Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[avocadoontoast]

Defence was our biggest problem, I guess Garner & Huth are considered tackle missers.

I would argue Huth was one of our best middle defenders all season.

 

[happy_tiger]

So am I right in assuming we still have 6 spots to fill for 2021 ....

 

[BAGNF05]

“I don’t want to say too much about what went on, but the Tigers deal was not as high as other clubs.”

Cannot recall another player talking crap like this.

And then he reportedly took a $200k pay cut to stay at Souths.

Exactly, this story reeks. Media attacking WT again for no apparent reason. Just had Foxtel cancelled in our house, sick of the rubbish WT fans have to deal with.

 

[nrlsurvivor]

How good is the Johnston thing. We not only offered the right money but we also kept it quiet. 2 wins from 2 - very proud of the club

Completely agree. My only issue is that the constant “lowball” journalism against the Tigers creates a negative perception about the club. If prospective recruits read this dribble it makes us less attractive to them.

 

[TheDaBoss]

In regards to Ollie Clark

Apparently he is retiring to work with family

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

We can't win as a club... we get hammered if we pay overs... we get hammered if we pay unders
what a joke hopefully we keep our head down Madge must have a good plan maybe for 2022 if we are letting go so many players this year, maybe saving space for JAC and Brandon Smith late in the piece when cammy decides to play on another year

 

[happy_tiger]

More dribble - read headline then last paragraph.
**Top tryscorer was ‘very close’ to signing with Tigers. But the club blew it with a lowball offer**
NRL PREMIERSHIP
Darcie McDonald
September 29, 2020 2:19pm
DARCIE MCDONALD
Source: FOX SPORTS

Fresh off a five-try clinic against the Roosters on Friday, South Sydney flyer Alex Johnston has revealed he was “days” away from inking a deal with the Wests Tigers.
The 25-year-old, who finished the season as the competition’s top tryscorer, re-signed with the Rabbitohs earlier this month after the club backflipped on their decision to let him go.


Johnston was informed by the club in October last year that salary cap space will be tight in 2021 and there may not be room for him. Then in April, South Sydney let Johnston know that they could not make him an offer for 2021 as there was only space for minimum wage contracts. It was heartbreaking news for the local junior who has been nothing but a fantastic ambassador and consistent player for the Bunnies.


Resigned to the fact he wouldn’t be a Rabbitoh next season he began talks with other clubs. During that time, his looming exit came to light and outraged fans began a petition to keep Johnston at Redfern.

There was plenty of interest in the former Kangaroos winger with the Bulldogs, Cowboys, Storm and Tigers all talking to Johnston and his manager. The Storm and Tigers made an offer to Johnston before the Rabbitohs came to the table with a deal as well, which Johnston took despite it being around $100,000 less per year than what Melbourne offered.


Johnston revealed on Tuesday that he was actually “very close” to signing with either the Storm or Tigers. He was keen to reunite with former Bunnies coach Michael Maguire whom he wont the 2014 Grand Final with but the problem with the Tigers though was that they offered him a lowball deal. And for the record he never expected or asked for big money or ‘fullback money,’ contrary to many reports.

“They were the main two (Storm and Tigers). I was very close, and it pretty much came down to a couple of days there where it was 50/50,” he said.

“The other clubs were very good to me, very tempting and I think I’d say 50/50 were the odds at the end of the day.

“It was pretty weird to think about it. I gave myself every chance to try and stay in Sydney and stay with Souths, and I’m just lucky that it came through.

“I don’t want to say too much about what went on, but the Tigers deal was not as high as other clubs.”


It was a tough slog for Johnston who has always wanted to be a one-club man. He described the period as a “rollercoaster” and admitted that he held onto a “a little bit of hope” that Souths could work something out to keep him.

“Mentally it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for me. A lot of ups and downs – I just tried to use it as motivation the best I could at the start of the year. The longer the season went, the longer it was playing on my mind,” he said.

“I was pretty stoked to have some interest from other clubs and then finally sign the contract, it was a huge relief. I get to stay at Souths and now I think my best footy is coming to fruition.


“I did hold a little bit of hope there when sometimes it didn’t look like it was going to happen. If I kept playing good footy and staying motivated, something might happen and I’m very fortunate that it did.

