Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[DGilly]

Honestly we need to be going hard after Angus Crichton. Forget Mansour etc.
A right edge of Douehi, Crichton, Roberts and Nofa would be top 4 stuff


Agree, Rorters don't let many good ones go though. Jayden Sua / Hudson Young more realistic choices. Both off-contract 2022, throw 650 at Jayden and 500 at Hudson, 3 plus 1 year in the club's favour with incentives. Both are young and are footballers, clubs won/t want to lose them but money talks.

I feel as if that doesn't do us any favours. Luc is just as good as them if not better. If we don't go after huge names like Crichton we should be going after young, cheap talent. Paying mid tier players big money is where this club keeps going wrong. The Roosters and the Storm are just a team of superstars and then very low wage players who play way above their salary. That's the key to winning



Agree with what you are saying and I'm not saying get both. But I do think either will be exceptional players and their next contract will be their first opportunity at a decent contract. Get in early before they become the next Angus...

No guarantee they do become the next Crichton though. I'd rather spend the money on a known superstar than spend 500-650k on someone decent. If you want to take a punt on a a player with upside go looking for other Luc Leilua's and get then on 200k



Disagree, disagree strongly.

If you want to finish higher than ninth youve got to take chances. The biggest being to back the recruitment arm of the club and their identification of talent.

It IS ONLY identification of talent that will lift this club up.

Once identified, unique and top end talent that others clubs are aware of can only be recruited to the club paying good money.

750k for a S.Crichton for instance is outstanding business if you end up with his signature.

You realise that's pretty much the exact point I made right? I'm saying pay for stars and try to find cheap upside, don't pay overs for mid tier players

 

[Newtown]

Payten denies Cowboys' interest in Widdop
5o minute aGO

North Queensland coach Todd Payten says he was dumbfounded to read reports linking Gareth Widdop to the club after what he thought was a comment in passing from his manager.

Gareth Widdop remains on the hunt for an NRL club despite reports linking him to North Queensland.© Brendon Thorne/AAP PHOTOS Gareth Widdop remains on the hunt for an NRL club despite reports linking him to North Queensland. The former St George Illawarra five-eighth was offered to the Cowboys as a replacement for Newcastle-bound Jake Clifford, with the two players sharing the same manager, Paul Sutton. However Payten said the Cowboys never considered the offer to sign Widdop and distanced the club from the link. "Jake and Gareth are managed by the same manager and once we were notified that Jake had signed with the Knights there was a throwaway line at the end of that conversation, around if Gareth wants to come home would you be interested?," Payten told Sky Sports Radio. "That's all it was, nothing more than that. "Our answer was we're happy with Jake for the next 12 months and hopefully we get him going. "I was really dumbfounded how that made the press from that one sentence." Meanwhile, Payten said he is expecting more from fullback Valentine Holmes in 2021 after an injury-interrupted season.

Widdop is on the hunt for a new NRL club after leaving the Dragons at the end of 2019 to finish his rugby league career in England.However, he wants to return to Australia for family reasons and is yet to find a club with enough salary cap space to afford him - even on a cut-price deal.

 

[earl]

Zero tackle reckon Mbye could be on the outer without a guaranteed spot next year. Please be true!!!

Mbye is actually critical for 2021 now. Provides depth in fullback and 5/8 which we now need. If Walters leaves he’s even more critical.

This will make a change because up until now, everyone has been critical of Mbye.

Well sure also am one of the critics, he was shocking in 2020 and also not captain material. At times he really did not look like he wanted to be there especially at half time with Madge's sprays about the teams performance.
However the best game he had all season was at fullback.

He is on big coin (Highest Paid Player) was originally Signed as a fullback that is why he is on the $. Let's hope he performs and shows us that last year was a one off, Cheers.

Mbye is an example of what happens when you pay a player to play fullback but he doesn't cut it in that position. We have to take some risks. I get the risk with Mbye. It was in hindsight though a bad decision.

I reckon on 400k he is a good player in your squad.

 

[Rusty]

I have no idea if we are chasing Crichton. I do suspect having Tamou at our club puts us in a good position if he truly wants to leave the Panthers. I do know Crichton is good at setting up the player outside of him. That means that player must have genuine pace to make full use of his skills.

Wondering if the season he had was due to Kikau? Pennies used Kikau a lot as a dummy runner that drew a lot of attention from him, would he have had the same outcome with Gardner!!

 

[earl]

He’ll do a good job if called upon.

He is a great back-up player. A guy you chuck into the team when you have injuries and he does the job.

