Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[sleeve]

Laurie profile removed from Panthers site.

If so and he is on his way here then watch the Rumours of Mbye moving back to Qld gain Momentum over the next month or two
If so he needs to be here until Laurie is ready for fullback full time
Unless of course someone is willing to pay full freight
Mbye would be a good fit for Brisbane

Regardless I think he needs to be here for the year.

Mumbai is training the house down. He'll be good.

Yeah...training well and actually playing well on game days are two completely different things.

I have always thought he had some talent,but lacked commitment.His value on the market has gone down and will go down further in CC.Time to lift his game or reserves,and will happen by years end.

 

[AdelaideTiger]

Laurie profile removed from Panthers site.

If so and he is on his way here then watch the Rumours of Mbye moving back to Qld gain Momentum over the next month or two
If so he needs to be here until Laurie is ready for fullback full time
Unless of course someone is willing to pay full freight
Mbye would be a good fit for Brisbane

Regardless I think he needs to be here for the year.

Mumbai is training the house down. He'll be good.

Yeah...training well and actually playing well on game days are two completely different things.

True but more likely to play better game day if your training well than if your not. Important to remember that Mbye trained at 9 for a good chunk of preseason last year. I think he will be at least serviceable at FB. Not ideal given his price tag but you gotta play the cards your dealt.

 

[sleeve]

Laurie profile removed from Panthers site.

If so and he is on his way here then watch the Rumours of Mbye moving back to Qld gain Momentum over the next month or two
If so he needs to be here until Laurie is ready for fullback full time
Unless of course someone is willing to pay full freight
Mbye would be a good fit for Brisbane

Regardless I think he needs to be here for the year.

Mumbai is training the house down. He'll be good.

Yeah...training well and actually playing well on game days are two completely different things.

True but more likely to play better game day if your training well than if your not. Important to remember that Mbye trained at 9 for a good chunk of preseason last year. I think he will be at least serviceable at FB. Not ideal given his price tag but you gotta play the cards your dealt.

I think the club wants him gone without having to pay to much of his $900,000 contract.He would be worth less in the CC side ,and he has some value at the present time.I expect he may pull his finger out this season for that reason,Always looks like a player that does not want to get hurt.

 

[sleeve]

Mbye’s only position in this team is 14.. this is a very important position as a game progresses do not underestimate the value he will be in that position!

I disagree completely.

Mbye would be a complete waste at 14 and our squad currently cannot afford to have him there. If we sign a fullback for 2021 Mbye goes straight to number 18. That's his position moving forwards. If there's an injury he can fill in for a number of positions but he did be nowhere near the 17.

If he's on the bench he's most likely only ever going to play hooker. And he's our 4th best hooker. He doesn't get a spot ahead of either Liddle or Simpkins.

Having your most expensive player not even making your 17 is disgraceful, and hopefully helps him move on to save face.

This is course is contingent on signing a starting fullback

Whilst I agree with your Mbye hooker assessment, I disagree he'd be only playing hooker.

Numerous times last year we had big reshuffles when someone gets injured or goes off for HIA. Look at our last game, Benji goes down, AD to 5/8, Nofa to fullback, Talau to wing and I think Chee-Kam to centre.

I even remember Brooks playing centre at one point due to injuries there.

Would be nice to have someone of Mbye's quality come in if someone in our backline goes down. Yes he's a very expensive benchie, but not playing him is even worse, and I'd argue he still improves our team in the top 17.

So you want to waste a bench spot on the offchance that we suffer an HIA or an injury? That's extremely negative thinking. Garner would play that role in any case. Do we really want to go back to Sheens style having a fullback on the bench? Yes he's a utility of sorts, and that's why he's a no 18.
We will need two hookers in our side for round one. Mbye isn't in our top 2 hookers so he doesn't get that spot. He gets fullback unless we sign a superior player. Can our pack get by with only 3 spots on the bench with the speed today's game is played at?

To be fair, our back up hooker has never played NRL and hasn’t played for over 12 months, he is a risk as well.

Simkin will kill it.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

Laurie profile removed from Panthers site.

If so and he is on his way here then watch the Rumours of Mbye moving back to Qld gain Momentum over the next month or two
If so he needs to be here until Laurie is ready for fullback full time
Unless of course someone is willing to pay full freight
Mbye would be a good fit for Brisbane

Madge has no issue letting Mbye go early if he can find a club.