“Wayne pulled me aside and said he was going to do his best to keep me and to hang in there. Once it came through that there was a contract there, I was pretty stoked and couldn’t wait to put pen to paper.”

The Tigers are in the market for a number of positions with Maguire letting go of eight players ahead of the 2021 season.

Storm star Josh Addo-Carr has been linked to a return to the Tigers, his former club, which could be the reason why they weren’t able to offer Johnston a better deal. After missing out on Johnston’s signature, the Tigers are desperate to land Addo-Carr and are also reportedly eyeing Raiders winger Jordan Rapana.


We have already been burned once by overpaying someone that looked good on the end of souths backline.

hey Alex big news ..your crap and not worth Jack or JAC

 

[Furious1]

As somebody else alluded too, the last try scoring freak we got was Robert Jennings.....how did that work out? Johnston and his manager probably thought they would get easy money from us.....ah well, unlucky.

 

[mike]

We can't win as a club... we get hammered if we pay overs... we get hammered if we pay unders
what a joke hopefully we keep our head down Madge must have a good plan maybe for 2022 if we are letting go so many players this year, maybe saving space for JAC and Brandon Smith late in the piece when cammy decides to play on another year

We did the right thing not paying overs for him.

 

[Spida]

We can't win as a club... we get hammered if we pay overs... we get hammered if we pay unders
what a joke hopefully we keep our head down Madge must have a good plan maybe for 2022 if we are letting go so many players this year, maybe saving space for JAC and Brandon Smith late in the piece when cammy decides to play on another year

Only way the club stops copping it from the media is start winning.plain and simple, start winning media gets off our back.easy to call us a “basket case” when we havn’t made finals in years.

 

[izotope]

Defence was our biggest problem, I guess Garner & Huth are considered tackle missers.

I would argue Huth was one of our best middle defenders all season.

According to the stats Garner would be our worst forward for defence, twal would be our best matched by aloiai.

Surprisingly both Garner and LL are ranked our highest for Try Causes and Line Break Causes

 

[Guest]

We did the right thing IMO regarding AJ. Yes he's a decent player and a very good finisher but the club has repeatedly come out and said they won't pay overs, we've seen first hand all too often what that has yielded for us.

 

[rihannafan1]

“I don’t want to say too much about what went on, but the Tigers deal was not as high as other clubs.”

Cannot recall another player talking crap like this.

And then he reportedly took a $200k pay cut to stay at Souths.

Exactly, this story reeks. Media attacking WT again for no apparent reason. Just had Foxtel cancelled in our house, sick of the rubbish WT fans have to deal with.

And the writer of it on Twitter is trying to justify that 'lowball' just means a lower offer as if they are the same thing!

 

[colinbh]

“I don’t want to say too much about what went on, but the Tigers deal was not as high as other clubs.”

Cannot recall another player talking crap like this.

Well, I imagine the discussions with the Tigers would have been done by his manager, not the player. So, who knows what the manager told him the offer from the Tigers was? He may well be stating the truth as told to him by his manager.

And, lets face it, apart from Kent, Hooper, Rothfield, Ikin and the so-called "journos" of NRL, there is no bigger blight on the game than player managers.

Nothing wrong with Ikin, Kent, Hooper, Toovey and Benji on 360. The dribblers on 9 are getting money under false pretences.

 

[Cairnstigers]

“I don’t want to say too much about what went on, but the Tigers deal was not as high as other clubs.”

Cannot recall another player talking crap like this.

And then he reportedly took a $200k pay cut to stay at Souths.

Sure he did
Now they have more money left over to offer Addo-Carr

 

[tony soprano]

Must be on look out for another winger

 

[happy_tiger]

Brent Read mentioned Staines on Fox ....but JAC is the priority

 

[hobbo1]

Brent Read mentioned Staines on Fox ....but JAC is the priority

Read spoke well of West’s Tigers but kenty the flog was itching to lay in the boot 🤬

 

[jrtiger]

Brent Read mentioned Staines on Fox ....but JAC is the priority

both thank you

 

[JC99]

Jacob Host off too Souths. They’ve made a habit of picking up other clubs unwanted players and turning them good. He would’ve been a good signing