Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[happy_tiger]

Too often people aren't looking at VALUE but rather the player by themselves which is not how you manage a squad of 30. Do you think Benji has been worth $100k? I know I certainly think he has. Sure he has his flaws, but to me, that's damn good value. Better than brooks on 700k or Jrey on 800k? Yes.

Especially when you have a lot of bloated contracts on our books. We should be singing his praises as he's helped us through a difficult time.

What if he was happy to not play firsts and just became our backup next year? I still think he could provide value there. I'm not saying we do that, but it's an option we should be thinking about rather than dismissing.

You know I love ya HT ...but keeping Benji isn't a positive step forward and thats exactly what we need to be taking

Because the coach thinks to himself when we have lost a couple of games ...maybe Benji has one more good game in him ...and then kills the confidence of whichever junior is playing

I think Madge has destroyed Brooks to be honest ...especially his confidence in attack

We need to do what a few clubs have done and backed the juniors and recruit around them while adding some good hard heads in particular positions

I know this is a far while ago , but Penrith in the early 2000's battled on with the juniors amid a huge injury toll ...but they picked and stuck and they eventually saw the benefits


The only question is this ...do we have the right juniors in place to do this ...and thats the scary question

 

[avocadoontoast]

Too often people aren't looking at VALUE but rather the player by themselves which is not how you manage a squad of 30. Do you think Benji has been worth $100k? I know I certainly think he has. Sure he has his flaws, but to me, that's damn good value. Better than brooks on 700k or Jrey on 800k? Yes.

Especially when you have a lot of bloated contracts on our books. We should be singing his praises as he's helped us through a difficult time.

What if he was happy to not play firsts and just became our backup next year? I still think he could provide value there. I'm not saying we do that, but it's an option we should be thinking about rather than dismissing.

No to everything you have said. He is not good value, he will do some great things most games but they are usually risky plays. When they don't come off we lose momentum, even the pass last week to Doueihi for the try was very lucky not to be intercepted.

The points he creates with risky plays are not enough to cover frequent the losses of momentum from intercepts, kicking dead, running on the last with no plan and the terrible defence.

100k is not good value? Ok, I'm done.

No. It's a waste of a top 30 spot. He's playing awful, next year he'll be even worse and he's a huge distraction.

 

[Sart0ri]

100k is not good value? Ok, I’m done.

Not for a player that does more good for the opposition than his own team.

 

[JC99]

Too often people aren't looking at VALUE but rather the player by themselves which is not how you manage a squad of 30. Do you think Benji has been worth $100k? I know I certainly think he has. Sure he has his flaws, but to me, that's damn good value. Better than brooks on 700k or Jrey on 800k? Yes.

Especially when you have a lot of bloated contracts on our books. We should be singing his praises as he's helped us through a difficult time.

What if he was happy to not play firsts and just became our backup next year? I still think he could provide value there. I'm not saying we do that, but it's an option we should be thinking about rather than dismissing.

Winning games is more important than value for money. Reynolds at $700k still gives us a better chance of winning than Benji at $100k.

When roster sizes can possibly be restricted next season we can’t afford a guy who isn’t first grade quality and isn’t going to get any better. For the same price you can get a 20 year old with potential.

Madge doesn't see it that way, I don't either and potential can be overrated. You also won't get a young half with that much potential for that cheap. Blore and Stefano are on around 300k a year, they are forwards and both hadn't played first grade.

While I agree spots are limited but we need to identify the options and Benji may still be a better option than most. It has to be based on the squad as a whole.

If jrey and mbye get moved on, what halves depth do we have? We may have Walters in the 6 and madden only for depth.

If we can sign someone, sure. But we've got to factor that in. We don't want to scramble for signings and overpay... like we did when Moses & Teddy left.

Madge doesn’t see it that way? Says who? Everything he’s done shows he does see it that way, he’s moved on quite a guy guys to sign young players in their place and it seems like he’ll be doing it again this off season.

