Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[gregjm87]

Not always… produced a Wallaby captain.

Yes, not always. At the time Doueihi played Aussie schoolboys he was the only one that year from ISA. There usually is one most years, but it as a competition has always been 2nd rate.

Quotes from Doueihi below.

"I actually made Rugby Union Aussie school boys from division three"

"We didn't play in the main competition, which was the GPS or the CAS. We were like the tier under, which was the ISA."

 

[happy_tiger]

Yes, not always. At the time Doueihi played Aussie schoolboys he was the only one that year from ISA. There usually is one most years, but it as a competition has always been 2nd rate.

Quotes from Doueihi below.

"I actually made Rugby Union Aussie school boys from division three"

"We didn't play in the main competition, which was the GPS or the CAS. We were like the tier under, which was the ISA."

Maybe Yawnion wants him back

 

[Tiger Stripes]

I'm going out of the box for 2027 if I'm Benji ...

6 Javon Andrews (left) 7 Latu Fainu (right)

Give Latu the keys, let him be the dominant voice, develop a system that allows him to shift to the left side at times as well. Put trust & confidence in this combination with the experience of Api/Brailey out of dummy half. Javon to defend between Samuela & Taylan who are both aggressive defenders.

Depth half-back - Jock Madden
Depth 5/8 - Jake Averillo

Benji & coaches to have conversation with Doeuihi and playing where it best benefits the team utilising his strengths and imo it's AD using his versatility. Train him as a right edge to be able to play both right centre & rightside backrow but also at times to come on as an impact lock off the bench.

If AD knuckles down & commits to this, it solves a few of our issues plus gives us another attacking weapon. It gives us another right centre option if Averillo has to shift to 5/8 or gets injured. AD could be a weapon to cover backrow off the bench or as a middle after 30 mins.

Our 6-man bench could be ...
Doeuihi
Frizell
Sione Fainu
Brailey
1 of Mann / Seyfarth / Hunt
Someone for wing coverage

Just an idea!

Makes a lot of sense to me.
Train that way in the off season and it should be good to go.
It may not be pretty for a few weeks but give Luai and Doueihi weren't that pretty either.
If only Benji can force himself to get Doueihi out of the halves we will be a better team.

 

[Tiger Stripes]

Doueihi is in our starting 13 every week because he is one of our better players. There are few players in our team that can create or seize attacking opportunity as well as Doueihi does.

Our backline will score more tries than Doueihi ever will if given the opportunity.
If was proved when Doueihi was out, Skelton scored 3 tries.

 

[Oldman]

The decision who plays in the halves next year is up to the coach,
Doesn’t matter where each player wants to play the coach is the one who has to live with the outcome.
Let’s wait and see who Benji picks next year.
He is the Coach

 

[Droppy05]

The decision who plays in the halves next year is up to the coach,
Doesn’t matter where each player wants to play the coach is the one who has to live with the outcome.
Let’s wait and see who Benji picks next year.
He is the Coach

More like a manager. Can't coach that's why reinforcements were obtained.

 

[Oldman]

More like a manager. Can't coach that's why reinforcements were obtained.

Every club has assistant coaches,
Benji is our Head Coach

 

[Droppy05]

Every club has assistant coaches,
Benji is our Head Coach

But he can't coach!

 

[balmain boy]

He can play fullback, center, both halves and wing. He can also kick goals.

Do you watch our game?

Seyfarth could also play fullback, centre, 5/8, prop or second row too. That doesn't mean that he should. Because he's a prop.
Same with Doeuihi and 5/8.

 

[balmain boy]

Sukkar is at the beginning of his development.... its well known front rowers mature later than other players...hes worth hanging onto

Yet we haven't played him at prop once. Even though that's his position. Just because we play him in the second row doesn't make him a second row prospect.
I'd be ok with him on a development contract

 

[balmain boy]

You want to sign Nathan Brown....let that monkey in...Nathan Brown 😂😂😂

You do realise that Brown was still better than nearly all of our props this year, right? Our players play with no intensity, just walking through the motions.

 

[balmain boy]

More like a manager. Can't coach that's why reinforcements were obtained.

We don't have reinforcements yet. We still need to move on several of our coaching staff

 

[balmain boy]

In theory I agree as we do have too many players that are plodders from an attacking point of view, but is that the fault of players on bare minimum contracts or players earning bigger money?
I like Charlie Murray as a player and I don’t think he got a fair go regarding getting enough NRL opportunities during the 2026 season, but I was surprised we had re-signed him to a top 30 contract as I thought we had replaced his 2027 top 30 position with Kurt Mann.
I also like Sukkar as a player and think he could be one that peaks around 24 years of age, but it is a concern we have not identified we need a back rower with a bit more speed and athleticism, so personally I would be trying to broker a deal where young Tony heads to the UK Super League to gain more 1st Team experience during the 2027 season and we have him re-signed to us for 2028.
As for Heath, the entire reason I still hold hope for him is due to his extra speed off the mark and tackle break ability. We all know he needs to make a big improvement to his defence, but that is no different to a large percentage of young players his age, so I’m happy we are giving him another season to further develop and hoping it’s more regularly in that 14 role of impact 13 or 9.

