Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Betterdays22]

I think a lot has to do with the club constantly overpaying underperforming players, like brooks on 1m before and now Luai on 1.2, how are we meant to build a sustainable roster with good depth when we constantly sink too much money into 1 player. This causes us to go shit so the club panicked and signs someone on big money to take the pressure off repeating the cycle

Knights signed Dylan Brown on massive overs and have made it work.

Its not about the players, something in the club is rotten. Development, systems, coaching, funding god knows what without actually being there, but something is fundamentally wrong with our club.

Remove the first 2 months of the comp and we are yet again arguably the worst side.

 

[Buttface]

STOP!

Ok you have two choices:
1. You put AD in the Center. Great he goes there and he should STAY there.
OR
2. You give AD a 'License to roam'.

Center is the worst named position in NRL, really they are 'guards' the players that have to balance the edge defense as if they are out of position your winger now faces a 2-1 overlap.

What happened in the Dragons game? Our center's did not move with our Wingers on our edge defense. Turuva was left guarding a huge overlap and Boom, try!

Either your 5/8, Halfback or Fullback gets to roam and if they do then the team is watching...
Your Center's do not Roam. (case in point, us vs dragons.).

Centres use to swap sides often. But certainly these days it’s a left and right handed debate. Doobs is terrible at centre he refuses to use a shoulder and his winger communication and decisions are average. Personally I think Doobs was correct a few years back when he requested to play 5/8 in cup. That’s his level, Mon of Steel written all over him. You need good centres and 2rf’s since we lost them we been loosing.

 

[426Tlgerland]

It looks highly likely Benji’s first choice back 5 for 2027 will be;
1. Bula
2. Turuva
3. Averillo
4. Taylan May
5. Makasini
** Obviously we do not know how much Makasini will improve by the start of 2027, but I will say his yardage carries last night were as strong as they have been for quite a while and he was a danger with ball in hand, so he did show some good signs despite still missing a couple of tackles that he really should have made.
** The addition of Jake Averillo definitely makes us stronger, but there must be concern on whether Taylan May’s shoulder can stay healthy.
** You would hope we have a combination of at least 2 of Skelton, Junior Tupou and Sol Saukuru as big bodied players who can come in as a winger or centre if either Makasini or Taylan May are out injured or in Makasini’s case possibly not playing as well as expected and we then need to work on cover for Averillo and Turuva. I think we need another player with plenty of speed as an option. I keep saying James Schiller would be ideal as there are certainly not better fringe or back up attacking right sided centre/wingers than him currently available for 2027.

Where does Dunster play , we got him for back up , doesn’t he have speed as well

 

[weststigers]

Where does Dunster play , we got him for back up , doesn’t he have speed as well

he is the fastest guy...in his household

 

[Vicious]

Where does Dunster play , we got him for back up , doesn’t he have speed as well

I don’t recall him ever being lightning fast and coming off an ACL and now being in his late 20’s, I am not confident he will get to a level where he will be a good NRL option, but he might surprise.

 

[ShanghaiCharlie]

People are catastrophising. We are in a good position to move forward next year.
We have a top 8 roster. Injuries and coaching have cruelled us this year.

Benji, Richo, Luai and Api have changed the culture here.
They have attracted quality players who want to be here and we have the best roster we have ever had.
This club is set up for success.

What we lack is coaching support for Benji, high quality experience that can take control of offence and defence and let Benji be the man manager he is. He is not a coach (like Bennett). He is a manager and he needs coaches around him that know what they are doing.

Geez, I wish Richo didn't leave. He was a one-way ticket to success.

 

[supercoach]

People are catastrophising. We are in a good position to move forward next year.
We have a top 8 roster. Injuries and coaching have cruelled us this year.

Benji, Richo, Luai and Api have changed the culture here.
They have attracted quality players who want to be here and we have the best roster we have ever had.
This club is set up for success.

What we lack is coaching support for Benji, high quality experience that can take control of offence and defence and let Benji be the man manager he is. He is not a coach (like Bennett). He is a manager and he needs coaches around him that know what they are doing.

Geez, I wish Richo didn't leave. He was a one-way ticket to success.

I agree with most things, but we don’t have a top eight roster

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

Luciano Leilua off to Catalans on a 3 year deal.

 

[Tom Shines]

I agree with most things, but we don’t have a top eight roster

I think I hear similar every year around this part of another season coming to an end early

 

[Plato]

People are catastrophising. We are in a good position to move forward next year.
We have a top 8 roster. Injuries and coaching have cruelled us this year.

Benji, Richo, Luai and Api have changed the culture here.
They have attracted quality players who want to be here and we have the best roster we have ever had.
This club is set up for success.

What we lack is coaching support for Benji, high quality experience that can take control of offence and defence and let Benji be the man manager he is. He is not a coach (like Bennett). He is a manager and he needs coaches around him that know what they are doing.

Geez, I wish Richo didn't leave. He was a one-way ticket to success.