Any young half with potential is better depth than Benji. Put Benji on the coaching staff or as an ambassador but him being in our top 30 is a waste of a spot

 

[bathursttiger1]

Too often people aren't looking at VALUE but rather the player by themselves which is not how you manage a squad of 30. Do you think Benji has been worth $100k? I know I certainly think he has. Sure he has his flaws, but to me, that's damn good value. Better than brooks on 700k or Jrey on 800k? Yes.

Especially when you have a lot of bloated contracts on our books. We should be singing his praises as he's helped us through a difficult time.

What if he was happy to not play firsts and just became our backup next year? I still think he could provide value there. I'm not saying we do that, but it's an option we should be thinking about rather than dismissing.

No to everything you have said. He is not good value, he will do some great things most games but they are usually risky plays. When they don't come off we lose momentum, even the pass last week to Doueihi for the try was very lucky not to be intercepted.

The points he creates with risky plays are not enough to cover frequent the losses of momentum from intercepts, kicking dead, running on the last with no plan and the terrible defence.

100k is not good value? Ok, I'm done.

Keeping him also sends the wrong message to any junior that wants to move forward

 

[Cairnstigers]

Too often people aren't looking at VALUE but rather the player by themselves which is not how you manage a squad of 30. Do you think Benji has been worth $100k? I know I certainly think he has. Sure he has his flaws, but to me, that's damn good value. Better than brooks on 700k or Jrey on 800k? Yes.

Especially when you have a lot of bloated contracts on our books. We should be singing his praises as he's helped us through a difficult time.

What if he was happy to not play firsts and just became our backup next year? I still think he could provide value there. I'm not saying we do that, but it's an option we should be thinking about rather than dismissing.

The amount a player gets paid should not come into the equation
A player either brings something to the team or he doesn't
I don't care if Benji is on $100,000 or $500,000
The fact is it is time to change and give someone else an opportunity to take his position in the team and on the field
What if all of our players had the same ability as Marshall and they were all on similar $
Would you want to keep all of them because they provide good value in your eyes
We need to be aiming much higher
If we don't then what is the point of being in the competition
Every player on the team should be held accountable for what they do or don't bring to the team
We simply can not afford to be carrying long term servants of our club
It hasn't worked for us
EVER
look at a player like Corry Parker who got a tap on the shoulder by Bennett
He still had alot to offer the Broncos IMO
Marshall has nothing on a player like that
We need to let Benji go
He has given the best he can to this club
That is enough

 

[Telltails]

If the only thing that happens this year is seeing the end of Benji nothing will change in regard to our place in the comp unless Brooks suddenly finds whatever it is he needs to become the player we are all sick of waiting for.
The real issue is the volume of cap space taken up by three players who are our highest earners and offer very little. Can't big good for morale and is the most skewed cap situation in the competitiion.

 

[avocadoontoast]

If the only thing that happens this year is seeing the end of Benji nothing will change in regard to our place in the comp unless Brooks suddenly finds whatever it is he needs to become the player we are all sick of waiting for.
The real issue is the volume of cap space taken up by three players who are our highest earners and offer very little. Can't big good for morale and is the most skewed cap situation in the competitiion.

Benji needs to go but our problems run much deeper. Yes we have a bunch of money tied up in Mbye, Reynolds and Packer but our attitude and style of play has regressed something awful. Can you think of an NRL teams attack that is as boring and one dimensional as ours?

 

[Telltails]

If the only thing that happens this year is seeing the end of Benji nothing will change in regard to our place in the comp unless Brooks suddenly finds whatever it is he needs to become the player we are all sick of waiting for.
The real issue is the volume of cap space taken up by three players who are our highest earners and offer very little. Can't big good for morale and is the most skewed cap situation in the competitiion.

Benji needs to go but our problems run much deeper. Yes we have a bunch of money tied up in Mbye, Reynolds and Packer but our attitude and style of play has regressed something awful. Can you think of an NRL teams attack that is as boring and one dimensional as ours?