If he makes our top team I'd be amazed. Talau, Nofo, Roberts, Kepaoa, Mbye and BJ would all be miles above him. Sure if we purchase a couple of star players and we get Momo as a cheap option to round out the backline but I don't think we are in that position yet.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

I have no idea if we are chasing Crichton. I do suspect having Tamou at our club puts us in a good position if he truly wants to leave the Panthers. I do know Crichton is good at setting up the player outside of him. That means that player must have genuine pace to make full use of his skills.




Wondering if the season he had was due to Kikau? Pennies used Kikau a lot as a dummy runner that drew a lot of attention from him, would he have had the same outcome with Gardner!!

Good point. Luckily we have our own recruitment team to resolve that matter. Gould did say the Panthers had identified him in the juniors as being a future NRL player.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

He seems a good bloke too.


I think madge doesn’t mind a veteran winger and he knows how to pick them (lote).

I think beyond the preconceived opinions of him on here you will find he has more upside than AJ.

https://youtu.be/uH1hlrEAjV4

More upside than AJ? Seriously, how?

AJ had like 4 or 5 games while showed improvement hasn’t totally proven himself.

Mansour has established himself played finals and still got it.

Pretty clear I thought

Not much upside to a 30 year old outside back. lots of upside to a 20 year old who’s only played a handful of games.

Two players with most expectations are Momo and AJ. Momo will be captain next year if he stays healthy.

I like AJ but I don't think Momo will be getting more game time than when he was in Melbourne. Slow, small centre with really good fundamentals of playing rugby league. I can't see him having a long career in the NRL but he is a great value for money player in a top team if you don't have talented centres.

Momo is actually quite large (6 ft 3, 90kg). He lost a lot of weight last year due to injury which made him thinner than usual but at full fitness and strength he can look imposing (see trial match v Panthers). Pace wise he’d be average for an NRL centre. Regardless of who starts, I think we’ve got enough depth now at centre to be sweet. He’ll do a good job if called upon.

Momirovski is one of those players if given a little room inside the opponents quarter, he is likely to score. He has the footballing smarts whereas some more highly rated players in the same position won't.

 

[Balmainian]

If Mansour is signed!
Why let Jennings go?
Why potentially block Talau, Momirovski or any other player who’s coming through?
Why help Penrith?
Why sign a winger when we need a fullback.
Too many question marks on signing him.
It has to be reverse psychology from the club to mention we’re interested in him.
At least I hope that’s

Jennings/mansour nothing to do with each other
Talau not a winger
Momo or anyone else are they grand final wingers?
Why help panthers - agree but may release Laurie which would assist fb problem

The comparison with Jennings and Mansour is to obvious, there’s no real pace, height or X factor about either.
My point was Jennings is a very similar option to Mansour so if they let him go why would you sign someone similar?
Talau played a fair bit of wing last year from memory so you may say he’s not a winger but that’s where his first grade appearances have been.
Your argument on momo not being a grand final player is very strange, are you saying that because Mansour played in a grand final he’s got more upside than a bloke who kicks goals has twice the legs left in him and is also cheaper on the books.
Momo played in the semis two years ago when the roosters beat Melbourne in the GF he even scored a meat pie in one of those games so he’s got a little bit of big game experience for a young bloke.
Mansour is the Josh Reynolds of wingers.
It’s a no from me.

 

[twentyforty]

If Mansour is signed!
Why let Jennings go?
Why potentially block Talau, Momirovski or any other player who’s coming through?
Why help Penrith?
Why sign a winger when we need a fullback.
Too many question marks on signing him.
It has to be reverse psychology from the club to mention we’re interested in him.
At least I hope that’s

Jennings/mansour nothing to do with each other
Talau not a winger
Momo or anyone else are they grand final wingers?
Why help panthers - agree but may release Laurie which would assist fb problem

The comparison with Jennings and Mansour is to obvious, there’s no real pace, height or X factor about either.
My point was Jennings is a very similar option to Mansour so if they let him go why would you sign someone similar?
Talau played a fair bit of wing last year from memory so you may say he’s not a winger but that’s where his first grade appearances have been.
Your argument on momo not being a grand final player is very strange, are you saying that because Mansour played in a grand final he’s got more upside than a bloke who kicks goals has twice the legs left in him and is also cheaper on the books.
Momo played in the semis two years ago when the roosters beat Melbourne in the GF he even scored a meat pie in one of those games so he’s got a little bit of big game experience for a young bloke.
Mansour is the Josh Reynolds of wingers.
It’s a no from me.

Jennings is a better defensive winger than Mansour and at half the price. Also makes fewer mistakes under the high ball.

 

[tiger_one]

FoxSports reporting that Elijah Taylor is with Manly.

 

[TrueTiger]

He seems a good bloke too.


