Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[tigahhh]

the luai slander is crazyyy in this forum… we used to have to watch brooks and wakeham run the team don’t forget where we have come from

 

[Tito Santana]

isaac Moses well and truely owns that club . roster is his and coaching staff assistants etc all his too . we know how that ends

What was that I heard?

Did someone say bullying?

“I don’t care, I love it!”

 

[colinbh]

the luai slander is crazyyy in this forum… we used to have to watch brooks and wakeham run the team don’t forget where we have come from

Some people on here suffer from LDS. Would complain if we had Reg Gasnier. Just ignore.

 

[twentyforty]

That's just about all he's got... he's playing awful this year. Thank god we finally cut ties with that loser

I thought he had a solid season in 24. Must admit, haven’t watched much of Manly in 25.

 

[Vicious]

Nope,
But that has little to do with the ramifications of buying over the top of him,
When that was not the directive when signing him.

But now you mention it,
Do you think he's getting the time and space required to play off the Front foot from the Middle Forwards?
Do you believe he's getting the edge threats he should be from the Back Rowers?
There's more to a kicking game than a boot to a ball...

Do you think - It's fair negotiation for the club to basically look to replace him in the job he was bought (and sold) here to do for the next 2 years
- After 12 games only in a new (and young) team that's had it's share of challenges....

If Luai wasn’t consulted about the possible signing of Reynolds or another halfback, then yes the concerns you have raised are warranted.
We don’t know if he was consulted about it or not ?
And yes I do have concerns we are not getting the edge threats to assist our playmakers adequately. Obviously hoping KPP will help with that and I still have concerns that Samuella is a touch too slow off the mark to be the required edge threat on the other side.
Add Doueihi looking sluggish and our left edge is currently way too slow.
Lack of quality and speed on our edges has been an issue for a long time, we fix that problem and it should greatly assist our halves.

 

[twentyforty]

The Point seems to be missed here...

We bought Luai to be the man, Luai came here to be the man...
Now we just offered huge money to a bloke to come have Luai play under him.
It's NOT a back up plan, It's a complete change in direction.
What does that tell Luai about the clubs direction and belief in him?
(All previously well sold, I'm sure)

If I was top class, at the top of my game at my job
and my boss was looking to buy an old bloke on his last legs to come in over me,
I'd certainly be reassessing my options - Especially if I had as many as Luai does.
(And all the contract options to go along with those options)

Absolutely! Some of the choices made by this club are very hard to understand. It’s almost like the club is being run by an aging rock n roll star. The time to go after Reyno was 2021, not now after promising Luai he could run the team, only for him to be shoveling the ball to a 19yo rookie.

 

[Vicious]

the luai slander is crazyyy in this forum… we used to have to watch brooks and wakeham run the team don’t forget where we have come from

You seem like a very switched on contributor to this form tigahhh, do you think our kicking game this season has been up to scratch ?
I think almost everyone agrees Luai has done some very good things in other areas, particularly his leadership, but he asked to be our 7 and game controller, with that comes the responsibility of a competent above average kicking game and I don’t think that has been delivered up to this point.

 

[The Chad]

I understand what people are saying against the Reynolds chase.

I think it is most likely a case of a player being available that could have improved the team for next season- not necessarily a sign of any lack of confidence in Luai.

We do have a good habit of overcooking things in here if left to our own devices. I think there is a need for a back-up half option, at worst. If that is Sullivan- so be it. Toby Sexton could be interesting. I actually think that Lachlan Ilias could be perfect for that role- good enough to step in if Latu or Luai get hurt/lack form etc.

Speaking of upgrading the squad....he was mentioned a little after Richo's first trip to the UK....but I do see how Curtis Sironen could help as a ballplaying, big unit either at #13 or in the second row. Older now, and wouldn't be counted on as being the primary playmaker...I think he could help. Bailey Sironen also in that utility forward role.

 

[Kelce68]

The Point seems to be missed here...

We bought Luai to be the man, Luai came here to be the man...
Now we just offered huge money

What was that money exactly?

to a bloke to come have Luai play under him.

'Under' him? Was Luai going to lose the captaincy? It sounds to me like we were giving Luai some support around managing the team to take the organisational burden off him for a couple of years.

It's NOT a back up plan, It's a complete change in direction.
What does that tell Luai about the clubs direction and belief in him?