What even if we don't get Laurie over early?
Who would play fullback?
has yet another retention rate for 6
That's why AJ is also training there.

would rather give Nofo a go at

 

[cochise]

Laurie profile removed from Panthers site.

If so and he is on his way here then watch the Rumours of Mbye moving back to Qld gain Momentum over the next month or two
If so he needs to be here until Laurie is ready for fullback full time
Unless of course someone is willing to pay full freight
Mbye would be a good fit for Brisbane

Madge has no issue letting Mbye go early if he can find a club.

What even if we don't get Laurie over early?
Who would play fullback?
has yet another retention rate for 6
That's why AJ is also training there.

would rather give Nofo a go at

No thankyou

 

[crazycat]

Seriously, I don't dislike the 'bop. In fact I hope he can keep his hands clean to handshake, knuckle-bomb and sign with the Boncos.

And who would you play at fullback?



I've stated before, I don't think he's a bad player, but his performances are not commensurate with his price tag.
He is a capable player whose hands under a high ball have let him, and the team, down.
He will do until we organise a better option at the back.
The comment I made was tongue in cheek.
Having said that, how do we know if one of our young-uns couldn't do a similar or better job if given the chance? But his all-round experience is certainly an advantage at this stage in proceedings.

I pretty much agree with most of this post, none of our young player could do a better job because none of them a fullbacks. Kepaoa could maybe transition to fullback in the future but it is too much to put on him this early.



The joke was really about regaining some salary-cap space, thats all.

I get it, I'm happy for him to go at the end of the year. We need him this year.



True, gets you thinking though about how we could leave such an important position with no contingency plan.

They have signed Laurie with a view to him being fullback from 2022 onwards and are still working on getting him earlier, do you want them to go chasing some other high cost fullback as a 12-month stop-gap? You can’t always fix every roster issue in a single off-season.

You just nailed it.

Lets not get more "Average" or fringe graders in our squad. We have Laurie who will do well when we get him. Just hiring to fill the numbers is not a good idea, i used to think "just in case" hires were good. Reality "just in cases" means you dont have the cap to go forward.

A spare half, sure.

A spare Fullback? Hold on every player manager in the comp is pushing their young speedster as a fullback. If we need to pick someone up, we can. If we goto market we should not be hampered because we brought a few 200k spare tyres.

Lets save our money and use it where it is needed.

 

[sleeve]

Seriously, I don't dislike the 'bop. In fact I hope he can keep his hands clean to handshake, knuckle-bomb and sign with the Boncos.

And who would you play at fullback?



I've stated before, I don't think he's a bad player, but his performances are not commensurate with his price tag.
He is a capable player whose hands under a high ball have let him, and the team, down.
He will do until we organise a better option at the back.
The comment I made was tongue in cheek.
Having said that, how do we know if one of our young-uns couldn't do a similar or better job if given the chance? But his all-round experience is certainly an advantage at this stage in proceedings.

I pretty much agree with most of this post, none of our young player could do a better job because none of them a fullbacks. Kepaoa could maybe transition to fullback in the future but it is too much to put on him this early.



The joke was really about regaining some salary-cap space, thats all.

I get it, I'm happy for him to go at the end of the year. We need him this year.



True, gets you thinking though about how we could leave such an important position with no contingency plan.

They have signed Laurie with a view to him being fullback from 2022 onwards and are still working on getting him earlier, do you want them to go chasing some other high cost fullback as a 12-month stop-gap? You can’t always fix every roster issue in a single off-season.

You just nailed it.

Lets not get more "Average" or fringe graders in our squad. We have Laurie who will do well when we get him. Just hiring to fill the numbers is not a good idea, i used to think "just in case" hires were good. Reality "just in cases" means you dont have the cap to go forward.

A spare half, sure.

A spare Fullback? Hold on every player manager in the comp is pushing their young speedster as a fullback. If we need to pick someone up, we can. If we goto market we should not be hampered because we brought a few 200k spare tyres.

Lets save our money and use it where it is needed.

I agree,but i'm not sure how it all works.I don't think we can carry unspent money over to next year.We will probably have space for a few new signings in 2022 with approx,6 players to be moved on or upraded.I'm only guessing ,but i think we only have to buy 3 to 4 players in 2020 depending on performance and who we keep.

