Tucker
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Just shave all their heads…only to be referred to as their playing numbers until they produce acceptable work.
Apisai Koroisau #263
- Thread starter WT2K
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rugbygoated
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100%. A guy like Cameron Smith is the only one who kept on getting better as he aged until he retired at 38. Api will slowly regress but still be at a high level. It's up to the club to use him in a different way and not rely on the veteran too much but let him teach the young guys some tricks
Plus too, a lot of teams need 2x hookers.
I see no problem with us carrying Api and Da Silva for a year or two... Our cap will be tight, Api though can cover a stack of spots as bench cover and few Hookers play 80 minutes.
That said, we have Sullivan/Sezer/Fainu/Galvin all fighting it out for spots. I don't see any of these players playing Hooker and we will have to ditch/loose 1-2 or more of them. None of these I see as extremely physical (except Sezer when he played 5 years ago, not a hooker).. But who knows, maybe they could out-tackle Da Silva and show worth, then it's an option.
We should keep Api as long as we can. Punt unproven talent.
Kaito
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I dare say Latu's stint at hooker 4 Tonga on tour
suggests he is very capable filling in there as
well. He would make a good 14, jumping Tallyn
in my opinion who needs to play 3/4 of cup
& get ready for 20/30 minute stints in 1sts '25
suggests he is very capable filling in there as
well. He would make a good 14, jumping Tallyn
in my opinion who needs to play 3/4 of cup
& get ready for 20/30 minute stints in 1sts '25
Jolls
Well-known member
Barring injury Api will follow a simialr trajectory to Cam Smith - they aren't.weren't the best hookers in the NRL because of speed or strength. They are the best because they can read the situation and adapt to it. This is a natural ability that in these types of players improves with age. This is great for TDS as he will learn from a master - similar to Grant. TDS will get his chance - he needs game time in Reggies to craft his skills and develop. I would love to see us in the position of doing a loan deal for TDS in the future just before he comes in to replace Api. That is when we will truly have depth and fullfilled the Pathways dream.
Unless there is another Hunt among our juniors they need to focus on the position they have - while TDS is getting minutes under his belt and learning Jake has an adequate skill set to fill the role if required.
Unless there is another Hunt among our juniors they need to focus on the position they have - while TDS is getting minutes under his belt and learning Jake has an adequate skill set to fill the role if required.
Tiger Tarl
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Anyone know what the bleached hair punishment could have been for? Late to training? Dropped balls?
GNR4LIFE
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I’d say it’s more a drill related punishment as opposed to something disciplinary. Seems light hearted which is good for camaraderie.
That is the best news I have read in ages.
Sadly it looks like Kristian Woolf has his eyes on Latu. Since he poached Tupou off us, Latu may go that way.
that said, same article:
Wests Tigers’ halves conundrum
Jarome Luai (Joinin 2025-2029)
Latu Fainu, Jayden Sullivan (2027)
Lachlan Galvin (2026)
Adam Doueihi (2024), Aidan Sezer (has a mutual option for 2025)
I can't believe people think we will be keeping Doueihi with 5 halves on the books already.
Even if we drop Sezer and Doueihi after 2024 were going to be massively crowded.
hank37w
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Don't think it was dropped balls, his voice sounded unchanged in that interview.
Buttface
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You reckon his balls have finally dropped?
Buttface
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This bloke knows his footy, I love the way he’s to polite to spell shite without an e, but is prepared to use the F word in its full glory.
VasectoMyspace
•2mo ago
GNR4LIFE
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Have seen it floated that we could sign AD on a reduced contract. Just doesn’t come down to the money. It’s a waste of a roster spot.
hammertime
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I don't think anyone is floating retaining doueihi as a half.
AmericanHistoryX
Well-known member
Maybe Flanagan. But potentially a great modernistic lock forward. Ball skills, size, thinker, kicker, reader of the play. Instinct. Graham O' Grady mould just bigger.
Last edited:
AmericanHistoryX
Well-known member
You have no idea how he will come back and if that is true.
Speculation only… not fact.
Halbrowne61
Well-known member
Only thing I can say is at one stage he was being talked about as captain so obviously was well regarded ( albeit by previous regimes and not much else to
choose) but maybe it’s just a loyalty factor to give him a third bat , and see the outcome.
I don’t know if that’s right or wrong ?
Hey Pascoe got 5-6 tries with the Wests Tigers, I think we gave Madge 4!
Surely we can give AD a third bat. Can't we just offload Galvin, Fainu and maybe Luai incase AD finds form in the halves
LeichhardtTiger
Well-known member
and Api - that def would be a Pascoe Barber Shop Quartet!Hey Pascoe got 5-6 tries with the Wests Tigers, I think we gave Madge 4!
Surely we can give AD a third bat. Can't we just offload Galvin, Fainu and maybe Luai incase AD finds form in the halves
Koroisau begged Luai to join the Tigers after ‘taxing’ first year as skipper
Save
Late last year, the man in charge of leading the Tigers couldn’t help himself when the club was courting his old teammate, Jarome Luai.
Api Koroisau picked up his phone and told Luai, in not too subtle terms, what he thought about the Panthers star weighing up a club record offer to join the Tigers.
