Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[TigerNeddyK]

Api is our heart and soul. We need a better back up, not a fringe origin player who will think he’s a starter here imo.

I enjoyed the brief period that we signed a player and we were surprised, sadly we seem to be being leaked about us negotiating with them just before we fail to sign them and its annoying and feels like de ja vu from Pascoe and Sneaky Lee days

 

[GNR4LIFE]

True.

Tyrone May. That's the other guy I'd add.

Not going to mention Junior Tupou for outside depth...but...

Why mention May though? I’m guessing not because of his last name.

 

[ShanghaiCharlie]

Buy:
Tyrone May at the right price. Keep the May clan happy.
Manase Fainu on a NSW Cup contract and a job at the Leagues Club. Keep the Fainu clan happy.
Jayden Brailey with Canberra chipping in
2x outside backs, one who can play fullback - Jesse Arthurs/Shibasaki and Connor Tracey
Resign Skelton

Sell/Release: Toa, Hunt, Mason, Hope and Seyfarts (Roberts is the real deal)

 

[Tito Santana]

Buy:
Tyrone May at the right price. Keep the May clan happy.
Manase Fainu on a NSW Cup contract and a job at the Leagues Club. Keep the Fainu clan happy.
Jayden Brailey with Canberra chipping in
2x outside backs, one who can play fullback - Jesse Arthurs/Shibasaki and Connor Tracey
Resign Skelton

Sell/Release: Toa, Hunt, Mason, Hope and Seyfarts (Roberts is the real deal)

Agree with all of the above. Isn’t Timoko on the outer down there?

Hassan like!

 

[Tigerbenb]

Roberts looked like he'll develop nicely

Your right mate, watched the game again this morning. Alex, he tries hard -100 games, 100 more than I will ever play, but he’s below nrl standard. If the rumours are try we are letting him go, promote Roberts and stick with the kid. Saw him at magic round. Looks the goods, good build, athletic and looks footy smart. Thanks Alex, but this kid we can’t hold him back.

 

[user118245]

Buy:
Tyrone May at the right price. Keep the May clan happy.
Manase Fainu on a NSW Cup contract and a job at the Leagues Club. Keep the Fainu clan happy.
Jayden Brailey with Canberra chipping in
2x outside backs, one who can play fullback - Jesse Arthurs/Shibasaki and Connor Tracey
Resign Skelton

Sell/Release: Toa, Hunt, Mason, Hope and Seyfarts (Roberts is the real deal)

Why would you buy a fullback that would turn 31 the year we would get him instead of developing Jack Attard and/or Logan Brookes. Also shiba would be wayyy to expensive with what he wants (600k/yr), but the rest are just who we should be targeting

 

[innsaneink]

No to Conor Tracy....a big step backwards we dont need to help the dog out

 

[ShanghaiCharlie]

Why would you buy a fullback that would turn 31 the year we would get him instead of developing Jack Attard and/or Logan Brookes. Also shiba would be wayyy to expensive with what he wants (600k/yr), but the rest are just who we should be targeting

Shiba is worth 400k max. Not aware he wants 600k! PNG...
Arthurs 350k. Tracey can play a lot of positions and Dogs chip in. Two years. No impact on youngens.

 

[Tom Shines]

Buy:
Tyrone May at the right price. Keep the May clan happy.
Manase Fainu on a NSW Cup contract and a job at the Leagues Club. Keep the Fainu clan happy.
Jayden Brailey with Canberra chipping in
2x outside backs, one who can play fullback - Jesse Arthurs/Shibasaki and Connor Tracey
Resign Skelton

Sell/Release: Toa, Hunt, Mason, Hope and Seyfarts (Roberts is the real deal)

That’s a pretty ordinary list of potential new players 😂

 

[BirchgroveTiger]

Re-sign Hunt, at the right price, he gives us go forward when he comes off the bench.I can’t understand why people want to offload him??!!
Sign a quality Centre, Xerri would be good, . Signing a centre needs to be our priority.
Hooker?? Ok , Jacob Liddle worth a shot, playing in tandem with Api.Api was short of a gallop last night, but was the difference when he was on the field. He’s been our best this year.

