Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Fainu Brothers]

When Ivan Cleary was the coach, we beat the storm twice in one season, our defence was decent and we scored the most points in NRL history to not qualify for the top 8. I know he made some bad signings we are finally seeing the end of. I don’t like the man but maybe he could coach, Brooks was the Daly M half back of the year, we were competitive in just about every game. Now we can only dream of beating sides like the Storm, Parra and a full strength panthers. I thought Madge was a defensive coach? Our defence is the worst it has ever been, I don’t think the players are responding to his methods, he can’t attract a star signing that will make others think I want to play at the Wests Tigers. I

That points scored stat was actually when Madge coached us in 2019. Ivan got us to 14th in his first year and 9th in his second. He lost us a lot of young talent and signed a bunch of guys who, sure, did alright to start but after a year and a half were completely useless and on massive coin.

Ivan achieved nothing with us, I don't know why people look back on him as if he did some good with us. Sure we beat Melbourne and roosters that year, we also lost to the wooden spooners, the bulldogs, Newcastle, titans and Canberra who were all in the bottom 8 that season.

Sure he got us the closest we've been in a decade but going close doesn't mean anything

Wests Tigers finished with 26 points 2018 and 24 in Madges first year

 

[JC99]

When Ivan Cleary was the coach, we beat the storm twice in one season, our defence was decent and we scored the most points in NRL history to not qualify for the top 8. I know he made some bad signings we are finally seeing the end of. I don’t like the man but maybe he could coach, Brooks was the Daly M half back of the year, we were competitive in just about every game. Now we can only dream of beating sides like the Storm, Parra and a full strength panthers. I thought Madge was a defensive coach? Our defence is the worst it has ever been, I don’t think the players are responding to his methods, he can’t attract a star signing that will make others think I want to play at the Wests Tigers. I

That points scored stat was actually when Madge coached us in 2019. Ivan got us to 14th in his first year and 9th in his second. He lost us a lot of young talent and signed a bunch of guys who, sure, did alright to start but after a year and a half were completely useless and on massive coin.

Ivan achieved nothing with us, I don't know why people look back on him as if he did some good with us. Sure we beat Melbourne and roosters that year, we also lost to the wooden spooners, the bulldogs, Newcastle, titans and Canberra who were all in the bottom 8 that season.

Sure he got us the closest we've been in a decade but going close doesn't mean anything

Wests Tigers finished with 26 points 2018 and 24 in Madges first year

Ah, I thought it was points scored, not competition points. Either way we missed finals

 

[twentyforty]

Brent Read saying he thinks we are mulling over Finucane/TPJ and we haven't landed on a destination yet. Also says dragons are monitoring tpj situation


Sounds like rubbish, make them both an offer and if either accepts, great and if we cant afford both withdraw the other.

Pretty sure we'd have the money for both? I'd be making both an offer if we do


This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I'd be nervous about having so much $$$ tied up in second row. We have decent options there in LL, Blore Garner. Im VERY happy to spend good money on one new talented second rower but I cant justify tying up so much money in second row.

I think our second row is a bit of a worry. Garner is ok, Blore hasn't really come on like we'd hoped, and Luc looks completely cooked. I think we need a strong second rower and Luc goes to the interchange.


I agree totally but I think we need one not two, its too much to tie up in salary cap

Would Finucance play 13 though? Tbh I know he's got a good reputation but i'm not overly keen on Finucane. He'll cost a bomb and he's not getting any younger.

This is what does my head in ..
Finucane has an accomplished career no doubt but has played in far superior systems to ours ..
Add the fact he’s old and he wants $800k and he’s now on the slide ..
Not worth that sort of money !

I agree. I think that sort of money could be better spent elsewhere.


Especially expensive when considering much of his value is tied to an intangible known as “LEADERSHIP”.
I think we paid around $700k for Tamou’s leadership.

Even worse considering we have seyfarth. Buying leadership is a myth. It's not tangible. Just ask plodder tamou

Of course you can buy people with leadership qualities, I hire people all the time because of their leadership qualities.

How do you recognise those leadership qualities?

By speaking with them and others that know them, by observation and looking at and discussing their and their teams results and output. It's not very difficult at all.

