Justin Olam #281

Halbrowne61 said:
If he’s a talent SQ , then I’m wondering why he’s been allowed to go and yet we retain Twal and Seyfarth? Both plodders imo.
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He was off contract in 2025 and signed a deal with the Storm. We did not let him go, we were just outbid by a club he saw better opportunities with. Fair enough when you look at their second row stocks compared to ours. He has a way better chance of taking Loiero's spot than Papali'i or Bateman. Sure he could of made a good 13, but we already have 3 13s we are taking a chance on in 2025 (K. Lualilii, Faagutu, Matamua). This isn't counting Twal, Pole & Seyfarth, S. Fainu who will be fighting to fill the 13 or 3 Bench forward spots.

The only reason we are entertaining shipping him off early is because we might get a good result out of it. Our centres are below par, as shown by the fact that Tommy & AJ played more games at left centre last year than anyone. Olam is leagues above both of them & potentially comes at around the same price we would of been paying Blore anyway. (People shouldn't forget that we paid him overs on potential, in the 400 - 500k range).

If you don't think Olam wipes the floor with our current centre stocks of Toa, Naden, Alaimalo, Feledy & Saukuru then I don't know what to tell you. The only 2 other centres in the market worth going for atm are Taylan May who is coming off an ACL injury & Bradman Best who we supposedly tried for and were knocked back.
 
Lestronge said:
For the millionth time , Shaun blore is no longer a back rower . His edge defence was not good last year . He replaced Bateman , and it was no coincidence that once ice moved to the other edge , it was party time for most attacks .
Unless he forces his lateral movement , which is pretty hard to do , then he will be in the middle . I can see him at 13 for the storm . That’s far more of an issue for them . We have a million 13s.
If the club doesn’t see him as an edge player , than he is most definitely lower down our food chain . Great dude . But injury prone and no longer an edge player . Which means he’s just a body filling in a position that he shouldn’t be in our top 30 . We get Olam , and now we are looking at better options for the edges . Because he’s a good footy player if he’s defending in the middle . He’s reserve grade if he’s on an edge .
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Watch him outside quality half's
 
Suzie-Q said:
I think I'm the only one who's disappointed Shawn is leaving
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Definitely not. Anyone saying he's done nothing since tackling Brown don't know what their watching. It is only injuries, not talented that have halted his progression.
With him leaving anyway I can understand the early release. I still think the side will be worse off without him, even factoring in the upgrade at centre.
 
batboy said:
Disagree,
He's played decent Footy last year when coming off the bench in the middle....
Really won back momentum in a few games.
We'll miss him, I don't doubt....

Some of the guys we've kept over him won't ever reach his level (Even in those 31 Games)
I'm happy for him though, Great kid and obviously realises going to Melbourne is the best thing he can do for his career - So he's not silly....
I'll be rooting for him to do well there...
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Agree. I think the retention of Seyfarth over him was a roster mistake.

What’s done is done. Hope Blore has an injury free run and nails it. He seems to be committed & has some talent.
 
We badly needed an experienced centre that could defend and run some hard lines. The Storm badly needed to bolster their forward pack. So the deal was done.

It’s a gamble for both teams, Blore could be anything and Olam could turn the clock back, and of course they both could go backwards. On paper both teams look stronger for the deal, fingers crossed it works
 
Mighty_Tiger said:
Agree. I think the retention of Seyfarth over him was a roster mistake.

What’s done is done. Hope Blore has an injury free run and nails it. He seems to be committed & has some talent.
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I think we've got some regret about losing juniours in the past.

Papenhauzen types.

It looks like we're prioritising juniours over others & sadly, Blore isn't one of ours.

Might be wrong but just how it appears.
One of ours and we're keeping em.

Hopefully the same approach with the likes of Galvin and others.
 
426Tlgerland said:
Seyfarth was the wrong call , Blore is way better , Twal was a good call
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They’re not comparable . One sees himself as a top 17 player so wants top 17 money. The other knows he’s a career squad member , who will have a long career but yea his ceiling is very limited . Limited ceiling =limited money . You can’t be paying your 7-9 middle forward 250-400k . Which is what blore is on . So yea they’re not comparable .
 
jadtiger said:
Perhaps you are right but if we had kept Blore we would not be able to get Olam in a swap and we need a good experienced centre like him badly
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We could’ve still got Olam.
The issue is we need to free up a roster spot to do so. Which we did over the preseason.
Storm still wanted him gone and needed someone to grab him.
 
Demps said:
I think we've got some regret about losing juniours in the past.

Papenhauzen types.

It looks like we're prioritising juniours over others & sadly, Blore isn't one of ours.

Might be wrong but just how it appears.
One of ours and we're keeping em.

Hopefully the same approach with the likes of Galvin and others.
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I get prioritizing juniors but we need to make sure they’re the right ones as well over the kids we bring in - if we don’t no good young talent will want to join the club.

The move is done so lets hope Seyfarth steps up another few gears to be a NRL quality forward. We have invested alot of time into him.
 
Mighty_Tiger said:
I get prioritizing juniors but we need to make sure they’re the right ones as well over the kids we bring in - if we don’t no good young talent will want to join the club.

The move is done so let’s hope Seyfarth steps up another few gears to be a NRL quality forward. We have invested alot of time into him.
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Seyfarth isn’t a player thats going to come along in leaps and bounds. He’s 25 this year. What you see is what you get
 
426Tlgerland said:
Seyfarth was the wrong call , Blore is way better , Twal was a good call
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Twal is a version of a prop that does not do what a prop is expected to do (IMHO), big hits, break/bend the line, provide off-loads, quick play the ball, maximum of two (2) missed tackle per game, make at least 150m+ per game etc..
My issue with Seyfarth is that he is a weaker version of Twal described above.
So, unless he makes himself an impact prop, he is not of much value to us, and should be traded for a player that better addresses our current needs.
 
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Demps said:
I think we've got some regret about losing juniours in the past.

Papenhauzen types.

It looks like we're prioritising juniours over others & sadly, Blore isn't one of ours.

Might be wrong but just how it appears.
One of ours and we're keeping em.

Hopefully the same approach with the likes of Galvin and others.
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Man, I try not think about it but just this morning
I was thinking about how we're bound to lose
1 or 2 out of Galvin, Latu/Large having just spent
big money on our marquee half. Having said
that, I'm hopeful we can keep them all some
how. Obviously monitor and keep the most
promising out of the 3. Only positive is that
they're all at different ages & developmental
stages at this moment. Latu next, Large could
come out in a year or 2, I'd want to take our time
with Galvin. I don't see him wanting to play
centre long term - he'll be looking 4 halves money,
maybe even 2nd row, who knows. It's a good
problem to have just a bit enervating. We have
to find some success on the field in the next
few years, keep them & fit them in somewhere.
 
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