We still have 2 months until November 1 to get some of these high priority players re-signed. Hopefully negotiations are well under way and no need to panic just yet.
Hastings, Joffa & Douhie would be my priorities. Get those signed and that’s a step forward. Miss out on any of those three and we are in serious trouble.
The thing is, imagine how much more hope our fanbase would have right now if we were actually able to sign players now for 2023. Having a proper transfer period would do so much for the game.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
@avocadoontoast agree Matt Lodge needs to be the prop we go after he is playing so well
I do agree we lack an intimidating prop. Musgrove I guess is meant to play this role but his form is so inconsistent and he has some awful games on both sides of the ball. Why Madge locked him down on a long term deal does my head in. At this point he is barely a bench player let alone a starting prop.
watching JWH last night, I can’t remember when we have had that type of forward leader in our club and it’s something that we will desperately need if we ever think about competing in finals football again.
David Fifita: he’s the physical attributes but he seems more comfortable on the edges running at halves than in the middle
Klemmer: has a screw loose, the knock on him is he slows down the attack with slow play the ball. Still think he is miles better than what we have
Haas: super player, massive motor and young. Wants Huge money and there are maybe questions marks over whether he is a team player.
lodge: has found his feet again at the roosters after some thought the faster game doesn’t suit him. Obviously has had some personal problems so unclear whether a club like the tigers without a strong culture will be able to get as much out of him as the roosters
Thompson: big powerful prop, international, leader. Has had some family things distracting him. We could probably get the bulldogs to pitch in some $.
for mine, I would say given how much haas and Fifita would cost I’d probably say Thompson would be my first pick
@avocadoontoast agree Matt Lodge needs to be the prop we go after he is playing so well
I was watching the Roosters game last night and it was depressing that their 4 props are all better than ours.
I do agree we lack an intimidating prop. Musgrove I guess is meant to play this role but his form is so inconsistent and he has some awful games on both sides of the ball. Why Madge locked him down on a long term deal does my head in. At this point he is barely a bench player let alone a starting prop.
watching JWH last night, I can’t remember when we have had that type of forward leader in our club and it’s something that we will desperately need if we ever think about competing in finals football again.
David Fifita: he’s the physical attributes but he seems more comfortable on the edges running at halves than in the middle
Klemmer: has a screw loose, the knock on him is he slows down the attack with slow play the ball. Still think he is miles better than what we have
Haas: super player, massive motor and young. Wants Huge money and there are maybe questions marks over whether he is a team player.
lodge: has found his feet again at the roosters after some thought the faster game doesn’t suit him. Obviously has had some personal problems so unclear whether a club like the tigers without a strong culture will be able to get as much out of him as the roosters
Thompson: big powerful prop, international, leader. Has had some family things distracting him. We could probably get the bulldogs to pitch in some $.
for mine, I would say given how much haas and Fifita would cost I’d probably say Thompson would be my first pick
Good summation, the issue is we need more than 1. If Joe O leaves we need 3. I like Pole but he’s not ready for NRL every week yet.
My understanding is that the club feels we don’t need to recruit any middles.
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers!
@garry definitely . Agree on all the above . I remember bringing that up in the other forum last year , this exact topic and everyone thought I was a nuffie. He’s big , he’s strong , he’s aggressive , but he plays like he doesn’t realise it yet. And he’s too good to be on an edge picking daisies in the centres or back row .
my other bold prediction , which I’m rehashing from the beginning of last year is Talau to the back row. He’s a fitter more aggressive Schuster type . Doesn’t have his flair , but has all his other skills . Once again wasted in the centres , and a yard too slow .
I can see Talau in the front row later in his career ala Ruben Wiki, or even Luke Lewis . When I say later I mean 30 plus .
TIGERS NEED TO HUNT BRIGHTEST NRL STARS
WESTS SHOULD BE APPLAUDED FOR TRYING TO LAND A MARQUEE PLAYER THEY CAN BUILD BATTLING JOINT-VENTURE CLUB AROUND
THE Wests Tigers are coming from a very low base. So the only thing they can do is aim high. That said, it seems the Tigers are aiming very high in their quest to fast-track their rebuild and end a finals drought that stretches back a decade.
Good on them. No use trying to escape mediocrity by recruiting average players. The Tigers have made that mistake for far too long.