 

[Demps]

Re-sign Hunt, at the right price, he gives us go forward when he comes off the bench.I can’t understand why people want to offload him??!!
Sign a quality Centre, Xerri would be good, . Signing a centre needs to be our priority.
Hooker?? Ok , Jacob Liddle worth a shot, playing in tandem with Api.Api was short of a gallop last night, but was the difference when he was on the field. He’s been our best this year.

Liddle is the man @ the dragons now
No chance

Centre is 100% a priority, hope the club sees that too.

Api is rusty after a month off.
A bit of help would be good though.
Which we've seen Latu doing the job just to fit him in the team.

Need to get some new faces in the door.

 

[Spida]

Your right mate, watched the game again this morning. Alex, he tries hard -100 games, 100 more than I will ever play, but he’s below nrl standard. If the rumours are try we are letting him go, promote Roberts and stick with the kid. Saw him at magic round. Looks the goods, good build, athletic and looks footy smart. Thanks Alex, but this kid we can’t hold him back.

💯 agree…

It’s great to hear how much Alex loves the club but his defense is poor…Kiraz and Tuala tries were result of Alex misses.

He falls under depth player with Skelton.The guy you bring in when injuries hit. Blore would be an astute purchase for our bench and Alex drops back to help develop KOE cup players with Murray,Skelton etc.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

Connor Tracey can play a utility role off the bench or play centre. If dogs chip in not a bad pick up

 

[batboy]

Watson
Manase Fainu
Tyrone May
Suli Pole

Need some wingers and centres for depth and starting

Terrell said on the Mansour podcast that Tyrone was made an offer from the Tigers last year and knocked us back.

Seemed resigned to him staying in England as that’s best for him and his family, and what the boys want is secondary,

Reality I guess, is he’s over there as a starting half - going well…
Comes back to Australia to play bit part, utility or elsewhere
(but it won’t be starting half)

Knocked us back already,
Next to no chance he ever ends up here, so we can probably stop living that fantasy…

 

[Vicious]

You need a certain amount of speed and athleticism to play edge back row effectively at NRL level and as hard as they try, players such as Seyfarth and Sione Fainu just don’t have the required speed and athleticism for that position.
The problem for us is it’s also very borderline whether our younger up and comers in Sukkar and Roberts have the required speed and athleticism for this position at NRL level.
Much like lack of depth in many other positions, we simply do not currently have anyone who you could confidently play for 80mins as an edge back rower who has the required toughness, speed and athleticism. I believe the youngsters in Sukkar and Roberts could do a good job sharing the role at this stage of their careers, but I don’t think Benji is all that keen on that idea.
We probably cannot afford Luciano Lailua who has reportedly made it known he is keen on a return to Wests Tigers which is a pity as I think there is some chance he could get an immediate release from the Dragons to give them extra cap space if someone come calling.
2 others that would be very handy for us right now and could potentially get an immediate release from their current clubs are Kai O’Donnell at the Cowboys and Thomas Fletcher at the Rabbitohs.
That is just one of many positional depth issues we currently have and signing a decent quality centre/winger is even more urgent if we are serious in wanting to challenge for a top 8 finish.
Not a lot out there in regards to potential immediate releases, but James Schiller with another hat trick and almost 200 run metres again yesterday in NSW Cup continues to show he is well above that level and with the Knights being stacked for outside backs, he could be one who could potentially get an immediate release.
Sione Finau a tall, strong and fast winger currently not getting any NRL opportunities at the Raiders is another.
Max Feagai who is a big body, proven tackle buster and try scorer at NRL level. He is currently being dominant every week in Q Cup but not getting any NRL opportunities for the Titans. Don’t forget Khan-Pereira was in a similar position at the Titans this time last year and he is now a permanent fixture on the wing at the Warriors.
A wildcard in the pack and only basing this on highlights and exceptionally good weekly stats is Mitchell Owen who is a young former Panthers junior rep centre who looks to have good size and speed and currently playing for the Magpies in the Q Cup.
Remembering these suggestions are initially just to increase our depth right now, not necessarily players we are wanting to sign long term unless they prove their value on a short term deal.

