Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[TTTiger]

Isn’t he the youngest to ever play in a GF? He was 17

Tito, not sure if Geoff Starling was close to that age, went to school with him, he was a year above me, had remained family friends until we moved out of Sydney, and then lost touch.
If memory serves me right, he would have been about 17 or 18 at the time.

 

[Kaito]

Bateman doesn't want to be there.

According to whom? Last time we heard from him,
and not the journos was that he was coming back.

You got to tread carefully otherwise the RLPA will get involved as seen with his return to training date.

We're the ones that approached the RLPA with
regards to return to training dates for internationals.
I read an article saying we were looking for clarification

 

[Tucker]

According to whom? Last time we heard from him,
and not the journos was that he was coming back.



We're the ones that approached the RLPA with
regards to return to training dates for internationals.
I read an article saying we were looking for clarification

If reports are true, we tried to make him come back for 1 day, then we break for Chrissie. That’s very petty stuff.

 

[Kaito]

If reports are true, we tried to make him come back for 1 day, then we break for Chrissie. That’s very petty stuff.

Yeah man, we were most likely just gauging whether
he was keen on coming back earlier or what the
deal was. I'm sure this will resolve itself soon TBH.

 

[supercoach]

Tito, not sure if Geoff Starling was close to that age, went to school with him, he was a year above me, had remained family friends until we moved out of Sydney, and then lost touch.
If memory serves me right, he would have been about 17 or 18 at the time.

Saw him play a preseason game at the old sports ground, Starling was 17 and his centre partner I think was Trevor Ryan who was 18. All the headlines were about the youngest centre partnership ever. I was about the same age at the time

 

[tigerballs]

So a NSW Cup player who has never played backrow at any level in his juniors or seniors is suppose to turn into an NRL backrower in the space of a singular off season...

Almost as ridiculous as a 19 year old without even NSW cup experience playing Prime Ministers 13 in his rookie year.

 

[bptiger 0]

Tito, not sure if Geoff Starling was close to that age, went to school with him, he was a year above me, had remained family friends until we moved out of Sydney, and then lost touch.
If memory serves me right, he would have been about 17 or 18 at the time.

 

[bptiger 0]

Starling was one of my fav players when I was a kid , great player , we could do with one like him new ,

 

[gregjm87]

Really the debut of the one Brad Fittler changed the course of history .
Until then debuting at 21 or 22 was the norm .
From memory , and I could be wrong , but I think there was a massive increase in teenagers debuting way too early in the 90s really culminating in Jordan Rankin debuting at 16 in the mid 2000s ( thanks Greg for the inevitable correction in advance , it’s really appreciated , and not self serving at all ) .
Thankfully only the absolute unicorns debut that early nowadays . Everyone seems to have seen reason .
Still won’t stop Makasini and Large debuting this year for us and manly though .

Sorry mate, I just like statements presented as facts to be, you know, factual.

I agree that it felt like there was a dramatic increase in teenage debutants in the 90s but also don't know if this is statistically correct. At a guess though I would suggest it would be related to the rapid expansion of the competition more so than clubs thinking they've got the next Fittler. Perhaps a little of both?

 

[clontarfkid]

Saw him play a preseason game at the old sports ground, Starling was 17 and his centre partner I think was Trevor Ryan who was 18. All the headlines were about the youngest centre partnership ever. I was about the same age at the time

Think he played for Australia at 18...but had bulked up quite a bit from the skinny kid I, asked during his high school years..despite which we cldnt keep him down to less 5han 2 tries per game!
Very quick..very evasive..then filled out a lot very quickly

 

[happy_tiger]

Same year. 1989.

Was ET a high schooler as well

 

[TTTiger]

Think he played for Australia at 18...but had bulked up quite a bit from the skinny kid I, asked during his high school years..despite which we cldnt keep him down to less 5han 2 tries per game!
Very quick..very evasive..then filled out a lot very quickly

Yeah, shame about the illness he was struck down with, could have been anything, he was a freak. School teachers tried to guide him towards athletics, great swimmer, high jump and running, but he chose league, i guess the fact that we had a tigers player in the teaching staff helped guide him in that direction. From memory it was Thompson, played in the center position, he could have gone on and represented Australia in the Olympics, he was that good.

 

[supercoach]

Was ET a high schooler as well

I think so, vaguely remember a photo shoot in his school uniform

 

[Lestronge]

Isn’t he the youngest to ever play in a GF? He was 17

I thought he was 16 and 11 months ?

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Paul Mellor debuted at 16 as well

 

[davey_farrell]

Atkinson to dragons signs 3 year contract from 26, sharks couldnt keep them all, good pick up for them

 

[Yossarian]

Was ET a high schooler as well

Yep.

 

[Rusty]

Round 21 of the 2006 season, and whilst still in high school, Lawrence made his debut for the Wests Tigersagainst the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium. He is the youngest player to have debuted for the Tigers, at 17 years and 283 days old.

 

[851]

Was ET a high schooler as well

Rowdy was

 

[Bellend]

You lot forgot he debut at 17yrs old

Jim "Block" Serdaris​