Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Holman Barnes #1 Fan]

Everyone is looking at Thompson and going off the 800k it took to pry him from the UK.

If 2yrs are covered by 300k a year, he then becomes a 500k prop for us, with 2 more years at 500k or even at 650k. For 4yrs 2-2.3mil max I think thats some smart business. We have a heap of cash next year and could even structure the last 2-3yrs well by pushing some cash into next years cap so the last few years hit won’t be so big. The NRL clamped down on backloaded deals not front loaded deals so he could get 20-40% in year 1 which lets face it at the moment we have that easily.

We all complain we can’t get quality but geez Thompson is quality and if he is an option to grab we should for the right price.

We saw what Madge did with Sam Burgess. I imagine he could have a similar impact for us.

 

[Deleted member 3518]

From the Telegraph.
The Tigers have tabled a three-year deal for Thompson with the prop having already met coach Michael Maguire about a possible shift next season. The Cowboys have also expressed a formal interest to try to entice Thompson to Townsville.

I can’t see Hartigan paying big dollars for Thompson, plus we don’t want to have another Mbye on our hands in a couple of years.

We wont be paying big dollars for the first 2 years as they will be sibsidised by the dogs. From all reports it will cost us $500 each year for 2yrs , then whatever they decide after that.

That’s the bit that concerns me. If that’s the case it will probably average out to $650 a season for 3 years….
A real worry.

You can front load it though, including this year . You could include say 800k of the total value in next years cap , and even if it was 650k the final 2 years of a 4 year deal , it would still be 500k , because you took the hit , in a slow player market .

 

[Merlot]

Barrett ,just said Thompson is going no where,unsure of how the rumour started

Barrett also think he has an unlimited Salary Cap now.. Over rated coach in my eyes

club is lucky they got GUS,strange man is Barrett,his word s were no one had mentioned it 2 him,etc.T B may be out of the loop

 

[Canberratiger]

The club needs 1 or 2 Origin calibre players if they want to go to the next level.

I don't think anyone would disagree with you: the team lacks strike, whether that be pace out wide, a game breaking half, a monster edge foward or whatever. But that doesn't take away from the fact that the foundations are being built. Stick a couple of marquees in our team for most of the past decade and we'd be at best where the Knights or Titans are now. What I hope is being built at the moment is a setup where those star signings are the last thing needed to turn the roster into a legit contender - and we're doing it without burning all the cap room we'll need to make those signings when they're available.

I know it's frustrating that we've missed on a bunch of signings, but it doesn't mean we ought to throw up everything else that is going in the right direction and give up. This is a legit, proper, root and branch rebuild that's been going on quietly in the background for a couple of years now. I'd rather it had led to more success at first grade level already but equally I don't want to see it ruined by chucking a bunch of money at bad contracts for ageing "stars" looking for a last payday done with the primary goal of hauling ourselves into 7th position for a year or two.

Absolutely brilliant post!
They are building to get a premiership in a few years, not to make the 8 next year like the Bulldogs look like.

 

[hsvjones]

From the Telegraph.
The Tigers have tabled a three-year deal for Thompson with the prop having already met coach Michael Maguire about a possible shift next season. The Cowboys have also expressed a formal interest to try to entice Thompson to Townsville.


I would believe nothing that the murdoch media say without a credible source,which is something they rarely do

Definitely seems like there's a chance it happens. Couple different journos have talked about it now and seem pretty sure - anything can happen though

For me if this was to happen it needs to happen pretty quick and like in the next 2 weeks. We all know what happens when it drags out and it not good for us supporters.

 

[yeahcaz]

From the Telegraph.
The Tigers have tabled a three-year deal for Thompson with the prop having already met coach Michael Maguire about a possible shift next season. The Cowboys have also expressed a formal interest to try to entice Thompson to Townsville.

I can’t see Hartigan paying big dollars for Thompson, plus we don’t want to have another Mbye on our hands in a couple of years.

I mean it’s not really big dollars considering we’ll only pay him 800+ for one year

 

[JC99]

From the Telegraph.
The Tigers have tabled a three-year deal for Thompson with the prop having already met coach Michael Maguire about a possible shift next season. The Cowboys have also expressed a formal interest to try to entice Thompson to Townsville.


