@balmain-boy said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1027434) said:@2041 said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1027282) said:@GNR4LIFE said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1027278) said:Something will give with our squad sooner rather than later imo. We can’t go into 2020 with almost every major signing from last year on the outer. I don’t think any club can have that amount of money not on the field. Guys like Packer, McQueen, ET and Reynolds. Not all will be offloaded, but it would help if one or two are. There’s no way all 4 can be on the books next year if Madge refuses to pick them.
The question is how much of their salaries we'll be paying while they play elsewhere. No-one is going to take 100% of any of those deals off our books either because they think the players are worth it or to do us a favour.
Personally I'd be pretty surprised if anyone was prepared to offer more than about 300k a year for Reynolds at this point. Matulino might get the same or a shade more. Taylor, Packer and McQueen would barely be worth a minimum salary bid - even to do that another club would have to think they justify a roster spot and that has to be a major question . That would give us something around a million dollars of cap room back but with five roster spots to fill out of it plus any contract upgrades we've given out.
I wouldn't be expecting marquee signings even if we unload the lot of them, basically. Once again, we've wasted far too much of the cap on duds and we're knackered until those contracts expire. I wish people would remember that next time they bleat on about "established first grade" signings.
Geez, there's pessimism and then there's you.
Sure no one is going to pay full freight for any of our players, but they're worth more than what you think.
I'm not pessimistic - I'm realistic. I think the club is going in the right direction in an awful lot of ways. Unfortunately, success on the field has been set back by a couple of years by another series of terrible recruitment decisions. I'm impatient like lots of other people here, but I'm also aware that there's no short cut. We need better juniors and better recruitment, and with the former a couple of years away and the latter impossible until we clear a bunch of dead money from the cap we have to acknowledge that being much better than 7th-12th in 2019 and 2020 is unrealistic.
Let's look at the five players mentioned as other clubs would see them.
**Packer**: Serious injury question marks. Hasn't delivered anything on the field for a year and a half. Low minutes, low metres "pack leader" type who might not suit the modern game. Might be worth a look on a one year "prove it" deal if it's cheap enough.
**Reynolds**: Serious injury question marks. Game based on running but an ageing body and one that's taken a battering. Plays a position that requires consistent form and fitness. Might be worth a short-term deal to fill in for injury elsewhere, say, or while a young player establishes himself. Not one to build around or devote significant cap space to.
**Matulino**: Well down on impact - have to ask whether he is past it. Might be worth a year to see if there's anything left.
**McQueen**: Has barely played for two and a half years and hasn't impressed when he has got on the field. Like many ageing small back rowers seems fundamentally broken. Would probably just chew up a top 30 spot. Could conceivably be worth a minimum salary deal if you value experience but most likely no value here at all.
**Taylor**: See above re small back rowers. No longer has attacking impact. Multiple concussions, frequent injuries. Might be worth minimum salary as cover as effort can't be faulted when he gets on the park, but definitely not one you want in the starting 17.