Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[weststigers]

I’m seeing plenty of comments suggesting we now have a strong 1-5 at full strength and it doesn’t really need improving.
Assuming our 1-5 when all players are fit and healthy is;
1. Bula
2.Turuva
3.To’a
4. May
5. Skelton

And we would then have our youngsters in Makasini and Laulilli as back up.
While I do agree it’s much stronger than what we have have had over the past few years, I still don’t think it’s stronger than any rival NRL club.
For those who disagree, what rival NRL team is that 1-5 stronger than when they are also at full strength?

So Turuva and May were first picked for Penrith during their premiership run, but now they are last in the comp. Philip Sami and Albert Kelly are obviously better.

Connor Treacy is better than Bula I guess.

And poor old Skelton and To'a. So slow they may as well be disabled.

Very concerning as you would say.

 

[innsaneink]

In relation to recruitment, we need to be patient. Players always become available at the end of the season once clubs want to re-jig their rosters, coaches get sacked etc.

Every year there are about 10-15 players who are under contract who become available eg. Terrell May, Gutho, Val, AFB etc all at the end of last season.

Theres no need to panic and buy anyone currently off contract just to fill spots. We don't need 3-4 mid tier signings, we need 2 really strong forward signings and a back up half (If Sullivan leaves). If we can sign a top quality lock and good quality bench forward we should have a really strong 17 next season with guys in our current 17 moving into cup and depth roles.

Sharks will need to shed someone to retain Blake Brailey

 

[weststigers]

Sharks will need to shed someone to retain Blake Brailey

And Will Kennedy. 360 Saying they are a bit lopsided in the forwards and may need to make room.

 

[Vicious]

So Turuva and May were first picked for Penrith during their premiership run, but now they are last in the comp. Philip Sami and Albert Kelly are obviously better.

Connor Treacy is better than Bula I guess.

And poor old Skelton and To'a. So slow they may as well be disabled.

Very concerning as you would say.

Taylan May is not the problem and Turuva and Skelton on the wings hold their own, but what rival NRL club would swap their right centre for To’a ?
When talking about Connor Tracey, at less than 400k he provides very good value for money wouldn’t you say ? When you have a fullback who loses very little to most of his rivals on a small contract, it allows you to spend big in other areas such as Crichton and Kikau to add genuine strike on the edges.

 

[weststigers]

Taylan May is not the problem and Turuva and Skelton on the wings hold their own, but what rival NRL club would swap their right centre for To’a ?
When talking about Connor Tracey, at less than 400k he provides very good value for money wouldn’t you say ? When you have a fullback who loses very little to most of his rivals on a small contract, it allows you to spend big in other areas such as Crichton and Kikau to add genuine strike on the edges.

You said our players 1-5 were the worst in the comp.

I get it. You hate To'a. Just make sure you don't cheer next time he breaks the line, scores a try or makes a try assist like he has done on 24 occasions this season combined.

When you spout El-Khazim as worthy of a jersey and talk shit about Sam Fainu being slow, these are the ramblings of a bloke who has found problems that aren't there.

Please. Tell me who your 1-5 would be.

 

[Tom Shines]

Taylan May is not the problem and Turuva and Skelton on the wings hold their own, but what rival NRL club would swap their right centre for To’a ?
When talking about Connor Tracey, at less than 400k he provides very good value for money wouldn’t you say ? When you have a fullback who loses very little to most of his rivals on a small contract, it allows you to spend big in other areas such as Crichton and Kikau to add genuine strike on the edges.

did you like Toa earlier in the season at least when he was laying on tries for Turuva?

 

[crazycat]

I’m seeing plenty of comments suggesting we now have a strong 1-5 at full strength and it doesn’t really need improving.
Assuming our 1-5 when all players are fit and healthy is;
1. Bula
2.Turuva
3.To’a
4. May
5. Skelton

And we would then have our youngsters in Makasini and Laulilli as back up.
While I do agree it’s much stronger than what we have have had over the past few years, I still don’t think it’s stronger than any rival NRL club.
For those who disagree, what rival NRL team is that 1-5 stronger than when they are also at full strength?