Yes of course mate, but what is it that you recognise in a person that tells you they have leadership qualities? A persons ability to influence the behaviour of others? In my opinion it’s a strong belief in the goals of the organisation. Now you take a career footballer who has played his entire career at another club, how much of what he believed in needs to change in order for him to continue being a leader?

 

[cochise]

Brent Read saying he thinks we are mulling over Finucane/TPJ and we haven't landed on a destination yet. Also says dragons are monitoring tpj situation


Sounds like rubbish, make them both an offer and if either accepts, great and if we cant afford both withdraw the other.

Pretty sure we'd have the money for both? I'd be making both an offer if we do


This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I'd be nervous about having so much $$$ tied up in second row. We have decent options there in LL, Blore Garner. Im VERY happy to spend good money on one new talented second rower but I cant justify tying up so much money in second row.

I think our second row is a bit of a worry. Garner is ok, Blore hasn't really come on like we'd hoped, and Luc looks completely cooked. I think we need a strong second rower and Luc goes to the interchange.


I agree totally but I think we need one not two, its too much to tie up in salary cap

Would Finucance play 13 though? Tbh I know he's got a good reputation but i'm not overly keen on Finucane. He'll cost a bomb and he's not getting any younger.

This is what does my head in ..
Finucane has an accomplished career no doubt but has played in far superior systems to ours ..
Add the fact he’s old and he wants $800k and he’s now on the slide ..
Not worth that sort of money !

I agree. I think that sort of money could be better spent elsewhere.


Especially expensive when considering much of his value is tied to an intangible known as “LEADERSHIP”.
I think we paid around $700k for Tamou’s leadership.

Even worse considering we have seyfarth. Buying leadership is a myth. It's not tangible. Just ask plodder tamou

Of course you can buy people with leadership qualities, I hire people all the time because of their leadership qualities.

How do you recognise those leadership qualities?

By speaking with them and others that know them, by observation and looking at and discussing their and their teams results and output. It's not very difficult at all.


Yes of course mate, but what is it that you recognise in a person that tells you they have leadership qualities? A persons ability to influence the behaviour of others? In my opinion it’s a strong belief in the goals of the organisation. Now you take a career footballer who has played his entire career at another club, how much of what he believed in needs to change in order for him to continue being a leader?

No I don't really agree with that, I want my leaders to develop those goals. The goals of all clubs are pretty much the same to win games, how that is done varies from club to club. I want my leaders to create and drive the standard required to win those games. Leaders transfer from one organisation to another all the time and yes football is a little different but leadership skills are transferrable.

One of the things I admire in leaders are leaders who develop other leaders, Tamou does this all the time, the way he speaks about younger players is inspiring.

 

[the_third]

Seriously , my advice is to find something else to do for 1 week till next Sunday . You’ll feel better for it .

This is sounds advice

 

[watersider]

9 reporting Capewell has signed a 3 year deal with the broncos. Ikin moving quick it seems

Wonder how much they paid him? Good player. Broncos despite being rubbish lately are still a destination club - in the SMH player poll they were voted third as the club you'd want to sign for if you had to leave your club

The Wests Tigers were obviously one or two then, we need an attraction to draw good players in, Madge is a repellant, not an attraction

If you said that 3 months ago I would of said its not Madge but I am turning big time now.. He is the current NZ coach and cannot attract 1 top line player and we have the money.. I and many fans are just sick of it considering every other team get get them including teams below us :face_palm:

100% agree. Clearly a dinosaur in terms of playing style and player recruitment. Fitzgibbon hasn’t coached a single first grade game and has already secured Hynes, Rudolf and Kennedy to long term deals. Barrett has never been a good coach and hes locked down numerous stars and are in background of any player looking to change clubs. A shiny dollar to anyone who thinks we’re gonna get finucane or Pangai and it comes off, can’t wait till we announce Tolman 3 years at seasons end

Missing out on big name players is bigger than just Madge, it's the club as a whole. Why would good players pick us over successful clubs with rich histories?

This is true. I read a story today where Ivan was chasing Widdop or Shaun Johnson before we got Reynolds. We all hammer Ivan but he was hamstrung by the Wests Tigers stench as well.

