Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Rock Hopper Steve said:
Recent history wouldn't suggest that, but Richo is here now I need to calm down maybe time for some passionflower.
Click to expand...
Haha I was just about to say it seems a little bit like history repeating.
As you say surely Richo is not that silly as to let us be lambs to the slaughter again in 2025.
A potential high class spine is not much good to us if we can’t get out of our own half.
 
Bateman and Klemmer's contracts did the team/ club no favours its good business to move them on. No ill will to either player but they contributed to our position over the last two years and their contracts favoured them financially more than the output that they offered team.
Building a squad is all to do with effectively managing your cap and you have to always look ahead if you want to retain players and open opportunity to buy players to improve.
Moving forward - both expendable imo.
 
Vicious said:
It’s a simple equation.
IF we lose Klemmer and do not replace him externally with another forward of proven NRL quality it will mean our likely starting forwards are;
13. Twal
12. Seyfarth
11. Sam Fainu
10. Pole
9. Korisau
8. May
14 Da Silva
15. Bird
16. Sione Fainu
17. Hunt

** I think most of our supporters agree that is a decent looking forward pack and bench rotation. Not brilliant, but hopeful they could get the job done against most opposing forward packs.
** After that we drop in NRL forward standard substantially and will be relying on players not only unproven at NRL level, but all except Tim Johanssen and Reuben Porter who have not even had one dominant game at NSW Cup level.
Click to expand...
They’ve played first grade . That’s literally where you want to be . In fact where most smart clubs are . What your used to is this stupid club being able to turn to guys like McQueen and Packer , and whoever because we decided we should pay a 30 year old with health issues 600k.
You want guys who either just debuted , or if you’re lucky and they’re willing to take a pay cut , guys who are on the slide but want to remain in winning cultures .
Is Johannson that much worse than Eisenhuth ?
Do you reckon the storm we’re pumped to be paying Asofa Solomona to play for the bears ?
I don’t see the issue as long as we spend those 2 roster spots wisely on edge forwards / Taylor May and an edge .
Youre litterally forgetting these guys have played nrl . As well as Porter .
 
Lestronge said:
The experienced head we are losing , is just that a loss .
But even experience has a finite value attached to it .
My guess is the voices brought in over the summer along with the continued progression of guys like seyfarth and co. Probably has made Klems influence around the playing group a little diminished .
I was listening to an interview and one of the players talked about Klem , and it was completely with respect and awe , but like in the way you respect those OGs who came before , not in a “I’m going to beat this guy to the 17 “ type respect . It just made me pause at the time , because there was no even mention of him leaving. For front rowers when it goes , it goes quick.
Click to expand...
As a team, we have Api, Luai, Hunt, Bird, Olam and May. Add the guys that have been around for a while like Twal and Seyfarth and do we need more "experience"? How about performance?

I don't know. I think freeing up cap space on a guy that would be on the fringe is good business. We now have money to put towards positions we need.
 
I think the Prop rotation & the #13 position need to be looked at separately.

For the prop rotation & depth we have:
May & Pole
Twal & Sione Fainu
Hunt & Johannssen

In whatever rotation you prefer. (Personally- I suspect Twal fills the Klemmer role)

For the #13 role & depth we have:
Twal
Pole
Bird
Matamua
Kit Lualili'i

So you have 6 prop options that are realistically in the running without losing too much ground.

2 of those guys can fill the #13 spot.

So, at worst, 5 props available for starting & rotation purposes, if Twal/Pole take #13

I think that is pretty decent depth.

Any injury to the prop options probably results in Bird, Kit or Matamua stepping in.

I have said before- I think the key to our forward pack isn't signing from outside the club, but having one of our young guys in Matamua, Kit or Tim J stepping it up & challenging for a starting spot. There's enough cap space spent on the top options in the middle already.
 
Betterdays22 said:
My hunch is Benji sees Sam Fainu's future as a prop. For that to happen we obviously need 2 more first grade quality backrowers. I can understand waiting it out, rather than throwing in on a mediocre front rower for our top 30. What I don't want to see is any undeserved top 30 promotions to fill the spot, I believe that is a backward step.

Its frustrating to see players released with no one coming in, but ive got faith there is a method.
Click to expand...

Unless the journo has mistakenly said Sam Fainu instead of Sione Fainu. Think Sam is too slim for the front row, better suited for the back row. Also read that Benji has been coaching Sam to hole/line run in the back row so I doubt his inclusion is correct.
 
Tucker said:
You seem upset Mrs Galvin.
Firstly I like your son. He seems a nice kid.
Secondly I think your son is a natural footballer.
Thirdly I think the club did your son no favours last year by throwing him to the wolves like they did. He did not earn his shot and certainly did not earn 21 games at 5/8th in his rookie year.
Lachlan seems to have a high ceiling potential wise. He is not being developed properly currently. Hopefully Luai can take the reigns and show him how it’s done. We can’t have him playing like he did in trial one.
Lastly, you write like a braindead, semi illiterate moron. Obviously you needed to liquor up to gather the guts to post what you did. Try and use some moderation “modman”.
Have a good night sweetheart.
Click to expand...
And now I lay me down to sleep ... my boy Galvin, Tigers hope to keep!
 
Just checked - the sky is still in place!

Given the sky has not fallen, and Klemmer is probably as good as gone, even though the club is silent, where does it leave us?

Klem and Twal are similar players. Klem produced more PCM than Twal over the last two season and was behind Twally in all of the other key stats in 2024. For the last two years his output has been complained about by many on here and the big cry was that we can't afford to carry both him and Twal, and Twal was better value for money. So the Forum's wish has been granted, yet still we complain?

We have plenty of off contract players in 2026, but Klemmer was going to tie up a significant chunk of change to plug a hole in the middle. An opportunity has presented itself so Richo has acted to get us in a much better position cap wise for no real loss of output. Sure we are carrying more risk due to less depth in the middle; but it is an unrealised risk. It may occur, it may not, and we have a reserve grade team where we are developing players.

The imbalance in our roster has been well known for months and if you scratched the surface a little you would know that our cap was also out of kilter for 2026. So the 2026 cap now looks OK and we still have some low hanging fruit we could cull if a 2025 recruiting opportunity presents.

Klem's departure is simply smart footy business; opportunity presents, assess the risk, act. Sure it would be great to have a player of Klems reliability for depth - but not at $700-800K. The real (maybe perceived) 2025 issue is not Klemmer; it is our edge depth.

We are in transition from being perpetually shit with plans changing every time the wind does. Now we have stability, and a plan. I think we can stop jumping at shadows looking for every negative and start to focus on opportunities and climbing the ladder!
 
Last edited:
Vicious said:
Su

Surely Kit and Matamua have to play at least one or two standout games in NSW Cup before they can be considered NRL ready ?
I’m ok with releasing Klemmer if we replace him with someone else of proven NRL quality, but not for him to be replaced by players within our squad who have shown and proven nothing.
Click to expand...
Agree, we need to make sure we REPLACE him with a proven nrl quality player, and i hope its not an upgrade on one of our so called up and coming so called ( stars )
 
Merlot said:
didn't look that tall. Loved that he said, loves to hit up n in to the ribcage when defending, Bring that on
Click to expand...
I like that as well Merlot. We have players in the squad who can do what Klemmer does at lower cost and are younger. Rahme has had good experience in the lower grades at two other clubs so it will be interesting to watch his progression.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 864 (members: 8, guests: 856)
Back
Top