Tigers officials insist reports of a $7 million offer to Storm star Cameron Munster this week were wide of the mark.
Contact was made though and others will tell you the Tigers were quietly confident they were in with a chance at one point, only for Melbourne to respond with a multimillion-dollar deal of their own that gave Munster fresh food for thought.
Munster is the latest big name to seemingly attract interest from the Tigers. People close to the club are said to have informally reached out to James Tedesco and Mitchell Moses to gauge whether they would be interested in returning home at some point in the future.
One or both would revolutionise the club. Their signatures would shift the needle. They’re big names and local juniors. Nothing wrong with buying back the farm. It won’t be easy.
Both are well paid and playing finals football. Joining a struggling club in the midst of a rebuild wouldn’t seem that alluring.
In Tedesco’s case, he has two years remaining on his deal but there is a logjam forming at the Roosters for the No.1 jersey and as good as Tedesco is, at some point in the future age will tell and Joseph Suaalii will go past him.
The Tigers clearly sense an opportunity.
The same applies to Moses, whose talks with Parramatta over a new deal have been delayed until after the season, meaning there is every chance he could head to November 1 unsigned.
If he does, expect the Tigers to weigh in with a monster deal. While they are at it, perhaps it is time to take advantage of the slow negotiations at St George Illawarra to make a play for Ben Hunt.
The Dragons captain is coming to the end of a stunning season that is likely to result in him taking home the Dally M medal. It is richly deserved.
He has one year remaining on his deal with the Dragons and negotiations have slowed after the club made an initial offer, believed to be worth $1.45m over two years.
Hunt has instructed his representatives to put off talks until after the season is over but the Tigers have the ability to blow the Dragons out of the water.
It’s worth some thought, particularly if Luke Brooks isn’t keen on staying at the club. Hunt would provide leadership and direction. He would send a message to the rest of the NRL that the Tigers are ready to mix it with the big boys.
Significantly, the Tigers play the Dragons at CommBank Stadium on Sunday with a wooden spoon at stake. Hunt may help drive another stake into their season. With a bit of luck and a splash of cash, he may help pull them out of their hole as well.
The Tigers will already be better next season with the addition of Api Koroisau and Isaiah Papali’i.
The Eels have stepped up their attempts to sign a back rower, suggesting they realise they are fighting a losing battle in their attempts to keep Papali’i.
The Tigers need to surround Koroisau and Papali’i with class and quality. They are taking their time with new deals for Daine Laurie, Jackson Hastings and Adam Doueihi, cognisant of the fact that the trio have been key players in a side that has struggled to make an impact this season.
The Tigers need a star. A superstar. A circuit-breaker. Hunt fits the bill. It won’t be easy to climb the ladder. The past decade has shown that.
Nothing wrong with aiming high though.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
@garry if the nrl wants to keep fans engaged in the league it 💯 needs a draft .
There’s 2 ideas that poo poo the draft .
restraint of trade . And bleeding teams junior nursery.
there’s easy fixes to both those issues .
1. copy the mlb and afl draft styles . Where as each draft position has slot money eg. 1st pick is 300k salary cap exempt . And 2nd is 280k and so on.
the player has to agree to sign there so all those negotiations take place. If he doesn’t want to sign and you pick him . Well you just wasted a draft pick , you get a pick compensation for the next years draft .
but most kids will , because opportunity and the money will be on offer .
2. team protections . Every year each team can protect a maximum of 5 players .
say Brandon Tumeth is picked by the dogs this year . We protected him . The dogs now have to conpensate us in some way . Which would be a pre ordained amount . Say a future first round pick a future second etc. 💯 it would be dependant on where you picked him. Ie. The first pick would be a huge sum to pay , rather than the last pick .
you can also pick your own players or wave the pick compensation for say TPJ .
Like what if Joseph Suallii was available for the number 1 pick the year before last .
sure it’s complex , but every year teams fans like the NY Jets get a renewed optimism because some kid in the draft they can talk into being thier future .
you can it rewards bad development teams like the titans or dogs , but it doesn’t really . If they have to give the panthers or us a kings ransom to sign our elite junior . It would lead to far better parity in the sport IMO.
teams like the roosters and storm are always going to be there , just like teams like patriots , packers , ravens are always there .
I just don’t see the negatives
@garry if the nrl wants to keep fans engaged in the league it 💯 needs a draft .