 

[crazycat]

Mbye’s only position in this team is 14.. this is a very important position as a game progresses do not underestimate the value he will be in that position!

I disagree completely.

Mbye would be a complete waste at 14 and our squad currently cannot afford to have him there. If we sign a fullback for 2021 Mbye goes straight to number 18. That's his position moving forwards. If there's an injury he can fill in for a number of positions but he did be nowhere near the 17.

If he's on the bench he's most likely only ever going to play hooker. And he's our 4th best hooker. He doesn't get a spot ahead of either Liddle or Simpkins.

Having your most expensive player not even making your 17 is disgraceful, and hopefully helps him move on to save face.

This is course is contingent on signing a starting fullback

Whilst I agree with your Mbye hooker assessment, I disagree he'd be only playing hooker.

Numerous times last year we had big reshuffles when someone gets injured or goes off for HIA. Look at our last game, Benji goes down, AD to 5/8, Nofa to fullback, Talau to wing and I think Chee-Kam to centre.

I even remember Brooks playing centre at one point due to injuries there.

Would be nice to have someone of Mbye's quality come in if someone in our backline goes down. Yes he's a very expensive benchie, but not playing him is even worse, and I'd argue he still improves our team in the top 17.

So you want to waste a bench spot on the offchance that we suffer an HIA or an injury? That's extremely negative thinking. Garner would play that role in any case. Do we really want to go back to Sheens style having a fullback on the bench? Yes he's a utility of sorts, and that's why he's a no 18.
We will need two hookers in our side for round one. Mbye isn't in our top 2 hookers so he doesn't get that spot. He gets fullback unless we sign a superior player. Can our pack get by with only 3 spots on the bench with the speed today's game is played at?

To be fair, our back up hooker has never played NRL and hasn’t played for over 12 months, he is a risk as well.

I think Hooker and Fullback are different.

Mbye’s only position in this team is 14.. this is a very important position as a game progresses do not underestimate the value he will be in that position!

I disagree completely.

Mbye would be a complete waste at 14 and our squad currently cannot afford to have him there. If we sign a fullback for 2021 Mbye goes straight to number 18. That's his position moving forwards. If there's an injury he can fill in for a number of positions but he did be nowhere near the 17.

If he's on the bench he's most likely only ever going to play hooker. And he's our 4th best hooker. He doesn't get a spot ahead of either Liddle or Simpkins.

Having your most expensive player not even making your 17 is disgraceful, and hopefully helps him move on to save face.

This is course is contingent on signing a starting fullback

Whilst I agree with your Mbye hooker assessment, I disagree he'd be only playing hooker.

Numerous times last year we had big reshuffles when someone gets injured or goes off for HIA. Look at our last game, Benji goes down, AD to 5/8, Nofa to fullback, Talau to wing and I think Chee-Kam to centre.

I even remember Brooks playing centre at one point due to injuries there.

Would be nice to have someone of Mbye's quality come in if someone in our backline goes down. Yes he's a very expensive benchie, but not playing him is even worse, and I'd argue he still improves our team in the top 17.

So you want to waste a bench spot on the offchance that we suffer an HIA or an injury? That's extremely negative thinking. Garner would play that role in any case. Do we really want to go back to Sheens style having a fullback on the bench? Yes he's a utility of sorts, and that's why he's a no 18.
We will need two hookers in our side for round one. Mbye isn't in our top 2 hookers so he doesn't get that spot. He gets fullback unless we sign a superior player. Can our pack get by with only 3 spots on the bench with the speed today's game is played at?

To be fair, our back up hooker has never played NRL and hasn’t played for over 12 months, he is a risk as well.

I think Hooker and Fullback are very different questions for us.

Fullback, you need to be able to take kicks and have an awareness of play. However developing those skills will help your game as a winger and even as a Center. I also think we can recruit one easily if needed as many player managers are pushing their recruits as Fullbacks. Not ideal, but liveable.

Hooker is a very different level of physical contact. Reynolds, a gritty 5/8(grit not seen in our side) couldnt switch to Hooker. He did not have the energy for it.

We have three options in our side:
Jacob Liddle
Simpkin
And Billy Walters, who played there for a little.

