Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

I think everyone has mistaken my comments about Sullivan.

I would 100% prefer to keep him this year and see how he goes.

But I also think if he doesnt perform well or gets injured we will struggle to offload a 3 year contract at $550K. (if he plays a full year with us)

Also if we keep Sullivan for the full 4 years - even 3 - then we will def lose some juniors (maybe a good thing)

I just think it's good business to de-risk our salary cap now considering when we got Sullivan when we didnt have Luai.

That's all.

People thinking that because we've got options now we should ride them out.

Leverage changes very quickly - i just think whilst we have options we should explore them.

The good thing is that I trust Benji and Richo to make the right call (unlike the last admin) so it doesnt really matter what i think. lol
 
tigermate said:
I think everyone has mistaken my comments about Sullivan.

I would 100% prefer to keep him this year and see how he goes.

But I also think if he doesnt perform well or gets injured we will struggle to offload a 3 year contract at $550K. (if he plays a full year with us)

Also if we keep Sullivan for the full 4 years - even 3 - then we will def lose some juniors (maybe a good thing)

I just think it's good business to de-risk our salary cap now considering when we got Sullivan when we didnt have Luai.

That's all.

People thinking that because we've got options now we should ride them out.

Leverage changes very quickly - i just think whilst we have options we should explore them.

The good thing is that I trust Benji and Richo to make the right call (unlike the last admin) so it doesnt really matter what i think. lol
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I don't believe that we will have an issue moving on Sullivan should we need to.
There's about 10 halves the wrong side of 30 expected to start round 1 this year. There will be clubs looking to take him.
 
tigermate said:
I think everyone has mistaken my comments about Sullivan.

I would 100% prefer to keep him this year and see how he goes.

But I also think if he doesnt perform well or gets injured we will struggle to offload a 3 year contract at $550K. (if he plays a full year with us)

Also if we keep Sullivan for the full 4 years - even 3 - then we will def lose some juniors (maybe a good thing)

I just think it's good business to de-risk our salary cap now considering when we got Sullivan when we didnt have Luai.

That's all.

People thinking that because we've got options now we should ride them out.

Leverage changes very quickly - i just think whilst we have options we should explore them.

The good thing is that I trust Benji and Richo to make the right call (unlike the last admin) so it doesnt really matter what i think. lol
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I can see your point of view, but if we chose to release any of our potential stars now to eliminate the chance they might not be as valuable this time next year if things don’t go to plan this season, would mean we also take the risk that we offload the wrong player and that player goes on to become a star elsewhere.
Every player recruitment and retention decision is a risk, but I believe it makes more sense to find out who is the best of our current crop of emerging stars before even considering releasing any of them.
Who knows, we may even find two halves who quickly become superior to Jerome Luai.
The Dragons are seemingly getting desperate for quality halves, particularly with the ageing Ben Hunt supposedly moving on at the end of 2024.
But they might have their own hidden gem, I distinctively remember Andrew Johns who should be a decent judge on good halves stating on radio late last year that he had just watched a Jersey Flegg game and The Dragons halfback Ashton Ward was extremely impressive.
 
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The-moP said:
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 .. !!
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I think part of the issue with Tupou is his personality. He's just silent and distant. He needs to talk a lot more on the field, especially if he were to play centre. I'm not sure he'll ever find a voice. He's got some talent with ball in hand but he needs to do more without the ball. That's why you wouldn't pay him big bucks just yet IMO
 
hammertime said:
This. We want people who want to be here. If the $100k difference is true, and he has walked after we gave him his start, which elevated his earnings, do we want to keep a bloke like that?

That is not how you build a premiership roster. It's born out of people wanting to be here. Buying into Benji's vision and being with your mates. Particularly relevant to the juniors who get their start in our jersey.
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And if you give him the extra 100k he's asking for, you need to give everyone else the extra 100k too or else the squad gets upset at unequal treatment.
 
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teddy23 said:
Dragons desperately calling clubs on the availability of their outside backs.

Manly have rejected the Dragons approach for Christian Tuipulotu. If there was any club dumb enough to take on Nofa’s contract it’ll be them.

Would be shocked if a call doesn’t come through soon…..
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Do you think our offer for Turuva would increase if we managed to offload Nofa?
 
tigermate said:
Also if we keep Sullivan for the full 4 years - even 3 - then we will def lose some juniors (maybe a good thing)
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If we kept Sullivan for the duration of his contract and allowed a junior to leave (because his path was blocked), is that a problem?

That suggests to me that Sullivan was such a success that the junior could not displace him.

I'm struggling to see the issue. May the best player win.
 
teddy23 said:
Dragons desperately calling clubs on the availability of their outside backs.

Manly have rejected the Dragons approach for Christian Tuipulotu. If there was any club dumb enough to take on Nofa’s contract it’ll be them.

Would be shocked if a call doesn’t come through soon…..
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Even if we kick in Halve his salary.

  • Moses Mbye
  • Musgrave
  • Liddle
Good for both the Player and his New club
 
Kaito said:
Not saying he'll dominate straight away, especially
coming off the reco less than a year ago. I just
see him getting a run soon & showing his value
Only just turned 23 as well. On a side note, think
Casey will play fullback & Alaimalo at centre,
Nado other centre if he doesn't start Rd.2 and
Lobb + Ngutlik on the wings is possible too
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few selection headaches in the backline at the minute. right centre and left wing seem to be the two up for grabs in first grade. I've got Alaimalo as a first grade bolter, personally I don't believe Lobb is as close to first grade as others think. talented but has his issues defensively and struggles with making metres. I think the Cup backline looks like this.

1. Naden
2. Lobb
3. Faataape
4. Tupou
5. Casey/Nofoaluma
 
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The-moP said:
All 3 of the Fainu brothers have slotted in well so far .. it helped having the eldest already at the club. Latu especially is impressive to watch .. every time i see Sam he reminds of Stephano Utoikamanu hitting the ball up. Benji is watching him like a hawk .. it would not surprise if Latu is named on the bench come our first game Rd2 in Canberra. ;-)
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you been around training enough to see who's playing 5/8 outside Sezer? all the photos I keep seeing indicate Galvin is currently ahead.
 
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balmain boy said:
I think part of the issue with Tupou is his personality. He's just silent and distant. He needs to talk a lot more on the field, especially if he were to play centre. I'm not sure he'll ever find a voice. He's got some talent with ball in hand but he needs to do more without the ball. That's why you wouldn't pay him big bucks just yet IMO
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I liked his potential. Thought he was outstanding at full back in cup games and was waiting for him to shift to centres. But one really off putting issue with him is when he is beaten in defense , his head drops and he doesn’t turn and chase. It looks really poor. That and dropping the high ball. Perhaps a confidence thing as he put together some very good games early last season, before looking like he needed to be droppped by season end (though wasn’t the lone sailor there )
 
Groundup said:
Galvin hasn’t played men yet so who knows but fainu defended like a hardened first grader when he came on for tonga
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Yea i was impressed with him against England - playing out of position in the middle against an international pack and he never took a backward step. Defended well and wasn't afraid to give a bit of niggle.
 
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