Uate?

[jirskyr]

I do find it interesting that some people are poo-pooing Uate because he either isn't getting on w his current coach or is spending too much time in reggies in a team that isn't doing that great.

Then they talk about E Taylor being a priority.

Sure ET is important but they aren't necessarily competing for the same cap space and ET was in exactly Uate's position a few months ago.

Well they kind of are competing for the same cap space, the whole squad has to fit under a single cap. ET wasn't in reggies because of his form, he was there because they bought Merrin. Uate is in reggies so Jake Mamo, Jaelen Feeney or some Mata'utia brother can run around in first grade.

Signing Uate does not mean we cannot sign ET, which is how some ppl are talking. There will be a priority order and if the money is spare to sign Uate, I think it's worth a punt.

Particularly today we hd two wingers who have fairly big downsides at the moment, neither having had a rep background.

 

[851]

We are really weak in the wing position, and if we want to make the 8 next year we need some wingers, we can't have another year of Rankin on the wing, let us get a real winger.

 

[king_sirro]

I would rather Mitch Brown. He was outsatnding today and the guy never plays a bad game. He is big, takes the high ball, very good defender and finishers well. He's the ultimate professional. Cant believe he has had a career of floating up and down between state cup and nrl. I honestly never seen him play bad. He would be perfect outside Simona or even at right centre. He would fix our defence on the right straight away and would be cheap.

 

[ricksen]

Brown is a decent shout, given he'd be cheap you'd think. Would definitely take him over Rankin on the left wing.

 

[NT_Tiger]

I was always a fan of Mitch Brown. A reliable player. No flash but few errors. Isn't that what we need? How old is he?

 

[Tigerdon]

Like others have said. Teddy and ET are the priorities for the future. Can't worry too much about the wing position for next year when these two need long term contracts.
Mitch Brown would b able to do the job nicely.. I wouldn't be throwing much money at a winger. Let teams like Parra and Newcastle pay $500 k for a winger.

 

[Telltails]

After watching what the Melbourne wingers add to their side I think robust fast wingers are becoming almost a necessity to any teams chances.
I just don't think you can afford to put a player on the wing these days with" he will do the job mentality"

 

[joebob]

If you guys this Kev and Nofo are bad in defense, then you need to watch more of Uate. He is another of those wingers that like to race up and take no one out. I think we are better off looking in the lower grades for a younger player.

 

[ricksen]

After watching what the Melbourne wingers add to their side I think robust fast wingers are becoming almost a necessity to any teams chances.
I just don't think you can afford to put a player on the wing these days with" he will do the job mentality"

There's been some pretty pedestrian wingers in top teams recently. Souths won a comp with old man Tuqiri pretty much playing for minimum wage in 2014.
I'd much rather pay good money for a top centre/second rower inside a cheap & replacement level guy on the wing.

 

[Telltails]

After watching what the Melbourne wingers add to their side I think robust fast wingers are becoming almost a necessity to any teams chances.
I just don't think you can afford to put a player on the wing these days with" he will do the job mentality"

There's been some pretty pedestrian wingers in top teams recently. Souths won a comp with old man Tuqiri pretty much playing for minimum wage in 2014.
I'd much rather pay good money for a top centre/second rower inside a cheap & replacement level guy on the wing.

I am not so much measuring in cap terms who should be worth more - just feel that the modern day wing position can no longer be treated as a place for anyone who can just do the job- The skill and athleticism of some of these players to turn opportunity into points has reached a new level.

 

[Nors05]

Even if we did sign him, it would come at the expense of Nofo. Nofo has been solid on the right wing and has done nothing to deserve being replaced.

Save the money and put towards re-signing ET

 

[stevetiger]

If Uate is to replace Nofo it is a very poor decision.

 

[balmain boy]

They both play at the same level with the same strengths and weaknesses so yes signing one player who's practically identical to our existing player would be a futile exercise…

 

[teddy23]

Even if we did sign him, it would come at the expense of Nofo. Nofo has been solid on the right wing and has done nothing to deserve being replaced.

Save the money and put towards re-signing ET

You do realise there's two wingers in a team, why would it come at the expense of Nofa.

There's a spot on that left wing that's vacant.

 

[Sabre]

I'd rather us go after Kerrod Holland from the Bulldogs.
Good centre and a great goalkicker too.

 

[teddy23]

Knights desperate to off-load Uate to Tigers
\
\
THE EMBATTLED Newcastle Knights are looking to shed some dead weight from their salary cap in 2017 with former Kangaroos winger Akuila Uate at the top of the list.
\
\
Uate, who is currently playing for the Knights’ NSW Cup team, is one of the competition’s highest paid wingers and is set to earn close to $500,000 next season.

Knights coach Nathan Brown is so desperate to get Uate off the club’s books next season that the club would be willing to subsidise a portion of his salary.

At this stage, the Tigers, who will lose flyer Josh Addo-Carr to the Storm next season, remain the only club who have expressed interest in the 28-year-old. But his monster salary and inconsistent form over the past couple seasons has created some hesitation amongst the Tigers front office.

Tigers backs Kevin Naiqama and Jordan Rankin have struggled particularly on the defensive end this season and the duo are reportedly being shopped around to other clubs.

The Tigers interest in Uate is genuine but the Knights will likely need to take on more of his salary than was initially discussed.

