Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Jedi_Tiger · Feb 25, 2026

Tom Shines said:
Big Nelson doesn’t need anyone’s permission does he ? Think he is a free man

Thought he was boxing though 🤔

Where are you guys all hanging out hearing these rumours ?

like pangai junior wanted to do boxing too
NAS wants to go back to NZ apparently
clauses perhaps that allow him to fight in off season

Jedi_Tiger · Feb 25, 2026

Demps said:
This year? The last few hours maybe, lol

Meant to read for 2026 season not for 2027 lol obviously the Barnett release for 2027 is recent.

Seperate issue NAS wanting to go back to NZ they had no room before Barnett made his decision to need to go back to australia. Boxing clauses perhaps inserted for off season

Nonotmeagain · Feb 25, 2026

Vicious said:
It would certainly make our forward pack look great for 2026, but who would you give the Warriors in return that they would want ?
I’m sure the Warriors would be very open to a swap for Terrell or Sione, but I would not be giving them up for anyone.

Odessa said:
Spartan117 said:

Pole is on the up whilst Barnett is not.

Im not even entertaining a swap

Click to expand...

An old bashed up player on the decline coming off major injury and has not played since at the very back end of his career swapping

For a young up an coming player who has his best years Infront of him and will be a weapon

On your suggestion it sounds like you have worked in the West Tigers recruitment before

Last week it was all about Pole wanting to go to Melbourne ( where he came from and has family) to play in the same team as his brother. Now he is being offered to NZ ?? How does that work. Anyway you can't "offer" him to anyone as he has a contract with the Tigers and doesn't want to go for the above reason.

diedpretty · Feb 25, 2026

Rock Hopper Steve said:
Yeah, solid for England but you saw how good the Aussie defence was and it looked to me that he was singled out as a danger in the game plan, they were all over him like a blanket, no room to move.

Let's see how he go's, it will probably take a few games to settle into his new club, but I'd expecting much better impact with us than under a braindead gameplan O'Brien had mapped out for him.

The same thing will happen if Douehi doesn't give him early ball and a bit of space to move in. Douehis run first mentality while good at times can hinder the right side attack. In the last trial Toa and Turuva never got a look in as defence was on them the moment they got the ball.

bptiger 0 · Feb 25, 2026

crazycat said:
Normally I would agree...

Except we need to expect a brain explosion from May.
Great player, no doubt.

It's just May is the kind of NRL player that is found making sweet love to the flashing light on a white car with blue squares painted around it.
We need a reserve ready when this happens. I keep hearing To'a is injured but I hope he is that reserve.

The bloke has been great and not a problem and ur shitting on him , no wonder people go of , leave the bloke alone , if and when he goes of the track then u can spread ur hate

426Tlgerland · Feb 25, 2026

Tom Shines said:
I like Bunty…but I think Royce might have him still …hope they push each other because one of them will play at least

I think Benji will run with both Hunt on Bench hand Bunty up front with May to Start - May is strong and can take 2 or 3 defenders to bring him down but also can get the ball away during these tackles - Bunty to just ware the opposition down with big straight hard runs up the middle , we also now have strong back rowers in KPP and Sam F both hard runners and can hit a line , KPP just needs to be used exact same way Sam is , Newcastle didn’t do KPP any favours with good ball , can’t wait till we start our run , 7 from 10 to start season

426Tlgerland · Feb 25, 2026

bptiger 0 said:
The bloke has been great and not a problem and ur shitting on him , no wonder people go of , leave the bloke alone , if and when he goes of the track then u can spread ur hate

Very well said , the kid had issues and dealt with them , came to us on trial , passed that test and played very well for us , what more does he need to do to be left alone to do his stuff , I suppose the haters are gonna hate

Vicious · Feb 25, 2026

Odessa said:
An old bashed up player on the decline coming off major injury and has not played since at the very back end of his career swapping

For a young up an coming player who has his best years Infront of him and will be a weapon

On your suggestion it sounds like you have worked in the West Tigers recruitment before

Did you read the last part of my post ?
It stated I would not be interested, but I’m sure the Warriors would be.

Vicious · Feb 25, 2026

Nonotmeagain said:
Last week it was all about Pole wanting to go to Melbourne ( where he came from and has family) to play in the same team as his brother. Now he is being offered to NZ ?? How does that work. Anyway you can't "offer" him to anyone as he has a contract with the Tigers and doesn't want to go for the above reason.

You are correct in saying if a player is contracted and does not want to leave, he doesn’t have to.
I merely stated that I think the Warriors would be very keen if we offered them Fonua Pole as an immediate swap for Mitch Barnett. I also went on to say I would not consider this swap as I believe Fonua is not far off being one of the best middles in the NRL.
The sticking point is Fonua’s long term intentions, is he keen to stay with us long term or not ?
He is one of a few key players currently off contract at the end of the 2027 season.
I hope and assume Benji and Mielekamp are working hard to further extend these players contracts.

Tom Shines · Feb 25, 2026

Odessa said:
An old bashed up player on the decline coming off major injury and has not played since at the very back end of his career swapping

For a young up an coming player who has his best years Infront of him and will be a weapon

On your suggestion it sounds like you have worked in the West Tigers recruitment before

I’d do it in a New York minute … Origin player last year versus guy who was ass cheeks for us most of last season and wants to leave in a couple of years anyway to get back to Melbourne

The Broncos are gagging to get Barnett to replace Haas … but what do they know ?

Tiger Stripes · Feb 25, 2026

Tom Shines said:
he has been training the house down all summer and dropped 15 kegs

But gets injured more. Muscles are exposed.

