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There used to be Balmain members on the board all the time and... silence. And Balmain ain't coming back, whatever vague hints a nonegenarian might make about supporting them. If he was that bothered about Balmain he could have helped them out when they needed it, but... silence. Face facts...

Harry Triguboff has been the great white whale for this club for decades, always the supposed answer to any financial problems. In that time, Balmain has gone bust with its club falling into ruin, we’ve nearly been run out of Leichhardt half a dozen times because the place is falling down, we...

Not sure why letting Sezer go means anything about Sullivan. We don't have to keep either of them.

Like I say, there's no trick to it: you have to find players who contribute more than they cost in salary cap. If a club is obviously desperate to offload a player (or, more accurately, a player's contract) it stands to reason that they're less likely to be a superstar. But maybe the desperation...

You can't just name players who aren't available and say we ought to sign them.

Picking up useful players that aren't wanted by their current clubs is something all good teams do. Luke Garner won the grand final with Penrith last year, for one that's close to home, and they were also happy to pick up Papali'i. Melbourne have a list as long as your arm of players other clubs...

Off the top of my head: the NBL, Premiership Rugby, Top 14 Rugby, Super Rugby, Superleague, A League, Super Netball. EuroLeague basketball may be about to introduce a salary cap. None of these have a draft.

Penrith? The club that has let Koroisau, Burton, Kikau, Crichton, Fisher-Harris, Genius, Turuva and Luai go to manage their cap? Penrith is the best possible example of a salary cap working.

This is the most significant point by miles. We all obsess about free agent signings but if competent clubs like Penrith start mining "our" junior nursery we might as well pack up and move to Christchurch.

You're a lunatic. James Roberts at the Tigers was so far past past it that he couldn't see it in the rear view mirror.

We're coming last and aren't too bothered about losing the players who have contributed so much to getting us there. Seems rational to me.

It's time you did. He hasn't been good since 2020. It's a crude measure but look at his try scoring rate: Bradford, 2011-12: a try every 3.9 games Wigan, 2014-18: 3.9 Canberra, 2019-20: 4.3 Wigan, 2021-22: 8.4 Tigers, 2023-24: 16 He was past it when he got back to England, let alone when we...

A lot of people on here just cannot accept that there are no quick fixes. They want to sign eight first grade players and either have no idea who those players might actually be - as in, who is off contract or otherwise available - or they want to sign anyone who happens to be available...

I'd take top four of the bottom half. 9th-12th seems like rareified air from down here.

All this thread makes me think is "oh Christ, are there really still four games to go?"

Players tend to go where they're offered the most money. I've argued countless times on here that this is why building a roster through free agency isn't the way to create sustainable success, because top tier free agents almost always end up being overpaid. But that's the same for any club: if...

I like the way you've invented a story to maintain the myth that players won't sign for us even though there is clear evidence that they will. As if Luai was happy to go to a club that had picked up the spoon twice running but would absolutely have drawn the line at a threepeat.

I wouldn't have a clue. There doesn't seem to be any suggestion that he's been problematic so either he's quite mature and realistic, or the club has managed things very diplomatically (or both). It sucks for him because when he signed he presumably thought he had a good shot of being a starting...

There's a world of difference between "you'll never play first grade for this club again - get out now or rot in the reserves" and "realistically, you're likely to be our fourth or fifth choice half next season so if an offer comes along that gives you a better opportunity you should seriously...

Well we've seen what happens in the past when the club finally gets some room in the salary cap and immediately spends it on whoever happens to be available at the time. Russell Packer, Josh Reyolds and Chris McQueen is what happens. Or David Klemmer and John Bateman.