None of those options initially seem to be 80 minute options. Liddle and Walters were fast hookers, but not the gritty tacklers and that will count against them. I cant imagine anyone going from Reserve grade and dealing with NRL grit.

Yet we need a solid hooker or Brooks and AD dont get the ball. Yet we need cap space... risky decisions.

BTW who is AJ i cant work out which player were talking about here?

 

[sleeve]

Mbye’s only position in this team is 14.. this is a very important position as a game progresses do not underestimate the value he will be in that position!

I disagree completely.

Mbye would be a complete waste at 14 and our squad currently cannot afford to have him there. If we sign a fullback for 2021 Mbye goes straight to number 18. That's his position moving forwards. If there's an injury he can fill in for a number of positions but he did be nowhere near the 17.

If he's on the bench he's most likely only ever going to play hooker. And he's our 4th best hooker. He doesn't get a spot ahead of either Liddle or Simpkins.

Having your most expensive player not even making your 17 is disgraceful, and hopefully helps him move on to save face.

This is course is contingent on signing a starting fullback

Whilst I agree with your Mbye hooker assessment, I disagree he'd be only playing hooker.

Numerous times last year we had big reshuffles when someone gets injured or goes off for HIA. Look at our last game, Benji goes down, AD to 5/8, Nofa to fullback, Talau to wing and I think Chee-Kam to centre.

I even remember Brooks playing centre at one point due to injuries there.

Would be nice to have someone of Mbye's quality come in if someone in our backline goes down. Yes he's a very expensive benchie, but not playing him is even worse, and I'd argue he still improves our team in the top 17.

So you want to waste a bench spot on the offchance that we suffer an HIA or an injury? That's extremely negative thinking. Garner would play that role in any case. Do we really want to go back to Sheens style having a fullback on the bench? Yes he's a utility of sorts, and that's why he's a no 18.
We will need two hookers in our side for round one. Mbye isn't in our top 2 hookers so he doesn't get that spot. He gets fullback unless we sign a superior player. Can our pack get by with only 3 spots on the bench with the speed today's game is played at?

To be fair, our back up hooker has never played NRL and hasn’t played for over 12 months, he is a risk as well.

I think Hooker and Fullback are different.

Mbye’s only position in this team is 14.. this is a very important position as a game progresses do not underestimate the value he will be in that position!

I disagree completely.

Mbye would be a complete waste at 14 and our squad currently cannot afford to have him there. If we sign a fullback for 2021 Mbye goes straight to number 18. That's his position moving forwards. If there's an injury he can fill in for a number of positions but he did be nowhere near the 17.

If he's on the bench he's most likely only ever going to play hooker. And he's our 4th best hooker. He doesn't get a spot ahead of either Liddle or Simpkins.

Having your most expensive player not even making your 17 is disgraceful, and hopefully helps him move on to save face.

This is course is contingent on signing a starting fullback

Whilst I agree with your Mbye hooker assessment, I disagree he'd be only playing hooker.

Numerous times last year we had big reshuffles when someone gets injured or goes off for HIA. Look at our last game, Benji goes down, AD to 5/8, Nofa to fullback, Talau to wing and I think Chee-Kam to centre.

I even remember Brooks playing centre at one point due to injuries there.

Would be nice to have someone of Mbye's quality come in if someone in our backline goes down. Yes he's a very expensive benchie, but not playing him is even worse, and I'd argue he still improves our team in the top 17.

So you want to waste a bench spot on the offchance that we suffer an HIA or an injury? That's extremely negative thinking. Garner would play that role in any case. Do we really want to go back to Sheens style having a fullback on the bench? Yes he's a utility of sorts, and that's why he's a no 18.
We will need two hookers in our side for round one. Mbye isn't in our top 2 hookers so he doesn't get that spot. He gets fullback unless we sign a superior player. Can our pack get by with only 3 spots on the bench with the speed today's game is played at?

To be fair, our back up hooker has never played NRL and hasn’t played for over 12 months, he is a risk as well.

I think Hooker and Fullback are very different questions for us.

Fullback, you need to be able to take kicks and have an awareness of play. However developing those skills will help your game as a winger and even as a Center. I also think we can recruit one easily if needed as many player managers are pushing their recruits as Fullbacks. Not ideal, but liveable.

