Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

I’ve argued elsewhere that Twal has improved a hell of a lot this season .., can our coaches take any credit ?

Also Toa and AD had their best years at the club … something might be going on
Tom...we are not allowed to credit coaches with anything positive. Where have you been?

There is simply a time to say nothing about coaching (when team or player is doing well) and a time to criticise (when team loses or a player makes an error). There is no in between.

Many just wait for the right opportunity to voice criticism...
 
Recently two twenty year olds earned themselves a couple of hefty contracts elsewhere after a short stint at this club. We certainly have had trouble keeping them - hopefully that will change
I am happy when 20 year olds that have done nothing in the game leave for huge sums...saves our cap from ruin. Both Galvin and TDS leaving has not impacted us greatly if at all. Some might argue it's been a positive.
 
I am happy when 20 year olds that have done nothing in the game leave for huge sums...saves our cap from ruin. Both Galvin and TDS leaving has not impacted us greatly if at all. Some might argue it's been a positive.
Time will tell - but dispels the argument that we can't develop players when the issue for some time has been about keeping them.
 
I notice KPP had 8 missed tkls yesterday...thats unlike him.
I didnt see that game
Mulitalo 3 tries as well as bench wide runners scoring...what happened
 
I notice KPP had 8 missed tkls yesterday...thats unlike him.
I didnt see that game
Mulitalo 3 tries as well as bench wide runners scoring...what happened
Cue’s in the rack. KPP is playing in a very well beaten side at the end of a crap season for them. They have had over 100 points scored against them in the last few weeks.

I’m not really sold on KPP tbh, I sure hope his form with us is better than what he’s produced at Newcastle. Hopefully it’s just the team he’s playing in that makes him seem ineffective at times.
 
And this is a big part of why we lost. We had workhorses trying hard but lacking energy and impact. We should have players going all out and then getting a rest, rather then trying to play the whole game at 69% capacity.
It was possibly our worst ever bench. Benji is horrible at managing the Matchday squad.
With that bench, God would have had trouble!
How Mason got on the bench is as big a mystery as Lasseter's Gold
Maybe it's just me?
 
yes but I’m also extremely selfish and want the entire squad there on November 3 for the sake of cohesion.
Nailed it jr when was the last time we've had the whole off-season training together, I can't remember it being so long there's always been some rep interruption.

I for once would like to see the half combos running together all off season as well as any rep new recruits.
 
they isolated him 1 on 1 with AFB & Talakai close to the line alot unfortunately
didn’t have many friends with him to help tackle
Correct. I was at the game sitting behind the posts. His ability to check and release was excellent in the first half, it stopped Cronulla being able to strip the Knights for numbers out wide, at least a couple of times.

However, as @tigahhh says, he couldn’t stop Talakai and AFB close to the line. I’ll give him a pass on this as they are two of the hardest players in the comp to tackle from one metre out.

Overall, a bit of a meh game from KPP. He is a big unit. Hopefully he brings his A game to us next year. I am wondering whether we should have signed Billy Burns from the Sharks instead…
 
Cue’s in the rack. KPP is playing in a very well beaten side at the end of a crap season for them. They have had over 100 points scored against them in the last few weeks.

I’m not really sold on KPP tbh, I sure hope his form with us is better than what he’s produced at Newcastle. Hopefully it’s just the team he’s playing in that makes him seem ineffective at times.
Mate, class players stand out in good teams. We can talk all we want about Newcastle using him properly, but tackling and making ground or making tackle breaks is largely individual effort.

If he is medicore now, he will be mediocre next season. This is a path well trodden.
 
Before we all start depressed prior to KPP even arriving- what we need is for him to be a better option than Bird or Seyfarth have been.

I think he starts way above that line already. So unless he regresses, he's an upgrade to the starting squad, and therefore the depth is stronger.

Adding in Geyer & Roberts as well starts to fill out the role required.

From what I've seen, he's not a superstar, but he's tall, athletic & tackles. He should be an advantage on kick contests & can offload. Just so long as he can run a good line off Latu or Luai or Doueihi- it's all a step in the right direction.
 
crazycat i 100% believe Benji was the right person at a tumultuous time. Bud was the 1st he chased ,damn strange move but Benji was all in , then Latu n Galvin popped up and Bud was cast aside like trash.
To waste money to subsidize souths so coach need not look at him anymore is a reflection on Benji ,

Coach at the minimum should have educated him in Reggies to get the club a better deal to trade him , to just cast him aside into the to hard basket is piz poor
You're seriously saying you'd rather have had Sullivan turning out in reggies all year than free up some cap room that could be used to sign a player who came on the market mid-year? A player like, say, Taylan May?

