There is no a single moment that I would take Samuela on rep money.
The only case to be argued is saying we can’t lose him because we lose the others.
The opposite applies. There is an extra cost to keep Sam because we have to pay others more.
Latu hasn’t shown anything to warrant more than 350-400k and even that is paying for potential vs what he has shown. Harsh, but we have enough 5/8s. You watch, Latu’s next contract will be 600k
Sione has gone backwards this year, yes even factoring in the disruption.
I would love to keep Sam. He is one of my favourite players and seems like a nice (sometimes hot headed) guy.
We need tough long term decisions for the next three years to get us back to an 8-12 position roster. From there we need another three years of smart decisions to take our roster to 4-8 position roster.
That entire paragraph is trumped by the need for a genuine halfback. We won’t be able to afford that overpaying. As a package, the three Fainu’s are in sum below the strength of three average regular NRL players.
We need to steadily upgrade with players who ARE better… not who our crystal ball gambles MAY one day be better.