Stefano Utoikamanu #241

@nugget said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116180) said:
didnt we approach and sign him before we legally were allowed to?

We signed him late November which is legal.It is just a few squeels supporters trying to claim we signed him before November,as always they are full of it
 
@Geo said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116184) said:
@twentyforty said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116178) said:
Moses and Matterson were Eels juniors. Stef is a WT junior.

I reckon that’s why we didn’t fight hard for those two? It’s different, this time it’s personal!

Cabra Two Blues are in the WT jnr's...?

No they're not ?
 
After the rubbish the Eels pulled with Matterson and now with Stefano i can see us standing our ground even if he requests a release. He's young and probably impressionable but we have shown he's wanted and we have a spot in our forst grade team ready and waiting for him. Parra can try and probably will but i wouldnt let any amount of compo change our minds.
 
The Slimes would lose-and lose badly-if they tried to induce Stefano to break his contract with WT. This is legally actionable every day of the week. Our law firm sponsors would have a field day with something like this.
 
@avocadoontoast said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116173) said:
@hammertime said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116170) said:
That's all good. We have a contract. I don't think we'll let someone walk again like Matto.

Who knows what will happen, but there's definitely a chance he'll stay at the Eels. It's one thing to talk tough but if he turns around and says "i don't want to join you" then it's going to be tough to enforce.

Well he told them: i don't want to be here, i'm not happy and i want to leave immediately.
They told him tough #$%^ you're staying this year.

Not exactly a way to endear yourself to a player.

Two important things to note here:

He's known as an extreme professional, which is why he's carrying on with his duties and not kicking up a stink like so many other players do.

Apart from the poor treatment and total disrespect of his brother, one of the main reasons he's leaving is a lack of opportunity there. They had a decent pack already, then signed RCG and Matterson on top of that. They have Kaufusi signed up for a few years too so he'd still be ahead of Stefano. Plus Brown, Paulo etc and they have a bunch of prop/locks that are ahead of him in the pecking order.
 
It will be interesting watching him play in the nines he is named in there squad it will be the first time we see him up against nrl quality players
 
@balmain-boy said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116202) said:
@avocadoontoast said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116173) said:
@hammertime said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116170) said:
That's all good. We have a contract. I don't think we'll let someone walk again like Matto.

Who knows what will happen, but there's definitely a chance he'll stay at the Eels. It's one thing to talk tough but if he turns around and says "i don't want to join you" then it's going to be tough to enforce.

Well he told them: i don't want to be here, i'm not happy and i want to leave immediately.
They told him tough #$%^ you're staying this year.

Not exactly a way to endear yourself to a player.

Two important things to note here:

He's known as an extreme professional, which is why he's carrying on with his duties and not kicking up a stink like so many other players do.

Apart from the poor treatment and total disrespect of his brother, one of the main reasons he's leaving is a lack of opportunity there. They had a decent pack already, then signed RCG and Matterson on top of that. They have Kaufusi signed up for a few years too so he'd still be ahead of Stefano. Plus Brown, Paulo etc and they have a bunch of prop/locks that are ahead of him in the pecking order.



Plus the fact that the Eels are costing him approx $150k by not releasing him this year

I’m not worried in the slightest
 
@JD-Tiger said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116174) said:
@avocadoontoast said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116173) said:
@hammertime said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116170) said:
That's all good. We have a contract. I don't think we'll let someone walk again like Matto.

Who knows what will happen, but there's definitely a chance he'll stay at the Eels. It's one thing to talk tough but if he turns around and says "i don't want to join you" then it's going to be tough to enforce.

If that happens, we won't have a leg to stand on. We can't force him to come to us, all we could do is demand some sort of compensation from Eels, which they wouldn't pay.

Someone said this earlier and I think they are right, we have to keep good with his family, keep in touch with him, now and throughout the year. Make it so he knows how he will be welcomed. See what we can do for his brother. Do as much of that stuff as we can, then we should be safe in retaining him.

Yes we will he comes or he stands down from league.

