Seriously though if we pickup KPP and Lomax we are really locking down a squad that would be the best we have had since 2011 and it would be balanced and salary cap compliant.
1. Bula
2. Skelton/Luke L
3. Toa/Douhie
4. Lomax/Taylan May
5. Turuva
6. Luai
7. latu
8. May
9. Api
10. Pole
11. KPP
12. S Fainu
13. Twal/Kit
14. TDS
15. Hunt
16. Bird
17. Sione/Seyfarth
probably just missing an out and out lock and this is an amazing team.
I didn’t rate KPP when we played him but his super league highlights do show great footwork, a nice offload and some excellent athleticism. Maybe his issue is O’Brien
ok here me out. Lomax was a massive Benji Marshall/Wests Tigers fan growing up. He joined the Eels under Brad Arthur because he wanted to play centre and then Arthur gets sacked and he’s playing for a new coach. He’s on a 4 year, $625k contract and he’s played for Australia and NSW. He’s an 85% success rate goal kicker. 25 years of age. Isn’t this the trade?
yes if we do have to deal with Parramatta Lomax is the trade to make for sure
we need a centre
With Wests Tigers already facing a legal fight with Galvin over allegations of bullying, fellow top 30 players Justin Matamua and Brandon Tumeth have both raised grievances with the RLPA about unfair treatment by the club.
Matamua, made his debut for the Tigers as an 18-year-old in 2022, but has been playing for Ryde-Eastwood Hawks in Ron Massey Cup.
Tumeth, once named the NSW under-16 player of the year, has experienced an even steeper decline, dropped to a grade below Matamua (Sydney Shield) for Ryde-Eastwood. Tumeth is managed by Isaac Moses
Apprently, It is unusual for any club to have two top 30 players in the third or fourth-tier competitions.
Could be a case of the players not having any ownership on their form and ability, or it could be the club taking a too harsh of stance on emerging players in an effort to get them to leave the club.
Of the three players reported to have raised grievances, two are managed by Isaac Moses so you can probably take all this with a grain of salt. Especially when the story is from the Moses mouth piece and resident Tigers hater @michael_chammas
It's actually not that rare for players to engage the RLPA with concerns and has happened at every club at some stage.
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Don’t think we can see Douhie at 7 again unfortunately. I actually preferred to see Luai playing 6 today, he looked a lot more free to play and he setup some nice tries where he can call for ball when he sees something rather than always just being first receiver. I can’t stomach Galvin back in this side so whoever comes in unfortunately you are likely going to have to put Luai back to 7 given he is by far the most experienced half. Hopefully Latu is fit although he seems unlikely. I don’t really like the idea of Api at 7, he gives a much bigger contribution out of 9 and TDS for 80min is too much of a risk. I would consider Mason playing 6, he has a nice right foot step so he could work on that right hand side. If it doesn’t work you could move Api to 7 mid game if needed.
Kick meters from our halves yesterday was terrible. Not deep enough and never found the grass. Probably go with Api at 7 and bring Bird on to play in the halves from the bench. Welcome back to normality guys.Don’t think we can see Douhie at 7 again unfortunately. I actually preferred to see Luai playing 6 today, he looked a lot more free to play and he setup some nice tries where he can call for ball when he sees something rather than always just being first receiver. I can’t stomach Galvin back in this side so whoever comes in unfortunately you are likely going to have to put Luai back to 7 given he is by far the most experienced half. Hopefully Latu is fit although he seems unlikely. I don’t really like the idea of Api at 7, he gives a much bigger contribution out of 9 and TDS for 80min is too much of a risk. I would consider Mason playing 6, he has a nice right foot step so he could work on that right hand side. If it doesn’t work you could move Api to 7 mid game if needed.
Kicking game was a massive difference between the two teams yesterday. Moses barely put a foot wrong plus got every bounce.
Out kickers were continually under pressure which meant we didn't get many good deep kicks away. When they did have time, there were only a handful that came off - needs to be a lot better.
Something that Latu needs to improve drastically before we consider him our long term half.
spot on, I felt our kicking game was the difference, all else aside, our kicking was woeful, they were able to rush out of the line and pressure AD on every kick, he has a pretty decent boot on him, however rarely came off. Latu and Luai need some expert kicking coaching. Galvin too if he ends up playing out the next 2 years with us.Kicking game was a massive difference between the two teams yesterday. Moses barely put a foot wrong plus got every bounce.
Out kickers were continually under pressure which meant we didn't get many good deep kicks away. When they did have time, there were only a handful that came off - needs to be a lot better.
Something that Latu needs to improve drastically before we consider him our long term half.
So, for 2027 we're going to have a million dollars plus to spend (albeit there will no doubt be some re-signings that will soak up some of that).
What positions should now be our recruitment priorities?
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers since 2018!
So, for 2027 we're going to have a million dollars plus to spend (albeit there will no doubt be some re-signings that will soak up some of that).