Hooker is a very different level of physical contact. Reynolds, a gritty 5/8(grit not seen in our side) couldnt switch to Hooker. He did not have the energy for it.

We have three options in our side:
Jacob Liddle
Simpkin
And Billy Walters, who played there for a little.

None of those options initially seem to be 80 minute options. Liddle and Walters were fast hookers, but not the gritty tacklers and that will count against them. I cant imagine anyone going from Reserve grade and dealing with NRL grit.

Yet we need a solid hooker or Brooks and AD dont get the ball. Yet we need cap space... risky decisions.

BTW who is AJ i cant work out which player were talking about here?

I had the same problem,i think it's Kepoa.

 

[Tigerwould]

BTW who is AJ i cant work out which player were talking about here?

Asu Kepaoa. Apparently a nickname.
I can’t remember why he is called AJ, the J is possibly a middle name. It was explained in an article when we first signed him.

 

[sleeve]

Mbye’s only position in this team is 14.. this is a very important position as a game progresses do not underestimate the value he will be in that position!

I disagree completely.

Mbye would be a complete waste at 14 and our squad currently cannot afford to have him there. If we sign a fullback for 2021 Mbye goes straight to number 18. That's his position moving forwards. If there's an injury he can fill in for a number of positions but he did be nowhere near the 17.

If he's on the bench he's most likely only ever going to play hooker. And he's our 4th best hooker. He doesn't get a spot ahead of either Liddle or Simpkins.

Having your most expensive player not even making your 17 is disgraceful, and hopefully helps him move on to save face.

This is course is contingent on signing a starting fullback

Whilst I agree with your Mbye hooker assessment, I disagree he'd be only playing hooker.

Numerous times last year we had big reshuffles when someone gets injured or goes off for HIA. Look at our last game, Benji goes down, AD to 5/8, Nofa to fullback, Talau to wing and I think Chee-Kam to centre.

I even remember Brooks playing centre at one point due to injuries there.

Would be nice to have someone of Mbye's quality come in if someone in our backline goes down. Yes he's a very expensive benchie, but not playing him is even worse, and I'd argue he still improves our team in the top 17.

So you want to waste a bench spot on the offchance that we suffer an HIA or an injury? That's extremely negative thinking. Garner would play that role in any case. Do we really want to go back to Sheens style having a fullback on the bench? Yes he's a utility of sorts, and that's why he's a no 18.
We will need two hookers in our side for round one. Mbye isn't in our top 2 hookers so he doesn't get that spot. He gets fullback unless we sign a superior player. Can our pack get by with only 3 spots on the bench with the speed today's game is played at?

Why is it the off chance? Go back and watch how many games last year we ended a match with 15 or 16 players.

I'm assuming you're talking about playing Garner off the bench. If Blore and LL are our second rowers, what happens? Garner is a waste of a bench spot of Blore and LL are playing 80 minutes..

Blore won't be an 80 min backrower til mid-season at earliest. And Tuki may challenge Garner and MCK for that bench spot too.

And if ytou look at our HIA's the vast majority of them were by the same players. Lawrence, Taylor, McIntyre, Garner. Replacing these players with bigger players with better defensive technique will help minimise the likelihood of it occurring.

By your definition I presume you're thinking Rankin will grab a bench spot with Parra because he can cover all positions 1-7, +9?

If there's no injuries or HIAs does Mbye sit out the entire match?

Why can't Bore play 80 min? And Tuki appears a long way off. No offence but i don't understand.

 

[twentyforty]

4. Wooden Spoon
The poor Wests Tigers, not only will they miss the finals for a tenth consecutive year, but they’ll pick up the wooden spoon along the way. They have some big salaries in Moses Mbye and Russell Packer clogging their cap, a highly rated young brigade with few NRL games between them, a half with 148 games and zero finals appearances, and a lot of inconsistency in the squad. They’ll be the big improvers of 2022, but this will not be their year.

From Jack Blyth , zero tackle..

Cant wait till he's proven wrong..

Strange logic from Jack Blyth? We had Moses Mbye and Rusty Packer in the squad last year and were at the top end of the bottom 8. OK, sure our wingers are shorter than our 5/8 and we have a young squad but we also have new and improved leadership.
I think Broncos and Bulldogs will fight it out for the spoon. It’s gonna take a while to fix the Broncos shipwreck while the Dogs will have defensive issues, particularly out wide.
I hope we’re also underestimated by other clubs.

