Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

The Chad said:
That would be nice, but I think maybe 1 will do it. As it stands, I expect that Seyfarth, Sukkar, Mav Geyer & Roberts are most likely in KOE with one on the bench in NRL. With Kit in KOE as well. If you add another middle, you are either pushing Sione or Pole into the KOE discussion, or the new addition starts in KOE (is of that level).

This is why I quite like the Jack Hetherington idea. He adds depth & a different style, but won't set the development of Pole & Sione back if they perform.

Forwards look ok at the top:

13 Twal
12 KPP
11 Sam Fainu
10. Sione Fainu
9. Api
8 May

14 Pole
15 Hunt
16 Seyfarth
17 Hooker type (Latu?)
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I’d have Pole & Sione in the 17 and Hunt & Seyfarth as depth (covering injuries and suspensions in NRL)
Still think we need two middles to complete the Top30.
 
Telltails said:
They call that the "salary cap" working
The strong stay strong while the rest shuffle with what's left.
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That's why this club has to keep slugging away at becoming strong.

We all want Richo and Benji to flick a switch and get there quickly but the reality is it could take years of small improvement as evident this season.

I for one don't care how long it takes if baby steps gets us there eventually, but when it happens, we need the right strategies in recruitment and junior development to keep us there year after year like the Storm/Riff examples.
 
liltiger said:
Technically we could sign anyone though. We give them our cap money and any other money they want that we don't have in the cap we can use a 3rd party agreement to top it up, as long as we can find a sponsor willing to pay. Isn't that how the 3rd party system works in theory or have I misunderstood something ?
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The club can't be involved in sourcing TPAs. In all honestly actual, registered, above board TPAs are more or less meaningless nowadays. The NRL cracked down on them in 2017 and by 2022 the total value of TPAs was about 3% of the cap: https://www.nrl.com/news/2022/04/29/nrl-unpacked-how-does-the-salary-cap-work/ That would be about $345k per club, total.

Basically, if a club wants to pay its players more than it has cap room it is cheating. Does that happen? Sure, I don't doubt it. But if we've got contracts registered with the NRL that are $750k short of the cap and suddenly sign Payne Haas I suspect the auditors would be at Concord within the hour.
 
Telltails said:
They call that the "salary cap" working
The strong stay strong while the rest shuffle with what's left.
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Api 700k + Fainu 500k + Luai 1.2m + Bula 700k + Terrell May 700k + Taylan May 600k = $4.6m. If we upgrade and extend Bula we'll be close to $5m.

What Melbourne are doing isn't cheating, it's having a roster full of cheap, first grade standard players beyond their stars. They aren't wasting money on people like Jack Bird and Brent Naden, because they always have a minimum salary, no-name guy who can do a decent job if called upon.
 
2041 said:
Api 700k + Fainu 500k + Luai 1.2m + Bula 700k + Terrell May 700k + Taylan May 600k = $4.6m. If we upgrade and extend Bula we'll be close to $5m.

What Melbourne are doing isn't cheating, it's having a roster full of cheap, first grade standard players beyond their stars. They aren't wasting money on people like Jack Bird and Brent Naden, because they always have a minimum salary, no-name guy who can do a decent job if called upon.
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Didnt say they were cheating. The salary cap allows them to remain strong.
Hughes Munster Pap Grant are all worth 1mil + at any other club. Add Coates, Eli Katao, NAS Stef, Blore Meaney they are not playing for nothing - and all starters in any other club - not cheap first graders anywhere else.
And then you have players like Pezet, Wiseheart, Faalago ,spine players that clubs looking would have loved in their systems long before now but somehow are prepared to hang around - and also play for who knows. If you say something enough you start to believe it.
 
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Telltails said:
Didnt say they were cheating. The salary cap allows them to remain strong.
Hughes Munster Pap Grant are all worth 1mil + at any other club. Add Coates, Eli Katao, NAS Stef, Blore Meaney they are not playing for nothing - and all starters in any other club - not cheap first graders anywhere else.
And then you have players like Pezet, Wiseheart, Faalago ,spine players that clubs looking would have loved in their systems long before now but somehow are prepared to hang around - and also play for who knows. If you say something enough you start to believe it.
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Why can’t the salary cap allow us to be strong ? Our mate Stefano took less money than we offered to go there …do we need to have the salary cap abolished so we can offer him more to get him to stay ?

I gotta feeling their pockets will ultimately be deeper than ours
 
innsaneink said:
Richo said so...thats what he wanted everyone to belive.
Im stunned ppl still swallowing this
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I think it was a bit of column A and a bit of Column B

He would have been working on putting together an offer, but because they never had to formalise anything, 800k a year could all of a sudden become 1.3mill a year or whatever it was.

It would be nice to know the truth behind the whole saga one day.
 
The Chad said:
Oddly I think Stefano & Papali'i this year prove that the Tigers are getting something right.

And it's because both players had good seasons away from the club.

Let's start with both the players. No way Cleary & Bellamy taught them anything 'new'. "Be more involved & committed" isn't something you teach. It's something you buy into. It's, dare I say it, a club culture. What, if anything, it shows me is that Stefano & Papali'i are not 'leaders' as they were expected to be at the Tigers. They don't drive the standards. They follow the standards set by others. They are good players, playing in good teams, and doing well.

So why does this show me that the Tigers are doing the right thing?

Because the whole drive from Richardson & Marshall is about bringing in leadership, setting standards & having players that want to be here. How many times have we heard about Luai & building a club culture? How many times do we hear how Benji is building a culture of 'family first values' etc?

There was definitely some improvement in 2025. I would say that with Api, Luai & a few others that we are building a club culture. Now it's about having the right players, with the right attitudes, in the club.

Stefano & Papali'i have shown that talented players who need to be driven & caught up in a team culture can actually thrive. Not every player succeeds because you count on them being 'leaders'. I think the Tigers figured it out & actually invested in culture defining players. Now it's getting the rest of the squad mix right.

I'll sit down now.
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LOL culture.
Calling everyone bro?
We have no leadership.
 
Rock Hopper Steve said:
That's why Galvin & TDS were shown the exit stage right, they didn't want to be here, so I agree with the philosophy if you're not committed bugger off so you don't stink up the place.

A few on here were upset at them leaving but there's no point persisting if they think they're better off somewhere else, cut the cord quickly is the best thing all round.
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Yep let's build the greatest boys club inspired 12th ranked squad in the comp! Chocky necklaces for all ..
Forget about these young blokes we have stuck thousands of hours into and told the world would be the nucleus of our "development club squad" far into the future. Give API another 5 years....
 
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