Tom Shines · Feb 25, 2026

Tiger Stripes said:
But gets injured more. Muscles are exposed.

At least Hunt is off the vapes now …it was making him out of breath last season

Tito Santana · Feb 25, 2026

diedpretty said:
The same thing will happen if Douehi doesn't give him early ball and a bit of space to move in. Douehis run first mentality while good at times can hinder the right side attack. In the last trial Toa and Turuva never got a look in as defence was on them the moment they got the ball.

I like Douhei. He has arrogance. Backs himself. And he is also probably reluctant to give it to Toa because he is lame. So is Herbert. We need a genuine centre on the right hand side. Or, put Makasini in lieu of Toa and bring in Skelton to the left wing.

I would be reluctant to move Makisini though because that left edge is looking lethal. You dont weaken one to stengthen another.

BlackWhiteGold · Feb 25, 2026

There was a mention by the commentator on Friday that Patrick Herbert was one of the strongest players in the NRL.

Did a bit of research and found this from an article back in 2020 when he was at the Wahs ...

In the words of Chanel Harris-Tavita:

“Patrick Herbert, he’s a strong man. I don’t know about squats, but I think he benches more than I squat.

“It would be around 170s or 180s, and he’s a centre as well. He’s got that little Solomone Kata build, real nuggety. Short arms, he doesn’t have to push it as far.”

In the words of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck:

“Patrick Herbert and Bunty Afoa, for the middles it’s definitely Bunty, he’s a beast. He’s throwing big weights around.

“Bunty would bench around 170s or 180s. The funny thing is Patrick would be similar. We call him Mr Uppers because leg days he’s not a fan, but with uppers you can just load him up”

Kings of the gym: NRL players reveal the strongest men at every club

www.foxsports.com.au

Tom Shines · Feb 25, 2026

BlackWhiteGold said:
There was a mention by the commentator on Friday that Patrick Herbert was one of the strongest players in the NRL.

Did a bit of research and found this from an article back in 2020 when he was at the Wahs ...

In the words of Chanel Harris-Tavita:

“Patrick Herbert, he’s a strong man. I don’t know about squats, but I think he benches more than I squat.

“It would be around 170s or 180s, and he’s a centre as well. He’s got that little Solomone Kata build, real nuggety. Short arms, he doesn’t have to push it as far.”

In the words of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck:

“Patrick Herbert and Bunty Afoa, for the middles it’s definitely Bunty, he’s a beast. He’s throwing big weights around.

“Bunty would bench around 170s or 180s. The funny thing is Patrick would be similar. We call him Mr Uppers because leg days he’s not a fan, but with uppers you can just load him up”

Kings of the gym: NRL players reveal the strongest men at every club

Kings of the gym: NRL players reveal the strongest men at every club

www.foxsports.com.au

Interesting .., it does make you wonder why he has been playing amateur club rugby in Wollongong or wherever he has been

Maybe they have found a diamond in the rough … he is kinda growing on me..

jrtiger · Feb 25, 2026

Tom Shines said:
Interesting .., it does make you wonder why he has been playing amateur club rugby in Wollongong or wherever he has been

Maybe they have found a diamond in the rough … he is kinda growing on me..

he was definitely better last week than he was the one before against the Chooks. hopefully it's more about getting used to the speed of the game again as opposed to it passing him by. we're going to need him at some point so cross everything that it's the former.

Vicious · Feb 25, 2026

Tom Shines said:
I’d do it in a New York minute … Origin player last year versus guy who was ass cheeks for us most of last season and wants to leave in a couple of years anyway to get back to Melbourne

The Broncos are gagging to get Barnett to replace Haas … but what do they know ?

In a perfect world we could lose nobody we want to keep and add Barnett.
But, that is unlikely and we probably cannot offer him as much as some other clubs if we are upgrading and extending the contracts of some of our key players currently off contract at the end of 2027.
I initially mentioned Fonua as a player who could potentially be used as bait to sign Mitch Barnett only because of the uncertainty about him wanting to stay with us long term.
If he was wanting to head elsewhere after the conclusion of the 2027 season, it could be a case of trying to get a high quality player swap for him early.
Alternatively I would be happy if Fonua extends with us and remains at the club for many years to come.

BlackWhiteGold · Feb 25, 2026

jrtiger said:
he was definitely better last week than he was the one before against the Chooks. hopefully it's more about getting used to the speed of the game again as opposed to it passing him by. we're going to need him at some point so cross everything that it's the former.

He missed a couple of tackles early on in his stint on Friday night hopefully just getting used to the contact required again. Thought was handy after that with his carries out of yardage and general defence. I think he'll improve with game time in Cup.

Tom Shines · Feb 25, 2026

Vicious said:
In a perfect world we could lose nobody we want to keep and add Barnett.
But, that is unlikely and we probably cannot offer him as much as some other clubs if we are upgrading and extending the contracts of some of our key players currently off contract at the end of 2027.

I’m not worried about that ..if Brisbane can afford him, than surely we can ..their squad is superior to ours ,,,even without Haas

jrtiger · Feb 25, 2026

Vicious said:
In a perfect world we could lose nobody we want to keep and add Barnett.
But, that is unlikely and we probably cannot offer him as much as some other clubs if we are upgrading and extending the contracts of some of our key players currently off contract at the end of 2027.

realistically they aren't going to get what they want. they've allowed Barnett to leave, they'll be expected to honour it for his family's sake.

they're talking tough at the moment but this isn't like the Lomax situation or even Addo-Carr when we were trying to get him from Melbourne.

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