You make a good point, But we are stronger then some.
So ill take this as a challenge, but not having a dig Vicious.

Cowboys:
Scott drinkwater, Jaxson P, Thomas Mikalie, Zak Laybutt, Braidon Burns. (ok that may not be their best squad. But they are seriously weak on backs and their defense SUCKS!)

Sharks:
I think our backline with May is better because Ramien will have aged out.

Rabbits:
Latrell, Alex Johnson, then a bunch of no names.

Titans and Parra


Yep everyone else has a better backline. Look if Tyrone turns out as big a gun as his brother that ranking may change. .... You have a point.

 

[tigahhh]

i see no difference to Penrith’s backline to ours , McLean & Jenkins aren’t game breakers

 

[Vicious]

You said our players 1-5 were the worst in the comp.

I get it. You hate To'a. Just make sure you don't cheer next time he breaks the line, scores a try or makes a try assist like he has done on 24 occasions this season combined.

When you spout El-Khazim as worthy of a jersey and talk shit about Sam Fainu being slow, these are the ramblings of a bloke who has found problems that aren't there.

Please. Tell me who your 1-5 would be.

I didn’t say El-Zakhem was even close to the ability of Samuela Fainu, I stated he would add tackle bust and line breaking ability on our right edge which has been lacking all season,
The problem with El-Zakhem is he’s a poor defender, so it’s obvious that is the reason he has not yet played NRL at age 27 and possibly never will.
Our 1-5 as a combined unit would improve dramatically with a classy and fast right centre such as Jake Averillo or Herbie Farnworth.

 

[weststigers]

I didn’t say El-Zakhem was even close to the ability of Samuela Fainu, I stated he would could add tackle bust and line breaking ability on our right edge which has been lacking all season,
The problem with El-Zakhem is he’s a poor defender, so it’s obvious that is the reason he has not yet played NRL at age 27 and possibly never will.
Our 1-5 as a combined unit would improve dramatically with a classy and fast right centre such as Jake Averillo or Herbie Farnworth.

You said you would debut El-Zakhem this weekend and move Sam Fainu to the middle because of some concern.

Floating Herbie Farnworth as a million dollar replacement for To'a is easy, but Averillo has always been shit and only looks ok in a Dolphins side scoring loads of points. He ain't the one making the breaks.

Averillo has 18 games for 8 tries. 8 try assists and 13 line breaks and the same tackle breaks as To'a in a team putting 30 to 50 on everyone each week. That's why I'm convinced you don't actually watch the games.

 

[Vicious]

You make a good point, But we are stronger then some.
So ill take this as a challenge, but not having a dig Vicious.

Cowboys:
Scott drinkwater, Jaxson P, Thomas Mikalie, Zak Laybutt, Braidon Burns. (ok that may not be their best squad. But they are seriously weak on backs and their defense SUCKS!)

Sharks:
I think our backline with May is better because Ramien will have aged out.

Rabbits:
Latrell, Alex Johnson, then a bunch of no names.

Titans and Parra


Yep everyone else has a better backline. Look if Tyrone turns out as big a gun as his brother that ranking may change. .... You have a point.

I do agree, our best 1-5 is probably stronger than what the Cowboys currently have.
I can’t agree we are stronger than the Sharks who have Iro and Ramien in the centres and 2 very good wingers or the Rabbitohs who have Campbell Graham and Jack Wighton in the centres and 2 very good wingers when at full strength.
The Titans have a very slick backline of Kini, Sami, Jojo Fifita, Kelly and Khan-Pereira who have proven they can produce plenty of long range tries and plenty of points when all playing together.
The Eels have Iongi, Lomax, Penisini, Russell and Addo-Carr that are also very strong.
This season we have very rarely even worried opposing defences from our own half, let alone made line breaks from our own half.
For those who think this is not a problem then so be it, but we currently offer the least attacking threat from within our own half in the entire NRL and it’s easy to work out why ipposing defences are able to compress so much when defending against us.