I think madge doesn’t mind a veteran winger and he knows how to pick them (lote).

I think beyond the preconceived opinions of him on here you will find he has more upside than AJ.

https://youtu.be/uH1hlrEAjV4

More upside than AJ? Seriously, how?

AJ had like 4 or 5 games while showed improvement hasn’t totally proven himself.

Mansour has established himself played finals and still got it.

Pretty clear I thought

Not much upside to a 30 year old outside back. lots of upside to a 20 year old who’s only played a handful of games.

Two players with most expectations are Momo and AJ. Momo will be captain next year if he stays healthy.

I like AJ but I don't think Momo will be getting more game time than when he was in Melbourne. Slow, small centre with really good fundamentals of playing rugby league. I can't see him having a long career in the NRL but he is a great value for money player in a top team if you don't have talented centres.

Momo is actually quite large (6 ft 3, 90kg). He lost a lot of weight last year due to injury which made him thinner than usual but at full fitness and strength he can look imposing (see trial match v Panthers). Pace wise he’d be average for an NRL centre. Regardless of who starts, I think we’ve got enough depth now at centre to be sweet. He’ll do a good job if called upon.

Momirovski is one of those players if given a little room inside the opponents quarter, he is likely to score. He has the footballing smarts whereas some more highly rated players in the same position won't.

From Craig Bellamy himself ""if Momo wasnt injured he would have been in the grand final side"""...
says quite alot about Momos playing skills and worth..

 

[2041]

Momo sounds like the forgotten player.
He held a starting spot with the storm

He played six games for the Storm. I mean, maybe he is overlooked but he's now been sort of fringey for the Storm and the Roosters so it's hard to argue he's battering down the door.

I tend to think his biggest problem is that he's not wildly quick - not a strike type of player. He knows how to find the line TBF: 14 tries in 19 career games is nothing to sniff at.

 

[Mossman]

If Panthers heavily subsidised the deal and release Laurie early I'm onboard with taking Mansour. He won't hurt our depth. There is bound to be injuries or players dropped for under-performance. It also sets our roster and with the leftover money in the bank we can front end some contracts giving us an amazing advantage coming into 2022, especially when more money becomes available.


With the abundance of young talented players, Panthers had no choice but to start shedding older players. WT need to be careful which of them are a good fit. Mansour may be an inspirational guy to have around the joint but atm we need AJ or Crichton more imo.

Mansour is a proven international.

5 years ago maybe.

It’s like signing Tim Grant and saying he’s a proven origin player

Not really mansour had a good year this year

I agree, it's not like he's garbage.

Is he really an upgrade on any of our options though? Apart from the experience he’d bring, I don’t think he is.

That, and the fact we’d be signing him on a 3 year deal.

The three years would be a sticking point. I don't know if there is a way to sign him to a shorter deal. Right now, I think he's a better winger than Talau or AJ but I'm not supporting signing him. I'm just saying if we did then at least he's a decent winger. We've bought plenty of guys who were not first graders.

Each to their own, I’d just hate to see either Talau or AJ end up at another club and kill it while we have a 70 year old Mansour hogging the wing. Our future is our youth

Totally agree.
Even though the club seems to be making the right decisions lately I’m still a bit nervous about this one.

 

[JC99]

FoxSports reporting that Elijah Taylor is with Manly.

Deserved to get a contract somewhere, happy for him.

 

[Cairnstigers]

You would only possibly consider Mansour if it meant Chrichton and Laurie which would mean Mansour would be even further down the pecking order than he is at Penrith.

Doesn't matter he is a specialist winger, imagine playing both Nof and Mansour on both wings. Every single team would have a field day with kicks either side of the field. Everyone was complaining about our lack of height all year and now we want two short wingers?

I haven;t seenany rumours from the other clubs around Mansour.You know why? They are not DUMB!

Because there are no leaks at the top ? ?

 

[earl]

He seems a good bloke too.


I think madge doesn’t mind a veteran winger and he knows how to pick them (lote).

I think beyond the preconceived opinions of him on here you will find he has more upside than AJ.

https://youtu.be/uH1hlrEAjV4

More upside than AJ? Seriously, how?

AJ had like 4 or 5 games while showed improvement hasn’t totally proven himself.

Mansour has established himself played finals and still got it.

Pretty clear I thought

Not much upside to a 30 year old outside back. lots of upside to a 20 year old who’s only played a handful of games.

Two players with most expectations are Momo and AJ. Momo will be captain next year if he stays healthy.

I like AJ but I don't think Momo will be getting more game time than when he was in Melbourne. Slow, small centre with really good fundamentals of playing rugby league. I can't see him having a long career in the NRL but he is a great value for money player in a top team if you don't have talented centres.

