Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Camel2281]

Jeral Skelton spent most of last season in NSW Cup getting used to his transition from rugby union, scoring plenty of tries along the way.
Watching bits and pieces of his games in NSW Cup so far this season, he looks to have gained confidence and gone to another level. He’s now regularly using his size and speed to advantage,
I believe we desperately need a big bodied winger to replace Junior Tupou and have been keen on us recruiting Seni Valemai who I’m certain is a good quality regular NRL standard winger given the opportunity, but it seems Jeral Skelton has more x-factor and upside.
I hope we are looking closely at either one of these 2 as neither will remain free agents for much longer,

I'd rather Schiller

 

[tonza]

What do we think of
1. Bula
2. Laulilii
3. L Fainu (out there but stick with me)
4. Olam
5. Turuva
6. Galvin
7. Luai
8. Stefano
9. Api
10. Klem
11. Su’a
12. Bateman
13. Papali’i
14. Seyfarth (or Bud if we want a utility)
15. Pole
16. Twal
17. S Fainu

New signings
Turuva - is a good winger has a connection with Api and can play centres and fullback if needed
Su’a - probably not likely to sign but can add heaps to an already great forward pack

New players
Laulilii - although he will only be 18 the kid has talent and if he keeps holding his own in cup at 17 then we could easily see him in nrl next year
L Fainu - has never really played centre but is good defensively and we need to find a spot for him in the team somewhere

Moved positions
Papali’i - he won’t have the ball playing that we would probably like but getting him in the middle of the field could help unlock his attacking game a little bit more and we know he has the defence for it (although sometimes he misses a tackle or 2)
Pole - right now the best use for Pole is off the bench his hard running and late footwork is a nightmare for tired middles

When Fainu is finally fit and ready to go, I would like to see him in the 6 and Galvin to 3. Galvin reminds me very much of a young Jamie Lyon. We get to use all of our promising players and fill some areas we are lacking in.

 

[Camel2281]

What do we think of
1. Bula
2. Laulilii
3. L Fainu (out there but stick with me)
4. Olam
5. Turuva
6. Galvin
7. Luai
8. Stefano
9. Api
10. Klem
11. Su’a
12. Bateman
13. Papali’i
14. Seyfarth (or Bud if we want a utility)
15. Pole
16. Twal
17. S Fainu

New signings
Turuva - is a good winger has a connection with Api and can play centres and fullback if needed
Su’a - probably not likely to sign but can add heaps to an already great forward pack

New players
Laulilii - although he will only be 18 the kid has talent and if he keeps holding his own in cup at 17 then we could easily see him in nrl next year
L Fainu - has never really played centre but is good defensively and we need to find a spot for him in the team somewhere

Moved positions
Papali’i - he won’t have the ball playing that we would probably like but getting him in the middle of the field could help unlock his attacking game a little bit more and we know he has the defence for it (although sometimes he misses a tackle or 2)
Pole - right now the best use for Pole is off the bench his hard running and late footwork is a nightmare for tired middles

I like it except I'd have Fainu as a 14 in the Conor Watson, Dylan Walker etc mould and look for another Centre

 

[Vicious]

Schiller is Brett Mullins nephew hey

I can't see him leaving the Raiders but you never know... a lot of that family are Newcastle based these days.

He's been a stand out this year for sure.

As good as he looks to be he simply doesn’t fit into the Raiders top 17 when they are full strength.
Raiders have 2 of the very best emerging centres in the game in Timoko and Kris, Savage and Hopoate are their preferred wingers when at full strength.
If Schiller wants to play as an NRL regular like he deserves to, he has to move from the Raiders.

 

[Demps]

As good as he looks to be he simply doesn’t fit into the Raiders top 17 when they are full strength.
Raiders have 2 of the very best emerging centres in the game in Timoko and Kris, Savage and Hopoate are their preferred wingers when at full strength.
If Schiller wants to play as an NRL regular like he deserves to, he has to move from the Raiders.

Nature of the beast.

Trey Mooney looks good too and he can't make their starting team.

 

[FrodoTBaggin]

Just saw a clip from 100% footy that I thought was interesting. Weidler was talking about the Lomax situation and someone asked him if any other club was interested, he said Lomax's manager was saying there is one other club interested but he wouldn't say who it was.

Could be smoke and mirrors to try and put pressure on Parra, but I also recall Richo saying a few weeks ago that if it gets out that they are talking to a player then they will pull any offer and stop all discussions.

