Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

@lukic said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465459) said:
@kade7 said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465456) said:
@love_the_weststigers said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465413) said:
Dont understand the fixation of Brooks at 9
He is a halfback who cant fill that role well, what makes people think he will be any better at Hooker

He can tackle , he is a left footed kicker and he is quick

That's already an upgrade on liddle

What does being left footed have to do with anything? He's no better at defending than Liddle and Liddle is actually faster than Brooks. Brooks is inferior in every way.

Liddle is ordinary a back up hooker at best
 
@telltails said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465297) said:
Does anyone still believe there are enough players to go around, with the salary cap operating in its current format to allow teams like us to strengthen our roster?
We have money to spend and are forced to spend it on players to fill the numbers not the players we really need or want - who all are picked up by stronger clubs for obvious reasons- re yesterdays performance.
Our only hope is with junior development which means more years of FG pain - who ever the coach is.

I Agree. I like how Paul Kent explained it a few months back, lower clubs have a team running around worth $7 million and the top teams have a side running around worth $12 million (excuse the numbers as they aren’t exact but representative of the point being made).
The Salary cap is a false economy. It doesn’t do what it’s designed to.
 
Tigers have $1.6m to save a sinking ship. A moneyball move could plug the leaks
Mark St John from Fox Sports
The Wests Tigers reportedly have $1.6 million to spend in their salary cap and four spots remaining on their roster for 2022, but it remains to be seen which combination of off-contract recruits can return them to the finals.

The club is in the midst of a brutal review into their failed 2021 campaign after they finished 13th with just eight wins and 16 losses, the last of which was a shock 38-0 hammering by the wooden spooners the Bulldogs in Round 25.

Coach Michael Maguire is feeling the heat after a third straight season in charge without finals football and the club’s management is under fire for overseeing 10 straight seasons of ineptitude.

However the club’s salary cap that has been heavily out of whack in recent seasons due to a series of ridiculous contracts to overpaid and underperforming players is finally starting to look in far better shape.

That has finally given the Tigers the opportunity to create a more well-rounded squad capable of challenging for the top eight next season, should they fill out their roster with the right pieces.

The struggle for the Tigers has always been landing the right sort of players to turn the club around and not paying overs for the wrong type of players.

The club is in the midst of the longest finals drought in the NRL stretching back to 2011 and unless they can use the money they have wisely it may be a case of more of the same in 2022.

The Tigers will offload all or part of some big contracts this off-season in Russell Packer (800,000) to retirement and Moses Mbye ($800,000) to the Dragons with the club to chip in around half of that contract for him to play for their rivals.

The Tigers also have an option in their favour for Joey Leilua ($700,000) who is reportedly out of favour and on his way out of the club.

That leaves them with enough room to attract some fresh blood to the club, but how they spend that $1.6 million will be crucial and they can’t afford to waste it on players that don’t deliver.

There are two schools of thought with how best to use that money. The Tigers can either sign one or two superstars, which can help attract players to the club and improve on-field results or they can spread the money out in a bid to create a more balanced squad with those four vacant roster positions.

The challenge the Tigers have is that superstars have been reluctant to come to the club in recent seasons due to the lack of success on and off the field.

There are also a lack of superstars available for 2022 at this late stage of the season.

The NRL big names that remain unsigned for 2022 are Aaron Woods, Blake Ferguson, Dylan Napa, Will Chambers, Josh Dugan, Tyrone Peachey, Ashley Taylor, Dylan Walker, Edrick Lee and Corey Norman.

Fortunately for the Tigers none of those players would command top dollar and the right combination of those players could help turn the club’s on-field fortunes around.

Woods is a former club captain who has been in good form for the Sharks and he has unfinished business at the Tigers. He also hasn’t had a lot of interest from rivals.

There are not many representative standard forwards on the market and the Tigers’ middle defence is in desperate need of some starch.

Therefore signing Woods could be in both club and player’s interest and they wouldn’t have to overpay to lure their former captain home.

Ferguson has not been at his best so far this season, but he is a proven winner who has tasted premiership success with the Roosters in 2018 and he has been a part of turning the Eels into a top four team albeit without much finals success

Ferguson is great for team culture and he is a player that helps drive results both on the field and at training.

The veteran winger fell out of favour with Brad Arthur this year and clubs haven’t exactly been banging on his door, so they Tigers could land him below market value given the lack of interest elsewhere.

Peachey is a player every team would love to have because he is so versatile and can cover the back row, halves and centres with ease.

