Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[crazycat]

But Douehi clearly is,

We do not have a good NR7 answer at the moment.
It is "look at other options", not AD, not Madden.

That said, it's not Luai.
AD/Luai have more command then Madden. However neither is able to steer and both have a weak kicking game.
Madden can kick and direct the team. But he has defensive issues and I think may be getting out of breath.

What we have seen from Madden is a player who's best position is NR7 and we see what we have been missing there! With Luai going we can

Another odd thought:
Brooks was a passive personality. I have no idea why he was put at halfback, but he isn't the guy to guide your team around the field.
Luai too isn't a dominant voice on the field. He can push people harder, he can be halfback sometimes... But hasn't been that consistently.
AD to me seems more involved. If there is an absence of direction, he will take the lead.

Maybe the reason why Brooks/AD never worked is the personality mismatch.

So if were looking for a halfback:
Probably NOT a Junior. Get an experienced player.
A player who would be able to tell AD, Taylan May and others where to go and stand.
..
Then comes the rest of good kicker + organiser + ball skills + defense.

TLDR: were going to either have to be really lucky OR spend up BIG on whomever we sign.

 

[crazycat]

Hope it's Benji

And To'o to PNG 2028

Man I knew a relative of Martin. Seemed like a good family, down to earth types.

I.. I don't know if I would want Martin to come here. Honestly Martin has trained under Ciraldo and it wouldn't surprise me if the Dogs made an offer. Let the two reunite please.

Ofcourse a workaholic would be good, But I think Martin doens't have much left in the tank. Let him go to WA, Dogs or PNG where the big money is. Here is not the place for him.

 

[Johnnycash]

Some say we are still waiting for latus breakout game ..
Maybe not today maybe not tomorrow but one day

 

[Johnnycash]

Just hope it’s not another 10 years like Luke brooks did to tigers

 

[Droppy05]

We do not have a good NR7 answer at the moment.
It is "look at other options", not AD, not Madden.

That said, it's not Luai.
AD/Luai have more command then Madden. However neither is able to steer and both have a weak kicking game.
Madden can kick and direct the team. But he has defensive issues and I think may be getting out of breath.

What we have seen from Madden is a player who's best position is NR7 and we see what we have been missing there! With Luai going we can

Another odd thought:
Brooks was a passive personality. I have no idea why he was put at halfback, but he isn't the guy to guide your team around the field.
Luai too isn't a dominant voice on the field. He can push people harder, he can be halfback sometimes... But hasn't been that consistently.
AD to me seems more involved. If there is an absence of direction, he will take the lead.

Maybe the reason why Brooks/AD never worked is the personality mismatch.

So if were looking for a halfback:
Probably NOT a Junior. Get an experienced player.
A player who would be able to tell AD, Taylan May and others where to go and stand.
..
Then comes the rest of good kicker + organiser + ball skills + defense.

TLDR: were going to either have to be really lucky OR spend up BIG on whomever we sign.

Benji was a great half, why can't he teach these skills to his halves? It can't be that difficult for 1st grade players.

 

[stevied]

Benji was a great half, why can't he teach these skills to his halves? It can't be that difficult for 1st grade players.

Benji was a great player more than he was a great half. A lot of the time his teammates didn't know what he was doing. Often, I'm not sure if he did either.

 

[king_sirro]

I think we should target Katoa as our half. Western Sydney boy coming home. Currently available for 2028, can discuss Nov 1 this year. And then let Latu, Javon and Douhie fight it out for 5/8. Maybe we need to let Latu go to secure Katoa I.e. put Latu’s $500k towards Katoa. I would be happy to do this even though I am one of Latu’s biggest fans. We need a real first grade half back and Katoa would solve our problem.

I think the question may be, do you let Latu go knowing there are clubs that would jump at having all 3 brothers? IMO Latu is an out and out first grader and is capable of playing regular 6, 7 or 13. And capable of being a genuine star. I absolutely dont want to let him go and risk losing all 3. Gee I'd love Katoa though. Imagine Katoa and Latu in the same team? IMO they are the 2 best players in the game at playing deep and straight into the line. Guys like Doueihi, Sam and Bula would have so much space to run through teams. Not to mention Katoa's kicking game.

 

[crazycat]

Sounds like he's sees himself down the pecking order now but he is a western Sydney boy so maybe has an offer from somewhere else.

Personally I'd love him or the other Knights NSW Cup centre Kyle McCarthy to add depth & competition to the right centre & wing position.

Here's an excerpt from Barry Toohey's column yesterday (Newcastle journo) ...