He signed Reynolds, Packer, Matulino and Mbye on some of the biggest and longest contracts wests tigers have ever offered and you're finding excuses for him? He's going great at Penrith, but that is as bad a class of recruits as you will ever see. Doesn't matter who he missed out on, it's who he signed that ruined us.

 

[tigerballs]

WT have upped the anti on Harley Smith Shields. The Raiders are fighting back but WT have made a very good offer. He's a Canberra junior and has some loyalty but the WT offer needs to be matched or he's ready to go.
I've never seen him or don't know anything about him but apparently he's highly rated and other offers have been made as well. Looks like he's worth fighting over...
Maybe ThePom knows something?

 

[BAGNF05]

9 reporting Capewell has signed a 3 year deal with the broncos. Ikin moving quick it seems

Wonder how much they paid him? Good player. Broncos despite being rubbish lately are still a destination club - in the SMH player poll they were voted third as the club you'd want to sign for if you had to leave your club

The Wests Tigers were obviously one or two then, we need an attraction to draw good players in, Madge is a repellant, not an attraction

If you said that 3 months ago I would of said its not Madge but I am turning big time now.. He is the current NZ coach and cannot attract 1 top line player and we have the money.. I and many fans are just sick of it considering every other team get get them including teams below us :face_palm:

100% agree. Clearly a dinosaur in terms of playing style and player recruitment. Fitzgibbon hasn’t coached a single first grade game and has already secured Hynes, Rudolf and Kennedy to long term deals. Barrett has never been a good coach and hes locked down numerous stars and are in background of any player looking to change clubs. A shiny dollar to anyone who thinks we’re gonna get finucane or Pangai and it comes off, can’t wait till we announce Tolman 3 years at seasons end

Missing out on big name players is bigger than just Madge, it's the club as a whole. Why would good players pick us over successful clubs with rich histories?

This is true. I read a story today where Ivan was chasing Widdop or Shaun Johnson before we got Reynolds. We all hammer Ivan but he was hamstrung by the Wests Tigers stench as well.

He signed Reynolds, Packer, Matulino and Mbye on some of the biggest and longest contracts wests tigers have ever offered and you're finding excuses for him? He's going great at Penrith, but that is as bad a class of recruits as you will ever see. Doesn't matter who he missed out on, it's who he signed that ruined us.

Did the current CEO not also oversee that period of aggressive recruitment (Pascoes words)? Plenty of excuses being made for him.

No doubt Ivan dudded us and ran, but my point is, the best players wouldn’t come here when we had that war chest. 4 years on and we have the same CEO, a new war chest and the same reputation as a club.

But let’s all put our head in the sand and hope the magic fairies fix things up.

 

[watersider]

When Ivan Cleary was the coach, we beat the storm twice in one season, our defence was decent and we scored the most points in NRL history to not qualify for the top 8. I know he made some bad signings we are finally seeing the end of. I don’t like the man but maybe he could coach, Brooks was the Daly M half back of the year, we were competitive in just about every game. Now we can only dream of beating sides like the Storm, Parra and a full strength panthers. I thought Madge was a defensive coach? Our defence is the worst it has ever been, I don’t think the players are responding to his methods, he can’t attract a star signing that will make others think I want to play at the Wests Tigers. I

Most on here were happy with Cleary, it was why the betrayal got us so angry. We got belted by Canberra a fair few times with him as coach. We started brightly and faded badly in seasons. His recruitment was very poor. He left us midseason to top it all off. There's just nothing to like about what he did.

It will be interesting to see how he goes with the best juniors and squad in the NRL. You'd think he'd have to win a premiership to be deemed a success. His job is to maintain success like Bellamy and Robinson have been able to do.

As for Madge and recruitment, I think most players go for the most money, I'm guessing we're looking for value. We certainly offered a stack of money to Mitchell, but I think he was always going to Souths. I like his Indigenous initiative, I like the junior recruitment, I think he's doing things well. Doueihi, Joe O, Stefano, Laurie are quality purchases at good prices and good ages. This year is the only time the club has really been freed up with a good amount of money. We were tied up because of Cleary.

