As far as I know the recruitment team at the Tigers is a small one, Benji, Shannon Gallant & Richo. In terms of scouts it’s difficult to even guess, perhaps a few but others might have a better idea than me. Benji has now been in charge of the team for 2 seasons, during which time he has tried to build a squad close to what he feels will play his style of footy, we probably began to see a little of that last season. But to come in as a rookie coach after the club had already ran last and were obviously a long way from improving it was always going to be slow progress. The Tigers were a basket case, no other way to put it.
So keeping that all in mind what has the recruitment been like the past 2 seasons? There was the Bateman fiasco, Bud Sullivan failure & the swap deal Blore for Olam. Of course Bateman & Bud were recruited under a previous administration and recruitment team although Benji probably had input into the Bud Sullivan deal, I might be wrong on that one.
And this past season saw the recruitment of Bird, Hunt, the May brothers, Jeral Skelton, Sunia Turuva and of course Jarome Luai. Some hits & misses amongst that lot although Hunt, in particular, could still prove his worth if he can provide a little more output. Luai played well enough and obviously had some positive effect upon the culture of the squad but didn’t live up to his price tag it’s fair to say. But he did have a limited preseason & there was the Galvin saga to deal with also. Brought in as a 7 it looks as if the recruitment team got it wrong although Jarome can still have a huge influence upon the fortunes of the club from 6.
For 2026 the club has brought in KPP for the next few years as well as Afoa & Geyer on short term deals. Andrews & Roberts are younger players they obviously see as investments for the future although Roberts could surprise & push his way into the starting 17 without too much surprise. The club seems to have learnt its lesson and not provided longer deals for players who have question marks about them. They are seen as depth players who have the opportunity in the year they have at the club to show they are worthy of contract extensions or positions at other clubs on more lengthy deals, their form will dictate that.
But looking at what we already know the recruitment so far under this team (Betsey included) is about a 6 out of 10 imo which is fair enough given where the Tigers were coming from. It remains to be seen if that improves but the end of 2026. It will also be interesting to see how active the club is come Nov 1st. Who will they target?
I think recruitment has been an 8/10 since Richo arrived. This year we are culling a few more of the dead wood signings in the top 30 that Pascoe etc made when he went “all in” on the Wests Matts team and we are replacing them with more experienced Qld cup players looking for a chance to get a debut and maybe a contract in the super league. That in an of itself is a much smarter way to fill out our roster rather than just plugging kids from the area in who can actually play first grade. Over the last 18months I think the admin and Benji have done a good job of identifying and fixing holes in the roster, most notably halves and outside backs. What remains is upgrading the front row, making a call on what type of 13 we need and getting a genuine 14 to cover api as age catches up with him. All of these are solvable problems
All valid points. A player I did forget to mention who fits into the point you made is Jock Madden. Fills that cover for 7. I think my rating of 6 was primarily based upon Jarome Luai’s form in his first season and that he was brought in to play 7 although there were some mitigating circumstances.I think recruitment has been an 8/10 since Richo arrived. This year we are culling a few more of the dead wood signings in the top 30 that Pascoe etc made when he went “all in” on the Wests Matts team and we are replacing them with more experienced Qld cup players looking for a chance to get a debut and maybe a contract in the super league. That in an of itself is a much smarter way to fill out our roster rather than just plugging kids from the area in who can actually play first grade. Over the last 18months I think the admin and Benji have done a good job of identifying and fixing holes in the roster, most notably halves and outside backs. What remains is upgrading the front row, making a call on what type of 13 we need and getting a genuine 14 to cover api as age catches up with him. All of these are solvable problems
I think had Jarome been recruited for something around the $800,000 mark we’d probably look at him this year and say he did ok. The $1.2 million is looking quite a bit overs at this point although it’s hard to judge the impact he has at training etc. The team improved and a lot of that probably is due to his & Terrell’s recruitment.All valid points. A player I did forget to mention who fits into the point you made is Jock Madden. Fills that cover for 7. I think my rating of 6 was primarily based upon Jarome Luai’s form in his first season and that he was brought in to play 7 although there were some mitigating circumstances.I think recruitment has been an 8/10 since Richo arrived. This year we are culling a few more of the dead wood signings in the top 30 that Pascoe etc made when he went “all in” on the Wests Matts team and we are replacing them with more experienced Qld cup players looking for a chance to get a debut and maybe a contract in the super league. That in an of itself is a much smarter way to fill out our roster rather than just plugging kids from the area in who can actually play first grade. Over the last 18months I think the admin and Benji have done a good job of identifying and fixing holes in the roster, most notably halves and outside backs. What remains is upgrading the front row, making a call on what type of 13 we need and getting a genuine 14 to cover api as age catches up with him. All of these are solvable problems
@russtutty63 Jerome was always going to struggle in the first season at the Tigers, he has only ever been in the Penrith system and will need time to adjust to the Tigers, his coaches and team mates, especially as a half. I am happy with his contribution this year as it was identified early on that we had a significant culture issue and it looks like that has improved. One of the reasons we can sign players for a season now is that we are more confident that if they play well than it is likely they will stick around rather than use us as a stepping stone and that has a lot to do with the strong brotherhood that looks to have been built by Jerome, Api and Tito. Next year for me is the one where most of my expectations for Jerome will be what he delivers on the field, now that he has had time to adjust and those around him have adjusted to his playing style and expectations as well. You cannot fault his commitment on the field in both attack and defence and that was something that was lacking from this team in seasons past, he leads by example and now the rest have to follow. Its all about execution and game management in 2026.
In under 2 years Richo has taken us from a spoon level team to being a genuine top 8 threat.
Just on that I’d say 8/10.
I'm taking a point off as I felt we went into 2025 with a forward pack that wasn’t strong enough.
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In under 2 years Richo has taken us from a spoon level team to being a genuine top 8 threat.
Just on that I’d say 8/10.
I'm taking a point off as I felt we went into 2025 with a forward pack that wasn’t strong enough.
Imust have missed that Joel, remind me of when the Tigers genuinely threatened to make the 8?