I would believe nothing that the murdoch media say without a credible source,which is something they rarely do

Definitely seems like there's a chance it happens. Couple different journos have talked about it now and seem pretty sure - anything can happen though

For me if this was to happen it needs to happen pretty quick and like in the next 2 weeks. We all know what happens when it drags out and it not good for us supporters.

Might be a tricky one as we would need to figure out how long a deal he wants, if the dogs will let him go and how much of his contract they would be willing to pay. He could even stay at dogs, don't see it being resolved too quickly.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

From the Telegraph.
The Tigers have tabled a three-year deal for Thompson with the prop having already met coach Michael Maguire about a possible shift next season. The Cowboys have also expressed a formal interest to try to entice Thompson to Townsville.

I can’t see Hartigan paying big dollars for Thompson, plus we don’t want to have another Mbye on our hands in a couple of years.

I mean it’s not really big dollars considering we’ll only pay him 800+ for one year

we already have a 4 year Nofo deal that will come back to bite us that final year
we did that it makes a front loaded Thompson deal a pretty good signing

 

[TYGA]

From the Telegraph.
The Tigers have tabled a three-year deal for Thompson with the prop having already met coach Michael Maguire about a possible shift next season. The Cowboys have also expressed a formal interest to try to entice Thompson to Townsville.

I can’t see Hartigan paying big dollars for Thompson, plus we don’t want to have another Mbye on our hands in a couple of years.

I mean it’s not really big dollars considering we’ll only pay him 800+ for one year

we already have a 4 year Nofo deal that will come back to bite us that final year
we did that it makes a front loaded Thompson deal a pretty good signing

I don’t think Nofa deal is a bad one we signed him for just over 400k. Nofa is a good player the issue he has had is bad centre’s inside him. We have to fix this issue it’s a glaring weakness. We get carved up out wide. Talau has improved us defensively but it wasn’t hard over BJ and Jet.

If they can land Lomax it fills the biggest hole.

 

[Tiger5150]

From the Telegraph.
The Tigers have tabled a three-year deal for Thompson with the prop having already met coach Michael Maguire about a possible shift next season. The Cowboys have also expressed a formal interest to try to entice Thompson to Townsville.

I can’t see Hartigan paying big dollars for Thompson, plus we don’t want to have another Mbye on our hands in a couple of years.

I mean it’s not really big dollars considering we’ll only pay him 800+ for one year

we already have a 4 year Nofo deal that will come back to bite us that final year
we did that it makes a front loaded Thompson deal a pretty good signing

I don’t think Nofa deal is a bad one we signed him for just over 400k. Nofa is a good player the issue he has had is bad centre’s inside him. We have to fix this issue it’s a glaring weakness. We get carved up out wide. Talau has improved us defensively but it wasn’t hard over BJ and Jet.

If they can land Lomax it fills the biggest hole.

More chance of landing Curtis Rona than Lomax

 

[TYGA]

From the Telegraph.
The Tigers have tabled a three-year deal for Thompson with the prop having already met coach Michael Maguire about a possible shift next season. The Cowboys have also expressed a formal interest to try to entice Thompson to Townsville.

I can’t see Hartigan paying big dollars for Thompson, plus we don’t want to have another Mbye on our hands in a couple of years.

I mean it’s not really big dollars considering we’ll only pay him 800+ for one year

we already have a 4 year Nofo deal that will come back to bite us that final year
we did that it makes a front loaded Thompson deal a pretty good signing

I don’t think Nofa deal is a bad one we signed him for just over 400k. Nofa is a good player the issue he has had is bad centre’s inside him. We have to fix this issue it’s a glaring weakness. We get carved up out wide. Talau has improved us defensively but it wasn’t hard over BJ and Jet.

If they can land Lomax it fills the biggest hole.

More chance of landing Curtis Rona than Lomax

Not wrong

 

[TigerWest]

People talking about signing Thompson. Do you actually think signing him for 4 years for 2.7 million is a good deal? You can't simply say getting him for 2 years at 500k is good value if in teh final years you're paying him 850k.

