Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Mighty_Tiger]

I’d have Toupu at the bottom of the pecking order. If we were in a position that we were going to mount a charge than I’d consider him, but given it’s going to be a development year and we are already going to be blooding enough of our own, no point wasting one of those spots on a guy who won’t be around. It’s only going to benefit the Dolphins. Screw that.

He is on our pay roll. We should play the best players in the positions we have to start the season. He is a left side player so is probably competing with Lobb & Naden for a wing spot. Olam as center took the center option off the table for him.

 

[Jolls]

Brooks should have been turned into a hooker 6 years ago , he found not steer the ship but he could defend , Robbie should have had him as his next in line then we would have gone and purchased a proper 1/2 , but I’m not a coach and non of them tried him at honker so who knows

Hooker requires similar smarts as a half back to read the game, draw in the A and B defenders to clear the ruck and give the halves/forwards room to play. Brooks doesn't have the smarts to make decisions as a half with time given to him - no chance he could do it as a hooker being half a step ahead of the game.

 

[Lestronge]

@kade7 or @teddy23 hi guys - can either of you tell me why we signed olam over keeping tupou?

I just don’t understand.

Even if tupou was an extra $100k per year - why would we not keep the kid?

He’s younger, has big upside,

I just have no idea why they did that considering our outside backs are weak.

And tupou imo is going to better than staines, naden, etc - like everyone

So I just don’t get it.

It was apparently double wasn’t it . It wasn’t 100k .

 

[hank37w]

Pretty sure that would put us in last place. From memory when the for/ against is the same then the most points scored sits in the higher position.

But, but, but, everyone else would be on 1 point and we would be on 2.

That is of course as it has already been pointed out by @Don Kershane that the NRL would find some obscure reason to take the points off us.

 

[hank37w]

So we probably won't be in the 8 after the bye, points for and against, and or a draw might relegate us into 9th.

Everyone will be on 1 point and Wests Tigers will be on 2 points due to our resounding victory against the bye.

 

[hank37w]

Imagine the bloody odds on that .....

I'll back myself to win one of those billion dollar European Lotteries first and I don't even have a ticket.

 

[Tiger Stripes]

disagree honestly, Brooks has a far bigger boot than the other two. Sezer and Luai are better short kickers but Luai is going to have to do plenty of work in the offseason if he wants to play 7 in '25.

I agree, he kicked it dead so well.

Downside with Tupou is his hands, especially under the high ball.

Often forwards have bad hands early but rectify it later in their careers but it's rare for backs to have bad hands early.

Be interesting if he fixes this this year.

He's going to get pumped with bombs this year.

If it's not fixed he can't be carried.

It's not his hands, it's his heart and ears.
Hears the on coming traffic and the heart flutters in anticipation.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

Alot of talk was he wanted a center spot.
Maybe we couldn’t promise it.
Wolf has coached Tupou before & maybe that played apart.

If it was cash like 100k a season it’s easy to say pay it but if the offer is 500k+ from the dolphins then paying the extra 100k is a high chunk for Tupou. I wouldn’t pay it.

The kid has alot of upside though.

If he doesn't want to be at WTs and the Dolphins want him in 24, they can always approach Richardson with a deal to swap him for Jack Bostock!😊

 

[Tcat]

Shows how highly Jacob Liddle is rated over there. Where is Russell these days? I still remember him trying to say Liddle was better than Harry Grant

Pretty sure Jacobs middle name is Russell. ✌️

 

[The-moP]

Alot of talk was he wanted a center spot.
Maybe we couldn’t promise it.
Wolf has coached Tupou before & maybe that played apart.

If it was cash like 100k a season it’s easy to say pay it but if the offer is 500k+ from the dolphins then paying the extra 100k is a high chunk for Tupou. I wouldn’t pay it.

The kid has alot of upside though.

Tupou originally from Canberra was a junior rugby union player (rep honours) and then converted over to league playing against adults in rugby league as a 17/18 year old. He played wing, centre and fullback and was killing it .. very safe under the high ball and made heaps of line breaks running the ball back as a fullback or centre .. !! I was hoping we were able to hang on to him .. as the kid has plenty of ability. But it is what it is .. and the Fins have offered him more than what we could have .. and they have also promised him a new role (position) that we should have .

Unfortunately for Tupou we went out looking for potential centres and came up with .. Alaimalo .. Faataape .. and now Olam .. all to compete with Naden .. To'a .. Feledy .. and Saukuru. Lachlan Galvin is also one to watch .. he is developing well .. and is often slotting in out wide at training. Stand outs so far have been the two new guys Alaimalo and Faataape << this kid is something special .. so impressive when hits the line .. strong and deceptively fast .. !!

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

Tupou originally from Canberra was a junior rugby union player (rep honours) and then converted over to league playing against adults in rugby league as a 17/18 year old. He played wing, centre and fullback and was killing it .. very safe under the high ball and made heaps of line breaks running the ball back as a fullback or centre .. !! I was hoping we were able to hang on to him .. as the kid has plenty of ability. But it is what it is .. and the Fins have offered him more than what we could have .. and they have also promised him a new role (position) that we should have .

Unfortunately for Tupou we went out looking for potential centres and came up with .. Alaimalo .. Faataape .. and now Olam .. all to compete with Naden .. To'a .. Feledy .. and Saukuru. Lachlan Galvin is also one to watch .. he is developing well .. and is often slotting in out wide at training. Stand outs so far have been the two new guys Alaimalo and Faataape << this kid is something special .. so impressive when hits the line .. strong and deceptively fast .. !!

I agree on Faataape, very impressive in attack just hope he can aim up in defence. If so, he could be something out of the box!

