Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[BlackWhiteGold]

if there's anyone who's expendable in the backline, it's Skelton, not Starford.

Makasini's likely to start on the left wing next year imo.

I agree re Makasini. Can see him become an exceptional left winger to start his NRL career with his fend, decent speed, tackle-breaking ability & pretty good aerial takes from what I have seen.

Skelton will be a great depth option next season in the final year of his contract.

 

[innsaneink]

Crazy people thinking Jerals expendable....hes angun and will only get better

 

[jrtiger]

I agree re Makasini. Can see him become an exceptional left winger to start his NRL career with his fend, decent speed, tackle-breaking ability & pretty good aerial takes from what I have seen.

Skelton will be a great depth option next season in the final year of his contract.

I think Skelton's way more likely to go to R360 than Starford, despite Mac's reasonably plausible theory.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

Crazy people thinking Jerals expendable....hes angun and will only get better

Hope so Ink. Just think his decision making & skill errors (poor handling & ptbs at times) need work & he is not an aerial threat for a winger his height. I just think he'll get overtaken by others in our squad.

 

[weststigerman]

To'a was probably our 2nd best player over the first half of the year. The knock on him is inconsistency and injuries, unfortunately the 2nd half of the year has done nothing to disprove the knocks.

My feel is Benji likes him but is running out of patience

He’s definitely got the injury prone label on him based on the past few years and I think that leads to a lot of the perceived inconsistency.

Will he continue to be injury prone? That’s the gamble.

 

[crazycat]

Said this all along, it was always easiest to point to finger at Moses. Its true that Benji and Moses don't get along, but Moses loves money more than he dislikes Benji. Godinet and Sukkar both re-signed this year along with Doueihi (even though Moses was just an advisor).

The Galvin release and pile on was always from the Galvin camp. From what i know, the Moses camp was not happy with the Galvin camp after all was said and done as Moses helped orchestrate the whole debacle to get him Parra. Galvins family and Vella were secretly working to get him to the Bulldogs for months.

I... I really don't know.

So I am very bitter at Issac Moses. It's clear that he had some role in getting Galvin to pull out of the club. I think though you have a point and the parents did not want Galvin to settle here.

What gets me through all of this is the Bulldogs poached Galvin's childhood trainer. We could have easily hired him to keep Galvin and made "small" adjustments. Premadonna's though... it's better to let them walk.

Clearly the Dogs were angling for Galvin for a very long time. Gus bragged about talking with Burton's parents and I highly suspect he helped get into their heads. Hoping such schemes will cost them a grand final.

 

[TheEnz]

Having a back up hooker that can play elsewhere would be very beneficial to the top 30.

Latu is probably the closest we have, being able to play in the halves, at hooker and at 13 but Benjis saying he's the long term 7.

With our squad filling, I'm not sure how we could land such a player and who it'd be.

Perhaps Jock could play some 9 if needed !?

Maybe that's why they retained AD, Latu and Hope share the 9 and AD slots into 7 from 13 while Latu is at 9.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Maybe that's why they retained AD, Latu and Hope share the 9 and AD slots into 7 from 13 while Latu is at 9.

That feels very convoluted. Would be much easier just to have a specialist.

 

[crazycat]

Dodd is going to be hard to shift. Hasn't had much game time and the team is decimated, so can't show much. The biggest sticking point is the big salary.

I think Bird stays as depth because he is on low money. Hunt is in the firing line, but no one is going to pay 600k for him...we'll need to pay his bus fares to shift him.

To'a may get moved on if Makasini takes his spot, but players can still move after the season starts, so we might start with him and move him closer to the June 30 deadline.

Definitely players will get punted in something decent pops up.

Dodd is a weird one.
Yet if Bennett can't make a halfback out of him, no one can.

The fact that Sullivan is running ahead of Dodd either means Dodd is being pushed out OR he is crap.

What to do with Hunt?
IMHO we shouldn't move him on. Give him an ultimatium "your on 500k now. you want to be in the starting side, so we want to see you put in... and you can do this. Else we will put you on Bench/reserve grade duties and your next contract will hurt".

I get this feeling that Craig Fitzgibbon can read people well. He could have built Hunt into an awesome forward, but knew the attitude was wrong. Trent Robinson is kind of the same, although his players do well elsewhere. Ivan Cleary is a horrible signer but a great coach.

 

[TheEnz]

That feels very convoluted. Would be much easier just to have a specialist.

This would only be to cover if Api is injured...not a week to week proposition. You will always have a few weak spots in a roster. Both in terms of timing i.e. young guns you don't want to lose/block however maybe 12 months away from first grade, or cap restrictions. Teams with top 3-4 hookers don't always have quality first grade ready back-ups as all the money is pumped into the starting 9, unless you are the Storm.

 

[Tom Shines]

I think Skelton's way more likely to go to R360 than Starford, despite Mac's reasonably plausible theory.

We’ll see if R360 gets off the ground

 

[innsaneink]

Hope so Ink. Just think his decision making & skill errors (poor handling & ptbs at times) need work & he is not an aerial threat for a winger his height. I just think he'll get overtaken by others in our squad.

As gunther said hes 20 odd firsr grade games...still developing.
Been a long time since weve had a big strong fast winger.
I like him...still raw but just goes about his business quietly no lairising

 

[tigahhh]

As gunther said hes 20 odd firsr grade games...still developing.
Been a long time since weve had a big strong fast winger.
I like him...still raw but just goes about his business quietly no lairising

also worth a mention his strength is insane, can find the try line and crash into blokes to get the ball down

 

[WesternSuburbsBoy]

Members email just hit. AD extension is official !!

 

[WesternSuburbsBoy]

Shoutout to Richo the big dog too. Old admin would've panicked & offered AD like 600k or something lol

 

[Tito Santana]

also worth a mention his strength is insane, can find the try line and crash into blokes to get the ball down

The guy will probably get snapped up by R360 and live like a king for the rest of his life.

Good player. I dont get the hate for him. Huge unit that can nail blokes.

 

[tigahhh]

The guy will probably get snapped up by R360 and live like a king for the rest of his life.

Good player. I dont get the hate for him. Huge unit that can nail blokes.

yeah i love the kid puts his body on the line for the jersey

 

[weststigers]

Hope so Ink. Just think his decision making & skill errors (poor handling & ptbs at times) need work & he is not an aerial threat for a winger his height. I just think he'll get overtaken by others in our squad.

In fairness to him, he was a flanker in union from memory...still learning to an extent.

 

[Kelce68]

I agree re Makasini. Can see him become an exceptional left winger to start his NRL career with his fend, decent speed, tackle-breaking ability & pretty good aerial takes from what I have seen.

Skelton will be a great depth option next season in the final year of his contract.

I think a world needs to exist where the back 5 are Bula, Skelton, Masi, May and Tito in the short to medium term.

Whether they can get the timing and positions right for each is the challenge.

Jeral is probably then the most upgradable of them all in the longer term, depending on how it all plays out.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

Members email just hit. AD extension is official !!

Doueihi inks two-year deal to re-commit to Wests Tigers

The Wests Tigers are pleased to announce the re-signing of Adam Doueihi on a two-year deal, with the versatile back extending his stay at Concord until the end of the 2027 NRL season.

www.weststigers.com.au