Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

AmericanHistoryX said:
His son played alright though.... would you agree?
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It would only be our 8,9,10 who would break into the Dragons starting side and possibly Papali’i if he’s playing close to his best.
So in other words we don’t really have anything the Dragons would want in return for Lomax and Shane Flanagan is not stupid, he will make sure he gets something of value in return if/when he releases Lomax.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they ask for Galvin or Latu Fainu as part of a swap deal, but again they are players we cannot afford to lose.
 
Richo did a Q&A with Brent Read in the Tele and indicated that the club plans to "build up a war chest" in the next three months and then go to market.

there's going to be some shopping of our players, who they are I'm not sure, but I'd expect movement on that front fairly soon. the thing I am concerned about though is that a lot of the players we probably need to chase may be locked up by then.
 
jrtiger said:
Richo did a Q&A with Brent Read in the Tele and indicated that the club plans to "build up a war chest" in the next three months and then go to market.

there's going to be some shopping of our players, who they are I'm not sure, but I'd expect movement on that front fairly soon. the thing I am concerned about though is that a lot of the players we probably need to chase may be locked up by then.
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I think they'd be talking about 2026 at that point.
 
teddy23 said:
The two names I keep hearing......

Lomax and Bennett.

Take that how you like.
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Don’t know if we need a ‘War Chest’ for Lomax. He is effectively about a 400k player at the moment based on output. Funnily though I think Wing suits a lot of his attributes.
Not saying he played terrible but he isn’t offering anything out of the ordinary that would command the 800k price tag.

Bennett would be a good get.
 
Needaname said:
Don’t know if we need a ‘War Chest’ for Lomax. He is effectively about a 400k player at the moment based on output. Funnily though I think Wing suits a lot of his attributes.
Not saying he played terrible but he isn’t offering anything out of the ordinary that would command the 800k price tag.

Bennett would be a good get.
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He loves Benji and vice versa. I’ll back it.
 
WestsTigers4VR said:
Does anybody know any paywalls that bypass the daily telegraph or has this article? https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...k=01da0d48fc744d344fe6426f6f97af77-1710120096

Thanks
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Brent Read: How are the mighty Tigers?

Shane Richardson: We’re just moving along slowly but surely, with purpose and dignity. There were critics before the first trial. As Wayne Bennett said, you start listening to the grandstand and you are in a lot of trouble. We are in a good spot. We are calm, we are on a journey, we know what we want to do, we know our recruitment needs, we know what our juniors are like. Honestly, we are in a good space. You have to win games – I am not stupid. Time will tell how many games we win but we couldn’t have had a better pre-season. We couldn’t do anything more to change the squad around this season. Everyone has trained well, there is no dissension in the team. It is pretty good.

BR: There are some reasons for optimism – young five-eighth Lachlan Galvin is one of the more obvious ones?

SR: The young hooker (Tallyn da Silva) is a good player as well. We have some good young forwards who are 12-18 months away. We’re pretty comfortable with where we are. We have some good team leaders. The coaching staff has melded together. It is a pretty happy camp. I can smell it when it is not a happy camp. It is a happy camp. But again, we haven’t played any games yet. So we will wait and see when the fire and brimstone comes. We are on a journey this year – we have to improve the club overall, not just on the field. It is like people say where do you hope to finish. I am hoping to finish the best we can. If we finish in the top eight, great. If we finish 12th and improve, great.

Benji Marshall will be in charge for his first full season. Picture: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

Benji Marshall will be in charge for his first full season. Picture: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images
BR: Has it been a harder or bigger job than you expected?

SR: It has probably been a bigger job off the field than on the field. I came in a couple of weeks before Christmas. I looked around, saw what we needed to do. The changes we needed to make, we made quickly. The people we let go, we haven’t replaced them on or off the field. Sometimes you run better on rump than you do on fillet. We have tightened things up and we’re a tighter group. Everyone was disappointed after the trial (against the Dragons). I thought Benji handled himself really well – he addressed the players. He wasn’t happy about the performance but no one was. It is a long journey to come from the bottom of the ladder. You don’t make enormous steps straight away. You have to take those small steps and enjoy them.



BR: What are your impressions of Benji the coach?

SR: I knew nothing about Benji. I signed him for Wayne but I hadn’t had a lot to do with him. He is highly intelligent – he is probably one of the most intelligent coaches I have ever had anything to do with. He picks things up really quickly. He has a deep understanding of the salary cap and the roster and what we are doing there. He has an intricate knowledge of it. I like that he has surrounded himself with people he trusts. They are all part of his era. They are all hard workers. He has a great attitude towards family which I like. He is highly organised – early for every meeting. So far so good but the real pressure for Benji is not his knowledge. Everybody knows what a smart player he was. The real pressure is when the blowtorch is applied. Then that is my job to help him get through that. I have been there before with the blowtorch and I know what you have to do to survive it.



Lachlan Galvin is a talented club junior. Picture: Warren Gannon Photography
BR: Where are you at with appointing the new board?

SR: There are four people on the board currently and we are appointing three more independents over the next 60-90 days. We’re currently drawing up the full requirements to become a board member. There are a lot of high profile people who have expressed an interest. (Chair) Barry O’Farrell is going to go through a real quality process to make sure we get people that complement what we need to grow the club.

BR: What about your future? Have you made a decision yet on whether you will stay beyond the six months that you initially agreed?