 

[watersider]

9 reporting Capewell has signed a 3 year deal with the broncos. Ikin moving quick it seems

Wonder how much they paid him? Good player. Broncos despite being rubbish lately are still a destination club - in the SMH player poll they were voted third as the club you'd want to sign for if you had to leave your club

The Wests Tigers were obviously one or two then, we need an attraction to draw good players in, Madge is a repellant, not an attraction

If you said that 3 months ago I would of said its not Madge but I am turning big time now.. He is the current NZ coach and cannot attract 1 top line player and we have the money.. I and many fans are just sick of it considering every other team get get them including teams below us :face_palm:

100% agree. Clearly a dinosaur in terms of playing style and player recruitment. Fitzgibbon hasn’t coached a single first grade game and has already secured Hynes, Rudolf and Kennedy to long term deals. Barrett has never been a good coach and hes locked down numerous stars and are in background of any player looking to change clubs. A shiny dollar to anyone who thinks we’re gonna get finucane or Pangai and it comes off, can’t wait till we announce Tolman 3 years at seasons end

Missing out on big name players is bigger than just Madge, it's the club as a whole. Why would good players pick us over successful clubs with rich histories?

This is true. I read a story today where Ivan was chasing Widdop or Shaun Johnson before we got Reynolds. We all hammer Ivan but he was hamstrung by the Wests Tigers stench as well.

He signed Reynolds, Packer, Matulino and Mbye on some of the biggest and longest contracts wests tigers have ever offered and you're finding excuses for him? He's going great at Penrith, but that is as bad a class of recruits as you will ever see. Doesn't matter who he missed out on, it's who he signed that ruined us.

Did the current CEO not also oversee that period of aggressive recruitment (Pascoes words)? Plenty of excuses being made for him.

No doubt Ivan dudded us and ran, but my point is, the best players wouldn’t come here when we had that war chest. 4 years on and we have the same CEO, a new war chest and the same reputation as a club.

But let’s all put our head in the sand and hope the magic fairies fix things up.

Not saying Pascoe isn't to blame, but I think coaches have a significant influence on who we purchase. Why would a CEO step in and tell the coach who we should or shouldn't sign? Ceos will try to sign the players coaches want. Besides, I think Pascoe is more involved in commercial side of things. I've just always associated recruitment with coaching, and most analysis of coaches attribute recruitment to them as well.

 

[dazza65]

Capewell coming out saying he's not signed anywhere yet and waiting for origin to finish before making a decision

Same as DWZ, ridiculing everyone who said he was going to the worriers- then presto
Players, dirty lying scoundrels…..lol

 

[carltonleach]

Brent Read saying he thinks we are mulling over Finucane/TPJ and we haven't landed on a destination yet. Also says dragons are monitoring tpj situation


Sounds like rubbish, make them both an offer and if either accepts, great and if we cant afford both withdraw the other.

Pretty sure we'd have the money for both? I'd be making both an offer if we do


This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I'd be nervous about having so much $$$ tied up in second row. We have decent options there in LL, Blore Garner. Im VERY happy to spend good money on one new talented second rower but I cant justify tying up so much money in second row.

We'll sign TPJ, he'll turn out a dud and everyone in here will be cursing us losing a Tuilagi or a Simpkin once they're superstars elsewhere.

I think there's a lot more chance of TPJ being a dud for us than Finucane although TPJ has a higher ceiling. TPJ has gone missing in important games plenty of times and can lose his head but he can be brilliant when he wants to as well. Finucane will give you a good performance every week and has a great attitude.

Personally I'd prefer Finucane but either would be nice

I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I think Finicane would be a bad signing for us. A more expensive Tamou. Best years behind him. Would be a mistake.

I don't think his best years are behind him, I'd argue he's playing career best football. Has only started making origin squads the last few years and is there again this year.

