Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Vicious]

For a team that were tight on the salary cap for this year they certainly seem to have money to get Fafita and now Elliot

Very strange that Elliott would choose Souths as they have Cameron Murray who will certainly be their starting 13 and always plays big minutes and they also rate Lachlan Hubner as another 13 to come off the bench.
If he played close to the best of his ability he would be our starting 13 which indicates if we wanted him we would be a much more suitable option than Souths or virtually any other NRL club for 2026.

 

[mtd#2]

With a lot of luck....

You honestly think we are that bad with the roster we have? I think you'll be surprised at some of the development this year.. time will tell I guess.

 

[innsaneink]

So why are we not still signing players , we got two spots left and I THINK we got some money left.
The backs are strong the props will do a good job , the backrow is good , we just need a high work rate lock and I think we can make the finals this year , or it will be the same old story come the finals

Richo said even before the HB cock up the squad was locked in....fir this year and.next.

Not saying i agree with it.but i dont know why people were expecting more signings when.he said there wouldnt be

 

[wstigers11]

Very strange that Elliott would choose Souths as they have Cameron Murray who will certainly be their starting 13 and always plays big minutes and they also rate Lachlan Hubner as another 13 to come off the bench.
If he played close to the best of his ability he would be our starting 13 which indicates if we wanted him we would be a much more suitable option than Souths or virtually any other NRL club for 2026.

I’d say we probably stopped showing interest. Only one spot left

 

[gregjm87]

Richo said even before the HB cock up the squad was locked in....fir this year and.next.

Not saying i agree with it.but i dont know why people were expecting more signings when.he said there wouldnt be

Was going to say the same. To me that is an indication there is minimal cap space remaining.
Additionally, the final couple roster spots typically goes to train and trial/development guys. Rightly so in my opinion. Can't expect them to be trialling for a contract if there is no contract spots to offer.

 

[wstigers11]

Was going to say the same. To me that is an indication there is minimal cap space remaining.
Additionally, the final couple roster spots typically goes to train and trial/development guys. Rightly so in my opinion. Can't expect them to be trialling for a contract if there is no contract spots to offer.

Exactly

 

[crazycat]

Halfbacks

Ah Hunt never actually got to play finals with Brisbane till 2025...

While Luai wasn't the Regular penrith halfback, he did play there and showed that in a good team he could be halfback...

 

[crazycat]

Richo said even before the HB cock up the squad was locked in....fir this year and.next.

Not saying i agree with it.but i dont know why people were expecting more signings when.he said there wouldnt be

Yes and that was before Benji was given 4 more years.

If your a coach, and you have that long a time to play with, you really want to get your side right.
We have a gap at lock, Josh Curran was on the market.

We said NO. Maybe we thought Josh was an Average lock, Maybe we thought he was too much money/not get into a bidding war over someone not quite right, maybe our coaches can see why the dogs coaches don't like him.

Maybe we want to see how team 2026 goes before hiring more people.

Benji shouldn't plan for 1x4 years. Benji should develop a 4 year plan.
No more panic buys. I think that's what Richo was thinking too before all the fuss happened. Start moving from "we have to fill these gaps with a panic buy" too " we start working out what positions we need and we will buy the right players at the right money when we want too".

Were tired of rebuilding years, but I am totally over us doing the same rebuild year after year after year.
Lets see our side improve for once and Gel. Would love to know were planning top 4 in 2028.

 

[gallagher]

Ah Hunt never actually got to play finals with Brisbane till 2025...

While Luai wasn't the Regular penrith halfback, he did play there and showed that in a good team he could be halfback...

How could you forget Hunts knock on from the kick off in the gf v the cowboys

 

[weststigers]

It's 'eyes up footy', not free flowing. Wayne Bennett and Tim Sheens both coach that way. It's prioritises decision making and calculated risk (in the right moments), over structured play. It's why Mitchell Moses is considered a better rep halfback than Nathan Cleary but Cleary has more premierships. Cleary is a clutch player within structure. Moses is always looking up for his next penalty to milk.

I prefer it over the structured/pragmatic approach for now given the way the salary cap is geared against us. 2 teams with roughly the same tactics, the team with the better players will usually win. But you have to stay the course. And that's not easy. Everyone here froths over Brad Arthur, but it wasn't until the end of his 4th season at the Eels that he had them playing finals footy.

I’m no expert, but I’ve always thought of clever structure as the default, not the end game.

You don’t drive somewhere because the road is exciting. You drive because it gets you to places where you actually can do something exciting. Once you see the turn-off you want, you can take it. If not, you stay on the road and keep going.