If he does not turn up is on breach of contract and we withhold payment
 
Looking forward to watching his development this season then he is ours for 2021 onwards. I can only wish WT handles themselves with grace and not like Parramatta. We are building a very good young squad for the coming years
 
@JD-Tiger said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116174) said:
@avocadoontoast said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116173) said:
@hammertime said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116170) said:
That's all good. We have a contract. I don't think we'll let someone walk again like Matto.

Who knows what will happen, but there's definitely a chance he'll stay at the Eels. It's one thing to talk tough but if he turns around and says "i don't want to join you" then it's going to be tough to enforce.

If that happens, we won't have a leg to stand on. We can't force him to come to us, all we could do is demand some sort of compensation from Eels, which they wouldn't pay.

Of course we'd have a leg to stand on, as Curaeus noted. We have a legally binding contract with Stefano for 2021, registered with the NRL. If he tried to renege on this, we could seek both a legal injunction and NRL injuction on him playing with the Eels.

Now whether or not we'd want to take legal action is another question entirely, because most clubs cut their losses on players who decide they no longer want to join. But legally it would be rock solid, especially as there's documented evidence of him already requesting a release for 2020 (i.e. cannot claim duress or snap decision making). It probably wouldn't even cost us anything - have LHag lodge the paperwork and refuse to pay Stefano if he isn't present at training.
 
@Harvey said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116233) said:
@JD-Tiger said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116174) said:
@avocadoontoast said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116173) said:
@hammertime said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116170) said:
That's all good. We have a contract. I don't think we'll let someone walk again like Matto.

Who knows what will happen, but there's definitely a chance he'll stay at the Eels. It's one thing to talk tough but if he turns around and says "i don't want to join you" then it's going to be tough to enforce.

If that happens, we won't have a leg to stand on. We can't force him to come to us, all we could do is demand some sort of compensation from Eels, which they wouldn't pay.

Someone said this earlier and I think they are right, we have to keep good with his family, keep in touch with him, now and throughout the year. Make it so he knows how he will be welcomed. See what we can do for his brother. Do as much of that stuff as we can, then we should be safe in retaining him.

Yes we will he comes or he stands down from league.

If he does not turn up is on breach of contract and we withhold payment

Personally I think he come to us next year, I still think a mid year switch may still be an option. I just don't trust the Eels one little bit, and our history with players wanting out of contract hasn't been great. Although true we didn't seem to have a lot of choice.

I will say however, Storm and Sharks recently had players that wanted out, and those clubs have dug their heels in and that seemed so far to go well for the clubs, though the situations haven't ended.

Bottom line is the rule needs fixing, signing with another club a year ahead is not the way to go. A trade window needs to be considered, as though not perfect, it's better than what we have now. And I don't care if the Players Union don't like it, they have too much power anyway.
 
Parra can do what they like but the bottom line we hold a contract on the kid from November 2020. So sit back, take a bex and don’t worry
 
Seems to me there is a lot hand wringing on this forum with absolutely no evidence to suggest the young man has any intention of reneging on his contract.
 
@yeti said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116265) said:
Seems to me there is a lot hand wringing on this forum with absolutely no evidence to suggest the young man has any intention of reneging on his contract.

Welcome to the forum.
 
@yeti said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116265) said:
Seems to me there is a lot hand wringing on this forum with absolutely no evidence to suggest the young man has any intention of reneging on his contract.

Hand wringing is the default for decades of expecting the worst and getting it.
 
Stefano is all class. He’s not had a sook like certain other players and demanded a release, he asked and didn’t get it so he’ll see his contract out. He’s a professional young guy and will be a good addition to the club. I’d be more worried if he did what Moses and Matterson did because that means he could do it again
 
@NT_Tiger said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116267) said:
@yeti said in [Official \- Wests Tigers Sign Stefano Utoikamanu](/post/1116265) said:
Seems to me there is a lot hand wringing on this forum with absolutely no evidence to suggest the young man has any intention of reneging on his contract.

Welcome to the forum.

It will die down when the matches actually start.
 
Ahahaha we have some panic merchants.
Hope he does well at Parra this year - it’s in his best interests to do so. It’s also in ours that he does if Parra won’t release him early. We want him NRL ready not neglected/unfit.
 
All he had to do was watch his current teammates choke tonight and then watch the clinical precision of his future teammates. Easy decision really
 
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