Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[avocadoontoast]

Just saw on Facebook that apparently Tigers and Warriors have offers in front of JDB for next year. Was posted by a disgruntled Dragons fan.

Hope he goes to warriors.

Just saw on Facebook that apparently Tigers and Warriors have offers in front of JDB for next year. Was posted by a disgruntled Dragons fan.

Hope he goes to warriors.

He's a better lock than anyone we have Avo.

I couldn’t care if he’s the greatest player in the history of rugby league. I don’t want him at any price. I’d rather sign Robert Jennings for $1m a year for 10 years.

Are you happy to sign CHN? Avo.

What he did was dumb but it wasn’t as bad as Okunbor. CHN wasn’t even on the school tour I believe, he met her through tinder that night.

I wouldn’t quite compare that to allegedly raping someone whilst his pregnant girlfriend was at home. Bit of a diff don’t you think?

Just saw on Facebook that apparently Tigers and Warriors have offers in front of JDB for next year. Was posted by a disgruntled Dragons fan.

Hope he goes to warriors.

Just saw on Facebook that apparently Tigers and Warriors have offers in front of JDB for next year. Was posted by a disgruntled Dragons fan.

Hope he goes to warriors.

He's a better lock than anyone we have Avo.

I couldn’t care if he’s the greatest player in the history of rugby league. I don’t want him at any price. I’d rather sign Robert Jennings for $1m a year for 10 years.

Are you happy to sign CHN? Avo.

What he did was dumb but it wasn’t as bad as Okunbor. CHN wasn’t even on the school tour I believe, he met her through tinder that night.

I wouldn’t quite compare that to allegedly raping someone whilst his pregnant girlfriend was at home. Bit of a diff don’t you think?

Just saw on Facebook that apparently Tigers and Warriors have offers in front of JDB for next year. Was posted by a disgruntled Dragons fan.

Hope he goes to warriors.

Just saw on Facebook that apparently Tigers and Warriors have offers in front of JDB for next year. Was posted by a disgruntled Dragons fan.

Hope he goes to warriors.

He's a better lock than anyone we have Avo.

I couldn’t care if he’s the greatest player in the history of rugby league. I don’t want him at any price. I’d rather sign Robert Jennings for $1m a year for 10 years.

Are you happy to sign CHN? Avo.

What he did was dumb but it wasn’t as bad as Okunbor. CHN wasn’t even on the school tour I believe, he met her through tinder that night.

I wouldn’t quite compare that to allegedly raping someone whilst his pregnant girlfriend was at home. Bit of a diff don’t you think?

Nothing has been proven as yet.

If he is found guilty - no one will be signing him anyway, because he will be in the lock up.

I couldn’t give a toss. The fact he’s out banging girls with his mate while his pregnant g/f is home is bad enough. He’s a lowlife scumbag.

 

[diedpretty]

The reason they couldn’t hold onto Matterson and force eels to release Stefano was Matterson was leaving the club either way - if they kept him after November they would’ve had to start paying his contract which would’ve come out of our cap and it would’ve been cheaper for eels.

Eels knew that so they denied the Stefano release and waited for Matterson. I’d much prefer it this way compared to having to pay Matterson to play for eels.

What are you on about - Matterson was signed until the end of 2021- he wasn't going anywhere without a release. We wouldn't of paid parra a cent. We would have been paying a disgruntled sook to sit out the season if he refused to play - nothing more. So he would have been a good bargaining chip if we hadn't been so keen to release him.

There’s no way the club could’ve kept him his position was untenable. Keep him in reserve grade and you’re paying his contract to do nothing but upset the playing group.

The club had no choice but to release him, and they didn’t want to pay him to play at another club so they let him go

The original post was about why didn't we keep him a few months longer to force Parras hand in releasing Stefano. Someone posted that he was going anyway and that we would have been paying parra for him to play if we didn't release him. Thats what my post is about - nothing about the untenable situation - i couldn't give a rats that we released him - however we played it really badly.

That’s what I said, and it’s true. As soon as it’s past November you start paying a players contract. If we kept him after November we would have to start paying him when he would get a release either way and it would come out of our cap. That’s why he got released at that time.

