Robbie and Benji wanting to play on to 2020!!!!

[upthetigers]

@upthetigers Again Liddle ?

Farah was competing with Cook at the Bunnies and Cook got the nod. Liddle will too if he is good enough. Farah is playing a lot better then JT did at the same age even though he has slowed down in his old age.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

@weststigers Did you leave off the Salary Cap penalty?

I did sir...

Actually, I left off a few things now you mention it.

* Cap penalty ($370K?)
* Lawrence long service?
* Cap increase to $9.8 Million in 2020

Does the relief we get for Lawrence + the increase in cap offset the penalty?

Long service allowance is 300K IIRC, so we're not far off it. However, if every other club has a long serving player and they are utilising it well we're still at a $370K disadvantage.

 

[bigsiro]

It is time for us as a club to move on.
Despite the fact that I think Farah has been our best player this year (with Matterson) I really believe Liddle needs more game time in order to really develop. And while we are in these "rebuilding years" (decades) we need to look to the future if we want success there.

And take nothing away from Benji; our most decorated, greatest WT and perhaps most exciting league player ever. I really do love the guy for what he has done for us, but he is a shadow of himself and on the cusp of becoming a liability.

Benji, Robbie, please, another season and resentment from your own fans will be inevitable (regardless of how you play).

You guys are absolute legends. Leave on your terms.

 

[Spud_Murphy]

@avocadoontoast I am starting to get over the not sold on Liddle comments ... firstly let the guy prove himself give him a shot . I think the situation stinks for the kid .. if I was advising him he would be looking to move on .. let’s face it the legend will be here for a couple more seasons by the look of it .

Sick of hearing about Liddle - is he ready, can he play 80 minutes, he's the future of the club blah, blah! Whats it been now 3 years of talking about this guy? Meanwhile young blokes from other teams just go straight into first grade and start ripping it up straight away!

Look at the Brailey brothers, one who looks like, and has the body of, a 14 year old - no problem! Already a hot prospect that other clubs are after and here we are still, after 3 years, wondering if Liddle will be able to handle 80 minutes...or any minutes of first grade for that matter. Why the hell do our young blokes always take so long to develop? Must be bad soil out Concord way.

 

[jirskyr]

I back the coach. If he gives it the ok so be it.

This aint Taylor or Cleary

I agree and this thread is half crazy, with all the negative feedback.

Surely everyone can agree that Maguire has been fairly ruthless with our roster even inside just 1 preseason and 12 rounds of football. Clearly Madge has certain expectations and he's not afraid to drop players for not meeting those expectations.

So if Farah and Benji meet Madge's expectations, whatever those are, then fine. He clearly doesn't suffer fools or non-performers.

On a second note, anyone who thinks Tigers should pursue a "junior development" strategy (rather than focused on external marquee recruitment) will of course realise that we need older and experienced heads amongst emerging young players. Tigers have clearly recruited some top-tier junior talent (Madden, Cini, Talau, Bradley, Simpkins) and those players need time and guidance from senior players.

Lastly, they are club legends. I'm not for "gravy train" but you get some discounts for long-servers and it's reasonable to keep guys like this on when their form is decent - so long as they don't hinder development of other players.

As boon said, if anyone thinks Farah and Benji are not in reasonable form, or that we would find cheaper value backup options elsewhere, then they are crazy. The whole point of Broncos' excellent finals drive in 2017 was because they were able to call in Benji halfway into the season and deep into the finals.

Last point - assuming the media is correct and our more experienced players are on the chopping board - Packer, Reynolds, McQueen, Matulino, Elijah Taylor... if Benji and Farah go too, it ends up being a pretty young and inexperienced side to rely on.

 

[avocadoontoast]

@avocadoontoast I am starting to get over the not sold on Liddle comments ... firstly let the guy prove himself give him a shot . I think the situation stinks for the kid .. if I was advising him he would be looking to move on .. let’s face it the legend will be here for a couple more seasons by the look of it .

Fair enough. I just haven't seen anything from him to suggest he's as good as his wraps. He had a big boom on him a couple of years ago and I don't think he's lived up to it. I also don't think he's been great for us when he's played this year. I hope he turns out to be a complete gun but at the moment i'm just not seeing it.