It has been quite a fall from grace for the Fijian-born wingers who just four years ago represented both the Kangaroos and NSW.

The mole

Well that's new apparently we are trying to offload Rankin and Kev

 

[avocadoontoast]

Knights desperate to off-load Uate to Tigers
\
\
THE EMBATTLED Newcastle Knights are looking to shed some dead weight from their salary cap in 2017 with former Kangaroos winger Akuila Uate at the top of the list.
\
\
Uate, who is currently playing for the Knights’ NSW Cup team, is one of the competition’s highest paid wingers and is set to earn close to $500,000 next season.

Knights coach Nathan Brown is so desperate to get Uate off the club’s books next season that the club would be willing to subsidise a portion of his salary.

At this stage, the Tigers, who will lose flyer Josh Addo-Carr to the Storm next season, remain the only club who have expressed interest in the 28-year-old. But his monster salary and inconsistent form over the past couple seasons has created some hesitation amongst the Tigers front office.

Tigers backs Kevin Naiqama and Jordan Rankin have struggled particularly on the defensive end this season and the duo are reportedly being shopped around to other clubs.

The Tigers interest in Uate is genuine but the Knights will likely need to take on more of his salary than was initially discussed.

It has been quite a fall from grace for the Fijian-born wingers who just four years ago represented both the Kangaroos and NSW.

The mole

Well that's new apparently we are trying to offload Rankin and Kev

Yep that sure is new, hadn't heard that either. I'm not opposed to it though, I think Naiqama is defensively very poor and Rankin is simply not a winger. Tbh i'd be fairly happy with them shopping Nofo around as well…

 

[magpiecol]

Knights desperate to off-load Uate to Tigers
\
\
THE EMBATTLED Newcastle Knights are looking to shed some dead weight from their salary cap in 2017 with former Kangaroos winger Akuila Uate at the top of the list.
\
\
Uate, who is currently playing for the Knights’ NSW Cup team, is one of the competition’s highest paid wingers and is set to earn close to $500,000 next season.

Knights coach Nathan Brown is so desperate to get Uate off the club’s books next season that the club would be willing to subsidise a portion of his salary.

At this stage, the Tigers, who will lose flyer Josh Addo-Carr to the Storm next season, remain the only club who have expressed interest in the 28-year-old. But his monster salary and inconsistent form over the past couple seasons has created some hesitation amongst the Tigers front office.

Tigers backs Kevin Naiqama and Jordan Rankin have struggled particularly on the defensive end this season and the duo are reportedly being shopped around to other clubs.

The Tigers interest in Uate is genuine but the Knights will likely need to take on more of his salary than was initially discussed.

It has been quite a fall from grace for the Fijian-born wingers who just four years ago represented both the Kangaroos and NSW.

The mole

Well that's new apparently we are trying to offload Rankin and Kev

Yep that sure is new, hadn't heard that either. I'm not opposed to it though, I think Naiqama is defensively very poor and Rankin is simply not a winger. Tbh i'd be fairly happy with them shopping Nofo around as well…

This is something that the "Mole" suggests. Hardly credible.

 

[Bones]

Knights desperate to off-load Uate to Tigers
\
\
THE EMBATTLED Newcastle Knights are looking to shed some dead weight from their salary cap in 2017 with former Kangaroos winger Akuila Uate at the top of the list.
\
\
Uate, who is currently playing for the Knights’ NSW Cup team, is one of the competition’s highest paid wingers and is set to earn close to $500,000 next season.

Knights coach Nathan Brown is so desperate to get Uate off the club’s books next season that the club would be willing to subsidise a portion of his salary.

At this stage, the Tigers, who will lose flyer Josh Addo-Carr to the Storm next season, remain the only club who have expressed interest in the 28-year-old. But his monster salary and inconsistent form over the past couple seasons has created some hesitation amongst the Tigers front office.

Tigers backs Kevin Naiqama and Jordan Rankin have struggled particularly on the defensive end this season and the duo are reportedly being shopped around to other clubs.

The Tigers interest in Uate is genuine but the Knights will likely need to take on more of his salary than was initially discussed.

It has been quite a fall from grace for the Fijian-born wingers who just four years ago represented both the Kangaroos and NSW.

The mole

Well that's new apparently we are trying to offload Rankin and Kev

Yep that sure is new, hadn't heard that either. I'm not opposed to it though, I think Naiqama is defensively very poor and Rankin is simply not a winger. Tbh i'd be fairly happy with them shopping Nofo around as well…

I'd be prepared to give Nofoaluma the benefit of the doubt till we see him with some decent defenders inside of him. Don't underestimate the value of his meters coming out of our own end.

I don't necessarily think Kev and Rankin need to go either, i just don't think they are good enough to be in the best 17\. Happy to keep them as backup though if we could afford it.

 

[krayola]

Kev is a starting centre all day. It's not a stacked position around the league. He's an average NRL centre that offers more in attack but less defensively than plenty of his peers.

He's no better or worse than Takarangi or Whare. He's better than Aubusson and had a better year than Copley. He's miles ahead of John Olive and just as good as Rona, who is surrounded by stars. Souths would love to have him. He's not as fat as Joey Luliea and handles pressure better than Croker.

He's not an Aitken or Morris, most aren't, yet that's what people seem to be expecting.