With the signings of Brailey, Mann on top of the likes Haywood and Lanyon, Murray and heath have no pace in our top 30. Their roles have already been filled by better players. We don't need 6 backup hookers/small locks in our top 30. We already filled those spots, so that simply means Murray had to be train and trial or just back to Qld.
Mason has never played a minute at hooker, he needs a lot of time to develop and we can't waste a year or two in the top 30 while he figures out if he can play in the forwards. Train and trial or send him to UK to develop.

Sukkar is not a second rower, so we shouldn't be signing him as our backup second rower. He's a prop, doesn't have the agility or impact to play out wide. I'd have Roberts as a better young prop than Tony. Let him go to the UK for a year or two and develop there and if he kicks on then sign him.

Given our extreme lack of depth in second row across all grades we need to bring in someone who might have the skills to contribute in the NRL. Seyfarth and Sukkar don't cut it.

The simple fact is no other club would have these 3 in their top 30s. No one has come knocking for them, they don't have options. I do rate Mason as a utility, I've used days he has a hint of Connor Watson, but he's got a long way to go

 

[tiger05premier]

It's just a silly question , I hate Elias and Douehei but love Twal and Sukkar
Hate Bateman but love Hanley and KPP ....can't stand Luai and Leniu but love Hammer
Stupid argument

It is a stupid argument mate

The people that call this kind of talk out are just people that hate the world in general and this is simply all they have to talk about

 

[stevied]

Spot on Leck. Too many biased members on this forum when it comes to Lebs.

Nonsense. That has nothing to do with it.

 

[stevied]

We have a lot of Da Vinci's in this team. Not just AD.

Yes but he plays or wants to play in the most crucial position.

 

[stevied]

We have short memories , he was far and away our standout attacking player in 2025 and early in the 2026 season many rugby league pundits were tipping him to play for NSW his form was so good.
I think 5/8 is his best position when playing alongside a halfback who takes control and even better when we have 13 who plays 1st receiver and is a genuine run or pass threat.

But he wasn't playing as a half or even five eighth. He was standing wider as a centre or edge running 13. There is no questioning his tackle busting ability on his day but he is not a 6 or 7. Nothing to do with memory. I remember his line breaks early last season but it hasn't convinced me he is a half. Do you recall his clunky efforts when he came back from injury to play 7?

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Marquee players are outside of the cap. If Mary wanted to play in the Aleague to be closer to Nathan then her salary wouldn't fall under the cap and they could pay her as much as they want

Ah, I knew that was a thing for the mens comp, wasn't sure if that was the case for womens comp since they all seem to run on the smell of an oily rag.

 

[Vicious]

But he wasn't playing as a half or even five eighth. He was standing wider as a centre or edge running 13. There is no questioning his tackle busting ability on his day but he is not a 6 or 7. Nothing to do with memory. I remember his line breaks early last season but it hasn't convinced me he is a half. Do you recall his clunky efforts when he came back from injury to play 7?

I don’t want him at 7 either, but he needs to be in the team somewhere.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

With the signings of Brailey, Mann on top of the likes Haywood and Lanyon, Murray and heath have no pace in our top 30. Their roles have already been filled by better players. We don't need 6 backup hookers/small locks in our top 30. We already filled those spots, so that simply means Murray had to be train and trial or just back to Qld.
Mason has never played a minute at hooker, he needs a lot of time to develop and we can't waste a year or two in the top 30 while he figures out if he can play in the forwards. Train and trial or send him to UK to develop.

Sukkar is not a second rower, so we shouldn't be signing him as our backup second rower. He's a prop, doesn't have the agility or impact to play out wide. I'd have Roberts as a better young prop than Tony. Let him go to the UK for a year or two and develop there and if he kicks on then sign him.

Given our extreme lack of depth in second row across all grades we need to bring in someone who might have the skills to contribute in the NRL. Seyfarth and Sukkar don't cut it.

The simple fact is no other club would have these 3 in their top 30s. No one has come knocking for them, they don't have options. I do rate Mason as a utility, I've used days he has a hint of Connor Watson, but he's got a long way to go

BB, who are you replacing Sukkar with? He has performed a role for WTs at a difficult time when we lost KPP. Having depth is a key to success. We don't have depth so sending a low cost and able young player who has done well for the club to the UK appears to be against what Marshall is working towards. We have not seen the best of Sukkar yet but he has done well. Let's see how he comes ahead under our new assistant. As for Seyfarth, there would be any number of teams including the Warriors who imo believes he brings high work rate, energy at a low coast to the squad. He's a valuable team player.