Another obvious contender is 22-year-old NSW Cup centre Kyle McCarthy, who played six NRL games for the Knights in 2024 but hasn't been used since.

The uncertainty surrounding McCarthy is that his future is also clouded.

He has an option in his favour in his contract for next season to remain at the Knights. But he was told last year he is free to leave if he can find a better opportunity at a rival club and that situation has apparently not changed.

That suggests there is little chance of him being offered an extension beyond 2027 if he does opt to stay in Newcastle for a further 12 months.

Do we need a junior center to train up or a First grader?

One of the better ideas we have seen, is targetting experienced NRL center cheapies like Herbert (and forgetable dude from souths).
Herbert is a "depth" signing and he has proven better then Toa. We are ofcourse missing 2x NRL first grade centers.

We have Makasini who people have said is a better Center then wing.

I would actually suggest bypassing some junior centers in order to land a NRL experienced center who is a certain starter. Center is not the spot we want to save cap space on.

 

[Tito Santana]

Man I knew a relative of Martin. Seemed like a good family, down to earth types.

I.. I don't know if I would want Martin to come here. Honestly Martin has trained under Ciraldo and it wouldn't surprise me if the Dogs made an offer. Let the two reunite please.

Ofcourse a workaholic would be good, But I think Martin doens't have much left in the tank. Let him go to WA, Dogs or PNG where the big money is. Here is not the place for him.

I can see him being a Finucan like buy at Cronulla. A great, full hearted awesome player. But yes, the way he plays, I don’t know how long it will last.

I use to love Matt Ballin. The guy was unbreakable. Gets to the Tigers. Played 2 games or something.

 

[jadtiger]

I can see him being a Finucan like buy at Cronulla. A great, full hearted awesome player. But yes, the way he plays, I don’t know how long it will last.

I use to love Matt Ballin. The guy was unbreakable. Gets to the Tigers. Played 2 games or something.

He was lucky to play the few games he did with us,he was broken at the end when he played for Manly and everyone knew it but Taylor was determined to shaft Robbie Farah no matter the cost to our club.If a snake bit Jason Taylor i would be concerned for the health of the snake.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

He had a tough game against us but definitely is talented, I wonder why he’s opting to leave Newcastle

He's a Panther's junior and former Aust Schools centre.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

I can see him being a Finucan like buy at Cronulla. A great, full hearted awesome player. But yes, the way he plays, I don’t know how long it will last.

I use to love Matt Ballin. The guy was unbreakable. Gets to the Tigers. Played 2 games or something.

Good post. Martin has been a fine player but those games have taken a toll on his body.

 

[Bob]

There's only so many players you can pay overs for as a strategy

Take Samuela Fainu - he's on 500k now (not 100% sure)? That is $298,812 after tax as it stands. PNG offer 500k...he gets 500k, so already 200k better off. To match his take home pay with PNG, his salary in Australia would need to be around $875k to allow him to earn around 500k after tax. So even to match the after tax salary that player would get by playing for PNG, we need to pay 375k overs. Let's say we match it and pay overs...PNG just have to bump by 50k or 70k, then we are basically paying a million. You can't run a salary cap like that...you might only be able to pay overs for one player...not 2, 3 or 4.

I am not making these numbers up. These are real numbers from the ATO calculator.

Yes the figures are real, but these opportunities are available for everyone in most industries and most people don’t take them up.

You can work for the mines in Boganville earning far more than they pay in regional Australia.

You could have been a government “process immigration officer” in Moresby and Manus island earning 200% more than the same jobs in Canberra shuffling paper.

The reality is that compound living, FIFO work & quality of life quickly take a toll that money doesn’t always offset.

Some people love it and stay forever, for some it’s a means to an end and others it’s totally unbearable.

It will be the same for the players too. I can see a lot of people leaving on “compassionate grounds, a few of the players absolutely loving it and quite a few signing a 1 or 2 year contract to make bank and retire.

If they can get a whole lot of guys to go there in a good environment I imagine they will be a good team - a lot of thier focus will be on football and football alone.

 

[batboy]

Involved? A journalist is nothing more than a salesperson of the written and spoken word. The art has been lost in this profession. It’s all about loaded comments that generate clicks and ad dollars.

Chammas is a smart guy, however, he doesn’t understand the heartbeat of an NRL club, nor do I, nor do you. However, after playing 16 years in the NRL and Super League, and winning 3 premierships, I’m pretty sure that Patty would be well ahead of Chammas in terms of footy and club administration knowledge.