The club tried getting a player swap from clubs but clubs knew they could wait and he would get a release anyway. Club was in a crap position, lose-lose really and we can thank Matto for that.

I know all that - we are talking about 2 different things - I am merely commenting on the choices we had - yep we could have paid him and made him sit out the season - we chose not to but in doing so we reduced any chance of using his dummy spit to our advantage.

 

[JC99]

The reason they couldn’t hold onto Matterson and force eels to release Stefano was Matterson was leaving the club either way - if they kept him after November they would’ve had to start paying his contract which would’ve come out of our cap and it would’ve been cheaper for eels.

Eels knew that so they denied the Stefano release and waited for Matterson. I’d much prefer it this way compared to having to pay Matterson to play for eels.

What are you on about - Matterson was signed until the end of 2021- he wasn't going anywhere without a release. We wouldn't of paid parra a cent. We would have been paying a disgruntled sook to sit out the season if he refused to play - nothing more. So he would have been a good bargaining chip if we hadn't been so keen to release him.

There’s no way the club could’ve kept him his position was untenable. Keep him in reserve grade and you’re paying his contract to do nothing but upset the playing group.

The club had no choice but to release him, and they didn’t want to pay him to play at another club so they let him go

The original post was about why didn't we keep him a few months longer to force Parras hand in releasing Stefano. Someone posted that he was going anyway and that we would have been paying parra for him to play if we didn't release him. Thats what my post is about - nothing about the untenable situation - i couldn't give a rats that we released him - however we played it really badly.

That’s what I said, and it’s true. As soon as it’s past November you start paying a players contract. If we kept him after November we would have to start paying him when he would get a release either way and it would come out of our cap. That’s why he got released at that time.

The club tried getting a player swap from clubs but clubs knew they could wait and he would get a release anyway. Club was in a crap position, lose-lose really and we can thank Matto for that.

I know all that - we are talking about 2 different things - I am merely commenting on the choices we had - yep we could have paid him and made him sit out the season - we chose not to but in doing so we reduced any chance of using his dummy spit to our advantage.

Unfortunately there was no way we could’ve taken advantage of it. Better than paying him to sit in reserves and go elsewhere after a few months

 

[clontarfkid]

The reason they couldn’t hold onto Matterson and force eels to release Stefano was Matterson was leaving the club either way - if they kept him after November they would’ve had to start paying his contract which would’ve come out of our cap and it would’ve been cheaper for eels.

Eels knew that so they denied the Stefano release and waited for Matterson. I’d much prefer it this way compared to having to pay Matterson to play for eels.

What are you on about - Matterson was signed until the end of 2021- he wasn't going anywhere without a release. We wouldn't of paid parra a cent. We would have been paying a disgruntled sook to sit out the season if he refused to play - nothing more. So he would have been a good bargaining chip if we hadn't been so keen to release him.

There’s no way the club could’ve kept him his position was untenable. Keep him in reserve grade and you’re paying his contract to do nothing but upset the playing group.

The club had no choice but to release him, and they didn’t want to pay him to play at another club so they let him go

The original post was about why didn't we keep him a few months longer to force Parras hand in releasing Stefano. Someone posted that he was going anyway and that we would have been paying parra for him to play if we didn't release him. Thats what my post is about - nothing about the untenable situation - i couldn't give a rats that we released him - however we played it really badly.

That’s what I said, and it’s true. As soon as it’s past November you start paying a players contract. If we kept him after November we would have to start paying him when he would get a release either way and it would come out of our cap. That’s why he got released at that time.

The club tried getting a player swap from clubs but clubs knew they could wait and he would get a release anyway. Club was in a crap position, lose-lose really and we can thank Matto for that.

I know all that - we are talking about 2 different things - I am merely commenting on the choices we had - yep we could have paid him and made him sit out the season - we chose not to but in doing so we reduced any chance of using his dummy spit to our advantage.

Unfortunately there was no way we could’ve taken advantage of it. Better than paying him to sit in reserves and go elsewhere after a few months

The player managers and the NRL(Farah case) know were a soft touch,and we always end up losing out.And when the boot is on the other foot,we never win
Need to show some spine at some stage or this wont change.Eels timing wasnt ideal,but still do-able and we got rolled by everyone again
Maybe we need Marina back..?

