Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[innsaneink]

Brian Kelly Eels 2 years

 

[innsaneink]

Only reason they gave the deal was because the media reported they were contemplating Brad Arthur, then the players fronted the football dept and said if Benji goes we go, HBG panicked and by the afternoon of the Brad Arthur story Benji had a 5 year deal waiting to be signed.🤣.
In all honesty though it could be 30 years, HBG don't care, they'll sack him, pay him out, then hire a budget coach till Benjis contract expires to save money. It's what HBG do because they're incompetent scumbags.

Not so sure about all that....pretty much just the mole and ZT who got it from the mole was saying this...un-named agents blah blah, it all lasted less than a day iirc

 

[crazycat]

I’m measuring our squad against others.
Right now I do think we have a very nice balanced squad.

Alot of teams gets knocked down by injuries and make the finals. That’s mainly due to coaching structures.

We have balance.
2025 I realised how light our forward pack really was. It was basically Pole and May and not much else.
Instead of loosing through the edges, we got done through the middle and both the Storm and Panthers knew we were weak there.

Were balanced, but:
7 still isn't sorted. AD did well there in 2025, previously he would flip/flop between having a good game and an AWOL game.
We still lack strike power. Our wingers have improved our edge defense, but they are no Richards/Tukali/Koroibete/etc.
Pack is looking a lot better, but need to see how they go on the field. THIS particularly is down to the coaching as having Bunty/KPP/May/Pole/etc available means they have the people for a good pack.. so lets see if they can coach a hard pack.

If we miss the finals that’s more to do with coaching than our squad.

Agreed. Individuals will matter and the team needs to own their performance, but agreed the coaches own the overall result. Except it won't matter to Benji for another 4 years! 🙁 (still Spewing about that one)

 

[wstigers11]

In response to the last paragraph, I think Bateman and Galvin had to go as they appeared to be a hindrance not a help. Arguably same could be said for Klemmer though he mostly kept his grievances out of the media. Though again this is ignoring the question of why is that the case? Is the individual to blame or the club? If it is the individual, then we have had a lot of problematic individual who coincidentally are fine elsewhere.
As for the others.

I think Papallii was good for us. Obviously not his barnstorming best but he did a heap of work and was given 0 help. Fainu is no where near superior yet and may never be. In fact just looking at their Tigers work and not Papallii at Parra or Penrith I still believe Papallii has been the better player. So whilst I'm happy to agree to disagree on who is better let's say Fainu is for the argument....we still played last season without a competent right edge or lock. Papallii could have filled either void.

Stefano looked to have called it quits halfway through his final season here. So I'll agree he underperformed here. Again, why was this the case? Regardless May might have been better but every other middle that took the field for us most certainly was not. He was missed because you need 2 front rowers (plus a couple more on the bench) not just May. So, yes, we definitely missed him, even his subpar performances would have been an improvement on all our middles but May.

I think Blore is grossly underestimated on here. Of course not a superstar but a significant step up on Seyfarth/Sukkar/Sione on an edge. Heck his typical game is slightly better than what Samuela did for about 60percent of the year. Once again there are 2 edges, we missed him.

TDS was contracted not just in 25 but in 26 as well for about 300-350k. Not the 600+ of his new contract. So about 2.5x that of Hope. We are running Api into the ground without a back up and look to have Hope as next man up again. So again we will likely miss him. Not to mention it is a further example of us not holding players we develop. Which further substantiates a negative narrative. Will he be worth it in 27 not sure, probably not. But the way we are burning Api I also doubt he will be.

And again let's say we didn't actually miss any of them. The point remains we tried to retain them but failed.

i know this wasn’t your main point but bateman has had issues at every club he’s played at.

 

[crazycat]

That highlights what the biggest problem is at our club and probably has been since we have been since we became a JV.Everything else pales into insignificance compared to the governing body.

no one cares about the governing body till they make a dumb football decision...

Usually a dumb decision because they have forgotten about Football!

i.e. Tim Sheens (over a decade ago) was humming along and his renewal came up, he actually made the finals that year and the board stopped fighting about Magpies vs Balmain for a moment and renewed his contract. Then went back to infighting, then got the message from the players that Sheens wasn't it so appointed Mick Potter.

Then Farah got caught badmouthing Potter in a radio interview and Potter got the sack. Then Jason Taylor became coach and pissed everyone off, particularly Farah.

