Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

I ask a lot of questions but don't see any definitive answers
Tupou , Nofoaloma and Luai ? Are these guys playing with us next year or the year after ?
Anything confirmed ?
As it stands currently Tupou is 1 more year than Dolphins, Luai apparently should be announced by Friday and Nofa will be in reserve grade.
 
I ask a lot of questions but don't see any definitive answers
Tupou , Nofoaloma and Luai ? Are these guys playing with us next year or the year after ?
Anything confirmed ?
Luai no. The other 2 yes.
 
Our centres are garbage. Very surprised that no-one is mentioning Feledy. Should be getting to the point where he is playing 1st grade, but we botched his development by not letting him play most of last year in KOE cup despite our lack of talent there
Feledy's problem is he can't tackle. And that's not just when he played NRL. He can't tackle when he played in his own age group
 
Feledy's problem is he can't tackle. And that's not just when he played NRL. He can't tackle when he played in his own age group
Most young centres do t know how to tackle, especially the ones that find it relatively easy to score. Defence is learnt in time and application. He has the ability to develop this area, I hope he does.
 
Mole reporting Manly looking at Galvin. Give them Douhei. That would be hilarious.

Hope we’ve locked up Galvin.
They can look all they want. We have Galvin locked up until 2026. When Luai comes on board, "teams looking at Galvin" stories / tweets will be commonplace. Why? Journalists are lazy and Wests Tigers stories get more clicks than any other team.
 
They can look all they want. We have Galvin locked up until 2026. When Luai comes on board, "teams looking at Galvin" stories / tweets will be commonplace. Why? Journalists are lazy and Wests Tigers stories get more clicks than any other team.
The thing that continues to annoy me with this is that we develop these guys and then they get pilfered.

The NRL must implement a transfer fee system so teams get compensated for their time and efforts. Alternatively, there needs to be an exemption applied to juniors and their salary gets excluded from the cap or something like that. Would put more pressure on teams to develop their pathways and also grow the game.

Sounds like I’m thinking we will lose him but it’s ridiculous we don’t get anything for bringing players through our system.
 
Feledy definitely needs to spend the season as one of the FT KOE centres
Maybe Feledy can get a bit of a combination happening again with Latu Fainu, assuming they both spend most of the season in KOE in 2024.

I don't really know myself, but a number of people have commented that they knew each others game pretty well when they both played together in the past.
 
The thing that continues to annoy me with this is that we develop these guys and then they get pilfered.

The NRL must implement a transfer fee system so teams get compensated for their time and efforts. Alternatively, there needs to be an exemption applied to juniors and their salary gets excluded from the cap or something like that. Would put more pressure on teams to develop their pathways and also grow the game.

Sounds like I’m thinking we will lose him but it’s ridiculous we don’t get anything for bringing players through our system.
This happens to a lot of clubs with large catchments for junior talent. Given that we are positioning ourselves as a development club, the number of promising juniors coming through will increase. A number of things we need to realise:

1) We can't keep them all and we will inevitably lose some promising juniors to other clubs. An example away from the Wests Tigers: Ethan Sanders, the U19s NSW Blues halfback (with Latu Fainu at 6), was part of the Eels system. He was reportedly signed by the Raiders from 2025, after the Eels locked up Moses and Brown on long term deals. And back to the Wests Tigers and Latu Fainu, we've poached the Fainu brothers, despite them being in the Manly system for a number of years.

2) We have to back our coaching staff to identify the juniors that will succeed at NRL level. Playing in the Australian Schoolboys team is certainly a big tick, but no means a certainty that they will make the jump to first grade. Just ask Brenden Santi.

3) We have to back our club to create a winning culture. Penrith are the absolute gold standard here. Whilst they are leaking their junior talent, they are leaving after first grade success rather than before it. Juniors are staying for the chance to play in that side and make history (not to mention the journeymen going to the Panthers for a chance to improve their stock). A winning culture will improve junior retention but will not guarantee it. For example, Panthers lost a 'prodigal centre', Wilson de Courcey, to the Knights, likely with the promise of a top 30 spot.

Our focus on the future is clear, with a large number of juniors either in the top 30 for 2024 or 2025. Hopefully the juniors that have been earmarked for success turn out to be the best in their positions.
 
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