 

[jirskyr]

The reason they couldn’t hold onto Matterson and force eels to release Stefano was Matterson was leaving the club either way - if they kept him after November they would’ve had to start paying his contract which would’ve come out of our cap and it would’ve been cheaper for eels.

Eels knew that so they denied the Stefano release and waited for Matterson. I’d much prefer it this way compared to having to pay Matterson to play for eels.

What are you on about - Matterson was signed until the end of 2021- he wasn't going anywhere without a release. We wouldn't of paid parra a cent. We would have been paying a disgruntled sook to sit out the season if he refused to play - nothing more. So he would have been a good bargaining chip if we hadn't been so keen to release him.

There’s no way the club could’ve kept him his position was untenable. Keep him in reserve grade and you’re paying his contract to do nothing but upset the playing group.

The club had no choice but to release him, and they didn’t want to pay him to play at another club so they let him go

The original post was about why didn't we keep him a few months longer to force Parras hand in releasing Stefano. Someone posted that he was going anyway and that we would have been paying parra for him to play if we didn't release him. Thats what my post is about - nothing about the untenable situation - i couldn't give a rats that we released him - however we played it really badly.

That’s what I said, and it’s true. As soon as it’s past November you start paying a players contract. If we kept him after November we would have to start paying him when he would get a release either way and it would come out of our cap. That’s why he got released at that time.

The club tried getting a player swap from clubs but clubs knew they could wait and he would get a release anyway. Club was in a crap position, lose-lose really and we can thank Matto for that.

I know all that - we are talking about 2 different things - I am merely commenting on the choices we had - yep we could have paid him and made him sit out the season - we chose not to but in doing so we reduced any chance of using his dummy spit to our advantage.

Unfortunately there was no way we could’ve taken advantage of it. Better than paying him to sit in reserves and go elsewhere after a few months

I agree with Josh, there's no advantage when a player dummy spits and wants out. You are talking about risking, in the case of a high-profile player, hundreds of thousands of the cap just to have them sit on the sideline and "hope" something comes up to bargain against. And every club knows what's going on, putting you at a negotiating disadvantage.

In the case of Matto, it would have been at least 1/3 of his contract paid out to wait until the start of the season (Nov to Feb inclusive). There's every chance Parra call your bluff and keep Stefano anyway, and you have to keep paying Matto not to play. Maybe Parra weren't that interested. It's difficult when there's only 1 or 2 parties involved, not a recruitment frenzy. Especially true between seasons when most clubs have little room to manoeuvre in their caps.

Roosters were in a similar boat, but in reverse in terms of "want", with Latrell and had to pay him out a significant sum before he left the club. Every club knew Roosters wanted Latrell gone and were willing to wait to see how much discount they could get. Souths were not in an immediate position to come to the party, which is what put Tigers in the box seat, not to mention amicable terms with the Roosters over the release. There is no club Roosters wish less to advantage than Souths, even so, Roosters eventually conceded.

Think on that - Roosters, arguably the most powerful roster-managing club going around, paying 1/3 of their star 2X GF winning rep centre's wage, to spend preseason shooting pigs on his property, then release him to their nemesis.

No, the only way it's possible is if the player is a pro, and when a release is denied or in consideration, the player still trains and applies themselves 100% as if they were staying.

 

[jirskyr]

The reason they couldn’t hold onto Matterson and force eels to release Stefano was Matterson was leaving the club either way - if they kept him after November they would’ve had to start paying his contract which would’ve come out of our cap and it would’ve been cheaper for eels.

Eels knew that so they denied the Stefano release and waited for Matterson. I’d much prefer it this way compared to having to pay Matterson to play for eels.

What are you on about - Matterson was signed until the end of 2021- he wasn't going anywhere without a release. We wouldn't of paid parra a cent. We would have been paying a disgruntled sook to sit out the season if he refused to play - nothing more. So he would have been a good bargaining chip if we hadn't been so keen to release him.

There’s no way the club could’ve kept him his position was untenable. Keep him in reserve grade and you’re paying his contract to do nothing but upset the playing group.

