Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Tucker said:
I’ve seen the big picture far longer than you have and one day you will understand that Richo wasn’t the be all or the end all. He received high praise here due to reputation more than performance.
I appreciate him getting the money side sorted, but I’m glad someone else is running the footy side.
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Totally agreed, honestly Tucker you make more sense then most on this forum.
Richo is a CEO.
Shawn Mielekamp is also a CEO

Yes having a good CEO helps get contracts signed efficently and have the place running well. It will not win you games.
It will mean good Physio's are around, it means your dressing rooms should have tape and be stocked and your flights will be booked.
It will not win you games.

Your core product wins you games. That is our Head coach, our coaching team, our junior pathways and all that is behind that. Our football is our core product.

Now, not knocking Richo or Shawn. Richo got Greg Ingles to do some training with Bula. Stuff like that really helps.

Richo's performance is rather irrelivant. It's Benji's performance that got us from 17 -> 13th, a good step but no where near worth a 4 year extension. It's like rewarding your kid with a Playstation 5 for getting a D in a test.
 
hank37w said:
I thought I was the only one that thought players that cop a serve on here like Will Kennedy and Connor Tracey looked okay and showed more effort than Jaream Bula for most of the season.

Admittedly Bula only played 18 games in the 2025 season while Kennedy played 27 games (which included 3 Finals games) and Tracey played 24 games.

Whatever you may think of the Dally M awards and their awarding of points, whether they are a fair gauge of a players performance can be argued, but I will use it anyway as one method of comparing and measuring the performance of these 3 players.

Up until Round 12 in the Dally M the points were as follows:

Will Kennedy 29 points and in 2nd position
Connor Tracey 18 points and in 11th position
Jaream Bula 10 points and position unknown

As at round 12, Kennedy had played all 12 games, Tracey 11 games and Bula 10 games.

After Round 18:

Will Kennedy 29 points and in 5th position
Connor Tracey 23 points and in 9th position
Jaream Bula Points and position unknown

As at round 18, Kennedy had played 16 games, Tracey 15 games and Bula 13 games.

After Round 23:

Will Kennedy 34 points and in 8th position
Connor Tracey Points and position unknown
Jaream Bula Points and position unknown

As at round 13, Kennedy had played 21 games, Tracey 18 games and Bula 14 games.

In the final wash up Kennedy finished 10th on 37 points, the position and points of the other 2 is unknown.

I know some people are going to go crazy after I have put up these Dally M figures but I am one of the first to acknowledge that we are a much better team with Bula in it, but what I do dispute is that he is currently not a $800k or 900k player especially when you consider what these other 2 players are currently on and the value for money that they offer.
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As you yourself have pointed out, Dally M points are not a good measuring stick as wins & losses are too highly factored and Bula is on a young and developing team.

He’s in our top 5 players most weeks he’s in and good clubs simply don’t let those players go. We shouldn’t be haggling over a couple of hundred K. A top club would find a third party deal to cover any shortfalls and get it done.
 
Lestronge said:
That’s not true ! The uptick in performance when Turuva was replaced by Bula at the backend of last season was for all to see . The main issue with Bula , as a few smarter people on here have referred to , is whether you like him or not , he was through the teething issues and maturation of the first 50 games , and on his way to becoming whatever best version of himself . Whether you like that or not .
Even if you do believe that there are better fullbacks out there nearly , outside of say Kennedy or Tracey , will need to go into that first 50 game headache watching them mature .
Otherwise there’s nothing on the market that I would say the juice is worth the squeeze with over 50 games at nrl level at fullback .
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My point was Turuva would probably get the same output as Tracey. Both would be downgrades on Bula now, let alone in the future. I believe Bula is a must keep
 
crazycat said:
Totally agreed, honestly Tucker you make more sense then most on this forum.
Richo is a CEO.
Shawn Mielekamp is also a CEO

Yes having a good CEO helps get contracts signed efficently and have the place running well. It will not win you games.
It will mean good Physio's are around, it means your dressing rooms should have tape and be stocked and your flights will be booked.
It will not win you games.

Your core product wins you games. That is our Head coach, our coaching team, our junior pathways and all that is behind that. Our football is our core product.

Now, not knocking Richo or Shawn. Richo got Greg Ingles to do some training with Bula. Stuff like that really helps.

Richo's performance is rather irrelivant. It's Benji's performance that got us from 17 -> 13th, a good step but no where near worth a 4 year extension. It's like rewarding your kid with a Playstation 5 for getting a D in a test.
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This club is a transit lounge for talent on and off the field.
You would have to have a short memory if you expected that Richardson alone was the answer, but he was a step in the right direction and gave us some credibility - just like Cleary and Maguire did when they took it on their coaching roles.

This club has bigger problems than one man can possibly fix. Benji is next in line to cop the accountability stick if the team doesn't fire. And like those who failed before him he won't loose any credibility if he fails, because perception around the club is that those with the power are useless at their job and are the clubs biggest permanent problem.

The clubs administration does not measure up against any other club in the game. They prove it over and over again - they do not invest enough in any facet - and until that changes this club will continue to pay out contracts on the back of false hope while other clubs pick off anyone with talent who demands better.
 
Telltails said:
This club is a transit lounge for talent on and off the field.
You would have to have a short memory if you expected that Richardson alone was the answer, but he was a step in the right direction and gave us some credibility - just like Cleary and Maguire did when they took it on their coaching roles.