I would have hoped that coaching support included a strategist, or someone who could actually coach them to attack. Predictable passing across the face in the red zone with no changes in direction is never going to work. Benji ball with offloads and flamboyance was working because it was unpredictable, but we have since crawled back inside our shells and the opposition reads us like a book. A case of trying too hard maybe?

 

[Vicious]

People are catastrophising. We are in a good position to move forward next year.
We have a top 8 roster. Injuries and coaching have cruelled us this year.

Benji, Richo, Luai and Api have changed the culture here.
They have attracted quality players who want to be here and we have the best roster we have ever had.
This club is set up for success.

What we lack is coaching support for Benji, high quality experience that can take control of offence and defence and let Benji be the man manager he is. He is not a coach (like Bennett). He is a manager and he needs coaches around him that know what they are doing.

Geez, I wish Richo didn't leave. He was a one-way ticket to success.

How do you form an opinion that we have a top 8 roster ?
Break it down into 4 categories being outside backs (2-5) Spine (1,6,7 & 9) Edge Fireards (11 & 12) and Middke Forwards (8,10 & 13)
Our 2-5 will contain Taylan May and Jake Averillo who are both very good players, but not in the top exhin of NRL centres. At present our depth for this position still looks very weak.
Our starting wingers will likely be Turuva and Makasini.
Turuva is a steady player, but nowhere near the top echelon of NRL wingers.
Makasini is a work in progress, a long way to go before he can even be mentioned in the top echelon of NRL wingers..
Overall our 2-5 is still bottom 5, but there is scope to improve particularly if Taylan May and Averillo can stay relatively injury free and be at their best for a large part of the season.
Our spine containing Bula, Luai, Douehi and Korisau is decent, but certainly not outstanding and would not be in the top 8-10 NRL spines.
Latu Fainu is the wildcard as he could potentially make our spine stronger if given the opportunity.
Ourcstartingvddges are Sam Fainu and KPP who are a very strong combination when both fit and healthy as they showed over our first 8 games this season.
We have an obvious lack of depth when either of them are out injured and as good as they are, I would rate them as approximately 5-8 as a combination across the NRL.
Last our middles which are Alex Twal, Terrell May, Fonua Pole with subs being Sione Fainu, Alex Seyfarth and either Royce Hunt, Bunty Afoa ot potentially a new recruit.
Again this is reasonably strong and could rate it somewhere between 5-8 across the NRL, but it drops away quite a lot when you factor in depth to cover injuries.
So all in all that does not sound like a top 8 playing roster.

 

[Tom Shines]

Ourcstartingvddges are Sam Fainu and KPP who are a very strong combination when both fit and healthy as they showed over our first 8 games this season.

I remember in the 24-25 offseason you campaigned quite heavily about moving Sam to the middle .. you should keep in mind that your opinions can change when you are on a long campaign of going after specific players …

 

[TigerBurnsy]

Knights signed Dylan Brown on massive overs and have made it work.

Its not about the players, something in the club is rotten. Development, systems, coaching, funding god knows what without actually being there, but something is fundamentally wrong with our club.

Remove the first 2 months of the comp and we are yet again arguably the worst side.

The dylan brown deal will come to hurt the knights later down the line, but it’s working for them because they have people in place who can build a roster with more depth and they are coached better, we have Benji and his mates all of whom have never coached before or were failed coaches and they have Holbrook

 

[bigsiro]

How do you form an opinion that we have a top 8 roster ?
Break it down into 4 categories being outside backs (2-5) Spine (1,6,7 & 9) Edge Fireards (11 & 12) and Middke Forwards (8,10 & 13)
Our 2-5 will contain Taylan May and Jake Averillo who are both very good players, but not in the top exhin of NRL centres. At present our depth for this position still looks very weak.
Our starting wingers will likely be Turuva and Makasini.
Turuva is a steady player, but nowhere near the top echelon of NRL wingers. He's second tier I reckon
Makasini is a work in progress, a long way to go before he can even be mentioned in the top echelon of NRL wingers.. He is bottom echelon at the moment. Would unlikely make any other team.
Overall our 2-5 is still bottom 5, but there is scope to improve particularly if Taylan May and Averillo can stay relatively injury free and be at their best for a large part of the season. That's a massive "if".
Our spine containing Bula, Luai, Douehi and Korisau is decent, but certainly not outstanding and would not be in the top 8-10 NRL spines. Agree. Halfback has to be the most important position. It should never be one we can afford to settle on, which we have done for the best part of 20 years. That is, unless we have a completely dominant 5/8, which we thought we might have in Laui, but don't. Fullback is also too crucial to be carrying someone who is probably in bottom 2 or 3. Api is class, but he can't win every game on his own, much like Harry Grant, who could only do so much when he was here.
Latu Fainu is the wildcard as he could potentially make our spine stronger if given the opportunity. Yep. We have other wildcards who played in trials like Andrews. Might be time to blood them proper.
Ourcstartingvddges are Sam Fainu and KPP who are a very strong combination when both fit and healthy as they showed over our first 8 games this season.
We have an obvious lack of depth when either of them are out injured and as good as they are, I would rate them as approximately 5-8 as a combination across the NRL. I'd rate SF and KPP higher. They're excellent. Depth is the problem.
Last our middles which are Alex Twal, Terrell May, Fonua Pole with subs being Sione Fainu, Alex Seyfarth and either Royce Hunt, Bunty Afoa ot potentially a new recruit.
Again this is reasonably strong and could rate it somewhere between 5-8 across the NRL, but it drops away quite a lot when you factor in depth to cover injuries. Reasonably is generously vague 🙂 Twal has come on this year and May was looking special last year and the beginning of this year. Not anymore IMO. Seyfarth and others in that lot should be in reserve grade or bench. We need another enforcer. What I'd give for a Waerea-Hargreaves.
So all in all that does not sound like a top 8 playing roster.
Agreed. Closer than it was before, but still not there yet.