The club had no choice but to release him, and they didn’t want to pay him to play at another club so they let him go

The original post was about why didn't we keep him a few months longer to force Parras hand in releasing Stefano. Someone posted that he was going anyway and that we would have been paying parra for him to play if we didn't release him. Thats what my post is about - nothing about the untenable situation - i couldn't give a rats that we released him - however we played it really badly.

That’s what I said, and it’s true. As soon as it’s past November you start paying a players contract. If we kept him after November we would have to start paying him when he would get a release either way and it would come out of our cap. That’s why he got released at that time.

The club tried getting a player swap from clubs but clubs knew they could wait and he would get a release anyway. Club was in a crap position, lose-lose really and we can thank Matto for that.

I know all that - we are talking about 2 different things - I am merely commenting on the choices we had - yep we could have paid him and made him sit out the season - we chose not to but in doing so we reduced any chance of using his dummy spit to our advantage.

Unfortunately there was no way we could’ve taken advantage of it. Better than paying him to sit in reserves and go elsewhere after a few months

The player managers and the NRL(Farah case) know were a soft touch,and we always end up losing out.And when the boot is on the other foot,we never win
Need to show some spine at some stage or this wont change.Eels timing wasnt ideal,but still do-able and we got rolled by everyone again
Maybe we need Marina back..?

Show me the club that keeps the agitating player, legitimately. I honestly can't think of a single player that stayed on with a club when he didn't want to. It's lose-lose.

Gorden Tallis is the only one I can think of who sat out time, but that was his own decision (rather than play for St George), they didn't pay him and it was during Super League. Tallis trained the whole year with the Broncos and St George didn't pay him, they just refused to release him.

 

[Cairnstigers]

Not a signing for us .. but down here in the Nations Capital - Canberra .. I'm hearing a lot of noise that Billy Walters will be released by us to the Raiders next week for the rest of the season to play hooker / utility role for them .. ?? I hope this isn't true, why would we help those bludgers .. !!

Surely not. Releasing CT without having anyone lined up was bad enough.

Seems like as Maguire walks on water at the moment with this roster and team selection releasing Thompson whilst great for him was a dumb move..He would have been pretty handy against Souff's on the wing.. it may have even been a different result..

We are good guys though maybe Manly would like Douiehi Dogs can have Brooks Raiders Walters or any other Clubs that could use a hand..

Even the Blue wiggle on the Fan was scratching his head..

No
Are you saying Thompson could have won us the game

Thompson is one of the nice guys
It would have been nice to keep him
But things happen behind closed doors we are not privey to
I would imagine releasing Thompson would save us some extra money on our cap
Every little bit helps
Madge has a plan
I hope

 

[JD Tiger]

The reason they couldn’t hold onto Matterson and force eels to release Stefano was Matterson was leaving the club either way - if they kept him after November they would’ve had to start paying his contract which would’ve come out of our cap and it would’ve been cheaper for eels.

Eels knew that so they denied the Stefano release and waited for Matterson. I’d much prefer it this way compared to having to pay Matterson to play for eels.

What are you on about - Matterson was signed until the end of 2021- he wasn't going anywhere without a release. We wouldn't of paid parra a cent. We would have been paying a disgruntled sook to sit out the season if he refused to play - nothing more. So he would have been a good bargaining chip if we hadn't been so keen to release him.

There’s no way the club could’ve kept him his position was untenable. Keep him in reserve grade and you’re paying his contract to do nothing but upset the playing group.

The club had no choice but to release him, and they didn’t want to pay him to play at another club so they let him go

The original post was about why didn't we keep him a few months longer to force Parras hand in releasing Stefano. Someone posted that he was going anyway and that we would have been paying parra for him to play if we didn't release him. Thats what my post is about - nothing about the untenable situation - i couldn't give a rats that we released him - however we played it really badly.

That’s what I said, and it’s true. As soon as it’s past November you start paying a players contract. If we kept him after November we would have to start paying him when he would get a release either way and it would come out of our cap. That’s why he got released at that time.

The club tried getting a player swap from clubs but clubs knew they could wait and he would get a release anyway. Club was in a crap position, lose-lose really and we can thank Matto for that.

I know all that - we are talking about 2 different things - I am merely commenting on the choices we had - yep we could have paid him and made him sit out the season - we chose not to but in doing so we reduced any chance of using his dummy spit to our advantage.

