Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

pawsandclaws1 said:
Aitken is from Pambula on the Far South Coast and represented NSW Under Age as a lock forward. I think he may have played in the Junior Kangaroos as a centre with Hastings and a few other NRL players. As a second row forward who can fill in at centre, he would be a good buy at a reasonable price. Toa and Kepaoa imo are our future centre pairing.
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Kapaoa centre toa wing would be a good pairing too.
 
play Aitken in the back row. far better defender there than he is at centre and runs a decent line. he'd be a great alternative to Nikora if we can't get him across the line.
 
ElleryHanley said:
In another life, Hastings would have played for the Dragons on Sunday, where best mate Jack Bird now plays. They used to play “knee footy” in Bird’s front yard at Berkeley, and their mothers remain best friends.

I wonder if that helps explain the Jack Bird link with us? Would make a lot of sense given how close he and Hastings are. Fills back row, 6 and center...'and' Bird for 3 years would ensure Hastings stays also you would imagine.
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For me this changes my opinion of Bird as a potential signing for the Tigers.

This would strengthen our squad with a talented player who is linking with a good friend for a cause.

If the money isn't crazy then we should make a play for Jack Bird
 
jrtiger said:
play Aitken in the back row. far better defender there than he is at centre and runs a decent line. he'd be a great alternative to Nikora if we can't get him across the line.
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This guy was the next big thing, A few clubs latter.....

I dont think we need to be the lifeline club for every single player.
 
Re Aitken

One hand I look and go well we have better but then reality sets in and what we have now won't be here anyway next year and based on next 2-3yrs we won't currently have better. I could also argue that Aitken is more consistent than Kelma and would be a walk up backrow starter right now.

We can all say we need to aspire to grab someone better like Nikora, but how far do we push this. Nikora already has a very decent offer that the Sharks can't match as it is & we already have Papa. If Nikora doesn't join then players like Williams, Aitken and co are the next cabs off the rank & Aitken is probably the best of the next batch.

We could say hit Frizell up but he is 31 this year, his next contract will be his last (33-34yrs old), he won't come cheap as would need to be attractive to outbid the Knights.

Looking deeper into Aitken 26yrs, this won't be his last contract, he has been a gradual improver which indicates he is a good trainer and listens to feedback.

At the Dragons he was a known to be a good hole runner, with good speed off the mark with a massive defensive weakness in his game. It's interesting to note his tackle efficiency has evolved from 83% in 2016 to 95% this season in which he is already doing double the defensive work on averages than in 2016 & his missed tackle count this season is the lowest it has been average wise (Papa has a worse defensive rate than Aitken) whilst playing for a team that is struggling.

Aitken for the right price could be a ok pickup considering the market, sure it would be a Meh signing but not every player we get will drive us to renew our membership next year & we could do alot worse. Would prefer him over Williams from the Sharks who the POM mentioned we were looking at.
 
Cobarcats said:
I totally agree with this sort of club philosophy.
I have thought about this after the two nailbiting wins .
Recent history has shown that we were driven by individuals and now we are starting to get a club first mentality.
It's a team that is a long way off from being successful yet we are showing signs of a better culture. [Culture is wanting success for the club, your mates and the fans]
IMO we have a poor roster talent wise but we are starting to get players wanting success.
Our general in Hastings has put the club first in everything he's done.
He's talked his team up including Madge. He paid for his own airfare just to be with his team whilst suspended.
He was clearly stung today but bravely soldiered on.
You have to remember he has only played a few games since arriving here.
Big JT is trying his heart out to give the club consistency in hit ups and tackling and he was hurt today as well but kept putting his hand up.
Liddle has had injuries but is trying. All our fwds are are improving but have lapses in concentration.
Brooks D against big forwards is good so he's not hiding.
A young To'a comes to the club and has played wing, centre and fullback and still shows attacking skills whilst under the pump.
He's not a marquee player but has shown some quality traits.
It's easy to blame players like Kepaoa which I did earlier but I have to remember it was his first game back from injury too.
In most games our completion rate has been first class which takes effort and concentration.
We have two upgrades coming next year and already they are being lauded as saviours, instead they should be coming to a team that demands effort and loyalty.
I know a lot of you will disagree with that because you'll make a judgement based on our results thus far.
Effort and execution must get better and hopefully towards the back end of this year we will see less changes and disruptions that will facilitate this.
Changes made in culture if done gradually is hard to pickup on, but if you did a time jump of a year then you would notice it.

Injuries are crippling us and has hampered our cohesion and progress.
This has made us look like we are not trying but that's not the case.
The new players have had mixed bags but once again it's mainly due to disruptions and playing out of positions.
I'm still confident in the rebuild.
I think behind the scenes WT are frantically looking for the right players to fill the void.
I believe the next signings will be the most important in the clubs history because if we we stuff it up with over priced pensioners then we won't succeed. No more Packer type signings.
If we do manage to get 2-3 quality footballers then add AD, Stef, Laurie and a fitter KM things will be better for sure.

Hopefully we will start to get some depth which is paramount.
If you go by our predictions in the off season most of us said no more thrashings and more effort...apart from one dismal failure I think we are having a dig.
Today we looked lost in attack because of the reasons I've mentioned.
Culture and Roster, those two words should be talked about as we move forward.
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Agree ….. our next target must be a top line player.
Supplement that with upgrades that we already signed for next year. Who fits that bill is anyones guess???
PLUS add 3 x experienced players …. Like ….
- Aitken (would be good pickup … low cost, motivated, aggressive and good utility value)
- If Canberra are having a clean out Tapine, CoryHarawira-Naea, CharnzeNicoll-Klokstad and Jordan Rapana would be on my shopping list.
I wouldn’t worry too much if we missed out on Nikita and Pelé from the sharks.

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Get some luck on injury front
 
Why not both Aitken and Nikora/Williams. We are losing both starting second rowers and Garner and Seyfarth are not setting the world on fire.

If Faiders are having a fire sale at year's end their could be a number of options to consider. Tapine and Rapana would benefit our team.

Centre options for 2023 - AD, Toa, AJ, Tommy Talua and Aitken. Hopefully Roberts and Gildart are gone in 2023.
 
If we are looking at Aitken. It would be for backrow surley. I know everyone thinks of him as a centre due to his scale myself included but we would be dumb to undo the work already done by Nathan Brown and the Warriors and stick him in the centres again.
He always had a high work rate as a centre, and that’s reflected in his output in the second row.
Don’t be surprised to see an Aiken / Papali’i combination next year.
 
Long Term Fan said:
Euan Atkin is only 26 years old played 143 NRL games and scored 49 tries. Plays Centre and Second Row and unsigned for 2023 as he got an early release from Warriors.

Better option than Gildart and we need his experience and try scoring ability.

Happy to sign him at right price. Atkin one Centre and Toa the other one.

Not many quality centres around. Now need a Second Rower and Prop.
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Carries strongly out of DH whereas our centres on the weekend couldn’t knock the skin off a custard
 
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