He wouldn't have a massive impact and be a superstar for us but in a team that lacks consistency getting one of the most consistent hardest working players around would be a good move

I always knew Tamou wouldn't put up the numbers he did last year with us, Finucane of course wouldn't put up the same numbers but he doesn't play like a guy who's at the end of his career. All depends on how much and how long the contract is and there's a lack of quality around for next year

Would be happy if we signed him, wouldn't be devastated if we didn't. He'll probably stay at Melbourne

I don’t know if people are really getting the influence of strong leaders. I’ve been pretty happy with Stefano,very happy with Twal and prior to injury, Mikaele was on the rise. Is that actually the Tamou effect working as we wanted? And would Finucane do the same in the back row? If these guys are making people around them better then their own numbers aren’t as critical.

I agree to some extent!! If they’re at the club to just influence then don’t sign them as players get them behind the scene and get players in that will perform! 25 running meters from tamou is an embarrassment imho

I think that performance was an outlier for Tamou, he hasn’t been the one letting in tries in bulk.

Na he hasn’t and I’m not saying he is a bad player, I do rate him and I know that it’s a team effort but just feel that if ur captain u should be the one really leading by example on the field.

 

[BAGNF05]

Brent Read saying he thinks we are mulling over Finucane/TPJ and we haven't landed on a destination yet. Also says dragons are monitoring tpj situation


Sounds like rubbish, make them both an offer and if either accepts, great and if we cant afford both withdraw the other.

Pretty sure we'd have the money for both? I'd be making both an offer if we do


This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I'd be nervous about having so much $$$ tied up in second row. We have decent options there in LL, Blore Garner. Im VERY happy to spend good money on one new talented second rower but I cant justify tying up so much money in second row.

We'll sign TPJ, he'll turn out a dud and everyone in here will be cursing us losing a Tuilagi or a Simpkin once they're superstars elsewhere.

I think there's a lot more chance of TPJ being a dud for us than Finucane although TPJ has a higher ceiling. TPJ has gone missing in important games plenty of times and can lose his head but he can be brilliant when he wants to as well. Finucane will give you a good performance every week and has a great attitude.

Personally I'd prefer Finucane but either would be nice

I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I think Finicane would be a bad signing for us. A more expensive Tamou. Best years behind him. Would be a mistake.

I don't think his best years are behind him, I'd argue he's playing career best football. Has only started making origin squads the last few years and is there again this year.

He wouldn't have a massive impact and be a superstar for us but in a team that lacks consistency getting one of the most consistent hardest working players around would be a good move

I always knew Tamou wouldn't put up the numbers he did last year with us, Finucane of course wouldn't put up the same numbers but he doesn't play like a guy who's at the end of his career. All depends on how much and how long the contract is and there's a lack of quality around for next year

Would be happy if we signed him, wouldn't be devastated if we didn't. He'll probably stay at Melbourne

I don’t know if people are really getting the influence of strong leaders. I’ve been pretty happy with Stefano,very happy with Twal and prior to injury, Mikaele was on the rise. Is that actually the Tamou effect working as we wanted? And would Finucane do the same in the back row? If these guys are making people around them better then their own numbers aren’t as critical.

I agree to some extent!! If they’re at the club to just influence then don’t sign them as players get them behind the scene and get players in that will perform! 25 running meters from tamou is an embarrassment imho

I think that performance was an outlier for Tamou, he hasn’t been the one letting in tries in bulk.

Na he hasn’t and I’m not saying he is a bad player, I do rate him and I know that it’s a team effort but just feel that if ur captain u should be the one really leading by example on the field.

If he’s making his tackles (he has missed a few bad ones) then he is, he can’t make guys use their hearts and their shoulders.

 

[Merlot]

So did we miss out on TPJ ? Because it’s been nearly a week after that crap show ,and you guys are still going with the negativity .
How much wrist slitting are you going to do ? You guys need to step away from the forum and the footy . I love bye week , it gives me a chance to take a breath .
Some of you , really ,really need to do the same .
2 weeks ago we were singing thier praises , now we want to string them up , and burst them like a piñata.
The WHOLE NRL is , not named the storm , are dealing with this touch footy masquerading as a professional sports competition.

And unless the storm are clairvoyant, which I don’t think they are , they lucked in hugely with these rule changes . They’re whole system is built around guys who work . And it’s less around game breakers , especially in the forwards . There’s no Fifita , no TPJ ,No Kikau , No Luci leilua ,yet they bust teams open .