Unfortunately there was no way we could’ve taken advantage of it. Better than paying him to sit in reserves and go elsewhere after a few months

The player managers and the NRL(Farah case) know were a soft touch,and we always end up losing out.And when the boot is on the other foot,we never win
Need to show some spine at some stage or this wont change.Eels timing wasnt ideal,but still do-able and we got rolled by everyone again
Maybe we need Marina back..?

Show me the club that keeps the agitating player, legitimately. I honestly can't think of a single player that stayed on with a club when he didn't want to. It's lose-lose.

Gorden Tallis is the only one I can think of who sat out time, but that was his own decision (rather than play for St George), they didn't pay him and it was during Super League. Tallis trained the whole year with the Broncos and St George didn't pay him, they just refused to release him.

Josh Addo Carr at Storm.

 

[JC99]

The reason they couldn’t hold onto Matterson and force eels to release Stefano was Matterson was leaving the club either way - if they kept him after November they would’ve had to start paying his contract which would’ve come out of our cap and it would’ve been cheaper for eels.

Eels knew that so they denied the Stefano release and waited for Matterson. I’d much prefer it this way compared to having to pay Matterson to play for eels.

What are you on about - Matterson was signed until the end of 2021- he wasn't going anywhere without a release. We wouldn't of paid parra a cent. We would have been paying a disgruntled sook to sit out the season if he refused to play - nothing more. So he would have been a good bargaining chip if we hadn't been so keen to release him.

There’s no way the club could’ve kept him his position was untenable. Keep him in reserve grade and you’re paying his contract to do nothing but upset the playing group.

The club had no choice but to release him, and they didn’t want to pay him to play at another club so they let him go

The original post was about why didn't we keep him a few months longer to force Parras hand in releasing Stefano. Someone posted that he was going anyway and that we would have been paying parra for him to play if we didn't release him. Thats what my post is about - nothing about the untenable situation - i couldn't give a rats that we released him - however we played it really badly.

That’s what I said, and it’s true. As soon as it’s past November you start paying a players contract. If we kept him after November we would have to start paying him when he would get a release either way and it would come out of our cap. That’s why he got released at that time.

The club tried getting a player swap from clubs but clubs knew they could wait and he would get a release anyway. Club was in a crap position, lose-lose really and we can thank Matto for that.

I know all that - we are talking about 2 different things - I am merely commenting on the choices we had - yep we could have paid him and made him sit out the season - we chose not to but in doing so we reduced any chance of using his dummy spit to our advantage.

Unfortunately there was no way we could’ve taken advantage of it. Better than paying him to sit in reserves and go elsewhere after a few months

The player managers and the NRL(Farah case) know were a soft touch,and we always end up losing out.And when the boot is on the other foot,we never win
Need to show some spine at some stage or this wont change.Eels timing wasnt ideal,but still do-able and we got rolled by everyone again
Maybe we need Marina back..?

Show me the club that keeps the agitating player, legitimately. I honestly can't think of a single player that stayed on with a club when he didn't want to. It's lose-lose.

Gorden Tallis is the only one I can think of who sat out time, but that was his own decision (rather than play for St George), they didn't pay him and it was during Super League. Tallis trained the whole year with the Broncos and St George didn't pay him, they just refused to release him.

Josh Addo Carr at Storm.

Even he is getting off his contract early. When a player wants out the club has no choice unfortunately.

 

[JD Tiger]

The reason they couldn’t hold onto Matterson and force eels to release Stefano was Matterson was leaving the club either way - if they kept him after November they would’ve had to start paying his contract which would’ve come out of our cap and it would’ve been cheaper for eels.

Eels knew that so they denied the Stefano release and waited for Matterson. I’d much prefer it this way compared to having to pay Matterson to play for eels.

What are you on about - Matterson was signed until the end of 2021- he wasn't going anywhere without a release. We wouldn't of paid parra a cent. We would have been paying a disgruntled sook to sit out the season if he refused to play - nothing more. So he would have been a good bargaining chip if we hadn't been so keen to release him.

There’s no way the club could’ve kept him his position was untenable. Keep him in reserve grade and you’re paying his contract to do nothing but upset the playing group.