This is exactly like the Mbye situation. He was great value while the dogs were chipping in, then in the latter years his full salary was on us and we couldn't wait to offload him. Thompson is not the best prop in the league. I don't think he's in the top 5 and possibly not even in the top 10 props. He's worth about 500k at the most.

If we offered him a 3 year deal for 1.5 mil, with dogs chipping in 700k for 2 years, with a mutual option for the 4th season i could accept that. If we ended up paying more than 500k a year for him at any stage it's a loss.

When the Dogs signed him they thought he was one of if not the best forward in the game. Hence the big bucks. But he's not. I can't see anyone offering him that kind of money again.

After all the talk about how Hartigan won’t pay overs for players, do you really think we’ll take on a monster contract?

We’re more likely to miss out because another club wants to take on the entire contract amount.

Madge said in the MMM pod interview (on here a few days ago), that they would open the purse up for the right player, don’t know if this is the right player or not, but he sounds good?

 

[Tiger5150]

People talking about signing Thompson. Do you actually think signing him for 4 years for 2.7 million is a good deal? You can't simply say getting him for 2 years at 500k is good value if in teh final years you're paying him 850k.

This is exactly like the Mbye situation. He was great value while the dogs were chipping in, then in the latter years his full salary was on us and we couldn't wait to offload him. Thompson is not the best prop in the league. I don't think he's in the top 5 and possibly not even in the top 10 props. He's worth about 500k at the most.

If we offered him a 3 year deal for 1.5 mil, with dogs chipping in 700k for 2 years, with a mutual option for the 4th season i could accept that. If we ended up paying more than 500k a year for him at any stage it's a loss.

When the Dogs signed him they thought he was one of if not the best forward in the game. Hence the big bucks. But he's not. I can't see anyone offering him that kind of money again.

After all the talk about how Hartigan won’t pay overs for players, do you really think we’ll take on a monster contract?

We’re more likely to miss out because another club wants to take on the entire contract amount.

Madge said in the MMM pod interview (on here a few days ago), that they would open the purse up for the right player, don’t know if this is the right player or not, but he sounds good?

I'm posting the link for the SEN interview with Madge that Lauren posted in the Madge thread (thanks Lauren). Madge explains succinctly the strategy and it reflects very closely to what is happening at the club.

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/west-tigers-coach-michael-maguire-19-08-21/id1536354819?i=1000532464602

 

[Guest]

If the Tigers managed to get Zac Lomax and Luke Thompson I think you've had a massive win in terms of recruiting.

No chance of either.

Why willow?

Guessing or do you know something?

I'd bet vital parts of my anatomy that we won't get either.

 

[Deleted member 3518]

The club needs 1 or 2 Origin calibre players if they want to go to the next level.

I don't think anyone would disagree with you: the team lacks strike, whether that be pace out wide, a game breaking half, a monster edge foward or whatever. But that doesn't take away from the fact that the foundations are being built. Stick a couple of marquees in our team for most of the past decade and we'd be at best where the Knights or Titans are now. What I hope is being built at the moment is a setup where those star signings are the last thing needed to turn the roster into a legit contender - and we're doing it without burning all the cap room we'll need to make those signings when they're available.

I know it's frustrating that we've missed on a bunch of signings, but it doesn't mean we ought to throw up everything else that is going in the right direction and give up. This is a legit, proper, root and branch rebuild that's been going on quietly in the background for a couple of years now. I'd rather it had led to more success at first grade level already but equally I don't want to see it ruined by chucking a bunch of money at bad contracts for ageing "stars" looking for a last payday done with the primary goal of hauling ourselves into 7th position for a year or two.

Absolutely brilliant post!
They are building to get a premiership in a few years, not to make the 8 next year like the Bulldogs look like.

Are they though ? That bulldogs team looks like it’s going nowhere . Look how the broncos have gone with a team of guns and no first grade level half or 9 .

 

[TigerWest]

From the Telegraph.
The Tigers have tabled a three-year deal for Thompson with the prop having already met coach Michael Maguire about a possible shift next season. The Cowboys have also expressed a formal interest to try to entice Thompson to Townsville.


I would believe nothing that the murdoch media say without a credible source,which is something they rarely do

Definitely seems like there's a chance it happens. Couple different journos have talked about it now and seem pretty sure - anything can happen though

For me if this was to happen it needs to happen pretty quick and like in the next 2 weeks. We all know what happens when it drags out and it not good for us supporters.

