Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

tigahhh said:
i meant just until latu’s confidence and game time is built up. Would be intimidating playing in the halves with a guy that’s won 4 premierships
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I agree with what you are saying.
If our only option is to pair Luai and Latu in the halves, Luai needs to wear the 7 and take control, not leave it to a young rookie in Latu.
 
Tom Shines said:
One other thing you haven’t mentioned …. A draft is a pipe dream in the NRL because if a young player isn’t happy with where he gets picked , he has the option of going and playing Rugby Union either here of overseas … what’s an AFL player going to do ? They have no other options..

Edit - sorry you did mention this point and I missed it 👍😎
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Why do you think that someone just goes and plays rugby union ? What if they have no background in the game - overseas clubs are not going to touch them when there's a ready made supply of European, South African , New Zealand and Pasifika players who are already grounded in the game to chose from. You don't go from being a rugby league prop to a tight head union prop on $500K a year when you feel like it. The ARU doesn't have the funds or the desire to poach untried league players - they are protecting their own ( Jorgensen etc) or going after the players who are at the top and have a background in the game - the days of Tiquiri, Sailor and Rogers are gone.
 
Nonotmeagain said:
Why do you think that someone just goes and plays rugby union ? What if they have no background in the game - overseas clubs are not going to touch them when there's a ready made supply of European, South African , New Zealand and Pasifika players who are already grounded in the game to chose from. You don't go from being a rugby league prop to a tight head union prop on $500K a year when you feel like it. The ARU doesn't have the funds or the desire to poach untried league players - they are protecting their own ( Jorgensen etc) or going after the players who are at the top and have a background in the game - the days of Tiquiri, Sailor and Rogers are gone.
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It's more feasible that an 18 year old switches codes more easily because they still have some years to develop and the gap in knowledge wouldn't be as big. The serious coaching only starts around 16 years old. Most kids don't even get that.

I played both games. It's not hard to adjust particularly if you're a fan of both too...

In saying that, only the top talents or guys that came from a rugby background really consider switching. I don't think it's a massive concern in Australia.

The real concern will be R360...we've already seen it a bit with Japanese rugby. R360 will be on steroids compared to that...it's going to be hard to stop players going for a few years to get a big paycheck. I'll be interested to see how that plays out.
 
jirskyr said:
Sometimes yes, because I interact with the forum every day and I've never met Cooper Cronk.

But often I dismiss both.

I'll tell you why specifically for Cronk: not only is he a blow-hard, but he never played in a bad side. He had an immense career, I'm not going to deny that he was a good footballer, but Cronk only ever played in sides immensely stacked (sometimes illegally stacked) with talent.

Not just good sides, I mean disproportionally stacked sides. Roosters won the 2018 GF in spite of Cronk's broken shoulder, not because of it.

So when Cronk starts to talk about what the Tigers or Knights need to do, I don't actually believe Cronk has sufficient experience to comment. Cronk knows what to do when your team-mates are Slater and Smith, or Tedesco and Latrell and Joey Manu, or QLD Origin.

What does Cronk really know about playing with a sub-par roster? What happens when "taking control" and "kicking to the corners" doesn't cut it because your roster is sub-standard and you can't rely on your blokes to make their tackles every match.
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Think you are 100% correct. Joey and JT carried good but not great teams. Think their opinions are probably more valid than Cronk's when talking about the Tigers. He did his legacy a disservice by heading to that stacked Roosters team.

His advice to Latu would be take the Galvin route and walk into a top 4 side.
 
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Nonotmeagain said:
Why do you think that someone just goes and plays rugby union ? What if they have no background in the game - overseas clubs are not going to touch them when there's a ready made supply of European, South African , New Zealand and Pasifika players who are already grounded in the game to chose from. You don't go from being a rugby league prop to a tight head union prop on $500K a year when you feel like it. The ARU doesn't have the funds or the desire to poach untried league players - they are protecting their own ( Jorgensen etc) or going after the players who are at the top and have a background in the game - the days of Tiquiri, Sailor and Rogers are gone.
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Firstly, this is a discussion on young NRL players potentially being drafted before they have any first grade experience …how many of these will be on $500k do you think ?

Did you notice I also mentioned overseas ? Rugby league Players have been known to play in Japan and Europe …its not just the ARU that would be a threat…

Rugby Union, here or overseas is another option for talented young players with a background in Rugby League ….as I said, an option the AFL doesn’t have to worry about for their young players
 
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IronFist said:
The experts react to the most recent weekend, not week-to-week like we do.

Doueihi did some great stuff on the weekend. Mostly, it was opportunistic. He also managed the game well in the second half considering the conditions, particularly his kicking. But he didn't lay on points by organising great attacking shape. Nothing was different here than every other week this season. In fact, Canterbury scored better tries in shape.

I've agreed that Latu still needs to develop as a half back. But in his time here, he's mostly been the third wheel, repping on 'Team 2' as the concord scoreboard labels them, or injured. The past few months have been the best for him fitness-wise. He needs a solid pre-season as a first-team half to assist in the development in his game.

There's no doubt, Doueihi is better closer to the ruck. If he stays, then it's as a lock or back-up half. He needs the appropriate mindset for this, particularly in defence. But no extra dollars.