The club had no choice but to release him, and they didn’t want to pay him to play at another club so they let him go

The original post was about why didn't we keep him a few months longer to force Parras hand in releasing Stefano. Someone posted that he was going anyway and that we would have been paying parra for him to play if we didn't release him. Thats what my post is about - nothing about the untenable situation - i couldn't give a rats that we released him - however we played it really badly.

That’s what I said, and it’s true. As soon as it’s past November you start paying a players contract. If we kept him after November we would have to start paying him when he would get a release either way and it would come out of our cap. That’s why he got released at that time.

The club tried getting a player swap from clubs but clubs knew they could wait and he would get a release anyway. Club was in a crap position, lose-lose really and we can thank Matto for that.

I know all that - we are talking about 2 different things - I am merely commenting on the choices we had - yep we could have paid him and made him sit out the season - we chose not to but in doing so we reduced any chance of using his dummy spit to our advantage.

Unfortunately there was no way we could’ve taken advantage of it. Better than paying him to sit in reserves and go elsewhere after a few months

The player managers and the NRL(Farah case) know were a soft touch,and we always end up losing out.And when the boot is on the other foot,we never win
Need to show some spine at some stage or this wont change.Eels timing wasnt ideal,but still do-able and we got rolled by everyone again
Maybe we need Marina back..?

Show me the club that keeps the agitating player, legitimately. I honestly can't think of a single player that stayed on with a club when he didn't want to. It's lose-lose.

Gorden Tallis is the only one I can think of who sat out time, but that was his own decision (rather than play for St George), they didn't pay him and it was during Super League. Tallis trained the whole year with the Broncos and St George didn't pay him, they just refused to release him.

Josh Addo Carr at Storm.

Even he is getting off his contract early. When a player wants out the club has no choice unfortunately.

True, but they have done better than most other clubs in the situation (so far).

 

[avocadoontoast]

Dragons and Bulldogs consider Lafai-Harawira-Naera player swap
By Adrian Proszenko
July 15, 2020 — 5.00pm
Corey Harawira-Naera could resume his NRL career at St George Illawarra as part of a player swap that would result in Tim Lafai immediately shifting to Canterbury.

The development comes as the Dragons refuse to release Jason Saab this season, with the winger’s fate likely to be decided by the club's board at the end of the year.


Harawira-Naera is eligible for a first-grade return as soon as next week after his sacking, and that of Bulldogs teammate Jayden Okunbor, was overturned by the NRL’s appeals committee.

The Kiwi international wanted to speak to Canterbury officials before deciding whether to stay put, although reports suggest he resents the club’s handling of the Port Macquarie incident that threatened his career.

Canberra, Wests Tigers and the Warriors are also keen on Harawira-Naera’s services, with the Raiders desperate to add him to an injury-affected roster. However, the proposed player swap with the Dragons provides a ready-made solution if he wants a fresh start.


Corey Harawira-Naera is set to depart Belmore in a player swap with Tim Lafai.
Corey Harawira-Naera is set to depart Belmore in a player swap with Tim Lafai.
Photo: Getty
Lafai and Harawira-Naera are on similar salaries, meaning neither would be out of pocket and there would be minimal effect on either club’s salary cap for this year. The Red V also has the cap space to accommodate him next season as they contemplate the long-term make-up of their pack.

The Bulldogs are hopeful Lafai will soon be able to join them regardless given they released Morgan Harper early to join Manly.

The joint-venture outfit is scheduled to meet with Jack de Belin next week in a bid to gauge his interest in re-signing. The NSW lock remains suspended under the NRL’s no fault stand-down rule, but that hasn’t stopped the Warriors from offering him a lucrative deal contingent on him being acquitted of sexual assault charges.

It remains unclear if and when de Belin’s trial will be held, but the Dragons want to know his intentions. The 29-year-old continues to train with the team while in exile even while the parties are unsure about whether a return is possible.

De Belin continues to be paid his $595,000 salary for this year, with his market worth unlikely to be greatly affected even if sidelined for two seasons.


RELATED ARTICLE
Jayden Okunbor wants to resume his career with Canterbury.
NRL 2020
Okunbor wants back in at Belmore as Harawira-Naera considers options
The Dragons met with Saab and his family this week to discuss his situation after the teenage flanker again requested a release on compassionate grounds. The parties resolved Saab would remain at the club until the end of the year, with the board to review the situation then.