FWIW, I agree that Sullivan got a tough break: he was signed with the prospect of being first choice half and never got that opportunity. But it's a tough business - when you make a mistake you need to fix it, not let it linger because you want to do the right thing. Plus, Sullivan got eight first grade games with the Tigers and didn't do anything in any of them to suggest he was being unfairly overlooked. Shame, but it is what it is.
 
It's a 30 man squad with a salary cap, you can't have 3-4 back ups for each singular position its not plausible. Most those guys (except Hoeter who has only played 2 games in 3 years) are first man up for their squads in the outside back positions. I couldn't think of a bigger waste of a top 30 spot than Corey Allan...

Worst case scenario where both To'a and May went down, you have Makasini to go straight in and Laulilii (at either centre, or to wing with Turuva moving to centre). We are way better off playing and developing the young guys for a few games than Corey Allan. Corey Allan does nothing for the development of the squad and the young guys. Could you imagine the uproar on this forum if a young gun left because they were stuck behind Corey bloody Allan.

Beyond that, and somehow 3 go down, you have guys like Mapalangi and Tui'tupou who are capable enough and have First grade experience to cover a couple games. A guy like Allan does nothing at all. Mapalangi and Tui'tupou offer just as much, while on lower salaries and complimenting the development of the young guys.
I'm still on a mission to find an experienced depth back for our top 30.

I personally think it will come down to either one of the likes of Corey Allen, much to the dismay of many on here; Albert Hopoate, although unlikely due his his father's dislike for Richo now; or Aaron Schoupp, who was serviceable for Manly on the weekend. Or we reward from within and promote Izaac Tui'tupou to the top 30 on a low salary deal for his exceptional season in NSW Cup leading the comp stats in post contact metres & high in other areas and getting a start for us in the NRL this season.

If we think by Round 1, Turuva, Toa, May & Makasini are our starters, we then have Skelton & Luke Laulilii already as depth and Doeuihi & possibly Bird as cover. Maybe Benji thinks Turuva & Skelton can also cover right centre for us if required, then someone like Tui'tupou is plausible as primarily a winger (but in saying that has played centre in previous seasons for Souths).

Probably likely scenario, Richo will wait to see what drops from the trees, maybe a Paul Alamoti as someone mentioned, with Tui'tupou as a contingency as he'd probably go around again on a T&T and we don't have to fill the top 30 roster until June 30.
 
Before we all start depressed prior to KPP even arriving- what we need is for him to be a better option than Bird or Seyfarth have been.

I think he starts way above that line already. So unless he regresses, he's an upgrade to the starting squad, and therefore the depth is stronger.

Depressed is not the term I would use …its more tamping down on the expectations for KPP…Sione has been playing great on the edge the last couple of weeks , and we know Sam F is the best edge we have….so KPP could be an option for the bench Round 1… if that was to happen, it wouldn’t be the end of the world Chadster …
 
Before we all start depressed prior to KPP even arriving- what we need is for him to be a better option than Bird or Seyfarth have been.

I think he starts way above that line already. So unless he regresses, he's an upgrade to the starting squad, and therefore the depth is stronger.

Adding in Geyer & Roberts as well starts to fill out the role required.

From what I've seen, he's not a superstar, but he's tall, athletic & tackles. He should be an advantage on kick contests & can offload. Just so long as he can run a good line off Latu or Luai or Doueihi- it's all a step in the right direction.
Yep. Seyfarth becomes the “depth” which is what he should be anyway and will serve us well in that capacity.
 
they isolated him 1 on 1 with AFB & Talakai close to the line alot unfortunately
didn’t have many friends with him to help tackle
He reminds me a bit of Samuela in defense, really puts in the effort to shut down attacking raids and gets involved in tackles that most other 2RFs would avoid, often coming in from the side and missing a few. I've been watching him closely over the past few weeks, and I don't see any issues with his defence. He does need to assert himself more in attack, but that being said, it's almost criminal how one-sided the Knights' attack is—90% of the time it goes left and only shifts right when the defensive line is set and dominating, never when they're on the front foot in attack and the defence is back pedalling.
 

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