A lot of assumptions -
Considering Patty has been selling forklifts for a crust the last few years.

 

[batboy]

Yes the figures are real, but these opportunities are available for everyone in most industries and most people don’t take them up.

You can work for the mines in Boganville earning far more than they pay in regional Australia.

You could have been a government “process immigration officer” in Moresby and Manus island earning 200% more than the same jobs in Canberra shuffling paper.

The reality is that compound living, FIFO work & quality of life quickly take a toll that money doesn’t always offset.

Some people love it and stay forever, for some it’s a means to an end and others it’s totally unbearable.

It will be the same for the players too. I can see a lot of people leaving on “compassionate grounds, a few of the players absolutely loving it and quite a few signing a 1 or 2 year contract to make bank and retire.

If they can get a whole lot of guys to go there in a good environment I imagine they will be a good team - a lot of thier focus will be on football and football alone.

Too much common sense in this post.

Doubling down on it, as hard as it already is.
imagine a FIFO worker having to take his missus and family to site with him full time, and remove his time off / back home…

These fellas are being sold the raw prawn… I look forward to seeing how it all ons out for them.
Will really be something if they can stop it from exploding into bits

 

[weststigers]

Yes the figures are real, but these opportunities are available for everyone in most industries and most people don’t take them up.

You can work for the mines in Boganville earning far more than they pay in regional Australia.

You could have been a government “process immigration officer” in Moresby and Manus island earning 200% more than the same jobs in Canberra shuffling paper.

The reality is that compound living, FIFO work & quality of life quickly take a toll that money doesn’t always offset.

Some people love it and stay forever, for some it’s a means to an end and others it’s totally unbearable.

It will be the same for the players too. I can see a lot of people leaving on “compassionate grounds, a few of the players absolutely loving it and quite a few signing a 1 or 2 year contract to make bank and retire.

If they can get a whole lot of guys to go there in a good environment I imagine they will be a good team - a lot of thier focus will be on football and football alone.

Would you like a bet that at least 30 players will go?

 

[Tiger Stripes]

Yes the figures are real, but these opportunities are available for everyone in most industries and most people don’t take them up.

You can work for the mines in Boganville earning far more than they pay in regional Australia.

You could have been a government “process immigration officer” in Moresby and Manus island earning 200% more than the same jobs in Canberra shuffling paper.

The reality is that compound living, FIFO work & quality of life quickly take a toll that money doesn’t always offset.

Some people love it and stay forever, for some it’s a means to an end and others it’s totally unbearable.

It will be the same for the players too. I can see a lot of people leaving on “compassionate grounds, a few of the players absolutely loving it and quite a few signing a 1 or 2 year contract to make bank and retire.

If they can get a whole lot of guys to go there in a good environment I imagine they will be a good team - a lot of thier focus will be on football and football alone.

Bougainville mine is still closed and Bougainville looking for independence next year?
Agree on the compound life. Some can take it some can't. I counted the days after 3 months to get out. [6 months].
But as I understand, half the time they would be in Australia which would make it a lot easier on their mentality, family and safety. With the tax incentives, I think I could manage the inconvenience for a while.

 

[Garrry]

Some say we are still waiting for latus breakout game ..
Maybe not today maybe not tomorrow but one day

Best Tiger's game I seen Latu play was against manly, when he came on he was throwing shallow passes when every player thought it was going out to a center, the best one was against Brooks he went running out wide towards the center and Latu shallow pass to Seyfarth through a large gap and scored under the posts untouched, that was a classic

 

[bptiger 0]

Yes the figures are real, but these opportunities are available for everyone in most industries and most people don’t take them up.

You can work for the mines in Boganville earning far more than they pay in regional Australia.

You could have been a government “process immigration officer” in Moresby and Manus island earning 200% more than the same jobs in Canberra shuffling paper.

The reality is that compound living, FIFO work & quality of life quickly take a toll that money doesn’t always offset.

Some people love it and stay forever, for some it’s a means to an end and others it’s totally unbearable.

It will be the same for the players too. I can see a lot of people leaving on “compassionate grounds, a few of the players absolutely loving it and quite a few signing a 1 or 2 year contract to make bank and retire.

If they can get a whole lot of guys to go there in a good environment I imagine they will be a good team - a lot of thier focus will be on football and football alone.

This tax free money will come back and bite the NRL on the arse , the other teams will not be happy in years to come

 

[Tired Tiger]

Would you like a bet that at least 30 players will go?

Won't be 30, there will be locals in the top 30 from the Queensland Cup team.