doesn't bust the line but takes a hit up to give the lads a break, doesn't rattle bones on tackles but makes his tackles, isn't the quickest but hardly misses a tackle. He is just super reliable, he won't win you a game but I can't really remember him costing us one either. Every team needs a Twal to fill a gap in their line somewhere.

 

[Canberratiger]

Can you watch NRL on the Kayo standard?

Yeah. the only difference is that on Kayo One (the lower one) you can't watch in 4k and you can only have one screen going. In Kayo Basic (the higher one) you can watch 2 streams and have 4k when it is available. I have the Tigers digital membership which is Kayo One for 12 months for $240. So a bit of a discount and you can pay the difference to bump it up to Basic if you want.

 

[Tito Santana]

I’m not sure what all of the hype is about Galvin and his contract or him walking away (in 2027 mind you). He is a 19-year-old and although he made a significant impact on a wooden spoon team in his debut NRL season he is far from the finished product and frankly hasn’t delivered enough to be rewarded with the $ being spoken about.

Galvin has shown that he has creativity, a strong running game and is very composed for a player of his age. He is also willing to take a chance and is not rocked by making mistakes. His work ethic and fitness set him apart from the pack. However, he is not consistent in defence and he also isn’t quick off the mark in attack so a couple of glaring shortfalls. This is compounded by the fact that he is 193cm tall but running around at 85 kegs; that is very light for his height.

Right up his clacker is Latu F. While injured most of 24 he also has wraps on him. He is running around at 182cm and 90 kegs and in his limited exposure at NRL level has shown that he is also composed and has a good passing game. While he hasn’t demonstrated a strong running game, potentially due to injury, his performances at the top level have been excellent for his age. He has demonstrated more sting in defence than Galvin as well, but to be fair it has been in short stints.

For me it is way too early to be offering the Galvin a massive contract based on potential. No doubt we should upgrade him in an effort to keep him here, but not at the expense of unbalancing the cap and not tied to any guarantee that he will be the 5/8 for the foreseeable future. No doubt he is a talent; but based on his body shape, lack of speed off the mark and physical endurance he is, in my opinion, better suited to being developed as a 13. Sure, let him play 5/8 until he fills out or Latu F unseats him but no need to go overboard.

If we are looking towards the future and team dynamics – replacing Bird with Galvin, and having Latu F and Romey in the halves makes sense.

Agreed.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

Yeh. Sounds whimsical. TS. Just think Galvin might have other goals. Like he might have a brain.

 

[Tiger Stripes]

Agreed.

The question is how much would you be willing to pay for Galvin?

I’d pay $650k max per year for two years only.

That’s a good amount for a player with one years experience and a good term to see if he pans out to be as good as he is being built up to be.

One thing I don’t like about Galvin is his arrogance that he won’t play in the second row.

If he walks, you’ve still got Fainu there who has huge wraps on him.

Use Galvins money towards a great second rower and centre.

Great common sense, but hey; its way too early to speculate his worth!
He's signed here for the next 2 years! Can have a chat in Nov. to other clubs.
let's see how he pans out with Luai this year and with possible incremental upgrades before the $1mil talk to walk.
If, as I expect, we have improved and can offload a stack of deadwood at the end of the year, we will be in a good position to shop for players to fill the gaps in our weak spots. Benji & Richo will know this.
Galvin can also look over his shoulder at how Fainu is progressing ---putting pressure on him to perform? I don't see him in the forwards any time soon-----will not put on enough muscle/weight.
I am confident Richo will squeeze out the best deal; upgrade/extension for the WT.

 

[Vicious]

A guy who defends his patch as well as he does is not heartless.
In fact you don’t make NRL and stay there for 9 seasons in the toughest of positions without courage, determination and skill.

I’m a big Lachie Galvin fan, have been since long before he was even mentioned as a possibility of playing NRL.
However you are 💯 correct here Tucker, how can you put someone who has played one decent rookie season for the team who ended up with the wooden spoon, on par with someone such as Dylan Brown who has been in the elite category for numerous seasons and is an integral part of his teams success ?
As you say there is a chance opposing clubs will offer LG an over inflated contract based on his potential, but I’d say nearly all that are interested in him will be watching him very closely this season to see how he continues to develop before being certain if they will throw their hat in the ring to try and sign him on elite player contract money.
The pressure on him to perform at an elite level is immense based on this expectation and the rumoured money he can earn, it can go one way or another for him this season, he either thrives on the expectation or could possibly crumble because of it.
I want him to remain a Wests Tigers long term as much as anyone and I truly believe he will stay if we produce much improved results in 2025 and his own form contributes, however at this point of time it would be foolish to rush in and offer him anywhere near 1 million dollars per season that I’m guessing his manager is telling him he will get.
IF he goes from strength to strength and plays an integral part in Wests Tigers being in or very close to the top 8 by the halfway mark of season 2025, then we would have to consider offering him somewhere close to a million dollars per season on a long term deal.

 

[weststigerman]

I’m a big Lachie Galvin fan, have been since long before he was even mentioned as a possibility of playing NRL.
However you are 💯 correct here Tucker, how can you put someone who has played one decent rookie season for the team who ended up with the wooden spoon, on par with someone such as Dylan Brown who has been in the elite category for numerous seasons and is an integral part of his teams success ?
As you say there is a chance opposing clubs will offer LG an over inflated contract based on his potential, but I’d say nearly all that are interested in him will be watching him very closely this season to see how he continues to develop before being certain if they will throw their hat in the ring to try and sign him on elite player contract money.
The pressure on him to perform at an elite level is immense based on this expectation and the rumoured money he can earn, it can go one way or another for him this season, he either thrives on the expectation or could possible crumble because of it.
I want him to remain a Wests Tigers long term as much as anyone and I truly believe he will stay if we produce much improved results in 2025 and his own form contributes, however at this point of time it would be foolish to rush in and offer him anywhere near 1 million dollars per season that I’m guessing his manager is telling him he will get.
IF he goes from strength to strength and plays an integral part in Wests Tigers being in or very close to the top 8 by the halfway mark of season 2025, then we would have to consider offering him somewhere close to a million dollars per season on a long term deal.

Agree with this.

I think Galvin's stocks will continue to rise but there have been many halves who have had great first seasons and then fall off the radar for various reasons (ie Tim Smith, Ash Taylor, Luke Brooks, Rob Lui etc.).

He has to prove this year that he's worth the $1M+ offers whether it be from WT or another club.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Take a breath people. It’s really premature to think he is going to get a million dollars come his next contract. He’s still a teenager, playing for a bottom club. He might be on the trajectory of being a million dollar player, but more likely when he’s 24-25. He’s not getting that money at 20, not having played Origin or won a premiership. Or a finals game for that matter.

 

[Tiger_Yoshi]

Take a breath people. It’s really premature to think he is going to get a million dollars come his next contract. He’s still a teenager, playing for a bottom club. He might be on the trajectory of being a million dollar player, but more likely when he’s 24-25. He’s not getting that money at 20, not having played Origin or won a premiership. Or a finals game for that matter.

What … a common sense post… season start must be around the corner

 

[Rock Hopper Steve]

Add to that how he played the rest of a game with that sternum/rib injury he picked up early in a season which would have been a ridiculous level of pain

That's the injury he copped last season I couldn't remember DB, people forget the previous seasons that Twal showed good form in.