We have weaknesses all over and it shows at different times in different games. I think we have really missed Harry Grant and will be interested to see what impact he has when and if he returns.

 

[Guest]

I've got no doubt things are very busy behind the scenes. We have a host of player off contract:

Lawrence - Off contract and retiring
Taylor - Off contract, hard to see him being re-signed
Dylan Smith - Off contract, he won't be around
Seyfarth - Off contract, hard to see him being re-signed
Jennings - Off contract, no way he'll be re-signed given the club is actively looking for speed out wide
McQueen - Off contract, no way he'll be here next year
Marshall - Off contract, no idea whether he'll go around again but I reckon in Benji's mind he knows he's done and it's hard to see him lacing up the boots next year
Eisenhuth - Honest toiler who puts in but it''s hard to see him hanging around. We need more grunt in the middle
Clark - Off contract and unlikely to be here next year
McIntyre - Off contract and the only bloke in this group I'd re-sign, but he's needed for depth

That's 10 players off contract and I reckon we're likely to only keep 1. Plus the club won't stand in the way of the following if they get a deal elsewhere:

Reynolds
Packer
Mbye

Realistically it sounds like Reynolds has the best chance of picking up a deal in the UK. No one else is stupid enough to pick up the tab on Packer and Mbye.

Realistically we'll add some players to the development squad, up to 4 from what I've read on here. Sounds like Tyler Field, William Kei, Josh Rizk and someone else, maybe Camroux might be offered spots. Which means aside from Stefano, we will be in the market for a few players.

We've heard the likes of Saab, JAC, Bunty Afoa, Staines all being looked at. I think the key to an extent is Reynolds - move him on and we free up decent coin.

 

[851]

If the only thing that happens this year is seeing the end of Benji nothing will change in regard to our place in the comp unless Brooks suddenly finds whatever it is he needs to become the player we are all sick of waiting for.
The real issue is the volume of cap space taken up by three players who are our highest earners and offer very little. Can't big good for morale and is the most skewed cap situation in the competitiion.

Benji needs to go but our problems run much deeper. Yes we have a bunch of money tied up in Mbye, Reynolds and Packer but our attitude and style of play has regressed something awful. Can you think of an NRL teams attack that is as boring and one dimensional as ours?

Our attack and especially our right side of BJ and Nofa were going great with Grub at 6, BJ was poor before Grub came in the team, and after he was out of the team.
The only time he has looked any good this year was when Grub was giving him early ball, our attack was also fine back then, it is not rocket science to work out where it went of the rails.

 

[Holman Barnes #1 Fan]

Sounds like players are disgruntled that some of their friends will be leaving the club early. Boo-hoo. This isn't like when Chris Heighinton, who was a bonifide Tiger, was shown the door. In that instance, Sheens was trying to break up the boys' club. It was the correct move, however, it led to his demise as well as the next coach too. I hope all those bums are shown the door this time and we do not let a repeat of 2012-2014 occur.

Jason Taylor had the right idea handing the club to the next generation. The problem - he was a terrible man-manager and totally mishandled it. I say we try it again but get it right this time.

 

[happy_tiger]

I've got no doubt things are very busy behind the scenes. We have a host of player off contract:

Lawrence - Off contract and retiring
Taylor - Off contract, hard to see him being re-signed
Dylan Smith - Off contract, he won't be around
Seyfarth - Off contract, hard to see him being re-signed
Jennings - Off contract, no way he'll be re-signed given the club is actively looking for speed out wide
McQueen - Off contract, no way he'll be here next year
Marshall - Off contract, no idea whether he'll go around again but I reckon in Benji's mind he knows he's done and it's hard to see him lacing up the boots next year
Eisenhuth - Honest toiler who puts in but it''s hard to see him hanging around. We need more grunt in the middle
Clark - Off contract and unlikely to be here next year
McIntyre - Off contract and the only bloke in this group I'd re-sign, but he's needed for depth

That's 10 players off contract and I reckon we're likely to only keep 1. Plus the club won't stand in the way of the following if they get a deal elsewhere:

Reynolds
Packer
Mbye

Realistically it sounds like Reynolds has the best chance of picking up a deal in the UK. No one else is stupid enough to pick up the tab on Packer and Mbye.