“At the end of the day, I just kept asking him, ‘Are you coming? Are you coming? Are you coming?’ I think [coach] Benji [Marshall] put in the hard yards there.”
Luai is coming.
Wests Tigers captain Api Koroisau.CREDIT:GETTY
He will do so on five-year deal worth more than $6 million, and none are more pleased than the Tigers captain, who will be reunited with his old friend at Penrith in 2025. But that’s then, and Koroisau is about the now.
“Everyone is excited about Romey coming, obviously the calibre of player he is,” Koroisau said. “We’re all excited. But at the same time we’ve been trying to not think too much about it.”
Koroisau left the Panthers after back-to-back premierships in 2022 to join the Tigers. Try as he might, couldn’t lift them off the bottom of the ladder last year.
Without question, he was the club’s most influential player in a rotten season which saw them lose their first seven matches, their coach Tim Sheens by the end of the campaign and their entire board and chief executive before Christmas. That the captain was spared wasn’t a coincidence.
He knew he was going to have to shoulder a big responsibility, but never did Koroisau think that would include playing halfback and kicking goals in the final rounds of 2023.
“It was tough,” Koroisau says. “By the back end, you can’t say or do any more. “The hardest thing was the boys were trying. It had nothing do with effort areas. For me, it was just about doing what I can do and trying to be positive. We knew early on it wasn’t going great. By the back end it was really taxing. I just tried to be there for everyone.
“I enjoyed halfback. You don’t have to do as much tackling, but I don’t think I like the responsibility of trying to call the plays. That’s not me. Pass the ball off the deck is a super easy job for me.”
The Tigers’ long and slow climb back up the NRL ladder will begin in Canberra on Saturday when Koroisau leads Marshall’s team in their first competition match of 2024 against the Raiders. They had the bye in the opening round.
Over summer, Koroisau has already been enthused by the Tigers’ young talents Lachlan Galvin, Heath Mason and Tallyn Da Silva. And a rookie coach in Marshall.
“He’s very honest,” Koroisau says. “That’s just how his personality is. He’s very up front and doesn’t beat around the bush. If he thinks something is up, he will tell you how it is. That’s even if he’s not your coach. That’s a very good quality to have. Everyone knows exactly where they stand with Benji.”
www.brisbanetimes.com.au
By Adam Pengilly
March 11, 2024 — 6.45pmSave
Late last year, the man in charge of leading the Tigers couldn’t help himself when the club was courting his old teammate, Jarome Luai.
Api Koroisau picked up his phone and told Luai, in not too subtle terms, what he thought about the Panthers star weighing up a club record offer to join the Tigers.
“At the end of the day, I just kept asking him, ‘Are you coming? Are you coming? Are you coming?’ I think [coach] Benji [Marshall] put in the hard yards there.”
Luai is coming.
Wests Tigers captain Api Koroisau.CREDIT:GETTY
He will do so on five-year deal worth more than $6 million, and none are more pleased than the Tigers captain, who will be reunited with his old friend at Penrith in 2025. But that’s then, and Koroisau is about the now.
“Everyone is excited about Romey coming, obviously the calibre of player he is,” Koroisau said. “We’re all excited. But at the same time we’ve been trying to not think too much about it.”
Koroisau left the Panthers after back-to-back premierships in 2022 to join the Tigers. Try as he might, couldn’t lift them off the bottom of the ladder last year.
Without question, he was the club’s most influential player in a rotten season which saw them lose their first seven matches, their coach Tim Sheens by the end of the campaign and their entire board and chief executive before Christmas. That the captain was spared wasn’t a coincidence.
He knew he was going to have to shoulder a big responsibility, but never did Koroisau think that would include playing halfback and kicking goals in the final rounds of 2023.
“It was tough,” Koroisau says. “By the back end, you can’t say or do any more. “The hardest thing was the boys were trying. It had nothing do with effort areas. For me, it was just about doing what I can do and trying to be positive. We knew early on it wasn’t going great. By the back end it was really taxing. I just tried to be there for everyone.
“I enjoyed halfback. You don’t have to do as much tackling, but I don’t think I like the responsibility of trying to call the plays. That’s not me. Pass the ball off the deck is a super easy job for me.”
The Tigers’ long and slow climb back up the NRL ladder will begin in Canberra on Saturday when Koroisau leads Marshall’s team in their first competition match of 2024 against the Raiders. They had the bye in the opening round.
Over summer, Koroisau has already been enthused by the Tigers’ young talents Lachlan Galvin, Heath Mason and Tallyn Da Silva. And a rookie coach in Marshall.
“He’s very honest,” Koroisau says. “That’s just how his personality is. He’s very up front and doesn’t beat around the bush. If he thinks something is up, he will tell you how it is. That’s even if he’s not your coach. That’s a very good quality to have. Everyone knows exactly where they stand with Benji.”
Koroisau begged Luai to join the Tigers after ‘taxing’ first year as skipper
In a disastrous year which cost the club their board, chief executive and coach, only the captain is still standing. He knew an old teammate was crucial to the Tigers’ renaissance.