Momo is actually quite large (6 ft 3, 90kg). He lost a lot of weight last year due to injury which made him thinner than usual but at full fitness and strength he can look imposing (see trial match v Panthers). Pace wise he’d be average for an NRL centre. Regardless of who starts, I think we’ve got enough depth now at centre to be sweet. He’ll do a good job if called upon.

Momirovski is one of those players if given a little room inside the opponents quarter, he is likely to score. He has the footballing smarts whereas some more highly rated players in the same position won't.

From Craig Bellamy himself ""if Momo wasnt injured he would have been in the grand final side"""...
says quite alot about Momos playing skills and worth..

It says nothing at all. He wasn't picked.

 

[earl]

FoxSports reporting that Elijah Taylor is with Manly.

Deserved to get a contract somewhere, happy for him.

Good player. Manly have done well out of us.

 

[sleeve]

I don;t know if we are chasing Critchon,Staggs,Laui,or another 6 backs,but we are desparate for a FB, and at the very least 2 possibly3 strike backs to compliment our side.We presently have 28 players on contract,and 6 or 7 off contract at end of 2021,After Reynolds left we have approx,1mil to spend this year'.At end of 2021 if we don;t extend those players,we should have about 1.5mil.to buy or upgade players.These are only guesses .A nightmare for recruitment.

 

[TrueTiger]

He seems a good bloke too.


I think madge doesn’t mind a veteran winger and he knows how to pick them (lote).

I think beyond the preconceived opinions of him on here you will find he has more upside than AJ.

https://youtu.be/uH1hlrEAjV4

More upside than AJ? Seriously, how?

AJ had like 4 or 5 games while showed improvement hasn’t totally proven himself.

Mansour has established himself played finals and still got it.

Pretty clear I thought

Not much upside to a 30 year old outside back. lots of upside to a 20 year old who’s only played a handful of games.

Two players with most expectations are Momo and AJ. Momo will be captain next year if he stays healthy.

I like AJ but I don't think Momo will be getting more game time than when he was in Melbourne. Slow, small centre with really good fundamentals of playing rugby league. I can't see him having a long career in the NRL but he is a great value for money player in a top team if you don't have talented centres.

Momo is actually quite large (6 ft 3, 90kg). He lost a lot of weight last year due to injury which made him thinner than usual but at full fitness and strength he can look imposing (see trial match v Panthers). Pace wise he’d be average for an NRL centre. Regardless of who starts, I think we’ve got enough depth now at centre to be sweet. He’ll do a good job if called upon.

Momirovski is one of those players if given a little room inside the opponents quarter, he is likely to score. He has the footballing smarts whereas some more highly rated players in the same position won't.

From Craig Bellamy himself ""if Momo wasnt injured he would have been in the grand final side"""...
says quite alot about Momos playing skills and worth..

It says nothing at all. He wasn't picked.

Cant get picked if your out injured Earl,Bellamy had a lot of praise for Momo and it was him that made the swap with Harry possible...Bellamy isnt a weak coach he has the runs on the board and I would take his opinion of Momo over yours mate..

 

[Newtown]

He seems a good bloke too.


I think madge doesn’t mind a veteran winger and he knows how to pick them (lote).

I think beyond the preconceived opinions of him on here you will find he has more upside than AJ.

https://youtu.be/uH1hlrEAjV4

More upside than AJ? Seriously, how?

AJ had like 4 or 5 games while showed improvement hasn’t totally proven himself.

Mansour has established himself played finals and still got it.

Pretty clear I thought

Not much upside to a 30 year old outside back. lots of upside to a 20 year old who’s only played a handful of games.

Two players with most expectations are Momo and AJ. Momo will be captain next year if he stays healthy.

I like AJ but I don't think Momo will be getting more game time than when he was in Melbourne. Slow, small centre with really good fundamentals of playing rugby league. I can't see him having a long career in the NRL but he is a great value for money player in a top team if you don't have talented centres.

Momo is actually quite large (6 ft 3, 90kg). He lost a lot of weight last year due to injury which made him thinner than usual but at full fitness and strength he can look imposing (see trial match v Panthers). Pace wise he’d be average for an NRL centre. Regardless of who starts, I think we’ve got enough depth now at centre to be sweet. He’ll do a good job if called upon.

Momirovski is one of those players if given a little room inside the opponents quarter, he is likely to score. He has the footballing smarts whereas some more highly rated players in the same position won't.

From Craig Bellamy himself ""if Momo wasnt injured he would have been in the grand final side"""...
says quite alot about Momos playing skills and worth..

It says nothing at all. He wasn't picked.

Also unlucky not to play in the grand final which Roosters won.