Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

HowDugWT said:
Brent Read: How are the mighty Tigers?

Shane Richardson: We’re just moving along slowly but surely, with purpose and dignity. There were critics before the first trial. As Wayne Bennett said, you start listening to the grandstand and you are in a lot of trouble. We are in a good spot. We are calm, we are on a journey, we know what we want to do, we know our recruitment needs, we know what our juniors are like. Honestly, we are in a good space. You have to win games – I am not stupid. Time will tell how many games we win but we couldn’t have had a better pre-season. We couldn’t do anything more to change the squad around this season. Everyone has trained well, there is no dissension in the team. It is pretty good.

BR: There are some reasons for optimism – young five-eighth Lachlan Galvin is one of the more obvious ones?

SR: The young hooker (Tallyn da Silva) is a good player as well. We have some good young forwards who are 12-18 months away. We’re pretty comfortable with where we are. We have some good team leaders. The coaching staff has melded together. It is a pretty happy camp. I can smell it when it is not a happy camp. It is a happy camp. But again, we haven’t played any games yet. So we will wait and see when the fire and brimstone comes. We are on a journey this year – we have to improve the club overall, not just on the field. It is like people say where do you hope to finish. I am hoping to finish the best we can. If we finish in the top eight, great. If we finish 12th and improve, great.

Benji Marshall will be in charge for his first full season. Picture: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

Benji Marshall will be in charge for his first full season. Picture: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images
BR: Has it been a harder or bigger job than you expected?

SR: It has probably been a bigger job off the field than on the field. I came in a couple of weeks before Christmas. I looked around, saw what we needed to do. The changes we needed to make, we made quickly. The people we let go, we haven’t replaced them on or off the field. Sometimes you run better on rump than you do on fillet. We have tightened things up and we’re a tighter group. Everyone was disappointed after the trial (against the Dragons). I thought Benji handled himself really well – he addressed the players. He wasn’t happy about the performance but no one was. It is a long journey to come from the bottom of the ladder. You don’t make enormous steps straight away. You have to take those small steps and enjoy them.



BR: What are your impressions of Benji the coach?

SR: I knew nothing about Benji. I signed him for Wayne but I hadn’t had a lot to do with him. He is highly intelligent – he is probably one of the most intelligent coaches I have ever had anything to do with. He picks things up really quickly. He has a deep understanding of the salary cap and the roster and what we are doing there. He has an intricate knowledge of it. I like that he has surrounded himself with people he trusts. They are all part of his era. They are all hard workers. He has a great attitude towards family which I like. He is highly organised – early for every meeting. So far so good but the real pressure for Benji is not his knowledge. Everybody knows what a smart player he was. The real pressure is when the blowtorch is applied. Then that is my job to help him get through that. I have been there before with the blowtorch and I know what you have to do to survive it.



Lachlan Galvin is a talented club junior. Picture: Warren Gannon Photography
BR: Where are you at with appointing the new board?

SR: There are four people on the board currently and we are appointing three more independents over the next 60-90 days. We’re currently drawing up the full requirements to become a board member. There are a lot of high profile people who have expressed an interest. (Chair) Barry O’Farrell is going to go through a real quality process to make sure we get people that complement what we need to grow the club.

BR: What about your future? Have you made a decision yet on whether you will stay beyond the six months that you initially agreed?

SR: I haven’t made a final decision but the bottom line is they have met every commitment. I like the challenge, That is a decision for Barry. Barry has opened discussions with me about it. I think he would like me to stay but I don’t want to pre-empt anything that might happen.

BR: What gives you faith that the club is heading in the right direction?

SR: What gives me faith is that we have a magnificent high performance centre, we have 9,000 juniors, we have a financial backer (in the Holman Barnes Group) that is undoubted, we have an untapped brand in the marketplace. We can only go up. The other thing is I have an understanding of what you need to be a successful club and it is not just the players on the field, it is what you surround them with in terms of ethos and culture. I always say that when you win a premiership you feel successful from the receptionist through to the head coach. There is a lot of synergy now between administration and staff. The other thing is from a commercial point of view, we’re about to unleash next week a strategic plan for the next 18 months. It is a strategic plan based around the whole way the club is viewed. Certainly we will be heavily involved in the southwest as well. We won’t ignore the inner-west. We’re not going to hide anything. It is a journey to set up a really successful club but by the same token, you have to stop the bleeding. All I can do is put the support mechanisms around Benji, be there when we suffer the losses, and stay outside the dressing room when we win.

BR: Do you expect any more player movement given David Nofoaluma’s departure?

SR: We’re not looking at anybody yet. We have a spot and a bit of money left over from the Nofoaluma thing. But I want to build up a bit more – we will do that over the next three months, build a bit of a war chest. Then we’ll go out into the market place fair dinkum.

Adam Doueihi will be returning from a knee reconstruction.

Adam Doueihi will be returning from a knee reconstruction.
BR: Jarome Luai’s decision to join the club next season showed you can make an impact in the marketplace.

SR: Luai was a big statement for us, not just on the field but off the field. We have a massive amount of players who are Polynesian. We see Luai being what we are as a face moving forward. Part of the strategic plan is built around Luai and what we are trying to do there, what we are trying to do in the digital market space and what we are trying to do in the southwest. He certainly attracts players to the club and retains players hopefully too. We have a really good spine next year, let’s be honest. We have Api Koroisau, we gave a great young hooker (da Silva) coming through, then you have Luai, you have Galvin, you have Bud Sullivan, and Latu (Fainu) … and one of the best young fullbacks in the game in Jahream Bula. We are not in a bad spot.