 

[Vicious]

5 or 6 additional quality recruits could change us from a team Wests Tigers fans hope will win on the weekend, into a team we are highly confident will win on most weekends.
Fullback looks to be covered with Bula and back up options Staines, Mason or Laulilli.
Staines is earning his right to be a lock on one wing and think we need to recruit for the other wing position, To’a can’t be discounted if he is going to be left out of the centres.
Maybe recruiting Turuva would create competition between he and To’a to see who plays centre and who plays wing.
Regardless I think we need to recruit a big bodied wing option, Skelton or Valemai both great options.
Olam locks down left centre when fit to play. natural left centres in Faatape, Feledy and Makasini all provide great cover for Olam, but for Salary Cap reasons we can probably only afford to keep one or two of them.
Being a natural left centre I really don’t see Faatape as a long term right centre option, therefore recruiting someone such as Schiller or Lomax is the preferred option.
Halves obviously covered with Luai’s arrival.
Unless we see big improvement I think we need to offload Naden and most likely Sullivan.
If we did offload Sullivan we would require a very strong back up halve, maybe a player like Bailey Hayward from the Bulldogs or Adam Cook from the Raiders.
Hooker is covered, although you really do need 3 good quality hookers in the squad, so may need to replace Simpkin if he departs.
We are pretty strong for props providing we retain Stefano, however one extra dynamic ball runner would certainly help. Trey Mooney would be a great addition.
I really don’t see any long term value in Bateman, I’d be offloading him and signing with Angus Crichton or Jayden Su’a.
Even then we need at least one good quality back up edge forward and have an option of moving Papali’i to 13. For low cost options I really like the look of Billy Burns currently at the Sharks and Matt Doorey at the Eels.
Lastly I would consider Josh Schuster as a 13 option ONLY if we could get him for 400k or less. Reason being I really don’t think our young 13 hopefuls are capable of stepping up to NRL level as soon as we may have liked. A big watch on how Matamua goes this week as he’s now had the last season of grounding in NSW Cup, he could be much more ready for NRL now..

 

[AdelaideTiger]

Would have to think that the Tigers are keeping an eye on the Lomax situation, but I also get the feeling that they are going to give Doueihi a go in the centres before making any formal offers.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

5 or 6 additional quality recruits could change us from a team Wests Tigers fans hope will win on the weekend, into a team we are highly confident will win on most weekends.
Fullback looks to be covered with Bula and back up options Staines, Mason or Laulilli.
Staines is earning his right to be a lock on one wing and think we need to recruit for the other wing position, To’a can’t be discounted if he is going to be left out if the centres.
Maybe recruiting Turuva would create competition between he and To’a to see who plays centre and who plays wing.
Regardless I think we need to recruit a big bodied wing option, Skelton or Valemai both great options.
Olam locks down left centre when fit to play. Natural left enters in Faatape, Feledy and Makasini all provide great cover for Olam, but for Salary Cap reasons we can probably only afford to keep one or two of them.
Being a natural left centre I really don’t see Faatape as a long term right centre option, therefore recruiting someone such as Schiller or Lomax is the preferred option.
Halves obviously covered with Luai’s arrival.
Unless we see big improvement I think we need to offload Naden and most likely Sullivan.
If we did offload Sullivan we would require a very strong back up halve, maybe a player like Bailey Hayward from the Bulldogs or Adam Cook from the Raiders.
Hooker is covered, although you really do need 3 good quality hookers in the squad, so may need to replace Simpkin if he departs.
We are pretty strong for props providing we retain Stefano, however one extra dynamic ball runner would certainly help. Trey Mooney would be a great addition.
I really don’t see any long term value in Bateman, I’d be offloading him and signing with Angus Crichton or Jayden Su’a.
Even then we need at least one good quality back up edge forward and have an option of moving Papali’i to 13. For low cost options I really like the look of Billy Burns currently at the Sharks and Matt Doorey at the Eels.
Lastly I would consider Josh Schuster as a 13 option ONLY if we could get him for 400k or less. Reason being I really don’t think our young 13 hopefuls are capable of stepping up to NRL level as soon as we may have liked. A big watch on how Matamua goes this week as he’s now had the last season of grounding in NSW Cup, he could be much more ready for NRL now..

Great summation @Vicious

5 or 6 may be stretching it given the way Richo has been speaking in podcasts. I get the feel that we may recruit about 3 externals with our focus being developing our own.