Realistically we'll add some players to the development squad, up to 4 from what I've read on here. Sounds like Tyler Field, William Kei, Josh Rizk and someone else, maybe Camroux might be offered spots. Which means aside from Stefano, we will be in the market for a few players.

We've heard the likes of Saab, JAC, Bunty Afoa, Staines all being looked at. I think the key to an extent is Reynolds - move him on and we free up decent coin.

God i hope we sign Bunty


I've often in the recent past said to the Mrs can we either

A/ Change EB's name to Bunty or

B/ have another kid and name him / her Bunty

 

[avocadoontoast]

If the only thing that happens this year is seeing the end of Benji nothing will change in regard to our place in the comp unless Brooks suddenly finds whatever it is he needs to become the player we are all sick of waiting for.
The real issue is the volume of cap space taken up by three players who are our highest earners and offer very little. Can't big good for morale and is the most skewed cap situation in the competitiion.

Benji needs to go but our problems run much deeper. Yes we have a bunch of money tied up in Mbye, Reynolds and Packer but our attitude and style of play has regressed something awful. Can you think of an NRL teams attack that is as boring and one dimensional as ours?

Our attack and especially our right side of BJ and Nofa were going great with Grub at 6, BJ was poor before Grub came in the team, and after he was out of the team.
The only time he has looked any good this year was when Grub was giving him early ball, our attack was also fine back then, it is not rocket science to work out where it went of the rails.

It was only against poor defensive teams though. Against decent teams Reynolds looked awful. He's as bad as Marshall imo.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

Reynolds is as poor as Marshall
We need to look elsewhere and hope someone in uk picks up reynolds

 

[hobbo1]

I've got no doubt things are very busy behind the scenes. We have a host of player off contract:

Lawrence - Off contract and retiring
Taylor - Off contract, hard to see him being re-signed
Dylan Smith - Off contract, he won't be around
Seyfarth - Off contract, hard to see him being re-signed
Jennings - Off contract, no way he'll be re-signed given the club is actively looking for speed out wide
McQueen - Off contract, no way he'll be here next year
Marshall - Off contract, no idea whether he'll go around again but I reckon in Benji's mind he knows he's done and it's hard to see him lacing up the boots next year
Eisenhuth - Honest toiler who puts in but it''s hard to see him hanging around. We need more grunt in the middle
Clark - Off contract and unlikely to be here next year
McIntyre - Off contract and the only bloke in this group I'd re-sign, but he's needed for depth

That's 10 players off contract and I reckon we're likely to only keep 1. Plus the club won't stand in the way of the following if they get a deal elsewhere:

Reynolds
Packer
Mbye

Realistically it sounds like Reynolds has the best chance of picking up a deal in the UK. No one else is stupid enough to pick up the tab on Packer and Mbye.

Realistically we'll add some players to the development squad, up to 4 from what I've read on here. Sounds like Tyler Field, William Kei, Josh Rizk and someone else, maybe Camroux might be offered spots. Which means aside from Stefano, we will be in the market for a few players.

We've heard the likes of Saab, JAC, Bunty Afoa, Staines all being looked at. I think the key to an extent is Reynolds - move him on and we free up decent coin.

God i hope we sign Bunty


I've often in the recent past said to the Mrs can we either

A/ Change EB's name to Bunty or

B/ have another kid and name him / her Bunty

?

 

[Fletch]

Time to marshal in a new era without a Marshall.

Benji’s defensive frailties are having too much of a negative impact on the team. He’s getting burned on the outside and is a turnstile on his inside. If he’s not missing the tackles himself then he’s causing pressure on the guys around him. His kicking, game management and ball playing are generally still pretty good, but the speed of the game at this level has past him by.


