OFFICIAL Fonua Pole #257

jrtiger said:
disappointing he's going to market, but not surprising.

I doubt he'll get as much money as we have offered him elsewhere. it'll come down to whether he believes in where we're going. and if he doesn't believe in it, then you replace him with someone who does.
Click to expand...

I heard he is interested in going back to Melbourne where he is from, for personal reasons …if that is actually true then the money won’t matter unfortunately…
 
jrtiger said:
disappointing he's going to market, but not surprising.

I doubt he'll get as much money as we have offered him elsewhere. it'll come down to whether he believes in where we're going. and if he doesn't believe in it, then you replace him with someone who does.
Click to expand...
as much as we as fans love the idea of Pole.
I was one waxing lyrical about him last season, though I did watch him a bit closer and he is still in development mode and not ready to lead the pack.
That’s fine IF we are paying him a reasonable contract. He has played 3 seasons now but still looks like he struggles to read the defence. At this stage of our development as a squad. We cannot over pay for that.
 
Needaname said:
as much as we as fans love the idea of Pole.
I was one waxing lyrical about him last season, though I did watch him a bit closer and he is still in development mode and not ready to lead the pack.
That’s fine IF we are paying him a reasonable contract. He has played 3 seasons now but still looks like he struggles to read the defence. At this stage of our development as a squad. We cannot over pay for that.
Click to expand...
the problem is the fact that there is next to nothing in regards to quality middles on the market and our youngsters are nowhere near ready. it puts us in a tough position. good front rowers are as rare as hen's teeth at the minute and we're gonna have to pay over the odds to retain Fonua and replace Klemmer given our standing in the league.

we need an enforcer. Xavier Willison and Leo Thompson are the two best front rowers in that mould on the market, and I doubt they will consider us as a viable option if they decide to leave their current clubs.

the next tier down is guys like Wiremu Greig, Oregon Kaufusi, Jack Hetherington and Davvy Moale. sure we're a chance of attaining them, but I think Fonua is as good a prospect as any of them, even if he does have work to do defensively.

it might come to a point where we need to do what we did a few years ago and try and sign the next big thing, as we did with Stefano. that's probably Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga, but the Dragons know what they're sitting on there.

point is, we're in some strife. Taupau-Moors is going to be a first grader, but he's a long way off. even Johannssen, who I'm a big fan of, is at least 18 months off regular grade.

TLDR: Fonua's a huge priority and even if he isn't the finished article, it will hurt if we lose him.
 
WesternSuburbsBoy said:
We could tell ourselves that but imo I think we can cope with losing Stef but losing Pole as well… it’d be hard to come back from that.
Click to expand...
I love Pole and think he's an important part of the rebuild.

But he is very replaceable. He wouldn't feature in the Top 20 props in the competition at the moment.

May not even feature in the Top 5 up and coming props.

Really hope he stays. But it is not dire straits if he doesn't.
 
jrtiger said:
it might come to a point where we need to do what we did a few years ago and try and sign the next big thing, as we did with Stefano. that's probably Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga, but the Dragons know what they're sitting on there.
Click to expand...
Is he loko when running the ball up?
 
jrtiger said:
the problem is the fact that there is next to nothing in regards to quality middles on the market and our youngsters are nowhere near ready. it puts us in a tough position. good front rowers are as rare as hen's teeth at the minute and we're gonna have to pay over the odds to retain Fonua and replace Klemmer given our standing in the league.

we need an enforcer. Xavier Willison and Leo Thompson are the two best front rowers in that mould on the market, and I doubt they will consider us as a viable option if they decide to leave their current clubs.

the next tier down is guys like Wiremu Greig, Oregon Kaufusi, Jack Hetherington and Davvy Moale. sure we're a chance of attaining them, but I think Fonua is as good a prospect as any of them, even if he does have work to do defensively.

it might come to a point where we need to do what we did a few years ago and try and sign the next big thing, as we did with Stefano. that's probably Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga, but the Dragons know what they're sitting on there.

point is, we're in some strife. Taupau-Moors is going to be a first grader, but he's a long way off. even Johannssen, who I'm a big fan of, is at least 18 months off regular grade.

TLDR: Fonua's a huge priority and even if he isn't the finished article, it will hurt if we lose him.
Click to expand...
I agree, I’m not downplaying the quality of Pole he is a decent player and has loads of improvement; but he isn’t going to improve us in isolation. It’s a sad predicament we are in; though Newcastle are in the same boat with Thompson, guarantee though Pole and their manager would be wanting around the same coin that Thompson ends up getting.
 
Kelce68 said:
I love Pole and think he's an important part of the rebuild.

But he is very replaceable. He wouldn't feature in the Top 20 props in the competition at the moment.

May not even feature in the Top 5 up and coming props.

Really hope he stays. But it is not dire straits if he doesn't.
Click to expand...
It is in the short term. If we don’t supplement the loss with some quality experience.
 
Needaname said:
I agree, I’m not downplaying the quality of Pole he is a decent player and has loads of improvement; but he isn’t going to improve us in isolation. It’s a sad predicament we are in; though Newcastle are in the same boat with Thompson, guarantee though Pole and their manager would be wanting around the same coin that Thompson ends up getting.
Click to expand...
fair enough. if it comes to it we may just have to swap for something that benefits us, I'm just hopeful it doesn't.
 
Kelce68 said:
I love Pole and think he's an important part of the rebuild.

But he is very replaceable. He wouldn't feature in the Top 20 props in the competition at the moment.

May not even feature in the Top 5 up and coming props.

Really hope he stays. But it is not dire straits if he doesn't.
Click to expand...
Maybe he's replaceable maybe he's not but ask majority of WT fans this time last year who you thought our two long term props would be & 95% would've said Stef & Pole. If they both leave it'll show that two of our most promising young forwards don't see a future for themselves at this club which isn't a good thing when you're trying to rebuild from the bottom up.
 
WesternSuburbsBoy said:
Maybe he's replaceable maybe he's not but ask majority of WT fans this time last year who you thought our two long term props would be & 95% would've said Stef & Pole. If they both leave it'll show that two of our most promising young forwards don't see a future for themselves at this club which isn't a good thing when you're trying to rebuild from the bottom up.
Click to expand...
The optics are bad.
 
Needaname said:
Yes I know that, hence I said if it comes with a swap deal for 25 I’m ok with it.
Click to expand...
Sorry if that came across as if I was saying you didn’t know.
It was as much as me just repeating and saying how much I hate it.
Just another way that makes a contract seem pointless.
We might as well shake hands and hope they honour their word. And if you get that from me it’s as good as a contract.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 8,075 (members: 10, guests: 8,065)
Back
Top