Board goes to Fire Jason and asks Aaron Woods to play politics. ..
.. !$!@%@#!@
Aaron Woods says no, big 4 don't resign, Taylor gets replaced with Cleary and Board goes back to infighting. ..

Board eventually realises it needs to fire Madge, having kinda supported the team but ignored it for 4 years. No assistant coach prepped/capable of taking the role. Tim Sheens given reign because board has no idea and relies on his "expertise".

Sheens/Marshall fluffs it entirely. Sheens quits and board appoints Marshall early.

Board once again forgets about Football.
HBG decides God knows what, perhaps the colour orange wasn't the exact orange and fires 4 independent directors! GM walks while being pushed out and we pay him 4 years worth of salary.

Board remembers. "oh yea football! Hey Benji Marshall, WT 2005 legend. Please stay we will renew your contract to 2030 because we fold more then Origami!"



Most clubs boards are a joke and have no idea re football. That's why Gould is kinda effective when he joins a club, he reminds them to think of Footy. (and puts the club through a stack of crap).

 

[Wezt]

Lomax and Coates on the same side would be insane.

 

[wstigers11]

View attachment 32198

Lomax and Coates on the same side would be insane.

Damn storm & their flawless recruitment

 

[Rock Hopper Steve]

View attachment 32198

Lomax and Coates on the same side would be insane.

Good, who wants them turds to get any stronger, entitled tossers think they can have their cake, F them.

 

[innsaneink]

no one cares about the governing body till they make a dumb football decision...

No.
Even if HB dont utter a peep all year theres still the issue of their lack of sufficient funding* we require to compete with the top teams

Many claim the players dont even know the board members, probably true....but it* affects them

 

[gregjm87]

Disagree on Sam the times his form was questionable was when playing with leg injuries last season, how would you go playing with a limp, also think he has a higher ceiling than Blore.

We lost players yes but who out there would have had a better chance of retaining them I ask.

It's possible it could have been worse with anyone else the state the club was at the time.

From the performances we saw Blore outplayed Fainu last season but Injury may well have effected Fainus performance last season. Either way I agree that Fainus ceiling is higher. He has not yet reached it, nor would you expect him to at this point of his career.
Regardless of what Fainu becomes I believe Blore was a notable loss. With Fainu a year older and KPP arriving, I hope he isn't a loss we continue to feel in 26. I'd expect the 3 of them to have similar performance levels this season.

Could someone have done a better recruitment job? I don't know. It certainly would be a difficult task convincing those with options to stay. But you are 100 percent correct someone else could have done worse.

 

[Tiger_claws]

no one cares about the governing body till they make a dumb football decision...

Usually a dumb decision because they have forgotten about Football!

i.e. Tim Sheens (over a decade ago) was humming along and his renewal came up, he actually made the finals that year and the board stopped fighting about Magpies vs Balmain for a moment and renewed his contract. Then went back to infighting, then got the message from the players that Sheens wasn't it so appointed Mick Potter.

Then Farah got caught badmouthing Potter in a radio interview and Potter got the sack. Then Jason Taylor became coach and pissed everyone off, particularly Farah.

Board goes to Fire Jason and asks Aaron Woods to play politics. ..
.. !$!@%@#!@
Aaron Woods says no, big 4 don't resign, Taylor gets replaced with Cleary and Board goes back to infighting. ..

Board eventually realises it needs to fire Madge, having kinda supported the team but ignored it for 4 years. No assistant coach prepped/capable of taking the role. Tim Sheens given reign because board has no idea and relies on his "expertise".

Sheens/Marshall fluffs it entirely. Sheens quits and board appoints Marshall early.

Board once again forgets about Football.
HBG decides God knows what, perhaps the colour orange wasn't the exact orange and fires 4 independent directors! GM walks while being pushed out and we pay him 4 years worth of salary.

Board remembers. "oh yea football! Hey Benji Marshall, WT 2005 legend. Please stay we will renew your contract to 2030 because we fold more then Origami!"



Most clubs boards are a joke and have no idea re football. That's why Gould is kinda effective when he joins a club, he reminds them to think of Footy. (and puts the club through a stack of crap).

