Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Buttface]

And play both middle & edge effectively. Upgrade on Seyfarth.

Tell Benji I approve at the right price obviously. Can he make it by Sunday?

 

[Halbrowne61]

Tigers fans will meltdown when he becomes the premier 6 again when playing for PNG... is it possible its us, and not them, thats the problem?

Quite possible because ex Tigers do some times have a habit of improving after they leave.
But not ALL.

 

[TheEnz]

I understand why it might work for us, it just seems far fetched that he would ask for a release due to lack of game time only to come here and be a bench player.

Realistically he may start for 6 weeks, then he would just be going into the same situation he’s unhappy with. Or maybe there’s other reasons and he would be happy playing 20 minutes a week with us 🤷‍♂️

Its a timing thing, he will likely get less $$ for his next deal if he isnt playing decent minutes and not in the shop window. Looks like dragons arent planning on recalling him unless they have injuries. Thats why he is probably desperate to get out now.

 

[king_sirro]

why would LL request a release from the Dragons because he isn’t getting game time only to come to us to be a bench player anyway?

He would have about 8 weeks as our starting left edge backrower, also the opportunity to play NRL to get a longer contract. At the moment he is paying reserve grade.

 

[Betterdays22]

Two of our glaring needs for next season are ...

1) a 1st team quality backrower who is 1st back-up to KPP & Samuela with EXPERIENCE and willingness to be a bench player most other times ...

2) a 1st team quality outside back who can play wing or centre and do a job when required & understand they will be playing NSW Cup on $200-$250k max until required.

1. Any of Shawn Blore, Luciano Leilua or Sam McIntyre could be this if the price is right ($400k - $450k max)

2. Jaxson Paulo or Tommy Talau ($200 - $250k max)

PS. I'm factoring that Averillo is signed, To'a is going & Skelton will not be extended.

Prop depth too. Afoa on paper was the perfect signing for this, but it has not worked out.

 

[tigertragic]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2065283710963093631

Dragons are not releasing Luciano early ,..must think they are still a finals chance

I read somewhere that he was likely to go to souths if released 🤷

 

[Tom Shines]

I read somewhere that he was likely to go to souths if released 🤷

Really ? I don’t think they would have any use for him

 

[jadtiger]

Really ? I don’t think they would have any use for him

He would be put in charge of keeping the buckets of KFC warm for himself and Mitchell

 

[innsaneink]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2065283710963093631

Dragons are not releasing Luciano early ,..must think they are still a finals chance

Be interesting if they keep putting him in reggies

 

[balmain boy]

They haven’t won many…I doubt there is a lot of difference between us and them

Sounds like nothing is gunna change then because HBG aren’t going anywhere

Just look at how many quality first graders they've developed compared to us. Development isn't all about trophies.

 

[balmain boy]

So in other words they want Wests Magpies to fail ?
It just doesn’t make sense.

They want money from poker machines to buy more poker machines to make more money to buy more poker machines.....

That's it. That's all they care about. Everything else gets lip service.

Actions speak louder than words. Their actions, for a long time, are loud and clear. See first paragraph.

It's not good enough. We need owners who genuinely want us to succeed and invest accordingly. They have the money. It's there in the bank account. It's just not an immediate revenue generating expenditure like poker machines are.

I'm also fairly certain that Wests Ashfield don't even fund the Wests Magpies in junior reps. Only the NSW cup side and Balmain juniors reps.

 

[balmain boy]

He is long gone now mate… and the owners can over rule anything he did or said

Richo said that we essentially have very finite resources and we therefore need to spend it wisely,and we get more bang for our butch investing in the NRL roster than on paying kids who haven't earnt it yet.

Successful clubs do both, they don't have to choose. The really successful clubs don't even have to over pay juniors, as they want to stay in a successful environment that's good for their careers

 

[balmain boy]

Conti - left for “greater opportunities “…. if there is one postion where we were roadblocked 18 months ago it was at 7

Mikey Nasser - one of Isaac’s boys left years ago for the Roosters originally..not Gus

Finau - At the Magpies in 2023 …can’t find much info as to why he left ,,. We couldn’t identify a good young middle forward though anyway

But Conti and Nassar wanted to stay but we're told they weren't good enough and we weren't interested in re-signing them. Staggering.

 

[balmain boy]

When looking at youngsters Dogs have pinched from us there's not just Conti, Nassar went to Roosters first. There's also Pat Young, Paul Johnson, Sosefa Finau, Monson Hopoate, and a few others from lower grades.

They just play the numbers game with little loyalty. They try get as many good players as possible and let the cream rise to the top. We're happy to have 2-3 decent players in each line up. That's the difference.

If be targeting Logan Spinks for second row but he'll wait to see what happens with Preston before making a decision.