Adam Doueihi’s long-term injury would make Peachey a shrewd signing given he can cover five-eighth and then he can move to lock or the bench utility role later in the year.

Peachey’s family are in Sydney so a return to the city would have appeal for the former Panthers player and surprisingly there hasn’t been a lot of interest in his services.

Napa is still young at 28 and has a point to prove, but it remains to be seen if he can return to the form that saw him represent the Maroons in seven Origins.

However given his off-field issues at the Bulldogs he is not in a position of power when it comes to the negotiation table and the club may be able to land him on the cheap provided they think they can get him back to somewhere near his best.

The Tigers also don’t want to fall into the trap of throwing good money after bad as they have done in the past. Bloated contracts for Packer, Mbye and Josh Reynolds failed to produce consistent on-field results.

That is why they may be better served looking for bargain buys that they believe are the right fit to help turn around the club and balance their squad overall.

Off-contract players with the potential to take their games to greater heights with increased opportunities are Braidon Burns, Tyrone May, Matt Ikuvalu, Shane Wright, Joey Lussick, Phoenix Crossland and Tevita Funa to name a few.

Souths centre Burns is an excellent prospect provided he can put his injury troubles behind him and he would be a strong replacement for Leilua.

Wayne Bennett rates Burns highly and he could help shore up the Tigers’ leaky edge defence.

May is odds on to stay at Penrith, but the Tigers could do with someone of his versatility given Mbye’s departure and he could even blossom into a starter if given the opportunity.

Ikuvalu is a consistent finisher who has scored 22 tries in just 35 games for the Roosters since his debut in 2018.

Ikuvalu is down the pecking order at the Roosters when everyone is fit and could blossom with a consistent starting role at the Tigers.

The best thing about these players is they are off-contract and motivated to take their next opportunities, while the club won’t have to break the bank to bring them to the club.

Of the players off-contract in 2021 that remain unsigned for 2022 there is no name that will automatically take the Tigers back to the finals on his own.

More likely it will be a combination of shrewd signings which can create a more balanced roster that will give the Tigers the best chance of competing for the top eight in 2022.

It is a bit of a chicken and the egg scenario. A marquee signing has the potential to attract more big names to the club, but the Tigers won’t get a marquee player until they prove that they are not a basket case club and that they are capable of producing consistent on-field results.

If the Tigers can lure a combination of motivated players with a point to prove like Woods, Ferguson, Peachey and Burns to the club with the $1.6 million they have at their disposal that may just be enough to return them to finals contenders.

But the club also need to keep enough room in their salary cap to pounce on a marquee signing next year for the 2023 season.

Returning to the finals is one thing, but competing for premierships requires stars and there are plenty coming off-contract next season.

However after 10 long years of no finals football it is baby steps for the Tigers and making the top eight next year has to be the priority to appease their long-suffering fans.
 
Buy
Dylan Walker play him at centre
Tyrone Peachey
play him at lock or utility
Buy Aaron Woods at the right price still goes well and better than Mikaele and Tamou
 
@lukic said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465475) said:
Brooks just needs to go. Even if we're paying 75% of his salary. We're not going to suddenly turn him into some great hooker after 8 years of crap at halfback. He'd be the highest paid hooker in the game and one of the worst in the league at that position too.

I watched his pre-game interview and he just seemed like he was struggling to answer the most basic questions. Zero charisma, zero leadership ability and I really question his intelligence. You don't need to be a genius to be a great footy player, but I have concerns over how quickly he processes things because he's added nothing to his game in 8 years and there's no creativity to his game. Just robotic movements again and again. Might go alright in super league or NSW cup, but nowhere near what it takes to be a good half in this league.


It's like there is a delay in his head when he is asked a question haha
 
@kade7 said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465509) said:
@lukic said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465475) said:
Brooks just needs to go. Even if we're paying 75% of his salary. We're not going to suddenly turn him into some great hooker after 8 years of crap at halfback. He'd be the highest paid hooker in the game and one of the worst in the league at that position too.

I watched his pre-game interview and he just seemed like he was struggling to answer the most basic questions. Zero charisma, zero leadership ability and I really question his intelligence. You don't need to be a genius to be a great footy player, but I have concerns over how quickly he processes things because he's added nothing to his game in 8 years and there's no creativity to his game. Just robotic movements again and again. Might go alright in super league or NSW cup, but nowhere near what it takes to be a good half in this league.


It's like there is a delay in his head when he is asked a question haha

I noticed that as well. Just doesn’t have it between the ears.
 