His kicking and passing and options have been erratic to say the least. He creates more than our other halves but that isn't as much a statement on how good Benji is but how poor Brooks and Reynolds have been. We definitely need better. His defense has been atrocious.

He crabbed across field in the second half like he was attempting to get on the outside but he looked like he was on treadmill, it was a bit sad really. On the odd occasion he sometimes beats a forward with a snappy inside step, but the days of getting them on the outside are long gone.

I think he should join the staff as a specialist halves coach and pour his energies into getting the best out of Brooks next year (special project), he’s a good communicator and knows the game.

 

[JC99]

Getting rid of Reynolds will definitely help. Opens up cash to sign one or two more players depending on how much is freed up and how they use it

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Moley has posted to 4 Wests Tigers groups on facebook sitting back with his box of popcorn

what to do with veteran favourite son Benj Marshall, who is off contract but has a deal on the table.

lol

If this is true Madge is definitely not the coach to get us out of this hole.
Benji has absolutely nothing to gain from not announcing his retirement, he could get a proper send off, he wants to play again no risk.

I think he's trying to stroke his ego with 1 more season. Gunning for the most capped player no.1 spot.
1 more season would do it :joy: :joy: :grimacing: :grimacing:

**Most first grade matches for Wests Tigers**:

Robbie Farah - 277
Benji Marshall - 252
Chris Lawrence - 250
Chris Heighington - 201
John Skandalis - 185
Dene Halatau - 180
Keith Galloway - 173
Liam Fulton - 162
Bryce Gibbs - 155
Todd Payten - 151
Ben Galea - 150


That list is pretty impressive with players and most won the 2005 premiership, long term stable team does wonders with playing finals.
Hopefully Benji realizes that his best playing days are over but i can understand this fact he is on much less $ than most to help our cap and might think the Tigers are obligated to give hom another year.

***Rowdy was also on peanuts, he left with dignity***, and he is a one club legend, we owe Benji nothing

After he ran to the media to get another contract. Something Benji hasn’t done.

 

[hsvjones]

I've got no doubt things are very busy behind the scenes. We have a host of player off contract:

Lawrence - Off contract and retiring
Taylor - Off contract, hard to see him being re-signed
Dylan Smith - Off contract, he won't be around
Seyfarth - Off contract, hard to see him being re-signed
Jennings - Off contract, no way he'll be re-signed given the club is actively looking for speed out wide
McQueen - Off contract, no way he'll be here next year
Marshall - Off contract, no idea whether he'll go around again but I reckon in Benji's mind he knows he's done and it's hard to see him lacing up the boots next year
Eisenhuth - Honest toiler who puts in but it''s hard to see him hanging around. We need more grunt in the middle
Clark - Off contract and unlikely to be here next year
McIntyre - Off contract and the only bloke in this group I'd re-sign, but he's needed for depth

That's 10 players off contract and I reckon we're likely to only keep 1. Plus the club won't stand in the way of the following if they get a deal elsewhere:

Reynolds
Packer
Mbye

Realistically it sounds like Reynolds has the best chance of picking up a deal in the UK. No one else is stupid enough to pick up the tab on Packer and Mbye.

Realistically we'll add some players to the development squad, up to 4 from what I've read on here. Sounds like Tyler Field, William Kei, Josh Rizk and someone else, maybe Camroux might be offered spots. Which means aside from Stefano, we will be in the market for a few players.

We've heard the likes of Saab, JAC, Bunty Afoa, Staines all being looked at. I think the key to an extent is Reynolds - move him on and we free up decent coin.

The Media are stating we only have 350k to spend next year which I believe is way off. Looking at the list you posted that is more then 350k in the 10 and all the young players we have signed are not on massive money E.g. Stefo, Asu etc..
We surely have some money to buy atleast 2 good players.