What are your thoughts on the Fainu brothers from what you have seen at training @The-moP ?

 

[tigermate]

It was apparently double wasn’t it . It wasn’t 100k .

Hi mate I heard we offers him like $395k and the Fins offered him like $495k

Not sure that’s correct but I read it in some article

So my point was - if that’s true - for an extra $100k why wouldn’t we have kept him and not paid Olam?

$100k is a lot of money but not for someone with lots of upside!

Anyways I was just checking with the guys in the forum with the inside scoop if it was more than money - like he has a bad attitude or something.

He’s so young and considering the leaps he made last year from his first year - honestly this year I reckon there’s a 50% chance he’ll be a top 3 winger for damaging runs.

Just a little cheeky forecast lol

 

[GNR4LIFE]

I get the SBW chasing money vibes from Tupou.

 

[Roar_Power]

Tupou originally from Canberra was a junior rugby union player (rep honours) and then converted over to league playing against adults in rugby league as a 17/18 year old. He played wing, centre and fullback and was killing it .. very safe under the high ball and made heaps of line breaks running the ball back as a fullback or centre .. !! I was hoping we were able to hang on to him .. as the kid has plenty of ability. But it is what it is .. and the Fins have offered him more than what we could have .. and they have also promised him a new role (position) that we should have .

Unfortunately for Tupou we went out looking for potential centres and came up with .. Alaimalo .. Faataape .. and now Olam .. all to compete with Naden .. To'a .. Feledy .. and Saukuru. Lachlan Galvin is also one to watch .. he is developing well .. and is often slotting in out wide at training. Stand outs so far have been the two new guys Alaimalo and Faataape << this kid is something special .. so impressive when hits the line .. strong and deceptively fast .. !!

Maybe if they continue shooting the lights out -

1 Bula
2 Staines
3 Faataape
4 Olam
5 Alaimalo

Stranger things have happened!

 

[tigermate]

I get the SBW chasing money vibes from Tupou.

Hired assassin vibes. I feel ya

Still. Nice to have them

If you say we are paying Olam $400 + $400 + $600 = $1.4m over 3 yrs

Even if we paid tupou $500k for 3 years

That’s only $100k more over 3 yrs

I’d pay that for a young tupou over an Olam for 3 yrs (last year olam going to be porridge I reckon) lol

Anyway I’ll shut up now about it- don’t want to bog down forum in things that have happened

 

[bptiger 0]

Hi mate I heard we offers him like $395k and the Fins offered him like $495k

Not sure that’s correct but I read it in some article

So my point was - if that’s true - for an extra $100k why wouldn’t we have kept him and not paid Olam?

$100k is a lot of money but not for someone with lots of upside!

Anyways I was just checking with the guys in the forum with the inside scoop if it was more than money - like he has a bad attitude or something.

He’s so young and considering the leaps he made last year from his first year - honestly this year I reckon there’s a 50% chance he’ll be a top 3 winger for damaging runs.

Just a little cheeky forecast lol

Disagree he has talent but he will never be a game breaker he is lazy and has a pea for a heart that’s why he drops so many balls

 

[lathami]

Hired assassin vibes. I feel ya

Still. Nice to have them

If you say we are paying Olam $400 + $400 + $600 = $1.4m over 3 yrs

Even if we paid tupou $500k for 3 years

That’s only $100k more over 3 yrs

I’d pay that for a young tupou over an Olam for 3 yrs (last year olam going to be porridge I reckon) lol

Anyway I’ll shut up now about it- don’t want to bog down forum in things that have happened

He has the potential to a falau, but agree lazy needs to get in the game!

 

[Kaito]

I agree on Faataape, very impressive in attack just hope he can aim up in defence. If so, he could be something out of the box!

What are your thoughts on the Fainu brothers from what you have seen at training @The-moP ?

Faataape/Ngutlik centre wing combo in cup is
going to go crazy this year. Our cup team has
completely changed with player personnel as
well obviously with the coach. They're going to
be good to watch, upgrades everywhere across
the park hopefully all applying pressure for spots,
Benji won't be hesitant to drop players unlike
his predecessors. Should have a much better year
in both grades with everything that's been
going on recently & then make a big push for 2025

 

[Vicious]

Hired assassin vibes. I feel ya

Still. Nice to have them

If you say we are paying Olam $400 + $400 + $600 = $1.4m over 3 yrs

Even if we paid tupou $500k for 3 years

That’s only $100k more over 3 yrs

I’d pay that for a young tupou over an Olam for 3 yrs (last year olam going to be porridge I reckon) lol

Anyway I’ll shut up now about it- don’t want to bog down forum in things that have happened

I would agree is some sense that it’s a fair chance Junior Tupou will become a much more dangerous and better quality NRL player than Justin Olam within the next 1-3 years based on age and physical attributes.
In defence of our Wests Tigers recruitment and retention I assume they believe we need more players with a high profile and experience in the team ready to go for 2024 as it could and should also generate extra confidence in our other players, particularly our up and comers.
As good as both you and I believe Tupou will become, he has been inconsistent up until now and there is no 💯 guarantee he will shake that trait moving forward.
Like yourself I was initially a bit miffed as to why we would not retain an up coming beast in Tupou and sign an ageing star in Olam, but I can certain see some theory and sense behind it.

 

[Roar_Power]

Disagree he has talent but he will never be a game breaker he is lazy and has a pea for a heart that’s why he drops so many balls

Agreed. $500k a year for Tupou based on potential? We have enough of those players Fainu etc.
I would take an older proven Olam any day of the week. We need experience and leadership in the backs.