I'd even consider seeing if we can front end Brooks' deal. If he's on $850k a year, why not just pay him another 600k this year and then some team can pick up his $250k in 2023. We're already going to be without Talau and Doueihi for a large part of next year and the only players we've signed are Hastings and Gildart, who are almost like for like replacements anyway. Unless Laurie becomes Trbojevic and Blore becomes Fifita overnight, we're not remotely close to contending. Might as well set ourselves up for 2023.

Some of those off-contract guys would be useful pickups for sure, especially Peachey and Walker, but they improve us from 13th to 11th maybe? Walker I guess has a few good years left in him, but the others just aren't big enough upgrades over who we've got to justify putting the money in.

I think the best bet would be to use the money towards long-term deals for our best players by topping them up and trying to pick up a player midseason who's granted a release.
 
@momo_amp_medo said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465478) said:
@will1999 said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465114) said:
1. Laurie
2. Nofoaluma
3. Gildart
4. Hoffman
5. Maumalo
6. Madden
7. Brooks
8. Utoikamanu
9. Liddle
10. Tamou
11. Leilua
12. Blore
13. Twal
14. Hastings
15. Garner
16. Musgrove
17. Mikaele
18. Ofahengaue
19. Simpkin
20. Simpkins
21. Talau
22. Seyfarth
23. Kepaoa
24. Tuilagi
25. Doueihi
26.?
27?
28?
29?
30?

Yes but if a new coach emerges and he was far dink I’d pay out and put a line through Hoffman, Kepaoa, Madden and Tamou plus arrange trades of existing contracts for Garner, Nofoaluma and Brooks.
Yes fans if you’re going to sack the coach you might as well throw all the non performing toys as well.
That’s a clean out.

Thats all good, but you have to have replacements to cover these players?
 
@jedi_tiger said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465507) said:
Buy
Dylan Walker play him at centre
Tyrone Peachey
play him at lock or utility
Buy Aaron Woods at the right price still goes well and better than Mikaele and Tamou

Chuck the kitchen sink at tupou and grant

Upgrade Ogden and Dillon/scolari/ Pole
 
@jedi_tiger said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465507) said:
Buy
Dylan Walker play him at centre
Tyrone Peachey
play him at lock or utility
Buy Aaron Woods at the right price still goes well and better than Mikaele and Tamou

You have to do better than Walker !
 
@jedi_tiger said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465507) said:
Buy
Dylan Walker play him at centre
Tyrone Peachey
play him at lock or utility
Buy Aaron Woods at the right price still goes well and better than Mikaele and Tamou

Prefer burns over walker. Though, I think burns stays at souffs.
 
@thedaboss said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465520) said:
@jedi_tiger said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465507) said:
Buy
Dylan Walker play him at centre
Tyrone Peachey
play him at lock or utility
Buy Aaron Woods at the right price still goes well and better than Mikaele and Tamou

Chuck the kitchen sink at tupou and grant

Upgrade Ogden and Dillon/scolari/ Pole

yes to Grant if we could or B Smith
 
@snake said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465535) said:
@jedi_tiger said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465507) said:
Buy
Dylan Walker play him at centre
Tyrone Peachey
play him at lock or utility
Buy Aaron Woods at the right price still goes well and better than Mikaele and Tamou

You have to do better than Walker !

not much else on market
again better than what we have
 
That list of available players is vomit inducing.

Peachey & Braidon Burns are about the only ones I am keen on.

At present I don't think that we will have a single centre with first grade experience in the position available come round 1 next year.
BJ released
AJ & Talau injured
JTJ unsure

I detest Dylan Walker, but am almost at he point where I think we need to look at him. JTJ defaults to a new contract
 
Braidon Burns and Tyrone Peachey for next season.

Dylan Brown can be negotiated with from Nov 1. I'd chase him hard and try and see if we can get him to do a Matto and Moses and leave early
 
given Talau and now Gildart's injury, with Kepaoa recovering from an ACL we have to promote Israel Ogden. have to. his pathway to first grade is crystal clear, irrespective of who's the coach. wouldn't mind Braidon Burns either.
 
@harvey said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1465574) said:
That list of available players is vomit inducing.

Peachey & Braidon Burns are about the only ones I am keen on.

At present I don't think that we will have a single centre with first grade experience in the position available come round 1 next year.
BJ released
AJ & Talau injured
JTJ unsure

I detest Dylan Walker, but am almost at he point where I think we need to look at him. JTJ defaults to a new contract

Im sorry i can't fathom getting dylan walket
 

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