 

[Tom Shines]

You need a certain amount of speed and athleticism to play edge back row effectively at NRL level and as hard as they try, players such as Seyfarth and Sione Fainu just don’t have the required speed and athleticism for that position.
The problem for us is it’s also very borderline whether our younger up and comers in Sukkar and Roberts have the required speed and athleticism for this position at NRL level.
Much like lack of depth in many other positions, we simply do not currently have anyone who you could confidently play for 80mins as an edge back rower who has the required toughness, speed and athleticism. I believe the youngsters in Sukkar and Roberts could do a good job sharing the role at this stage of their careers, but I don’t think Benji is all that keen on that idea.
We probably cannot afford Luciano Lailua who has reportedly made it known he is keen on a return to Wests Tigers which is a pity as I think there is some chance he could get an immediate release from the Dragons to give them extra cap space if someone come calling.
2 others that would be very handy for us right now and could potentially get an immediate release from their current clubs are Kai O’Donnell at the Cowboys and Thomas Fletcher at the Rabbitohs.
That is just one of many positional depth issues we currently have and signing a decent quality centre/winger is even more urgent if we are serious in wanting to challenge for a top 8 finish.
Not a lot out there in regards to potential immediate releases, but James Schiller with another hat trick and almost 200 run metres again yesterday in NSW Cup continues to show he is well above that level and with the Knights being stacked for outside backs, he could be one who could potentially get an immediate release.
Sione Finau a tall, strong and fast winger currently not getting any NRL opportunities at the Raiders is another.
A wildcard in the pack and only basing this on highlights and exceptionally good weekly stats is Mitchell Owen who is a young former Panthers junior rep centre who looks to have good size and speed and currently playing for the Magpies in the Q Cup.
Remembering these suggestions are initially just to increase our depth right now, not necessarily players we are wanting to sign long term unless they prove their value on a short term deal.

Thought your man Bula was the difference last night …they don’t win thst game if he isn’t there,,.👍

The squad building is in a bit of trouble looks like for 2027 …particularly if rumours around lack of money available to sign new players are true …. ..I think that signing unproven NSW Cup players will not really move the needle ..but maybe they will need a few to replace our NsW Cup players who are not up to NRL level

 

[pawsandclaws1]

No to Conor Tracy....a big step backwards we dont need to help the dog out

I was told this morning from a local he will be with the Steelers next year.

 

[Vicious]

Thought your man Bula was the difference last night …they don’t win thst game if he isn’t there,,.👍

The squad building is in a bit of trouble looks like for 2027 …particularly if rumours around lack of money available to sign new players are true …. ..I think that signing unproven NSW Cup players will not really move the needle ..but maybe they will need a few to replace our NsW Cup players who are not up to NRL level

That’s the point, replacing a few players who are not good enough to challenge for NRL positions or provide NRL quality cover when we have a couple of injuries.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

Thought your man Bula was the difference last night …they don’t win thst game if he isn’t there,,.👍

The squad building is in a bit of trouble looks like for 2027 …particularly if rumours around lack of money available to sign new players are true …. ..I think that signing unproven NSW Cup players will not really move the needle ..but maybe they will need a few to replace our NsW Cup players who are not up to NRL level

For some Api was the difference.... thank God we are given a brain to ascertain, think and grow.

Me personally, all 4 players made a difference.

 

[Tom Shines]

That’s the point, replacing a few players who are not good enough to challenge for NRL positions or provide NRL quality cover when we have a couple of injuries.

Yeah I get it ..but it’s buying a longer term lottery ticket on unproven talent, more than a way of building a squad … a better way would be bringing in established players straight into the starting team and pushing players like Toa and Seyfarth ( assuming they both stay ) into the depth roles ..its overpaid depth sure …but they already made that decision