There’s 2 ideas that poo poo the draft .
restraint of trade . And bleeding teams junior nursery.there’s easy fixes to both those issues .
1. copy the mlb and afl draft styles . Where as each draft position has slot money eg. 1st pick is 300k salary cap exempt . And 2nd is 280k and so on.
the player has to agree to sign there so all those negotiations take place. If he doesn’t want to sign and you pick him . Well you just wasted a draft pick , you get a pick compensation for the next years draft .
but most kids will , because opportunity and the money will be on offer .
2. team protections . Every year each team can protect a maximum of 5 players .
say Brandon Tumeth is picked by the dogs this year . We protected him . The dogs now have to conpensate us in some way . Which would be a pre ordained amount . Say a future first round pick a future second etc. 💯 it would be dependant on where you picked him. Ie. The first pick would be a huge sum to pay , rather than the last pick .
you can also pick your own players or wave the pick compensation for say TPJ .Like what if Joseph Suallii was available for the number 1 pick the year before last .
sure it’s complex , but every year teams fans like the NY Jets get a renewed optimism because some kid in the draft they can talk into being thier future .
you can it rewards bad development teams like the titans or dogs , but it doesn’t really . If they have to give the panthers or us a kings ransom to sign our elite junior . It would lead to far better parity in the sport IMO.
teams like the roosters and storm are always going to be there , just like teams like patriots , packers , ravens are always there .
I just don’t see the negatives
I'm not really interested in a draft in Rugby League, it takes away a big part of what supporting Rugby League is for me. I would much prefer proper discounts for teams that develop their own players.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
These days most players don’t stick with their junior club anyway. Having a structured draft that provided more even talent would be good. The question I have is what age is the draft? Do all players below a certain age have to go through the draft before being eligible for NRL?
@garry I really don’t see what the difference between a rookie draft , which would only probably affect 32-64 kids every year , is any different from us giving Munster 7 million dollars or , buying the 2014 bulldogs spine which we just got out from underneath .
i don’t see how it undermines the fabric of the game at all . Not when manly literally 2-3 times a week have a bus driver do the city loop dropping and picking western Sydney kids .
Teams like they and the roosters have been picking the eyes out of nswrl junior talent since I was playing u16s.
the system has been broken since forever . And if the nrl is serious and actually wants a competitive comp , than the current model is not sustainable .
@garry I really don’t see what the difference between a rookie draft , which would only probably affect 32-64 kids every year , is any different from us giving Munster 7 million dollars or , buying the 2014 bulldogs spine which we just got out from underneath .
i don’t see how it undermines the fabric of the game at all . Not when manly literally 2-3 times a week have a bus driver do the city loop dropping and picking western Sydney kids .Teams like they and the roosters have been picking the eyes out of nswrl junior talent since I was playing u16s.
the system has been broken since forever . And if the nrl is serious and actually wants a competitive comp , than the current model is not sustainable .
Even though it has been diluted over the past 20 years part of my enjoyment of watching rugby league is watching kids progress through the grades and making their 1st grade debut. I understand that I'm a dinosaur in that regard but it's something that is part of how I engage in the game.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
@tigertownsfs there’s no age limit . It’s based around each “amateur” player declaring . Amateur can mean 22 year old bush player . It can also mean 17 year old Aussie schoolboy captain .
the reason a kid would declare would be guaranteed contracts of large sums salary cap exempt . Eg the number 1 pick could be a Benji Marshall phenom , so instantly would get 300-500k .
the nba draft is weirder . I assume it’s for players who have never played an nba game before . Not just amateurs . Like Luke Doncic was dominating euro basketball before he went 5th in his draft , on a fair chunk of change .
RL just isn’t big enough to have a need to relax the rules like that . A basic amateur draft would be suffice .
Like I said with team protections , pick compensations , father son rule exemptions , to protect developmental teams . The team who would suffer most would be the broncos and panthers . But that’s not guaranteed . Like I said if a Brisbane kid doesn’t want the 500k from us and says no , then you sign someone else or pick him and negotiate with the broncos about adequate compensation , with an already in built default compensation for that pick . Ie. The first pick if picking a protected player from the broncos means we now have to give up our next 2 years of first round picks , or an alternate price .
It would be complicated , so if it did come in , there would be analyst positions galore.