 

[bathursttiger1]

From Fox sports.

I don’t want to wear a Bulldogs jersey: Fuming Harawira-Naera seeks exit from Canterbury

Corey Harawira-Naera wants out at the Bulldogs.

Kiwi Test forward Corey Harawira-Naera is understood to be fuming at Canterbury-Bankstown and intends to tell the club he no longer wants to wear the Bulldogs jersey.
Fox Sports has learned the Kiwi Test backrower is surprised at the way the Bulldogs left him out in the cold after the NRL deregistered his contract in the pre-season.

In a bizarre turn of events, the NRL Appeals Committee deemed the Kiwi Test backrower’s Port Macquarie sanction was too harsh and ruled his Bulldogs contract was to be reinstated.

Kayo is your ticket to the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership. Every game of every round Live & On-Demand with no-ad breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Round 10
Dismay over Bulldogs duoDismay over Bulldogs duo2:35
This is the first time the NRL has had an Integrity Unit sanction overturned at the Appeals Committee.

Harawira-Naera is now signed with Canterbury-Bankstown until the end of 2022 but rival clubs are circling and have been told he is perplexed at the way the Bulldogs cut ties with him.

Fox Sports has been told no Canterbury-Bankstown bosses contacted Harawira-Naera after he was sacked by the club.




Bulldogs CEO Andrew Hill is understood to be pushing for a mediation meeting as soon as possible, most likely on Friday.

The Bulldogs are also understood to be aggrieved because the incident cost the club a $1 million major sponsor.

Should Harawira-Naera become a free agent, rival NRL clubs including the New Zealand Warriors, the Dragons and the Canberra Raiders are interested.

The Bulldogs essentially have three options.

Try and convince the Kiwi Test backrower to change his mind and stay, allow him to trade to another club or terminate his contract.

Bulldogs powerbrokers have told the club they need to fix the situation with the Kiwi Test backrower to ensure he remains at the club.

 

[hsvjones]

How is it that we struggle to attract players still .. Titans are even picking up players and they are back to back Wooden spooners...
We have so much going for us - Intentional premiership winning coach, New centre of Excellence getting built, have never got the spoon and always close to making finals, Board and organisation on the same page compared to the past, considering the team we have and the left overs from IC Excellent recruitment drive we are still in the 8.. Surely there is some top line players looking at us going if I come over with another guy this team is certain for finals..
We let Corey Thompson go (and rightly so as he got offered a great long term deal) but no replacement yet even though we are struggling with injuries & Suspensions ..
What am I missing ....

 

[Lukic]

I'd offer Chee-Kam to the Dogs for CHN if they insist on someone.

Also JDB wouldn't be a good signing. Yes he was a very good player, but that was 2 years ago and the game has changed since. He's 29 so we'd be signing someone who's likely past their best and there's little to no guarantee they'd be as good as they were.

I mean if we could get him on a real bargain, maybe, but even then I'd hardly be comfortable with what he did. People in this forum are happy to bag out the Matterson's and Moses' of the world and that's not nearly as bad as what JDB has potentially done, and frankly even if found innocent, its still not on.

 

[Sart0ri]

How is it that we struggle to attract players still … Titans are even picking up players and they are back to back Wooden spooners…

Titans are paying massive overs. $1.25M a season for a 2nd rower has to impact on the quality of the rest of the team and their depth.

They hope if they get one marque player, he will attract more. It is a massive gamble.

 

[JC99]

Offering bulldogs MCK is a good idea. Bulldogs will probably go for the dragons deal because they get something in return so let’s offer them something too

 

[Spud_Murphy]

No to Takairangi ?

We made him look amazing last tine we versed ?

We tend to do that for alot of players unforunately

Dane Gagai was a prime example

And some of the biggest nuffies of all time have looked rep standard when they’ve played against us!

That said I wouldn’t mind Takairangi, I think he goes pretty good most weeks. He can cover centre as well as back row.

Is Takairangi the guy who supposedly we signed years ago, but then had a change in coach, and the new coach didn't want him, and we released him having to pay some of his salary despite him never playing a game for us?

