Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Tucker]

I'm not making any comment on anyone's effort or character. What I'm saying is every time we sign "the experienced pack leader we need" they turn out to be one or more of past it, crocked or not interested. I can't see any reason to imagine Asofa-Solomona would be any different.

What do you suggest then?
We can’t keep going into seasons with Alex Twal as our starting prop.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy and respect his effort but his ceiling at most other clubs is likely “dependable squaddie”.
Here he is often seen as starting calibre.
We need guys who will push him and others down the pecking order. Not young blokes he has to train, who may come good, but reliable first graders.

 

[Rock Hopper Steve]

What do you suggest then?
We can’t keep going into seasons with Alex Twal as our starting prop.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy and respect his effort but his ceiling at most other clubs is likely “dependable squaddie”.
Here he is often seen as starting calibre.
We need guys who will push him and others down the pecking order. Not young blokes he has to train, who may come good, but reliable first graders.

Yes, we can't go into next season with the middles we have there's just not enough depth there.
We can't just rely on someone dropping from the tree, it may not happen again.

It could come down to the unfortunate predicament where have to take a chance and hope it works out.

 

[Vicious]

What do you suggest then?
We can’t keep going into seasons with Alex Twal as our starting prop.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy and respect his effort but his ceiling at most other clubs is likely “dependable squaddie”.
Here he is often seen as starting calibre.
We need guys who will push him and others down the pecking order. Not young blokes he has to train, who may come good, but reliable first graders.

Are the likes of Corey Jensen and Josh King much if any better than Alex Twal ?
Twal is no superstar by either are those 2 who both just started in the 2025 Grand Final.
We certainly need more middle forward depth there is no denying that, but when we ask if our current forward pack player for player is capable of matching it with the top 8 teams from the 2025, we do not match up all that badly except for not having a star dominant forward such as Payne Haas, but there are not too many like him around unfortunately.
However when you match our back 5 up with the top 8 from the 2025 season we fall a long way short in overall class and x-factor.

 

[Tiger Tarl]

Some people are saying we don’t have room in the salary cap for certain signings. I’m not sure why that would be the case. Below is an example of a balanced use of the club salary cap (obviously, this is just a generalisation for the sake of argument).

2026 SALARY CAP: $11.5M (Plus $300k for Veteran and Developed Player Allowance)

TIER ONE: 2 x $1M players = $2M
TIER TWO: 4 x $700k players = $2.8M
TIER THREE: 6 x $500 players = $3M
TIER FOUR: 12 x $250k players = $3M
TIER FIVE: 6 x $120k players = $0.7M

WT 2026:
TIER ONE: Luai, ???
TIER TWO: Api, Bula, Terrell, ???
TIER THREE: Latu, Samuela, KPP, Taylan, Turuva, Hunt
TIER FOUR: Toa, Doueihi, Twal*, Bird*, Pole, Seyfarth, Skelton, Sione, Jock, Makasini, Mason, ???
TIER FIVE: Geyer, Hope, Kit, Luke, Saukuru, Sukkar

*I’ve used the Veteran and Developed Player Allowance to bring down Twal and Bird to tier 4.

Using this, we could have another Tier One player (Ok, $800k player to accommodate Luai’s $1.2M) AND another Tier Two player PLUS one more Tier Four Player.

This doesn’t take into account payments for players like Sullivan and Bateman but also any contracts that are being subsidised by other teams to us. Also, doesn’t take into account front-loading, which I believe we have done this year, so should have at least $1M to spend on a player next year with some left over to fill our squad to 29 players by March.

 

[tigahhh]

What do you suggest then?
We can’t keep going into seasons with Alex Twal as our starting prop.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy and respect his effort but his ceiling at most other clubs is likely “dependable squaddie”.
Here he is often seen as starting calibre.
We need guys who will push him and others down the pecking order. Not young blokes he has to train, who may come good, but reliable first graders.

twal is our best defensive prop and had a great year. not everything is abt attack he cleans up for us in the middle

 

[The Chad]

I see the argument for 'upgrading' Twal. I also see the argument that Twal is a reasonable starting quality NRL forward.

What he isn't, is impactful.

Whether it's replacing him, or rotating him with someone off the bench, the club needs forwards that can either turn the game with running/passing or turn it through aggression/intimidation.

Personally, I think with Sione, Hunt & Pole, the club has the runners covered.

We need a few guys you throw on the field when we are getting bullied, as we often seem to by the more dominant packs.

 

[Ecto-1]

Some people are saying we don’t have room in the salary cap for certain signings. I’m not sure why that would be the case. Below is an example of a balanced use of the club salary cap (obviously, this is just a generalisation for the sake of argument).

2026 SALARY CAP: $11.5M (Plus $300k for Veteran and Developed Player Allowance)

TIER ONE: 2 x $1M players = $2M
TIER TWO: 4 x $700k players = $2.8M
TIER THREE: 6 x $500 players = $3M
TIER FOUR: 12 x $250k players = $3M
TIER FIVE: 6 x $120k players = $0.7M

WT 2026:
TIER ONE: Luai, ???
TIER TWO: Api, Bula, Terrell, ???
TIER THREE: Latu, Samuela, KPP, Taylan, Turuva, Hunt
TIER FOUR: Toa, Doueihi, Twal*, Bird*, Pole, Seyfarth, Skelton, Sione, Jock, Makasini, Mason, ???
TIER FIVE: Geyer, Hope, Kit, Luke, Saukuru, Sukkar

*I’ve used the Veteran and Developed Player Allowance to bring down Twal and Bird to tier 4.