That we'll stop at nothing to give him the tools around him that he needs to bring this team back into success. Pretty supportive approach really.

(All previously well sold, I'm sure)

If I was top class, at the top of my game at my job
and my boss was looking to buy an old bloke on his last legs to come in over me,

This is the assumption. It may well have been Luai himself that has expressed the need for the young side to have some more direction at half, which could allow him to play off that.

I'd certainly be reassessing my options - Especially if I had as many as Luai does.
(And all the contract options to go along with those options)

We don't know much of the context around the chase of Reynolds, but as well as the reactive negative perspectives on such a signing, there remains legitimate, plausible reasons that a signing like that could've worked, alongside, rather than instead of, Jarome.

 

[Kelce68]

True, but do you believe Luai’s overall kicking game and 5th tackle options have been at an acceptable level for someone getting paid 1.3 million dollars per season ?
Without an above average kicking game the team and its results will suffer, so we have to either rely on Luai making a big improvement in this area, or we have tj find someone scale that can and shift him back to 5/8.

Why, oh why, after all this time, do we, as Tigers' supporters, still inflate numbers that have been widely reported.

..... Well, I know why, it's to help inflate arguments. We round up when we want to say someone isn't providing value and we round down when we want to indicate a player is good value.

But can we, at the very least, use the numbers that have been widely reported on in the media. I know it's not a perfect system, but at least it's (relatively) consistent.

Luai has been reported as earning approximately $6 over 5 years, which is $1.2 a year. Just about every platform and every outlet has repeated this figure ad nauseum. It's probably our best bet.

I've read posters in the last week use numbers 1.3 and 1.4, which, to the best of our understanding, is inaccurate and inflationary, particularly in discussions about value or perceived value. One or two hundred thousand dollars difference might not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but in discussions of NRL contracts and their value, it can completely warp the conversation.

It ruined any Brooks' discussion for years as his contract's value was used (repeatedly and rightly in many ways) to make a mockery of the club, oftentimes with figures that were inflated to give credence to their argument. And I know he won't be the last. We all make mistakes and until the NRL system makes salaries transparent then we're all playing in the unknowns anyway.

But, at the very least, we should be making every effort possible to be as accurate as possible when talking about our own players, at least.

... In my opinion.

 

[Rock Hopper Steve]

??? Aaron Schoupp from manly why?

Also why am I the only person here rallying against more "Depth".

Seriously the more we spend on Depth, the less we have for the "Big 17"! It means the really hard sells like Luai was for us or going for Payne Haas or Adam Reynolds or whomever... we will have 800k instead of 1m available.

The more you spend on 18-30, the less you have to spend on 1-17. Now you need some forwards and maybe 1 back and a halves cover kind of player as Spare... That's all.

Why would we hire AS and block Makasini and others coming through our ranks! Did we learn nothing from Ryan P.

Recruitment should be aimed at improving the top 17 unless the positions that need attention are near impossible to find approaching a top 30 deadline our you are desperately thin for depth.

Targeting top 17 players creates depth anyway causing more quality duking it out in reserve grade desperate to get back to 1st grade.

 

[tigahhh]

You seem like a very switched on contributor to this form tigahhh, do you think our kicking game this season has been up to scratch ?
I think almost everyone agrees Luai has done some very good things in other areas, particularly his leadership, but he asked to be our 7 and game controller, with that comes the responsibility of a competent above average kicking game and I don’t think that has been delivered up to this point.

thanks vicious , I don’t think the kicking has been that bad if I’m honest , he’s still learning the role plus doing double time with our side trying to get them to where they need to be . the kicking that used to kill me the most was the grubbers that would go out on the full , luai wasn’t the one doing those lol

 

[jrtiger]

Manly shopping Aaron Schoupp.
I think he’d be worth a look for the rest of this season as a back up centre/back row option.
He has a fair bit of NRL experience when he was at the Bulldogs a few years back, he’s a strong ball runner who regularly makes his 150 plus metres per game and not afraid to do the hard hit ups out of his own end.

I like where you're coming from but I probably wouldn't worry too much now about outside backs given Makasini and May will come into the 30 next year, pending the latter's behaviour. you'd think Tuitupou and Mapapalangi may well be given full time contracts as well and I'm hopeful Stainesy re-signs.

we still need to build out the depth chart in the forwards though as you intimated. I'd be looking into the contract situations of Bunty Afoa, Jaiyden Hunt, Mark Nicholls and Billy Burns. proven first graders who will do a job when called upon.

