Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Leica_Tiger]

I thought this year I was seeing NAS’s discipline earning him the “on the nose” status with Bellyache rather than a form slump or being broken ala Olam, a fair discount would interest me.
Also he is a deadset wrecking ball and the thought of the Tigers being an intimidating pack has me optimistic and possibly delusional.
If we added Ray Stone as our hard man #13 to rotate with a developing Latu + Averillo to boost our apparent lack of speed we are golden?

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

I thought this year I was seeing NAS’s discipline earning him the “on the nose” status with Bellyache rather than a form slump or being broken ala Olam, a fair discount would interest me.
Also he is a deadset wrecking ball and the thought of the Tigers being an intimidating pack has me optimistic and possibly delusional.
If we added Ray Stone as our hard man #13 to rotate with a developing Latu + Averillo to boost our apparent lack of speed we are golden?

Now that’s cooking with gas ✅

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

I’ve come to the conclusion if we sign one quality outside back to play right centre and leave To’a as depth, that would be all we need in regards to making our backline much more complete.
The two I would be looking at are Jake Averillo who would require an early release from the Dolphins. He would add some extra speed and quality we are lacking as well as provide quality cover at fullback.
The other one is Jesse Arthurs who looks likely to be the odd man out at the Broncos in 2026 and could likely obtain an early release because of it.
I would look at either playing someone like Arthurs at right centre, or on one of our wings if Makasini is going well enough to make one of the centre positions his own.

I’ll join you with that conclusion - Averillo or Arthurs.

 

[The Chad]

The club paid To'a to be a starter & will pay Taylan May to be the other. Makasini will be first cab off the rank. I'd be amazed if Naden is kept around as depth & Doueihi can shift to centre as well.

They might look at a winger though, with Staines leaving.

 

[watersider]

NAS hasn't been a wrecking ball this year, he's been terrible and barely gets a run. What are you all watching? Highlights from 4 years ago? He's the exact opposite of what we need: He's ill disciplined, he doesn't seem to have much of a motor these days, he's not a particularly effective tackler, he's on a big salary, he's on the decline. NO NO NO.

 

[The Chad]

NAS hasn't been a wrecking ball this year, he's been terrible and barely gets a run. What are you all watching? Highlights from 4 years ago? He's the exact opposite of what we need: He's ill disciplined, he doesn't seem to have much of a motor these days, he's not a particularly effective tackler, he's on a big salary, he's on the decline. NO NO NO.

The same NAS that averages nearly 100m a game off the bench, tackles at 94% & has more tackle breaks Pole, Twal, Sione Fainu, Hunt, Sam Fainu & Seyfarth in 2025? All, while only playing part time in 12 games?

 

[Merlot]

The same NAS that averages nearly 100m a game off the bench, tackles at 94% & has more tackle breaks Pole, Twal, Sione Fainu, Hunt, Sam Fainu & Seyfarth in 2025? All, while only playing part time in 12 games?

What terms would you be comfortable with the club hiring him?

 

[Wezt]

The same NAS that averages nearly 100m a game off the bench, tackles at 94% & has more tackle breaks Pole, Twal, Sione Fainu, Hunt, Sam Fainu & Seyfarth in 2025? All, while only playing part time in 12 games?

The reason he’s only played 12 games is because he was in reserve grade… That or suspended

This is why people shouldn’t only look at stats, he’s a liability

 

[The Chad]

What terms would you be comfortable with the club hiring him?

1-2 years max. About half to 2/3rds his current deal.

We have space cap wise, and don't have the impact he can provide.

 

[The Chad]

The reason he’s only played 12 games is because he was in reserve grade… That or suspended

This is why people shouldn’t only look at stats, he’s a liability

5 games in QCup.

5.

In which he won 100%, averages 130m a game & had 27 tackle breaks.

He missed 2 games- Rounds 21 & 22 for dangerous contact & will NOW miss 3 more.

Not exactly the devil he's being projected as being.

If the Tigers got 10-15 games of high impact out of him a year, it's money well spent.

Here's betting if the Storm make the GF in the fashion that allows him to be available, NAS is on the bench.

 

[Merlot]

1-2 years max. About half to 2/3rds his current deal.

We have space cap wise, and don't have the impact he can provide.

The player market is always fraught with danger .Just seems to be getting harder
Think it would be wise for Richo/HBG to gather in some top talent scouts ,coaching staff across all grades plus admin , and build PROPERLY from the ground up

 

[Merlot]

5 games in QCup.