Using this, we could have another Tier One player (Ok, $800k player to accommodate Luai’s $1.2M) AND another Tier Two player PLUS one more Tier Four Player.

This doesn’t take into account payments for players like Sullivan and Bateman but also any contracts that are being subsidised by other teams to us. Also, doesn’t take into account front-loading, which I believe we have done this year, so should have at least $1M to spend on a player next year with some left over to fill our squad to 29 players by March.

Richo said we do have money and spots left over but our roster is set unless something drops out of the tree. So we aren’t going to sign anyone unless a situation like Terrell May happens again.

 

[innsaneink]

All I know is we need more middle depth for next season if we don't sign any at all we will be in trouble if injuries hit.

Surely the club can see this it's only early and time to find a forward but if we don't by Christmas it will be a worry.

Nov 1....and perth will be in the mix too
Storm, Dogs are others that need forwards
It wont be easy but we are relying on.luck according to richo so fingers Xed

 

[upthetigers]

Nov 1....and perth will be in the mix too
Storm, Dogs are others that need forwards
It wont be easy but we are relying on.luck according to richo so fingers Xed

I think dogs will target NAS they need an impact forward

 

[Tucker]

Are the likes of Corey Jensen and Josh King much if any better than Alex Twal ?
Twal is no superstar by either are those 2 who both just started in the 2025 Grand Final.
We certainly need more middle forward depth there is no denying that, but when we ask if our current forward pack player for player is capable of matching it with the top 8 teams from the 2025, we do not match up all that badly except for not having a star dominant forward such as Payne Haas, but there are not too many like him around unfortunately.
However when you match our back 5 up with the top 8 from the 2025 season we fall a long way short in overall class and x-factor.

You have it arse about.
Our back 5 hold their own comp wise. When our pigs laid platforms at the start of the season, our backs had little problem turning chances into points. As the year wore on and the forwards got busted, our scoring suffered.
Our pack does not consistently measure up over 24 games and requires strengthening.

 

[Tucker]

twal is our best defensive prop and had a great year. not everything is abt attack he cleans up for us in the middle

That’s why he is a good bench player. We need our starters to be great at both facets of the game.

 

[tigahhh]

That’s why he is a good bench player. We need our starters to be great at both facets of the game.

a genuine 13 would be a god send.

 

[Flippedy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1974798152030142540

I guess the fact that 4 of them were actually the same person didn’t dawn on this genius journalist 🙄

 

[user118245]

2025 Test Rugby League Tigers:
Australia and PM 13 - None
England - Kai Pearce-Paul (inbound Tiger)
New Zealand - None
Tonga - None
Samoa - Jarome Luai, Terrell May and Taylan May
Fiji - Jahream Bula, Samuela Fainu, Sione Fainu, Josese Lanyon, Solomone Saukuru and Sunia Turuva
Cook Islands - I think Reuben Porter (departing club)
PNG - None

Let me know if I missed anyone

 

[upthetigers]

2025 Test Rugby League Tigers:
Australia and PM 13 - None
England - Kai Pearce-Paul (inbound Tiger)
New Zealand - None
Tonga - None
Samoa - Jarome Luai, Terrell May and Taylan May
Fiji - Jahream Bula, Samuela Fainu, Sione Fainu, Josese Lanyon, Solomone Saukuru and Sunia Turuva
Cook Islands - I think Reuben Porter (departing club)
PNG - None

Let me know if I missed anyone

I'm confused bro aren't the Fainu's Tongan?

 

[watersider]

Are the likes of Corey Jensen and Josh King much if any better than Alex Twal ?
Twal is no superstar by either are those 2 who both just started in the 2025 Grand Final.
We certainly need more middle forward depth there is no denying that, but when we ask if our current forward pack player for player capable of matching it with the top 8 teams from the 2025, we do not match up all that badly except for not having a star dominant forward such as Payne Haas, but there are not too many like him around unfortunately.
However when you match our back 5 up with the top 8 from the 2025 season we fall a long way short in overall class and x-factor.

I think that's a reasonable comparison but I see both king and Jensen with big effort tackles and strong runs. While a lot of what they do is similarly consistent and workmanlike, they both have a level of intensity and impact that's higher than twal. And I think that's quite an edge they have on twal. We need more tough props.

 

[derekderekson]

I'm confused bro aren't the Fainu's Tongan?

And part fijian.
They announced this last week.

 

[hank37w]

we would’ve been out of minds if we didn’t look at cooper bai. he’s still on a t&t with titans and they are about to lock him up for a long time soon. we should snag him off them

Do you think he might be an answer to our lock situation?

Did some damage last time we played Titans, albeit for limited minutes but certainly made an impact when he came on.

 

[Milky]

I think everyone can hold their horses on any Marquee signings lol

Rugby 360 snatching everyone that comes on the market

I guess there is no incentive for big names to sign anywhere atm

 

[Buttface]

he's 21 and the best uncapped young prop on the market. tackle efficiency stats always translate into NRL, and given his average carry is above 10m that's extremely promising when compared to the other good young front rowers getting about (Pasifiki Tonga, Xavier Vaa, Hopwood)

$350k a year to get him out of Brisbane isn't going to get you into trouble. it's smart business.

A house for $350 in Sydney?
Where?
I’ll give you $400 for it sight unseen.

Otherwise, I know what you’re saying, I’d rather the next best prop out there than Nelson on big coin.