SR: I haven’t made a final decision but the bottom line is they have met every commitment. I like the challenge, That is a decision for Barry. Barry has opened discussions with me about it. I think he would like me to stay but I don’t want to pre-empt anything that might happen.

BR: What gives you faith that the club is heading in the right direction?

SR: What gives me faith is that we have a magnificent high performance centre, we have 9,000 juniors, we have a financial backer (in the Holman Barnes Group) that is undoubted, we have an untapped brand in the marketplace. We can only go up. The other thing is I have an understanding of what you need to be a successful club and it is not just the players on the field, it is what you surround them with in terms of ethos and culture. I always say that when you win a premiership you feel successful from the receptionist through to the head coach. There is a lot of synergy now between administration and staff. The other thing is from a commercial point of view, we’re about to unleash next week a strategic plan for the next 18 months. It is a strategic plan based around the whole way the club is viewed. Certainly we will be heavily involved in the southwest as well. We won’t ignore the inner-west. We’re not going to hide anything. It is a journey to set up a really successful club but by the same token, you have to stop the bleeding. All I can do is put the support mechanisms around Benji, be there when we suffer the losses, and stay outside the dressing room when we win.

BR: Do you expect any more player movement given David Nofoaluma’s departure?

SR: We’re not looking at anybody yet. We have a spot and a bit of money left over from the Nofoaluma thing. But I want to build up a bit more – we will do that over the next three months, build a bit of a war chest. Then we’ll go out into the market place fair dinkum.

Adam Doueihi will be returning from a knee reconstruction.

Adam Doueihi will be returning from a knee reconstruction.
BR: Jarome Luai’s decision to join the club next season showed you can make an impact in the marketplace.

SR: Luai was a big statement for us, not just on the field but off the field. We have a massive amount of players who are Polynesian. We see Luai being what we are as a face moving forward. Part of the strategic plan is built around Luai and what we are trying to do there, what we are trying to do in the digital market space and what we are trying to do in the southwest. He certainly attracts players to the club and retains players hopefully too. We have a really good spine next year, let’s be honest. We have Api Koroisau, we gave a great young hooker (da Silva) coming through, then you have Luai, you have Galvin, you have Bud Sullivan, and Latu (Fainu) … and one of the best young fullbacks in the game in Jahream Bula. We are not in a bad spot.

BR: What about Adam Doueihi. He is a bit of a forgotten man. What are the club’s plans for him once he returns from his third knee reconstruction?

SR: He is really working hard. We don’t expect him back until July. Benji and I had a talk with Adam one week ago and said we’ll just wait until you get back, we will give you every opportunity, you are a junior at the club and we would like to see you here. But we need to see you play. He is really cool about that. He really enjoys what Benji is doing and being part of what is going on. He actually approached us to see what we were doing. If we can retain Adam Doueihi we will do it because he is a junior, he fits in with our development program and he can play multiple positions in the backline. Adam is a cultural fit for the club
 
WesternSuburbsBoy said:
If there's any coach Benji would be willing to take a backseat for it'd be Bennett.
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The position would be for the vacant general manager of football role. He’s a particular candidate who both Benji and Richo have strong trust towards and belief they’d be able to work together cohesively.

People think about how close Bennet and Benji are with one another which is true but Richo and Bennet are arguably closer. When bennet got pushed out the door by the Bunnies. Richo followed.

Wayne Bennet as your General Manager
Shane Richardson as your CEO

Benji would have two of the most experienced and influential figures in rugby league to help guide him and I’d personally be all for it.
 
teddy23 said:
The position would be for the vacant general manager of football role. He’s a particular candidate who both Benji and Richo have strong trust towards and belief they’d be able to work together cohesively.

People think about how close Bennet and Benji are with one another which is true but Richo and Bennet are arguably closer. When bennet got pushed out the door by the Bunnies. Richo followed.

Wayne Bennet as your General Manager
Shane Richardson as your CEO

Benji would have two of the most experienced and influential figures in rugby league to help guide him and I’d personally be all for it.
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make it happen!
 
I wonder how Richo is going to build a "war chest" over the next 3 months. With a cap, the only way to do that is through releasing players or restructuring contracts. Unless we don't have enough cash to meet the cap?

Makes no sense to me.
 
teddy23 said:
The position would be for the vacant general manager of football role. He’s a particular candidate who both Benji and Richo have strong trust towards and belief they’d be able to work together cohesively.

People think about how close Bennet and Benji are with one another which is true but Richo and Bennet are arguably closer. When bennet got pushed out the door by the Bunnies. Richo followed.

Wayne Bennet as your General Manager
Shane Richardson as your CEO

Benji would have two of the most experienced and influential figures in rugby league to help guide him and I’d personally be all for it.
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Bennett wouldn't be amazing on the administrative side, but on the cultural side, he would dominate. He and Benji would be amazing for the mental turnout, which is where we've been struggling.

Could certainly help with a few signatures too.
 
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Paywall article suggesting Stefano may end up at Melbourne.
If anyone has the ability to post the whole article.
 
Needaname said:
Paywall article suggesting Stefano may end up at Melbourne.
If anyone has the ability to post the whole article.
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I cant post it but did read it quickly. Its a lot of crap to be honest.

In a nutshell, Dolphins after Finuaki (Cowboys - spelling), That could in turn mean Cows go after Howarth from Storm and therefore Storm Monitoring Stef.
 
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