Thier edges are litterally quick and strong in first contact / collision . Teams , like us took a risk , and now we are going to have to chase different body types. Unless the NRL comes back down to earth and realises they’ve jumped the shark here.

My point is ... relax !!! The team is young , they do young dumb things , The guy who you all claim is the most experienced dude in the world , brooks , who should be the leader right ? He’s 26 . I was still coming back to reality at 6 in the morning after nights out at 26 . Doing all kinds of reckless man child things . He’s just not the dude you want him to be . And that’s fine .

Hastings apparently is . And AD is as well . So is Blore , if he can beat his injury curse .

The rest of the season is the real indicator . If we can get to 10 wins I would call that a successful season . 12 and we are playing semis . The season isn’t lost . And in some ways getting hammered like that , and not playing well for 65 minutes then losing 30-16 or something like , might be a good thing .

It’s not going to get worse than that . That’s it . That’s rock bottom .

Seriously , my advice is to find something else to do for 1 week till next Sunday . You’ll feel better for it . Because what I’m reading is a bunch of guys way too invested ,to a extremely toxic level .
But you do you .

So did we miss out on TPJ ? Because it’s been nearly a week after that crap show ,and you guys are still going with the negativity .
How much wrist slitting are you going to do ? You guys need to step away from the forum and the footy . I love bye week , it gives me a chance to take a breath .
Some of you , really ,really need to do the same .
2 weeks ago we were singing thier praises , now we want to string them up , and burst them like a piñata.
The WHOLE NRL is , not named the storm , are dealing with this touch footy masquerading as a professional sports competition.

And unless the storm are clairvoyant, which I don’t think they are , they lucked in hugely with these rule changes . They’re whole system is built around guys who work . And it’s less around game breakers , especially in the forwards . There’s no Fifita , no TPJ ,No Kikau , No Luci leilua ,yet they bust teams open .

Thier edges are litterally quick and strong in first contact / collision . Teams , like us took a risk , and now we are going to have to chase different body types. Unless the NRL comes back down to earth and realises they’ve jumped the shark here.

My point is ... relax !!! The team is young , they do young dumb things , The guy who you all claim is the most experienced dude in the world , brooks , who should be the leader right ? He’s 26 . I was still coming back to reality at 6 in the morning after nights out at 26 . Doing all kinds of reckless man child things . He’s just not the dude you want him to be . And that’s fine .

Hastings apparently is . And AD is as well . So is Blore , if he can beat his injury curse .

The rest of the season is the real indicator . If we can get to 10 wins I would call that a successful season . 12 and we are playing semis . The season isn’t lost . And in some ways getting hammered like that , and not playing well for 65 minutes then losing 30-16 or something like , might be a good thing .

It’s not going to get worse than that . That’s it . That’s rock bottom .

Seriously , my advice is to find something else to do for 1 week till next Sunday . You’ll feel better for it . Because what I’m reading is a bunch of guys way too invested ,to a extremely toxic level .
But you do you .

words of wisdom,from a die hard.love it.few far between,when it clicks its magic,worth all d self impossed trauma,enjoy the ride,ps 24 will not do it,maybe next year,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,again

 

[BAGNF05]

9 reporting Capewell has signed a 3 year deal with the broncos. Ikin moving quick it seems

Wonder how much they paid him? Good player. Broncos despite being rubbish lately are still a destination club - in the SMH player poll they were voted third as the club you'd want to sign for if you had to leave your club

The Wests Tigers were obviously one or two then, we need an attraction to draw good players in, Madge is a repellant, not an attraction

If you said that 3 months ago I would of said its not Madge but I am turning big time now.. He is the current NZ coach and cannot attract 1 top line player and we have the money.. I and many fans are just sick of it considering every other team get get them including teams below us :face_palm:

100% agree. Clearly a dinosaur in terms of playing style and player recruitment. Fitzgibbon hasn’t coached a single first grade game and has already secured Hynes, Rudolf and Kennedy to long term deals. Barrett has never been a good coach and hes locked down numerous stars and are in background of any player looking to change clubs. A shiny dollar to anyone who thinks we’re gonna get finucane or Pangai and it comes off, can’t wait till we announce Tolman 3 years at seasons end

Missing out on big name players is bigger than just Madge, it's the club as a whole. Why would good players pick us over successful clubs with rich histories?