 

[The_Patriot]

I back the coach. If he gives it the ok so be it.

This aint Taylor or Cleary

I agree and this thread is half crazy, with all the negative feedback.

Surely everyone can agree that Maguire has been fairly ruthless with our roster even inside just 1 preseason and 12 rounds of football. Clearly Madge has certain expectations and he's not afraid to drop players for not meeting those expectations.

So if Farah and Benji meet Madge's expectations, whatever those are, then fine. He clearly doesn't suffer fools or non-performers.

On a second note, anyone who thinks Tigers should pursue a "junior development" strategy (rather than focused on external marquee recruitment) will of course realise that we need older and experienced heads amongst emerging young players. Tigers have clearly recruited some top-tier junior talent (Madden, Cini, Talau, Bradley, Simpkins) and those players need time and guidance from senior players.

Lastly, they are club legends. I'm not for "gravy train" but you get some discounts for long-servers and it's reasonable to keep guys like this on when their form is decent - so long as they don't hinder development of other players.

As boon said, if anyone thinks Farah and Benji are not in reasonable form, or that we would find cheaper value backup options elsewhere, then they are crazy. The whole point of Broncos' excellent finals drive in 2017 was because they were able to call in Benji halfway into the season and deep into the finals.

Last point - assuming the media is correct and our more experienced players are on the chopping board - Packer, Reynolds, McQueen, Matulino, Elijah Taylor... if Benji and Farah go too, it ends up being a pretty young and inexperienced side to rely on.

Yeah well said. Its a bit of a no brainer all this. If you trust the coach and his direction. Which given he has only been here two minutes everyone should then there is nothing to see here.

I think the added bonus is what these two guys can do for our salary cap. Experienced players on small contract will help take the pressure should we have to pay out Russell Packer or top up his wage elsewhere.

These two are like a built in salary cap buffer. Given the state of our roster we would be stupid to let them go.

 

[diedpretty]

@avocadoontoast I am starting to get over the not sold on Liddle comments ... firstly let the guy prove himself give him a shot . I think the situation stinks for the kid .. if I was advising him he would be looking to move on .. let’s face it the legend will be here for a couple more seasons by the look of it .

Sick of hearing about Liddle - is he ready, can he play 80 minutes, he's the future of the club blah, blah! Whats it been now 3 years of talking about this guy? Meanwhile young blokes from other teams just go straight into first grade and start ripping it up straight away!

Look at the Brailey brothers, one who looks like, and has the body of, a 14 year old - no problem! Already a hot prospect that other clubs are after and here we are still, after 3 years, wondering if Liddle will be able to handle 80 minutes...or any minutes of first grade for that matter. Why the hell do our young blokes always take so long to develop? Must be bad soil out Concord way.

Its not Liddle who keeps selecting Father Time as hooker. Liddle has been playing consistently well in CC this year which has seen him elevated to the bench after a couple of wasted years due to injury. The only way we will ever know if he has what it takes to be a regular in first grade is to get him in the starting lineup and get him playing longer minutes. If he is up to it great - if not it gives him time to look elsewhere.

 

[balmain boy]

Madge needs to give them both the wake up call asap.

You aren't contributing that much and are only going to get worse. You won't be offered playing contracts for next season but we'd like to keep you around the club in a trainer/coaching role.

Win/win.

They don't need to be players in order to help our players grow. Given our inability to make the finals with these 2 in charge of the team it's possibly better they don't offer too many words of wisdom about game management.

I can't really see Benji being a coach. He's an instinct and skill based player with a poor understanding of strategy, tactics and game management. Robbie could be a decent coach as he's a bit more of an all around player and has reasonable tactical knowledge.

 

[TIGER]

@TIGER But they havent saved us, we're coming about 10th? We suck. We need better.

So who would have played 6 while jrey was out?

Who would have played 9 when Liddle was out?

Whoever you pick wouldn't have done better

 

[weststigers]

@weststigers Did you leave off the Salary Cap penalty?

I did sir...

Actually, I left off a few things now you mention it.

* Cap penalty ($370K?)
* Lawrence long service?
* Cap increase to $9.8 Million in 2020

Does the relief we get for Lawrence + the increase in cap offset the penalty?