Yep

 

[Cairnstigers]

Offering bulldogs MCK is a good idea. Bulldogs will probably go for the dragons deal because they get something in return so let’s offer them something too

How about packer

 

[clontarfkid]

The reason they couldn’t hold onto Matterson and force eels to release Stefano was Matterson was leaving the club either way - if they kept him after November they would’ve had to start paying his contract which would’ve come out of our cap and it would’ve been cheaper for eels.

Eels knew that so they denied the Stefano release and waited for Matterson. I’d much prefer it this way compared to having to pay Matterson to play for eels.

What are you on about - Matterson was signed until the end of 2021- he wasn't going anywhere without a release. We wouldn't of paid parra a cent. We would have been paying a disgruntled sook to sit out the season if he refused to play - nothing more. So he would have been a good bargaining chip if we hadn't been so keen to release him.

There’s no way the club could’ve kept him his position was untenable. Keep him in reserve grade and you’re paying his contract to do nothing but upset the playing group.

The club had no choice but to release him, and they didn’t want to pay him to play at another club so they let him go

The original post was about why didn't we keep him a few months longer to force Parras hand in releasing Stefano. Someone posted that he was going anyway and that we would have been paying parra for him to play if we didn't release him. Thats what my post is about - nothing about the untenable situation - i couldn't give a rats that we released him - however we played it really badly.

That’s what I said, and it’s true. As soon as it’s past November you start paying a players contract. If we kept him after November we would have to start paying him when he would get a release either way and it would come out of our cap. That’s why he got released at that time.

The club tried getting a player swap from clubs but clubs knew they could wait and he would get a release anyway. Club was in a crap position, lose-lose really and we can thank Matto for that.

I know all that - we are talking about 2 different things - I am merely commenting on the choices we had - yep we could have paid him and made him sit out the season - we chose not to but in doing so we reduced any chance of using his dummy spit to our advantage.

Unfortunately there was no way we could’ve taken advantage of it. Better than paying him to sit in reserves and go elsewhere after a few months

The player managers and the NRL(Farah case) know were a soft touch,and we always end up losing out.And when the boot is on the other foot,we never win
Need to show some spine at some stage or this wont change.Eels timing wasnt ideal,but still do-able and we got rolled by everyone again
Maybe we need Marina back..?

Show me the club that keeps the agitating player, legitimately. I honestly can't think of a single player that stayed on with a club when he didn't want to. It's lose-lose.

Gorden Tallis is the only one I can think of who sat out time, but that was his own decision (rather than play for St George), they didn't pay him and it was during Super League. Tallis trained the whole year with the Broncos and St George didn't pay him, they just refused to release him.

Josh Addo Carr at Storm.

Jason Saab is another...and most we dont hear about as theyre not made public.But youd have to think Arrow wld be at Souths in a heartbeat,Vunivali wld want the huge Reds offer yesterday.etcetc...but most have the decency to serve out their contracts or management that can negotiate with the player like JAC.
We always seem to be the victim

 

[teddy23]

I'd offer Chee-Kam to the Dogs for CHN if they insist on someone.

Also JDB wouldn't be a good signing. Yes he was a very good player, but that was 2 years ago and the game has changed since. He's 29 so we'd be signing someone who's likely past their best and there's little to no guarantee they'd be as good as they were.

I mean if we could get him on a real bargain, maybe, but even then I'd hardly be comfortable with what he did. People in this forum are happy to bag out the Matterson's and Moses' of the world and that's not nearly as bad as what JDB has potentially done, and frankly even if found innocent, its still not on.

How is a forward being 29 likely mean they’re gonna be past there best - he’s probs just about to enter into his prime for his next upcoming contract?

If people remember how JDB played this quick new game if anything will work in his favour....

Maybe if he’s leaving he may have felt like he didn’t get support throughout the court case by the club etc we don’t know the inner details - and even though we bag out Matterson and Moses unfortunately Parramatta are at the top of the table and they both play a pivotal role in that

MCK however would be a good swap option - if they want Mbye back on a reduced deal that could work also as I don’t see a spot for him in the side if we sign a winger in the upcoming off season as Talau would slot into the centres