 

[Rock Hopper Steve]

Some good debate around Luai/Reynolds some good points raised.

Have to ask yourself looking at the forward pack Reynolds has to give him the time to work his magic is he going to get that with us at the moment, I say no we need probably 2 more forwards to create more impact, well maybe 3 if Hunt doesn't pull his finger out.

Same can be said of Luai look how well he goes in better teams Riff/Blues when the quality of our team gets to the level of top 8 everything in his game should improve.

 

[TYGA]

Reynolds kicking game and goal kicking alone would have us 2-3 wins better off. I would run with Latu and Luai as we won’t be winning anything next year and need to build the roster. 1 year deal I have no issue with. I would prefer to spend big dollars on a lock or prop as we need to improve on Twal, Seyfarth, Hunt in the middle and by default improve depth.

 

[Vicious]

thanks vicious , I don’t think the kicking has been that bad if I’m honest , he’s still learning the role plus doing double time with our side trying to get them to where they need to be . the kicking that used to kill me the most was the grubbers that would go out on the full , luai wasn’t the one doing those lol

Fair enough, I consider you a good judge so I’ll take your word for it.

 

[Tiger_claws]

I understand what people are saying against the Reynolds chase.

I think it is most likely a case of a player being available that could have improved the team for next season- not necessarily a sign of any lack of confidence in Luai.

We do have a good habit of overcooking things in here if left to our own devices. I think there is a need for a back-up half option, at worst. If that is Sullivan- so be it. Toby Sexton could be interesting. I actually think that Lachlan Ilias could be perfect for that role- good enough to step in if Latu or Luai get hurt/lack form etc.

Speaking of upgrading the squad....he was mentioned a little after Richo's first trip to the UK....but I do see how Curtis Sironen could help as a ballplaying, big unit either at #13 or in the second row. Older now, and wouldn't be counted on as being the primary playmaker...I think he could help. Bailey Sironen also in that utility forward role.

Have you watched them (Sironens) in Super league. Massive no from me. They would be ok in cup but thats it.

 

[Vicious]

I like where you're coming from but I probably wouldn't worry too much now about outside backs given Makasini and May will come into the 30 next year, pending the latter's behaviour. you'd think Tuitupou and Mapapalangi may well be given full time contracts as well and I'm hopeful Stainesy re-signs.

we still need to build out the depth chart in the forwards though as you intimated. I'd be looking into the contract situations of Bunty Afoa, Jaiyden Hunt, Mark Nicholls and Billy Burns. proven first graders who will do a job when called upon.

I also like what the likes of Tu’itupou and Mapapalangi have been doing and if they keep it up I think they should be rewarded with top 30 contracts for 2026.
I’d say we could sign them on the bare minimum top 30 wage which would be advantageous to allow us to spend on other players.
I think we are lacking in back rowers with speed so someone such as Schoupp would be one of the quicker back rowers going around and with the flexibility to play in the backs which is very valuable.
In saying that Billy Burns is also a fleet footed back rower and he too would be a very astute depth signing.

 

[Rock Hopper Steve]

I also like what the likes of Tu’itupou and Mapapalangi have been doing and if they keep it up I think they should be regarded with top 30 contracts for 2026.
I’d say we could sign them on the bare minimum top 30 wage which would be advantageous for us to allow us to spend on other players.
I think we are lacking in back rowers with speed and so someone such as Schoupp would be one of the quicker back rowers going around and with the flexibility to play in the backs which is very valuable.
In saying that Billy Burns is also a fleet footed back rower, so if we signed someone like him for depth, he too would be a very astute depth signing.

Haven't watched Schoupp/Burns play much V but if they have some pace and power and have the potential to get anywhere near what Dylan Lucas is doing at the Knights sign one up Richo, that guy has the pace to fit in at centre also.

One thing Sheens got right was the approach to have a player capable of playing 2 positions.

 

[tonza]

You seem like a very switched on contributor to this form tigahhh, do you think our kicking game this season has been up to scratch ?
I think almost everyone agrees Luai has done some very good things in other areas, particularly his leadership, but he asked to be our 7 and game controller, with that comes the responsibility of a competent above average kicking game and I don’t think that has been delivered up to this point.

It's hard to tell because everybody was pandering to Galvin. Now he has gone we are starting to see some improvement. The next few months will tell.