The 3 externals being in positions where we do lack depth, so based on your summary and what we know, an outside back, back up edge forward and either a utility hooker or another solid middle.

I strongly doubt we'll offload Bateman given he is VC and part of our cultural evolution & defensive mindset at the club.

A quality outside back is probably the position we are actively seeking now for next season whilst I reckon Benji is keen to see if any of our young guys getting a run in Cup really put their hand up in the 2nd half of the season.

 

[gregjm87]

5 or 6 additional quality recruits could change us from a team Wests Tigers fans hope will win on the weekend, into a team we are highly confident will win on most weekends.
Fullback looks to be covered with Bula and back up options Staines, Mason or Laulilli.
Staines is earning his right to be a lock on one wing and think we need to recruit for the other wing position, To’a can’t be discounted if he is going to be left out of the centres.
Maybe recruiting Turuva would create competition between he and To’a to see who plays centre and who plays wing.
Regardless I think we need to recruit a big bodied wing option, Skelton or Valemai both great options.
Olam locks down left centre when fit to play. natural left centres in Faatape, Feledy and Makasini all provide great cover for Olam, but for Salary Cap reasons we can probably only afford to keep one or two of them.
Being a natural left centre I really don’t see Faatape as a long term right centre option, therefore recruiting someone such as Schiller or Lomax is the preferred option.
Halves obviously covered with Luai’s arrival.
Unless we see big improvement I think we need to offload Naden and most likely Sullivan.
If we did offload Sullivan we would require a very strong back up halve, maybe a player like Bailey Hayward from the Bulldogs or Adam Cook from the Raiders.
Hooker is covered, although you really do need 3 good quality hookers in the squad, so may need to replace Simpkin if he departs.
We are pretty strong for props providing we retain Stefano, however one extra dynamic ball runner would certainly help. Trey Mooney would be a great addition.
I really don’t see any long term value in Bateman, I’d be offloading him and signing with Angus Crichton or Jayden Su’a.
Even then we need at least one good quality back up edge forward and have an option of moving Papali’i to 13. For low cost options I really like the look of Billy Burns currently at the Sharks and Matt Doorey at the Eels.
Lastly I would consider Josh Schuster as a 13 option ONLY if we could get him for 400k or less. Reason being I really don’t think our young 13 hopefuls are capable of stepping up to NRL level as soon as we may have liked. A big watch on how Matamua goes this week as he’s now had the last season of grounding in NSW Cup, he could be much more ready for NRL now..

You've mentioned Doorey a few times. I've no idea what you see in him.

 

[Vicious]

Great summation @Vicious

5 or 6 may be stretching it given the way Richo has been speaking in podcasts. I get the feel that we may recruit about 3 externals with our focus being developing our own.

The 3 externals being in positions where we do lack depth, so based on your summary and what we know, an outside back, back up edge forward and either a utility hooker or another solid middle.

I strongly doubt we'll offload Bateman given he is VC and part of our cultural evolution & defensive mindset at the club.

A quality outside back is probably the position we are actively seeking now for next season whilst I reckon Benji is keen to see if any of our young guys getting a run in Cup really put their hand up in the 2nd half of the season.

I agree with what you are saying, but I can see Richo having a change of heart and recruiting more heavily once he realises some our juniors in particular our forwards are not as near ready for NRL as what was first thought.
Results will be a deciding factor as I’m sure Richo and Benji will want more from our edge back row if they continue to offer no attacking threat.

 

[Vicious]

You've mentioned Doorey a few times. I've no idea what you see in him.

Big body who runs hard, tackles hard, about the right age to be approaching the prime of his career.
Has made a few clean line breaks in his limited NRL opportunities, when was the last time any of our much higher paid edge forwards made a clean line break ?

 

[jrtiger]

Just saw a clip from 100% footy that I thought was interesting. Weidler was talking about the Lomax situation and someone asked him if any other club was interested, he said Lomax's manager was saying there is one other club interested but he wouldn't say who it was.

Could be smoke and mirrors to try and put pressure on Parra, but I also recall Richo saying a few weeks ago that if it gets out that they are talking to a player then they will pull any offer and stop all discussions.

I definitely think it is us that is in the picture, but similar to what you've mentioned they're reluctant to name us.

I'd still prefer Turuva to Lomax for a couple reasons, but I certainly wouldn't be complaining if Zac ended up in Concord. he has ability you simply cannot coach.