 

[Demps]

Luciano couldn't get an NRL deal.
They're reporting he's likely off to Catalans in 2027.

 

[mtd#2]

People are catastrophising. We are in a good position to move forward next year.
We have a top 8 roster. Injuries and coaching have cruelled us this year.

Benji, Richo, Luai and Api have changed the culture here.
They have attracted quality players who want to be here and we have the best roster we have ever had.
This club is set up for success.

What we lack is coaching support for Benji, high quality experience that can take control of offence and defence and let Benji be the man manager he is. He is not a coach (like Bennett). He is a manager and he needs coaches around him that know what they are doing.

Geez, I wish Richo didn't leave. He was a one-way ticket to success.

The problem is man we have told ourselves the same story every single year. This was the year things were going to change and we go and get our pants pulled down by the saints with absolutely no excuses.

Agree on Richo, bring him back!!

 

[Tiger Stripes]

People are catastrophising. We are in a good position to move forward next year.
We have a top 8 roster. Injuries and coaching have cruelled us this year.

Benji, Richo, Luai and Api have changed the culture here.
They have attracted quality players who want to be here and we have the best roster we have ever had.
This club is set up for success.

What we lack is coaching support for Benji, high quality experience that can take control of offence and defence and let Benji be the man manager he is. He is not a coach (like Bennett). He is a manager and he needs coaches around him that know what they are doing.

Geez, I wish Richo didn't leave. He was a one-way ticket to success.

I totally agree Benji the man manager. But his coaching ability is questionable.
Needs an assistant coach who can overrule Benji's calls at times and can devise various offensive plans in the red zone. They are so predictable and easily defended.
Bula doing a run around after a scum has been worked to death, and he can't break a tackle.
Some set up plays from grubbers is as rare as hens' teeth. The forwards continue to hinder any attack.

 

[ShanghaiCharlie]

How do you form an opinion that we have a top 8 roster ?
Break it down into 4 categories being outside backs (2-5) Spine (1,6,7 & 9) Edge Fireards (11 & 12) and Middke Forwards (8,10 & 13)
Our 2-5 will contain Taylan May and Jake Averillo who are both very good players, but not in the top exhin of NRL centres. At present our depth for this position still looks very weak.
Our starting wingers will likely be Turuva and Makasini.
Turuva is a steady player, but nowhere near the top echelon of NRL wingers.
Makasini is a work in progress, a long way to go before he can even be mentioned in the top echelon of NRL wingers..
Overall our 2-5 is still bottom 5, but there is scope to improve particularly if Taylan May and Averillo can stay relatively injury free and be at their best for a large part of the season.
Our spine containing Bula, Luai, Douehi and Korisau is decent, but certainly not outstanding and would not be in the top 8-10 NRL spines.
Latu Fainu is the wildcard as he could potentially make our spine stronger if given the opportunity.
Ourcstartingvddges are Sam Fainu and KPP who are a very strong combination when both fit and healthy as they showed over our first 8 games this season.
We have an obvious lack of depth when either of them are out injured and as good as they are, I would rate them as approximately 5-8 as a combination across the NRL.
Last our middles which are Alex Twal, Terrell May, Fonua Pole with subs being Sione Fainu, Alex Seyfarth and either Royce Hunt, Bunty Afoa ot potentially a new recruit.
Again this is reasonably strong and could rate it somewhere between 5-8 across the NRL, but it drops away quite a lot when you factor in depth to cover injuries.
So all in all that does not sound like a top 8 playing roster.

From our run on 13...
Our spine is Top 8 in the comp
Our three quarters are Bottom 8
Our edge backrowers are Top 5 in the comp
Our middle three is Top 10 in the comp

 

[Halbrowne61]

I... I honestly can't see the line anymore.

It's pretty much all pain here.
We gave up a winable game around the 70 minute mark.
Api goes down injured and suddenly we have no defense. Api will retire and we will honestly have a team that rivals the Bankstown Centerlink queue for motivation.



At the heart of it, if our team isn't going to train hard all year round. Why are us fans here?

Loyalty to a cause !!

 

[Vicious]

The problem is man we have told ourselves the same story every single year. This was the year things were going to change and we go and get our pants pulled down by the saints with absolutely no excuses.

Agree on Richo, bring him back!!

Maybe we can bring him back in an advisory role to see if he can find us few more players to sign or re-sign for 200-300k above their true value.