BR: What about Adam Doueihi. He is a bit of a forgotten man. What are the club’s plans for him once he returns from his third knee reconstruction?

SR: He is really working hard. We don’t expect him back until July. Benji and I had a talk with Adam one week ago and said we’ll just wait until you get back, we will give you every opportunity, you are a junior at the club and we would like to see you here. But we need to see you play. He is really cool about that. He really enjoys what Benji is doing and being part of what is going on. He actually approached us to see what we were doing. If we can retain Adam Doueihi we will do it because he is a junior, he fits in with our development program and he can play multiple positions in the backline. Adam is a cultural fit for the club
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First time seeing this - seems to be a few Wayne Bennett mentions as well…..
 
hammertime said:
I wonder how Richo is going to build a "war chest" over the next 3 months. With a cap, the only way to do that is through releasing players or restructuring contracts. Unless we don't have enough cash to meet the cap?

Makes no sense to me.
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Could be bringing in more 3rd party money. Like the top end of town do. Even though clubs have to be arms length away and not allowed to organise them, they always do. How else can they explain finding a 3rd party deal for a player whenever they need one.
 
derekderekson said:

Market Watch: Dolphins chase Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, which could send Stefano Utoikamanu to Storm​

Wayne Bennett’s play for a talented Cowboys second-rower could set off a chain of events which see Wests Tigers prop Stefano Utoikamanu end up in Storm colours.
Brent Read, Michael Carayannis and Travis Meyn

The Dolphins are believed to be weighing up a multimillion dollar play for North Queensland back rower Kulikefu Finefeuiaki in a move that could have serious ramifications for two of their interstate rivals.
Finefeuiaki, off contract at the end of this season, is believed to be open to a switch of clubs after finding himself trapped behind Heilum Luki and Jeremiah Nanai for a starting spot at the Cowboys.
Sources close to the Cowboys confirmed they were bracing for the Dolphins to step up their pursuit of Finefeuiaki after their Queensland rivals failed with a mega-bid for Luki.

The Dolphins are eyeing Kulikefu Finefeuiaki. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images
Luki, who entrenched himself as one of North Queensland’s starting second rowers with a big performance against the Dolphins on Sunday afternoon. is expected to confirm a long-term deal with the Cowboys this week.
The Dragons were also monitoring Finefeuiaki but dropped off when they signed Luciano Leilua from the Cowboys. The Dolphins have now moved into pole position, although this masthead understands they are yet to make a formal offer for the 20-year-old.
Finefeuiaki made his first grade debut for the Cowboys last season and has chalked up 13 games in the top grade, scoring two tries and stamping himself as one of the most promising forwards in the game.

Stefano Utoikamanu has a get-out clause at the Tigers. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images
However, he has had to sit behind Luai and Jeremiah Nanai, both of whom have committed to the Cowboys on long-term deals.
The Dolphins would offer Finefeuiaki a starting spot next season as well as the chance to move back to southeast Queensland – he went to school in Ipswich after moving to Australia at the age of 11.
His future is set to have an impact for Melbourne and the Wests Tigers. The Cowboys are believed to be monitoring Storm back rower Jack Howarth, having identified him as a player who could help replenish their back row stocks should they need more depth in the position.

Jack Howarth is struggling to get time at the Storm. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images
Howarth, is signed to a long-term deal in Melbourne but has struggled to crack the starting side, having played only one game in first grade.

​

Should the Cowboys step up their interest and the Storm allow him to leave, it would free up salary cap space for Melbourne to launch a bid for Wests Tigers prop Stefano Utoikamanu.
Utoikamanu has a clause in his contract which allows him to leave at the end of the season should the Tigers fail to make the finals.
It is understood the Storm are watching developments with Utoikamanu closely as they look to add strength to their front row.
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Then NAS to us 🤣
 
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WesternSuburbsBoy said:
I don't think any club would be that stupid to swap a player of Lomax's calibre for Jake Simpkin lol. If Lomax gets released its for 2025 but he will finish the year a Dragon... happy to be proven wrong tho 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️
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I think you're right. there won't be any shortage of suitors though. Parramatta, Easts, Melbourne and WT would all have a look at him I feel.
 
WesternSuburbsBoy said:
If there's any coach Benji would be willing to take a backseat for it'd be Bennett.
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How do yiu know this?
Just a hunch?

I doubt Benji would take a backseat and there's no way the club would chase. Bennett after the support they shown benji

Last thing we need is to go back to square one season hasn't even started for us
 
The Chad said:
How do journalists get taken seriously after something as ambiguous as this?
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Stefano Utoikamanu has a get-out clause at the Tigers. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images
However, he has had to sit behind Luai and Jeremiah Nanai, both of whom have committed to the Cowboys on long-term deals.

There are three supposed Journalists state that Luai has committed to the Cowboys from their article . Maybe if they checked and read their own rubbish it would be LUKI who committed not Luai.
 
GNR4LIFE said:
I know we have signed some dumb contracts in our time, but we signed him to a four year extension after he had done nothing for two years. Boggles my mind to this day.
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He had more drink driving charges than hit ups.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: 851
WesternSuburbsBoy said:
I don't think any club would be that stupid to swap a player of Lomax's calibre for Jake Simpkin lol. If Lomax gets released its for 2025 but he will finish the year a Dragon... happy to be proven wrong tho 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️
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Obviously it would not be a contract for contract swap and we would have to take a fair hunk of Lomax’s contract. I guess Simkins might be offered to try and get the deal over the line. For us it would be good because we don’t lose a roster spot and the Dragons they lose a big contract and gain a modest contract..win win
 
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