What positions should now be our recruitment priorities?
it’s still 2RF and lock for mine. We have a lot of athletic outside backs coming through the grades to fill out the outside backs. Galvin going will help us really balance the cap as long as Latu can be a decent replacement. I really liked what I saw of Latu when he came on at 13 and played first receiver in the game he broke his thumb. I really hope he can convert that into a direct first receiving 7 that allows Luai more space to play 6 on the left and Bula to play as a right hand side 6 in attack. Locks and 2RFs don’t have to break the bank either.
Richo in the Telegraph this morning pretty calmly outlining that Galvin isn’t going anywhere (or at least that’s the starting point) so Parra are going to have to burn 2026 without a 5/8 which is pretty untenable for them. Still expect there will be a trade to be done with the eels at the end of this season. Given Galvins low contract value for next year there is no deal where just accept getting Galvin salary off our books so it goes back to what piece will Parra let go in their rebuild. Given Ryles’ pedigree from Melbourne and roosters I still expect his focus will be on forward pack once he locks in Galvin and that Lomax is dispensable. We are a lot further along in our rebuild so I think Lomax is something we could get some value out of
Bringing it back to what Richo said about the roster when he first got here. You need your youth, your bargain toilers that do their job and your cream. Galvin was a “cream” player hence the large contract offer. If Latu can prove he is up to it then there is space for him to take that role and get a contract upgrade extension but my guess is that it will be a much more normal contract ie he is already on 500k on potential, he should move up to the 750k area if he can prove he is a consistent first grader but we don’t need to make that call now, we can wait at least another year at which point we might have decided he isn’t worth it and we invest in a new half. Bula is already on pretty good coin but he might push a bit higher on his next deal but in reality fullbacks are in higher supply than halves so I don’t think he will end up on marquee money any time soon. We still have some room for another marquee player and that too me is either centre or lock. I think probably given the way the game is going another very high minutes type lock like Radley, smith, cotter etc would work in our team as we have plenty of ball playing ability already and with TDS getting more and more minutes over the next few years it will help tighten our middle up. This pushes all our toilers into the prop rotation where they belong.
Good listen fellas richo on the bye round
So, for 2027 we're going to have a million dollars plus to spend (albeit there will no doubt be some re-signings that will soak up some of that).
What positions should now be our recruitment priorities?
it’s still 2RF and lock for mine. We have a lot of athletic outside backs coming through the grades to fill out the outside backs. Galvin going will help us really balance the cap as long as Latu can be a decent replacement. I really liked what I saw of Latu when he came on at 13 and played first receiver in the game he broke his thumb. I really hope he can convert that into a direct first receiving 7 that allows Luai more space to play 6 on the left and Bula to play as a right hand side 6 in attack. Locks and 2RFs don’t have to break the bank either.
Richo in the Telegraph this morning pretty calmly outlining that Galvin isn’t going anywhere (or at least that’s the starting point) so Parra are going to have to burn 2026 without a 5/8 which is pretty untenable for them. Still expect there will be a trade to be done with the eels at the end of this season. Given Galvins low contract value for next year there is no deal where just accept getting Galvin salary off our books so it goes back to what piece will Parra let go in their rebuild. Given Ryles’ pedigree from Melbourne and roosters I still expect his focus will be on forward pack once he locks in Galvin and that Lomax is dispensable. We are a lot further along in our rebuild so I think Lomax is something we could get some value out of
You should listen to Richo on the Bye Round that just dropped tonight. At 53 mins he talks about new signings "shaking out of the tree" in the next 2-3 weeks. He infers that other clubs are having to let players go because they have mismanaged the cap and that 'everyone can work out who those clubs are"
I take this to mean that Newcastle player(s) are heading our way.
On your point about a trade I would not bet on it after hearing Richo speak on the podcast. During the interview, he refers a couple of times to winning a comp in the next 3 years. Richo is going to keep Galvin so Richo himself has a shot at winning the comp with us before he retires (I recall Richo having a 4 year WT contract?).
Joel - to your point about 2027. We have cap space for 2025 now because there was money was being put aside for the Galvin upgrade that has since been rejected. We let go of Olam, Bateman and Klemmer to accommodate Galvin and he brushed us. Richo says he is going to see what comes his way in the player market 'during the next 2 or 3 months."
If Newcastle players are the focus experienced forwards like Frizell and Elliot would compete for spots and bring added professionalism with their experience(even if both are past their prime). KPP also been rumoured and is more of a strike option. In regards to KPP, tonight on NRL 360 there was some chat about him. James Hooper said he'd spoken with Sam Ayoub who told him the player wouldnt be leaving the Knights this season.
I hope the narrative in the media shifts away from Galvin now and moves towards player signings to help us win matches this season. It's clear we are going to need forwards during Origin with May certain to be playing rep footy?
I reckon big chance DCE
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