Long service allowance is 300K IIRC, so we're not far off it. However, if every other club has a long serving player and they are utilising it well we're still at a $370K disadvantage.

Good point, although I'm not up to speed on how many clubs have players that qualify for the long serving player allowance next year...I reckon what Maguire is doing isn't a bad tactic considering the mess we're in.

As a general comment to all, and I'd be interested to hear opinions, but if we all take a look at what's in the market for say, $150k-$200k per year, it's unlikely you'd find 2 ex-origin players and the ex-kiwi captain for the money we're going to be paying them. Awesome depth at worst, but more like regular starters/bench.

This will get us out of the cap mess very quickly while remaining competitive.

The Bulldogs and Knights before the buying spree ended up with a team of reserve graders for a few seasons before they got their cap in order. I'd rather have 3 old heads on the park than sending 3 inexperienced kids out there and ruining their development by getting flogged every week.

 

[weststigers]

@avocadoontoast I am starting to get over the not sold on Liddle comments ... firstly let the guy prove himself give him a shot . I think the situation stinks for the kid .. if I was advising him he would be looking to move on .. let’s face it the legend will be here for a couple more seasons by the look of it .

Sick of hearing about Liddle - is he ready, can he play 80 minutes, he's the future of the club blah, blah! Whats it been now 3 years of talking about this guy? Meanwhile young blokes from other teams just go straight into first grade and start ripping it up straight away!

Look at the Brailey brothers, one who looks like, and has the body of, a 14 year old - no problem! Already a hot prospect that other clubs are after and here we are still, after 3 years, wondering if Liddle will be able to handle 80 minutes...or any minutes of first grade for that matter. Why the hell do our young blokes always take so long to develop? Must be bad soil out Concord way.

Its not Liddle who keeps selecting Father Time as hooker. Liddle has been playing consistently well in CC this year which has seen him elevated to the bench after a couple of wasted years due to injury. The only way we will ever know if he has what it takes to be a regular in first grade is to get him in the starting lineup and get him playing longer minutes. If he is up to it great - if not it gives him time to look elsewhere.

Yeah, I feel sorry for Liddle. He's played 5 games and averaged 20 minutes a game this year. Hard to get any rhythm in your game and with the team like that.

In saying that, his injuries have clearly pushed back his physical development, so he's not as tight as he needs to be in defence just yet.

Hoping he can overcome his setbacks, because he's definitely talented.

 

[Jimmy]

Yes I would resign both on a one yr final contract....they are the best we can get...both are extremely cheap as well and love the club they’ll help us ride out this salary cap mess..then Madge can start looking for some star signings come 2021. It’ll also help thin the Hurd as Madge will be able to see who he wants to keep out of our current signed players

 

[Sco77y]

Marshall could potentially add some value to the squad, but Farah I don't think so.. We need to give Liddle a fair run of it for once. I think he's already proved himself at least competent. We have three hookers including Farah currently, granted Simpkin isn't ready, although he will be in coming years. Honestly can't see any value in keeping Farah on next year, even at a low cap percentage. We're short on halves though, so I wouldn't be opposed to Benji going around again, even if it's just as a reliable depth option.

 

[Matto]

I clicked on this thread hoping it was a stitch-up of some sort

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Marshall could potentially add some value to the squad, but Farah I don't think so.. We need to give Liddle a fair run of it for once. I think he's already proved himself at least competent. We have three hookers including Farah currently, granted Simpkin isn't ready, although he will be in coming years. Honestly can't see any value in keeping Farah on next year, even at a low cap percentage. We're short on halves though, so I wouldn't be opposed to Benji going around again, even if it's just as a reliable depth option.

Robson has been solid in state cup. Scored a few tries, set up a few. Solid defender.

 

[Jimmy]

@Sco77y
I’d say liddle 9 grub off the bench I love Farah but he’s just to slow

 

[TheDaBoss]

@Sco77y
I’d say liddle 9 grub off the bench I love Farah but he’s just to slow

farah, is used more for his Footy Knowledge during a game

 

[TeddyWasAFraud]

@TheDaBoss and experience, duhh

 

[851]

God no Madge, these 2 blokes have been in first grade every week they have been fit, I don’t want another year of this. Just give youth a chance, these 2 blokes are not going to play Reggie’s every week waiting for an injury, cut them loose