Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

wstigers11 said:
He’s desperate mate.
He made panic buys in Gutho & Cook, don’t want to go into it too much but he’s often on the nose with his poly players, and I think he’s under a bit of pressure this year
Click to expand...
Yes he gets offside with players as he expects and demands high intensity.
When was the last time you saw Bula play with high intensity?
 
Tom Shines said:
Perth would pay it …but given there is literally no media about him headed there …he mustn’t want to move there
Click to expand...
The chances are they promised Nick Meaney his favoured fullback position to get him to sign with them.
Sean Russell left centre, Harry Newman right centre, Luke Laulilli on one wing and I would not be surprised if they headhunt Jeral Skelton as their other regular starting winger, particularly if we don’t include him in our starting line up,
Do you reckon Perth Bears would take To’a off our hands if we offered him to them ?
I doubt it.
 
There has been plenty of talk about the junior players we have coming through. Although this paints a good picture I think many believe that they are ready now to play NRL. I personally think this could be the start of something positive if we invest in our pathways model.

Having said that I think that we (certainly on this forum) are over-valuing our 'elite' juniors and not signing the hardened veterans we need to stop the rot. That is easy to say - but until we up our on field performance and table position this will be a big battle for us as we will be pinning our future on players on the way down and those on the way up withough having the necessary hardened core to make it all work.

It is a chicken and egg problem though - and the key to it is having the draw cards to bring in the players who are FG proven and starting to hit their straps. Benji and Richo have enabled us to improve in this area but we still need to develop a critical mass of peak level veterans to carry and develop the junior talent and enough elite players to keep us in the top 4 on a regular basis.

This isn't happening overnight and our performances to date have been underwhelming. To get there though we need to stay the course and turn our developing players into that hardened core and maintain them. So while we talk about pathways and how important that aspect is (as it gives us cap space), probably more importaint is our retention plan.
 
Vicious said:
Do you reckon Perth Bears would take To’a off our hands if we offered him to them ?
I doubt it.
Click to expand...

I think Toa is on his way to a medical retirement … probably the Tigers will be stuck with him the rest of the year though …

I don’t think Toa would agree to go there in any event … would you move to Perth for the same money ?
 
Jolls said:
There has been plenty of talk about the junior players we have coming through. Although this paints a good picture I think many believe that they are ready now to play NRL. I personally think this could be the start of something positive if we invest in our pathways model.

Having said that I think that we (certainly on this forum) are over-valuing our 'elite' juniors and not signing the hardened veterans we need to stop the rot. That is easy to say - but until we up our on field performance and table position this will be a big battle for us as we will be pinning our future on players on the way down and those on the way up withough having the necessary hardened core to make it all work.

It is a chicken and egg problem though - and the key to it is having the draw cards to bring in the players who are FG proven and starting to hit their straps. Benji and Richo have enabled us to improve in this area but we still need to develop a critical mass of peak level veterans to carry and develop the junior talent and enough elite players to keep us in the top 4 on a regular basis.

This isn't happening overnight and our performances to date have been underwhelming. To get there though we need to stay the course and turn our developing players into that hardened core and maintain them. So while we talk about pathways and how important that aspect is (as it gives us cap space), probably more importaint is our retention plan.
Click to expand...
Fair comment, but I would say we look far more balanced in terms of the has-been to straight from SG Ball ratio.

We have some pretty established and well performing first graders around the mid 20's mark all in their prime.

Previously we were talking about guys who'd played Origin 5 years prior to signing with us and they were considered marquee signings.
 
Tom Shines said:
I think people are going to be surprised about PNG … they will attract players … the tax free dollars is a considerable incentive for some to go there
Click to expand...
PNG ranks #2 globally in crime and murder as of 2025, ahead of South Africa, Afghanistan, and Brazil. Players and their families would be housed in compounds or gated communities, which I cannot see as a healthy environment for mothers and their children.

This was a political payoff influenced by China’s growing presence in the Pacific.
 
pawsandclaws1 said:
BP - the risk of acquiring malaria is very real. The threat from the Anopheles mosquito (female), the vector, is constant. Plasmodium Vivax, which is one of four types of malaria, results in symptoms reoccurring every 48 hrs - high fever, following by spine tingling shivering. You get to recognise the symptoms and anticipate the onset of an attack. The PNG Govt has a national malaria plan to eliminate malaria by 2030.
Click to expand...
Paws , I still think the NO shopping for the wife’s is worse than ur list , lol 🤔😳🥴
 
The club has gone really quite on bula and the longer it’s goes the more it seems like he’s on his way .
If he leaves , I would put him in the grub category as Galvin , sheens gave him a start from nowhere , and the coaches have stuck with him , just like the grub Galvin was given a chance then sh*** on the club
 
Leck said:
PNG ranks #2 globally in crime and murder as of 2025, ahead of South Africa, Afghanistan, and Brazil. Players and their families would be housed in compounds or gated communities, which I cannot see as a healthy environment for mothers and their children.

This was a political payoff influenced by China’s growing presence in the Pacific.
Click to expand...

Don’t be surprised what some people will do for money

I have worked with guys that have lived in PNG … and those guys weren’t living on Island Resorts like the NRL players are going to … And I’m sure the NRL guys will be amongst the best protected people in the entire country ..probably with elite Australian security… the political risk ( foreign terrorism and civil unrest as opposed to random violent crime ) would be the biggest concern for the Aust Govt

I’m more worried about the fans that will head over to Port Moresby to watch their teams play there than the NRL players
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Staff online

Members online

Total: 912 (members: 16, guests: 896)
Back
Top