 

[balmain boy]

Big body who runs hard, tackles hard, about the right age to be approaching the prime of his career.
Has made a few clean line breaks in his limited NRL opportunities, when was the last time any of our much higher paid edge forwards made a clean line break ?

Papalii has effectively been a prop for us for the last year. No sign that he is capable of making a break, he's a 50 minute hit up merchant currently, and with Bateman more interested in fighting than playing footy we desperately need two starting level back rowers, no room for prospects

 

[Vicious]

Papalii has effectively been a prop for us for the last year. No sign that he is capable of making a break, he's a 50 minute hit up merchant currently, and with Bateman more interested in fighting than playing footy we desperately need two starting level back rowers, no room for prospects

Agree with you 💯

 

[Tiger-ferret]

Papalii has effectively been a prop for us for the last year. No sign that he is capable of making a break, he's a 50 minute hit up merchant currently, and with Bateman more interested in fighting than playing footy we desperately need two starting level back rowers, no room for prospects

His cut out ball to Staines was class

 

[gregjm87]

Big body who runs hard, tackles hard, about the right age to be approaching the prime of his career.
Has made a few clean line breaks in his limited NRL opportunities, when was the last time any of our much higher paid edge forwards made a clean line break ?

I have to disagree. Average sized body who occasionally runs hard and rarely tackles hard and has low work rate on both sides of the ball would be a more apt summary IMO. I dont watch much reserve grade outside of a handful of Workers and the occasional Magpies games but from what ive seen of him i wouldn't have him in my top 5 reggies backrowers.

 

[Vicious]

I have to disagree. Average sized body who occasionally runs hard and rarely tackles hard and has low work rate on both sides of the ball would be a more apt summary IMO. I dont watch much reserve grade outside of a handful of Workers and the occasional Magpies games but from what ive seen of him i wouldn't have him in my top 5 reggies backrowers.

Fair enough everyone sees things differently.
He’s no world beater, but I believe as a back up option he’s much better than what we currently have and what I can tell you there is a distinct lack of depth across the board when trying to find decent edge back rowers.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

5 or 6 additional quality recruits could change us from a team Wests Tigers fans hope will win on the weekend, into a team we are highly confident will win on most weekends.
Fullback looks to be covered with Bula and back up options Staines, Mason or Laulilli.
Staines is earning his right to be a lock on one wing and think we need to recruit for the other wing position, To’a can’t be discounted if he is going to be left out of the centres.
Maybe recruiting Turuva would create competition between he and To’a to see who plays centre and who plays wing.
Regardless I think we need to recruit a big bodied wing option, Skelton or Valemai both great options.
Olam locks down left centre when fit to play. natural left centres in Faatape, Feledy and Makasini all provide great cover for Olam, but for Salary Cap reasons we can probably only afford to keep one or two of them.
Being a natural left centre I really don’t see Faatape as a long term right centre option, therefore recruiting someone such as Schiller or Lomax is the preferred option.
Halves obviously covered with Luai’s arrival.
Unless we see big improvement I think we need to offload Naden and most likely Sullivan.
If we did offload Sullivan we would require a very strong back up halve, maybe a player like Bailey Hayward from the Bulldogs or Adam Cook from the Raiders.
Hooker is covered, although you really do need 3 good quality hookers in the squad, so may need to replace Simpkin if he departs.
We are pretty strong for props providing we retain Stefano, however one extra dynamic ball runner would certainly help. Trey Mooney would be a great addition.
I really don’t see any long term value in Bateman, I’d be offloading him and signing with Angus Crichton or Jayden Su’a.
Even then we need at least one good quality back up edge forward and have an option of moving Papali’i to 13. For low cost options I really like the look of Billy Burns currently at the Sharks and Matt Doorey at the Eels.
Lastly I would consider Josh Schuster as a 13 option ONLY if we could get him for 400k or less. Reason being I really don’t think our young 13 hopefuls are capable of stepping up to NRL level as soon as we may have liked. A big watch on how Matamua goes this week as he’s now had the last season of grounding in NSW Cup, he could be much more ready for NRL now..

I also don't think 13 is what we'll be in the market for.

I have a gut feeling that Latu Fainu maybe the guy as he will physically develop into a real nugget, is already one of the best wrestlers at the club, very good defensively and could be given a license to roam as well as link.

Just a gut feeling!

 

[BAGNF05]

Some Sheenius selection suggestions on here. Glad BQM is picking the team.