 

[Vicious]

You said you would debut El-Zakhem this weekend and move Sam Fainu to the middle because of some concern.

Floating Herbie Farnworth as a million dollar replacement for To'a is easy, but Averillo has always been shit and only looks ok in a Dolphins side scoring loads of points. He ain't the one making the breaks.

Averillo has 18 games for 8 tries. 8 try assists and 13 line breaks and the same tackle breaks as To'a in a team putting 30 to 50 on everyone each week. That's why I'm convinced you don't actually watch the games.

I’m convinced you are the only person on the planet who thinks To’a is a better right centre than Averillo.
And if we thought like the Bulldogs and didn’t overpay players we would be in a position to pay the money and recruit a high quality centre such as Herbie Farnworth.

 

[Modman]

In relation to recruitment, we need to be patient. Players always become available at the end of the season once clubs want to re-jig their rosters, coaches get sacked etc.

Every year there are about 10-15 players who are under contract who become available eg. Terrell May, Gutho, Val, AFB etc all at the end of last season.

Theres no need to panic and buy anyone currently off contract just to fill spots. We don't need 3-4 mid tier signings, we need 2 really strong forward signings and a back up half (If Sullivan leaves). If we can sign a top quality lock and good quality bench forward we should have a really strong 17 next season with guys in our current 17 moving into cup and depth roles.

I think with the mess south's are in with the Englishman they desperately need another half-back and some forwards i don't think Bud would not be a priority. I also think we shouldn't let him go at the price they want to play. Without sounding bias i really think with proper coaching he can be a good back up 6 or 7.

 

[tigahhh]

You said you would debut El-Zakhem this weekend and move Sam Fainu to the middle because of some concern.

Floating Herbie Farnworth as a million dollar replacement for To'a is easy, but Averillo has always been shit and only looks ok in a Dolphins side scoring loads of points. He ain't the one making the breaks.

Averillo has 18 games for 8 tries. 8 try assists and 13 line breaks and the same tackle breaks as To'a in a team putting 30 to 50 on everyone each week. That's why I'm convinced you don't actually watch the games.

they’re just cherry picking players from other clubs, you can’t have Herbie who’s a $1m player Kikau, Critchon, Averillo, James Schiller and Dane Gagai 🤣

it’s not a realistic expectation when building a squad under a salary cap

 

[Vicious]

did you like Toa earlier in the season at least when he was laying on tries for Turuva?

Have you liked him for the past 6-8 weeks when he’s offered nothing in attack and missed a stack of basic tackles ?

 

[Tucker]

Have you liked him for the past 6-8 weeks when he’s offered nothing in attack and missed a stack of basic tackles ?

The guy is injured I don’t know why the hell he isn’t given some time off to get fit.

 

[tigahhh]

The guy is injured I don’t know why the hell he isn’t given some time off to get fit.

yeah he’s clearly busted he had a whole sleeve on his arm during the game

 

[weststigers]

they’re just cherry picking players from other clubs, you can’t have Herbie who’s a $1m player Kikau, Critchon, Averillo, James Schiller and Dane Gagai 🤣

it’s not a realistic expectation when building a squad under a salary cap

Playing too much fantasy football.

Our issue is not our outside backs. It's in our halves and forwards. Need 2 more guys that can get us over the advantage line and get a quick ptb away.

 

[weststigers]

Have you liked him for the past 6-8 weeks when he’s offered nothing in attack and missed a stack of basic tackles ?

Easy solution. Just buy Farnworth.

 

[Vicious]

they’re just cherry picking players from other clubs, you can’t have Herbie who’s a $1m player Kikau, Critchon, Averillo, James Schiller and Dane Gagai 🤣

it’s not a realistic expectation when building a squad under a salary cap

Spend our money properly and we could pay the likes off Herbie Farnworth 1 million per season, possibly a bit more and have him as our centre partner for Taylan May.
That wouldn’t shut out Makasini as he could challenge Skelton for a wing spot and still play centre whenever the starting centres are injured.
We are not a genuine top 8, top 4 or top 2 threat with our current t line up.