Gus doesn’t go to any club that doesn’t have deep pockets. His success comes at a serious cost. When he did the review at the Dragons they wanted him as their GM of football but he knocked them back as their football budget would mean a slow turn around. At Panthers he had James Packer backing him & the best bunch of 15 to 19 year olds in the country already under contract. Gus doesn’t have a magic solution, it’s money, whether that money pays out unwanted contracts or attracts big names. For e.g the Dogs spent $4 million last year on their pathways (if you throw enough darts you will eventually hit the bullseye). I think Gus is obviously a smart footy head but he is a little overrated imo

 

[gregjm87]

i know this wasn’t your main point but bateman has had issues at every club he’s played at.

He certainly rarely sees out a full contract but not sure how many actual 'issues' he has had at other clubs.

The Raiders stuff in my opinion is overstated however. It was pretty [This word has been automatically removed]ed that it was reported in GF week that he was looking to renegotiate. But was that on him, Moses, Raiders, the Journo, all of the above? Who knows. I have thoughts on how it likely would have happened, but can't be sure. Timing of it hitting the media aside, he didn't really do anything wrong. He had clauses allowing him to negotiate, so he did.
Stuart and his Raiders teammates have only ever praised him, both when he was there and after he left. I guess he also got into a blue with Curtis Scott.

Haven't heard of any issues with clubs in England. Reportedly punched on with a team mate at Wigan but Wigan also took him back after his Canberra stint.

 

[wstigers11]

He certainly rarely sees out a full contract but not sure how many actual 'issues' he has had at other clubs.

The Raiders stuff in my opinion is overstated however. It was pretty [This word has been automatically removed]ed that it was reported in GF week that he was looking to renegotiate. But was that on him, Moses, Raiders, the Journo, all of the above? Who knows. I have thoughts on how it likely would have happened, but can't be sure. Timing of it hitting the media aside, he didn't really do anything wrong. He had clauses allowing him to negotiate, so he did.
Stuart and his Raiders teammates have only ever praised him, both when he was there and after he left. I guess he also got into a blue with Curtis Scott.

Haven't heard of any issues with clubs in England. Reportedly punched on with a team mate at Wigan but Wigan also took him back after his Canberra stint.

it was a classic moses tactic. he had just changed agents to isaac & hounded to negotiate a new contract the week of the gf so he could get paid.

 

[GCfan]

Tommy Talau to the Roosters.

If the media reports were true, still can’t believe we dig our heels in with Melbourne sending Tommy their way for the Addo Carr deal back pre Doggies.

 

[Vicious]

No.
Even if HB dont utter a peep all year theres still the issue of their lack of sufficient funding* we require to compete with the top teams

Many claim the players dont even know the board members, probably true....but it* affects them

Richo was getting paid 1 million per year, so with him gone there should be plenty of available funds to spend elsewhere.

 

[Rock Hopper Steve]

Richo was getting paid 1 million per year, so with him gone there should be plenty of available funds to spend elsewhere.

A few 100k whoopee, doesn't get anywhere near the top 4 clubs.

 

[gregjm87]

it was a classic moses tactic. he had just changed agents to isaac & hounded to negotiate a new contract the week of the gf so he could get paid.

I'd assume Moses leaked to Journo asap and journo then waited til GF week to get the most clicks.

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

Richo was getting paid 1 million per year, so with him gone there should be plenty of available funds to spend elsewhere.

If only our owners put more into the Wests Tigers than our the fans or sponsors or the NRL did then we would have a real threat in the west.

$1m, they are paying a chunk out & we still need a CEO. If anything we will now spend more money on a contract no longer here - the typical business model we are use too.

 

[innsaneink]

Ah well , 9 am has come and gone and no Bulla re signing .
Boys back on deck for pre season part 2.
If Elliot was coming he should have been sorted and at training now getting flogged .
No club training photos or videos , this needs to be done badly , how easy is it to take photos of players and do say 3 or 4 , 1 minute videos of the new guys or just players in action hitting the pads , tackling , club is poor on this front , I would expect at least 2 lots of this before the trails and even a small doco like last season boot camp 20 minutes of showing what they have , Bulla sticks in my mind from last one ,
Ahhh it’s Monday and just my rant

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[mtd#2]

Long bow to draw for making a comparison man -
Metcalf was the best player in the comp when he got injured.

Galvin wasn’t in the top 20

Its irrelevant if he was top 20 or top 50. I of all people hate to admit it, but he played a pivotal role in our side at the time and the team was built around him. We can't overlook that. We didn't have anyone who could slot in and replace him at 6 without a complete restructure. Luai trained preseason at 7 and eventually had to shift back to 6. The core foundation of the team changed. We had one game where API slotted in at 7 against manly