5.

In which he won 100%, averages 130m a game & had 27 tackle breaks.

He missed 2 games- Rounds 21 & 22 for dangerous contact & will NOW miss 3 more.

Not exactly the devil he's being projected as being.

If the Tigers got 10-15 games of high impact out of him a year, it's money well spent.

Here's betting if the Storm make the GF in the fashion that allows him to be available, NAS is on the bench.

those Q Cup games proves he hasn't thrown in the towel ,but im dubious

 

[The Chad]

those Q Cup games proves he hasn't thrown in the towel ,but im dubious

His form in 1st grade hasn't dropped either. Just the games played.

 

[jirskyr]

They were talking on SEN this afternoon about how much Parramatta’s strong finish to the year will make them an attractive destination for free agents. More so than the teams that finished above them but missed the top 8. We missed an opportunity not being able to win at least one of our final 3 games.

That's baloney. Strong finish, strong start, strong middle... all failed.

 

[Merlot]

That's baloney. Strong finish, strong start, strong middle... all failed.

wrong thread , we were ok to start ,and occasionally at the end - its a Pass

 

[Tucker]

Our team is not slow. You overstate this to the extreme.

Most of our backline players are sufficiently quick in their position.

If you're looking for Hamiso or Addo-Carr quick, then there are only a handful of those players in the NRL as they are rare.

Our blokes are slow when it comes to pure acceleration. Only Mason and Api have that speed off the mark that causes linebreaks. The rest of our linebreaks occur due to power. Our back 5 hit the line hard but they don’t have that elusive zip. Most other sides do have that.

 

[weststigers]

Our blokes are slow when it comes to pure acceleration. Only Mason and Api have that speed off the mark that causes linebreaks. The rest of our linebreaks occur due to power. Our back 5 hit the line hard but they don’t have that elusive zip. Most other sides do have that.

We're in big trouble then. Basically going to need a whole new team.

Imagine signing Turuva, Taylan May, Luai and Skelton and not being happy.

I'll let the forum recruitment experts work out who the right players are because clearly the club have no idea how to sign guys with "elusive zip".

I didn't think our biggest issue was scoring points though. Defensively, we copped too many 24+ games that we were right in with a shot of winning.

From the Bulldogs game, we won 2 from 5 where our style looked much better. We were run down in 2 of those games with big leads. We also lost to Souths because Galvin drops it over the line. We were run down by the Warriors 26-24. There's 4 very winnable games lost which puts us on 32 points. Round 1 also run down by Newcastle up 8 nil to lose 10-8. There's 5 ganes we could have won.

We are not playing for 80 minutes and cannot close out games when we are in the lead because of defence.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

I am pleased Hetherington has signed with Manly. He is not the player we need. I am optimistic we have players locked in pending an announcement at the right time. We certainly don't need a Storm reject taking a top 30 position. If he was still of use to Bellamy, NAS wouldn't be on the transfer list.

 

[supercoach]

Discipline has been a problem at our club for yonks and this year we actually made some real progress in fixing it up. To bring NAS into the team who is a serial offender would be madness. Also refs already enjoying riding us with the whistle imagine if they had a target like NAS to focus on

 

[Vicious]

We're in big trouble then. Basically going to need a whole new team.

Imagine signing Turuva, Taylan May, Luai and Skelton and not being happy.

I'll let the forum recruitment experts work out who the right players are because clearly the club have no idea how to sign guys with "elusive zip".

I didn't think our biggest issue was scoring points though. Defensively, we copped too many 24+ games that we were right in with a shot of winning.

From the Bulldogs game, we won 2 from 5 where our style looked much better. We were run down in 2 of those games with big leads. We also lost to Souths because Galvin drops it over the line. We were run down by the Warriors 26-24. There's 4 very winnable games lost which puts us on 32 points. Round 1 also run down by Newcastle up 8 nil to lose 10-8. There's 5 ganes we could have won.

We are not playing for 80 minutes and cannot close out games when we are in the lead because of defence.

Had the teams below us not been decimated with injuries, we would have gone very close to getting another wooden spoon.
IF we add two good quality forwards and one back to our top 17 we would have the quality and depth to genuinely be in the fight for a top 8 finish in 2026, however if we do not add 2-3 good quality players we will struggle again and likely finish lower than 13th.