The big question mark on this squad remains in the forwards. On the whole, they are still a very weak unit. That's where the money needs to be spent for 2026.
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Best summary of the reasons Douiehi worked well in the conditions so far. Well done.
 
Vicious said:
If Manase is allowed to play NRL once released from jail then good, I’m sure we will give him an opportunity, we would be mad not to, but if he’s not allowed than there is nothing Wests Tigers can do about it.
We need 2-3 quality players in addition to re-signing Douehi and Taylan May ASAP, well before we need to worry about the Manase situation.
Talakai ticks a lot of boxes, he would be my choice to prioritise as our number 15 to cone on and make a positive impact, but also apply pressure for a starting position in the back row or centres.
We then should be making a choice of who we want out of Trey Mooney, Davvy Moale, Braden Hamlin-Uele and Jack Hetherington as our likely number 17.
The final recruit should be an outside back as potentially an upgrade on the constantly injured To’a.
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It looks like we have missed out on mooney , looks like going to knights , I hope we are after him and we sneak under the knights
WesternSuburbsBoy said:
Cooper Cronk is helping out at WT's training sessions? yerrr right have you heard the bloke commentate us? he was basically heartbroken that we'd won on Sunday lol
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cone on April 1 has long passed , he hates our club , there’s no way he would be coaching our team
 
Nonotmeagain said:
Why do you think that someone just goes and plays rugby union ? What if they have no background in the game - overseas clubs are not going to touch them when there's a ready made supply of European, South African , New Zealand and Pasifika players who are already grounded in the game to chose from. You don't go from being a rugby league prop to a tight head union prop on $500K a year when you feel like it. The ARU doesn't have the funds or the desire to poach untried league players - they are protecting their own ( Jorgensen etc) or going after the players who are at the top and have a background in the game - the days of Tiquiri, Sailor and Rogers are gone.
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Yep no rugby league props will adapt to being a tight head prop or a loose head prop for 2 reasons they're not big enough and the dark arts of scrummaging take years to learn in fact I'd go so far as to say they wouldn't adapt to anywhere in the tight five, yes would be the odd exception eg Brad Thorn. Someone like Payne Haas might make it as a number 8. Mobile league props can make it as crash ball running no 12s especially if they're in a teams that plays 10 man rugby. Boring as bat shit to watch but effective if done right.
 
weststigers said:
It's more feasible that an 18 year old switches codes more easily because they still have some years to develop and the gap in knowledge wouldn't be as big. The serious coaching only starts around 16 years old. Most kids don't even get that.

I played both games. It's not hard to adjust particularly if you're a fan of both too...

In saying that, only the top talents or guys that came from a rugby background really consider switching. I don't think it's a massive concern in Australia.

The real concern will be R360...we've already seen it a bit with Japanese rugby. R360 will be on steroids compared to that...it's going to be hard to stop players going for a few years to get a big paycheck. I'll be interested to see how that plays out.
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Don't think R360 is a threat at all to league. There's a lot of rugby players they'll sign before they even look at league players. Might sign the odd 1 or 2 but that's it. League players unfortunately are big fish in a little pond. Internationally rugby is a much bigger pond. At the moment it just a bunch of click bait journos pushing it on behalf of player managers to try and inflate the market. It may not even get off the ground.
 
Snidest 0 said:
It can't happen - the RLPA has no power to implement it on behalf of its members and there are no pathways to the draft!
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Kenty was saying on his podcast that the rlpa could agree to one in a bargaining agreement but the n.r.l would have to give a pretty big lump sum payment to them for the players for them to agree with it. What he also said was that the genesis for the rlpa came from an ex player in the 70s I think he said and at the rlpas very core it was set up to be totally against any form of draft system it's in the very DNA of the rlpa so can't see it ever happening.
 
Tito Santana said:
I think what has been proven is that Douhei is required as much as Latu is and Luai.

Luai is a 6 but what does seem to work is the rotation of Douhei and Latu on a case by case basis. I think Latu is more open to coming of off the bench more than Douhei, and both can play lock as well (Douhei can play anywhere really).

The thing I really like about Douhei is his arrogance and run first mentality and wants his hands on the ball constantly.

The signing of Madden is purely for injuries only.

I think overall if we continue to win games, the players will want to stay. Latu gives me the impression he’s not all about him like Galvin.
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Never forget the interview he did a wee bit ago. When asked where his preferred position to play was, he said wherever Benji thinks is best for the team.
 
Jimmy Jazz said:
Don't think R360 is a threat at all to league. There's a lot of rugby players they'll sign before they even look at league players. Might sign the odd 1 or 2 but that's it. League players unfortunately are big fish in a little pond. Internationally rugby is a much bigger pond. At the moment it just a bunch of click bait journos pushing it on behalf of player managers to try and inflate the market. It may not even get off the ground.
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Well yeah...not saying it's a threat...but, with the right conditions, some players will defect. There's also a lot of players in AU, NZ and SA that come from a rugby background and may stay in the game. League does get a lot of players that have played both games believe it or not.

It's never a threat in the beginning. It's usually a slow erosion over time if they're not careful.
 
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