This club has bigger problems than one man can possibly fix. Benji is next in line to cop the accountability stick if the team doesn't fire. And like those who failed before him he won't loose any credibility if he fails, because perception around the club is that those with the power are useless at their job and are the clubs biggest permanent problem.

The clubs administration does not measure up against any other club in the game. They prove it over and over again - they do not invest enough in any facet - and until that changes this club will continue to pay out contracts on the back of false hope while other clubs pick off anyone with talent who demands better.
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I'm going to simplify your post T, what's the common denominator over more than a decade of failure.

It's HBG they have proven that running a football club is beyond their capability and capitol employment, quite simply they are holding our club back.
 
Rock Hopper Steve said:
Can't wait to see the calibre of recruit he brings in after recent events, especially if we lose Bula.
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Well, he's got a Soccer background & plays Baseball in his spare time. So he might find us a player who can take a fall to earn a penalty and you can never have too many shortstops. Although the last pinch hitter we had was John Hopoate and he didn't work out too well. ⚽⚾
 
LeichhardtTiger said:
Well, he's got a Soccer background & plays Baseball in his spare time. So he might find us a player who can take a fall to earn a penalty and you can never have too many shortstops. Although the last pinch hitter we had was John Hopoate and he didn't work out too well. ⚽⚾
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If he can land Bula I will get off his case, if he leaves that means his 1st important task is a failure and a pathetic start to his tenure.
 
EllisFan said:
As you yourself have pointed out, Dally M points are not a good measuring stick as wins & losses are too highly factored and Bula is on a young and developing team.

He’s in our top 5 players most weeks he’s in and good clubs simply don’t let those players go. We shouldn’t be haggling over a couple of hundred K. A top club would find a third party deal to cover any shortfalls and get it done.
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Yes, a top club, but instead we have a boat anchor called HBG anchoring us to the bottom.
 
cktiger said:
If your team is consistently losing its not easy to pick up points ... especially as a back.
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I have also mentioned that those other players appeared to be showing more effort and urgency than Bula.

Others also have said that he has improved every season but I would argue that his defence has dropped off and that most of the time positioning and chiming in with his attack appears to be haphazard at best, although, when things click it can be a thing of beauty but for me that occurrence is much too rare.

He has a long way to go and I'm not saying he won't get there but he is far from the sensation that some make him out to be, also not saying that I don't want him staying here but not on the money that is being currently bandied about.

Come the end of the day, on current form I think we probably look better with either Tracey or Kennedy at the back, but as others have said Bula in the longer term has probably got more upside but has not yet earned the right to demand the kind of upgrade money that is written into his contract, the fact that he has a scumbag piece of shit for a manager takes a bit of the gloss off as well.
 
hank37w said:
Yes, a top club, but instead we have a boat anchor called HBG anchoring us to the bottom.
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Agree.
HBGs simple agenda is relaunching the Magpies despite being told it will never happen
Running a profitable and successful NRL club is just not on their priority list by their actions..seems irrelevant
Huge anchor
 
Tucker said:
I’ve seen the big picture far longer than you have and one day you will understand that Richo wasn’t the be all or the end all. He received high praise here due to reputation more than performance.
I appreciate him getting the money side sorted, but I’m glad someone else is running the footy side.
Click to expand...
In context though, he did the quickest roster turnaround we've ever seen, came in the first offseason and tapped guys and brought in others. Were judging him after 2 years of salary cap management, where the first was dealing with the past admins contracts. He brought in players on better deals, cleared the deadwood. Got funding for stadiums that people have been trying to get for ages, with o'farrells help. Given the full 5 years iv no doubt we would have been a top 4 team.
No one here in the same ammount of time dealing with what he was dealing with at board level from HBG would have achieved anything more. He got Luai over the line, May brothers, most importantly he was up till HBG blew the place up making loads of depth signings which we desperately need.
 
Tucker said:
We keep saying we are a development club, yet are happy to let juniors with potentially high ceilings walk because they aren’t great RIGHT NOW.
This is idiotic madness….and it is bone lazy
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Da Silva wanted 600k and was still developing
Galvin offered a mill and knocked it back
Stefano offered 800k knocked it back
Bula....let's see
Makasini...signed
Fainus...signed
Seyfarth? He's been here forever although I wish we'd let him go long ago
The rest are not good enough for first grade or else we would not have to sign fro outside.

Who is in the lower grades that deserves a spot and we let go willingly?
 
Rock Hopper Steve said:
If he can land Bula I will get off his case, if he leaves that means his 1st important task is a failure and a pathetic start to his tenure.
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BTR

At the 14.00 min mark a Q re the Bula signing progress. He gave a very wishy-washy answer. The key for me was the constant references to Benji and Gallant when it comes to recruitment overall and in Bula specifically, that "Benji is confident". He never at any stage in the entire podcast referenced his own negotiation skills or expertise in recruitment and retention, or alluded to his involvement in the process. He gave no sense of purpose or capability to get the job done. Like, there was no mention that "I'm meeting with Bula and Moses weekly before Christmas", or "We're taking a break over Christmas and we'll be back to the table in the first weeks of the New Year cos we want it resolved before the season starts." But nothing - just fluff. It was almost as if he was saying, "Hey folks, I wasn't involved in this process, so don't blame me if it falls over... but Benji is confident".

As for his being open to members etc, it's been 3 weeks since the Benji announcement and no update on the site since then. Not even a Merry Christmas or Happy New Year message! That's being out of touch from the get-go!

An all-talk, no-action type of guy - vs Richo:

Where do you want to go?

Then let me get you there!

Only 69 sleeps until Round Two.
 
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