This is true. I read a story today where Ivan was chasing Widdop or Shaun Johnson before we got Reynolds. We all hammer Ivan but he was hamstrung by the Wests Tigers stench as well.

He signed Reynolds, Packer, Matulino and Mbye on some of the biggest and longest contracts wests tigers have ever offered and you're finding excuses for him? He's going great at Penrith, but that is as bad a class of recruits as you will ever see. Doesn't matter who he missed out on, it's who he signed that ruined us.

Did the current CEO not also oversee that period of aggressive recruitment (Pascoes words)? Plenty of excuses being made for him.

No doubt Ivan dudded us and ran, but my point is, the best players wouldn’t come here when we had that war chest. 4 years on and we have the same CEO, a new war chest and the same reputation as a club.

But let’s all put our head in the sand and hope the magic fairies fix things up.

Not saying Pascoe isn't to blame, but I think coaches have a significant influence on who we purchase. Why would a CEO step in and tell the coach who we should or shouldn't sign? Ceos will try to sign the players coaches want. Besides, I think Pascoe is more involved in commercial side of things. I've just always associated recruitment with coaching, and most analysis of coaches attribute recruitment to them as well.

But our coaches are coming here and saying , let’s get that guy and that guy, and the club just can’t make it happen, so they get player X and player Y and either the coach is sacked, walks out or ages 10 years in 30 months. It’s a very vicious cycle.

 

[Tim Sheens]

He would be good, but we already have enough props (I refuse to call them middles) Twal, Tamou, Steffano, Mikaele, Amone and Musgrove. I deliberately left Packer out for obvious reasons. Actually what is the attraction of Musgrove, some blokes on here have big wraps on him, but I don't see it. For my money he is reserve grader at best with poor discipline who makes headlines for all the wrong reasons, yet some blokes are counting down sleeps until he is fit to play. I understand that they see him as an enforcer, but who needs an enforcer if your not allowed to punch or make contact with the head.

Seeing Musgrove will be with WT for some twelve hundred more sleeps, I bloody well hope that he isn't playing reserve grade for many of them, else there will be plenty more sleepless nights for us supporters.

 

[Tim Sheens]

What makes anyone think that this bunch of soft, entitled, lazy, arrogant and comfort-zone players are going to follow Finucane's lead?
I rate Tamou.
I don't believe he was brought here to run for 200mtrs and make copious amounts of tackle-breaks, off-loads, score 10 tries and kick goals at 95%.
His leadership is about recovery, professional conduct, never lying down and adopting a winning mentality, the rest is up to guys like Mikaele, Musgrove, Luccie, Uto, Brooksy, Garner, TommyT, Joe O, Jet, Nofo, Mbye and the rest to use their God-given talents to the best of their ability.
Is he still a leader if this bunch of powder-puffs lack the mental and intestinal fortitude to follow?...
I love TPJ's X-factor, which we're missing, but giving Tamou some back-up in the mould of Finucane would be far more conducive to establishing a platform that drives the values of tenacity, pride of performance, striving to succeed, especially in the face of adversity which breed a winning culture, something we've sorely lacked for far too long.

Some of those players you named played very well last Saturday so I think what you have written is a little unfair.

The finger should be pointed at Maguire. He looked like a man without answers during that post match press conference. He's actually had that look for a significant period of time. Perhaps if the club installed a leader as coach, we may achieve better results and performances. I read many comments which describe Maguire as tough. Tough does not necessarily mean you are good, it could mean you use it to hide your lack of tactical nous or comms skills.

He doesn't have the answers but he's a loyal soldier and will be here for the remainder of his contract.

Sounds like the kind of coach WT need like a hole in the head.

 

[Merlot]

the Bronco,s b dogs r the new west tigers,it may still look like a rabble,it may turn 2 dust,at least we as a club seem 2 b emerging from the hole that was digged,dugged .,sunk when bailey the weather man was there,etc