 

[diedpretty]

4. Wooden Spoon
The poor Wests Tigers, not only will they miss the finals for a tenth consecutive year, but they’ll pick up the wooden spoon along the way. They have some big salaries in Moses Mbye and Russell Packer clogging their cap, a highly rated young brigade with few NRL games between them, a half with 148 games and zero finals appearances, and a lot of inconsistency in the squad. They’ll be the big improvers of 2022, but this will not be their year.

From Jack Blyth , zero tackle..

Cant wait till he's proven wrong..


Strange logic from Jack Blyth? We had Moses Mbye and Rusty Packer in the squad last year and were at the top end of the bottom 8. OK, sure our wingers are shorter than our 5/8 and we have a young squad but we also have new and improved leadership.
I think Broncos and Bulldogs will fight it out for the spoon. It’s gonna take a while to fix the Broncos shipwreck while the Dogs will have defensive issues, particularly out wide.
I hope we’re also underestimated by other clubs.

Yea its a pretty big call - i would put us in a group of about 7 teams that could all potentially get the spoon. Personally i think its between Saints and Cronulla. Throw us in the mix with Warriors, Dogs, Cowboys and Broncos.

 

[Tiger19]

BTW who is AJ i cant work out which player were talking about here?

Asu Kepaoa. Apparently a nickname.
I can’t remember why he is called AJ, the J is possibly a middle name. It was explained in an article when we first signed him.

Yeah his name is Asu Johnathan = AJ.

 

[Tigerwould]

Why can’t Bore play 80 min? And Tuki appears a long way off. No offence but i don’t understand.

I’m no expert but from observation when some young forwards enter first grade (like Cameron Murray and Angus Crichton) they look to have a big motor but need to build size and strength. Others like Blore have the size and strength but need to build their endurance.The speed in which the game is played at now If Blore’s endurance isn’t At the top level he will get found out in defence.
He has only had 5 NRL games. Hopefully in 2021 he can build his minutes up to be an 80 minute player but I’d be surprised if he is there in the early rounds of the season.

 

[JC99]

Fox sports saying that McInnes has toured the facilities at concord and wants his future sorted by the end of the month - but hasn’t received an offer from dragons

Also says if dragons sign McCullough it could send McInnes to us and Billy Walters up to broncos - we apparently asked for Reece Walsh in return for Billy which broncos refused

 

[Deleted member 3518]

@twentyforty
That website is always writing negative articles about us. I swear they nominate us for the spoon every year , and every year,Usually with a far inferior roster to this years , we hang around the 8.
To me it shows most writers have zero talent evaluation skills . Also , the dragons got dramatically worse , the cowboys did nothing , so did the sharks , who are now without thier only creative spark , manly lost AFB which is a massive loss , Broncos look like us when we had the big 4, huge talents zero team culture. Warriors are now in rebuild mode , finally , the dogs have no forward pack , the eels have no centres , as Jennings was dynamite last year , GC still have no backs ,an average pack , especially when tino goes off , and basically are paying a second rower who will touch the ball 10 times a game 1.2 mil , etc. the only givens really , are the panthers and raiders , as the roosters have a rookie half , and 2 of thier 5 best players are 1 concussion away from the 2GB commentary team , and the storm are missing one of the best players to ever play. See how well that went for the knights, cowboys etc when their great retired .

 

[avocadoontoast]

Fox sports saying that McInnes has toured the facilities at concord and wants his future sorted by the end of the month - but hasn’t received an offer from dragons

Also says if dragons sign McCullough it could send McInnes to us and Billy Walters up to broncos - we apparently asked for Reece Walsh in return for Billy which broncos refused

If we could somehow get McInnes for 21 that would be a hell of an offseason.

 

[happy_tiger]

Fox sports saying that McInnes has toured the facilities at concord and wants his future sorted by the end of the month - but hasn’t received an offer from dragons

Also says if dragons sign McCullough it could send McInnes to us and Billy Walters up to broncos - we apparently asked for Reece Walsh in return for Billy which broncos refused

If we could somehow get McInnes for 21 that would be a hell of an offseason.

It would be ...but while the De Belin case hangs over the Stains heads I can't see them doing anything ....I see he has actually stopped training with the club