But hold on, it’s only us saying this, not the club?

 

[JC99]

From the Telegraph.
The Tigers have tabled a three-year deal for Thompson with the prop having already met coach Michael Maguire about a possible shift next season. The Cowboys have also expressed a formal interest to try to entice Thompson to Townsville.


I would believe nothing that the murdoch media say without a credible source,which is something they rarely do

Definitely seems like there's a chance it happens. Couple different journos have talked about it now and seem pretty sure - anything can happen though

For me if this was to happen it needs to happen pretty quick and like in the next 2 weeks. We all know what happens when it drags out and it not good for us supporters.

But hold on, it’s only us saying this, not the club?

Reports are that he's free to negotiate with clubs and we are already offering him a deal. We won't be 100% sure if we offer him a deal or not but it would make a lot of sense

 

[TigerWest]

From the Telegraph.
The Tigers have tabled a three-year deal for Thompson with the prop having already met coach Michael Maguire about a possible shift next season. The Cowboys have also expressed a formal interest to try to entice Thompson to Townsville.


I would believe nothing that the murdoch media say without a credible source,which is something they rarely do

Definitely seems like there's a chance it happens. Couple different journos have talked about it now and seem pretty sure - anything can happen though

For me if this was to happen it needs to happen pretty quick and like in the next 2 weeks. We all know what happens when it drags out and it not good for us supporters.

But hold on, it’s only us saying this, not the club?

Reports are that he's free to negotiate with clubs and we are already offering him a deal. We won't be 100% sure if we offer him a deal or not but it would make a lot of sense

I certainly agree. But as you say, we don’t know what the club is going to do yet?

 

[JC99]

From the Telegraph.
The Tigers have tabled a three-year deal for Thompson with the prop having already met coach Michael Maguire about a possible shift next season. The Cowboys have also expressed a formal interest to try to entice Thompson to Townsville.


I would believe nothing that the murdoch media say without a credible source,which is something they rarely do

Definitely seems like there's a chance it happens. Couple different journos have talked about it now and seem pretty sure - anything can happen though

For me if this was to happen it needs to happen pretty quick and like in the next 2 weeks. We all know what happens when it drags out and it not good for us supporters.

But hold on, it’s only us saying this, not the club?

Reports are that he's free to negotiate with clubs and we are already offering him a deal. We won't be 100% sure if we offer him a deal or not but it would make a lot of sense

I certainly agree. But as you say, we don’t know what the club is going to do yet?

They'd be silly to not have a chat to him. Quality player

 

[Balmainian]

The club needs 1 or 2 Origin calibre players if they want to go to the next level.

I don't think anyone would disagree with you: the team lacks strike, whether that be pace out wide, a game breaking half, a monster edge foward or whatever. But that doesn't take away from the fact that the foundations are being built. Stick a couple of marquees in our team for most of the past decade and we'd be at best where the Knights or Titans are now. What I hope is being built at the moment is a setup where those star signings are the last thing needed to turn the roster into a legit contender - and we're doing it without burning all the cap room we'll need to make those signings when they're available.

I know it's frustrating that we've missed on a bunch of signings, but it doesn't mean we ought to throw up everything else that is going in the right direction and give up. This is a legit, proper, root and branch rebuild that's been going on quietly in the background for a couple of years now. I'd rather it had led to more success at first grade level already but equally I don't want to see it ruined by chucking a bunch of money at bad contracts for ageing "stars" looking for a last payday done with the primary goal of hauling ourselves into 7th position for a year or two.

Absolutely brilliant post!
They are building to get a premiership in a few years, not to make the 8 next year like the Bulldogs look like.

Are they though ? That bulldogs team looks like it’s going nowhere . Look how the broncos have gone with a team of guns and no first grade level half or 9 .

Building and buying are two different strategies.
If we look at the players that we have let go not players that walked but players we let go we would have that strike and X factor.
Addo Carr
Paps
Even Tedesco could have been retained if we handled right.
Taupau
All these guys were brought through our pathways.
I’m happy to not pay overs if that means losing another crop of rising stars.