From the other forum by CCTW.
Anyway.
Matamua upgrade today had nothing to do with 'missing out' on anyone. Sheens has been really impressed with Matamua and his attitude throughout the year - despite being thrown into the deep end. Believes he possess all the skills of a modern 13. It is also an endorsement to the junior pathways and all the boys in the lower grades looking to progress.
Bateman deal is all but going ahead as planned. Only the formalities to sort out at this stage. Should be an announcement within a week but don't hold me to that as the timing is guesswork on my part (based on where it is at).
Don't have much on the Moses meeting as it is very much under wraps, not many details outside of the absolute inner circle. However, there have been many talks between Benji and Moses. Personally, I believe this is very 50/50 at the moment with Parra and Tigers. Dogs little chance right now. Having said that, my belief was that Moses was 100% staying at Parra about a month ago. Take that as you will... The Brooks 180, Hastings moving and reluctance for re-signing Doueihi is not without reason. If Moses falls through, there are other options. As for those hoping for Teddy, forget about it. He has made it clear he is above the Tigers.
The player unhappy with the Hastings decision is not Laurie. Although Laurie is not entirely comfortable with his current contract position as he is looking to extend but the club does not want to offer a long term deal as of yet. It should make for interesting competition between Staines and Laurie.
On Woods, not sure if it is just me but I personally have not heard anything about Woods coming back? Thinking that is just media and fans making assumptions?
The Nanai offer was not the Tigers, i'm fairly well informed (as the club probably is) that he is not looking to move from the Cowboys, however i'm sure he's using the interest from other clubs to maximise his offer from the Cowboys.
In terms of pre-season, hearing the young guys are really impressing. I saw that someone has already alluded to it but Tumeth will likely come into grade into the centres, spend sometime there before he fills out and moves to the second row. The two that have really stood out for Sheens are Talau and Blore. Talau will join Blore in the backrow. He has shown a tremendous attitude since his injury, stayed fit and has taken the move really well, transforming his body to suit a move to the forwards. I have made comment previously but think that Talau will be the breakout player this season. Having watched him closely in the juniors, his footwork, ball work and speed will really suit a middle or edge role. Think a large 5/8 playing at 13. He also played some 13 in the junior rep games, particularly junior schoolboys.
Finally, posted a while ago that the club was headed in the right direction back when things were looking fairly bleak after the spoon. Great to see that Sheens and the club have followed through and the club legitimately looks like it's on the up.
That all sounds quite positive 👍
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers since 2018!
@helmesy A huge pre-season under Shifty will help. I’d say Sheens sees Api as being a big plus too although he’ll start training later I’d say it won’t take too long to develop a good understanding of their roles.
Api straight off makes a big difference to the way we play. Really looking forward to seeing him playing for us.
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers since 2018!
From the other forum by CCTW.
Anyway.
Matamua upgrade today had nothing to do with 'missing out' on anyone. Sheens has been really impressed with Matamua and his attitude throughout the year - despite being thrown into the deep end. Believes he possess all the skills of a modern 13. It is also an endorsement to the junior pathways and all the boys in the lower grades looking to progress.
Bateman deal is all but going ahead as planned. Only the formalities to sort out at this stage. Should be an announcement within a week but don't hold me to that as the timing is guesswork on my part (based on where it is at).
Don't have much on the Moses meeting as it is very much under wraps, not many details outside of the absolute inner circle. However, there have been many talks between Benji and Moses. Personally, I believe this is very 50/50 at the moment with Parra and Tigers. Dogs little chance right now. Having said that, my belief was that Moses was 100% staying at Parra about a month ago. Take that as you will... The Brooks 180, Hastings moving and reluctance for re-signing Doueihi is not without reason. If Moses falls through, there are other options. As for those hoping for Teddy, forget about it. He has made it clear he is above the Tigers.
The player unhappy with the Hastings decision is not Laurie. Although Laurie is not entirely comfortable with his current contract position as he is looking to extend but the club does not want to offer a long term deal as of yet. It should make for interesting competition between Staines and Laurie.
On Woods, not sure if it is just me but I personally have not heard anything about Woods coming back? Thinking that is just media and fans making assumptions?
The Nanai offer was not the Tigers, i'm fairly well informed (as the club probably is) that he is not looking to move from the Cowboys, however i'm sure he's using the interest from other clubs to maximise his offer from the Cowboys.
In terms of pre-season, hearing the young guys are really impressing. I saw that someone has already alluded to it but Tumeth will likely come into grade into the centres, spend sometime there before he fills out and moves to the second row. The two that have really stood out for Sheens are Talau and Blore. Talau will join Blore in the backrow. He has shown a tremendous attitude since his injury, stayed fit and has taken the move really well, transforming his body to suit a move to the forwards. I have made comment previously but think that Talau will be the breakout player this season. Having watched him closely in the juniors, his footwork, ball work and speed will really suit a middle or edge role. Think a large 5/8 playing at 13. He also played some 13 in the junior rep games, particularly junior schoolboys.
Finally, posted a while ago that the club was headed in the right direction back when things were looking fairly bleak after the spoon. Great to see that Sheens and the club have followed through and the club legitimately looks like it's on the up.
Thanks for posting. Great news about Bateman being all but done and i'm starting to get a little excited about Moses. Would be a massive signing.
Great to hear about Tommy T and his definitely a Tim Sheens type of forward I have him locked in as wearing the 13 in 2023 with Papali’i and Bateman on either side.
Great to hear about Tommy T and his definitely a Tim Sheens type of forward I have him locked in as wearing the 13 in 2023 with Papali’i and Bateman on either side.
Sheens has made the point a couple of times that Talau and Blore are like new signings, let’s hope they are injury free and key parts of the new-look team.
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers since 2018!
@kenny4517 thanks for the update post.
Great to hear about Tommy T and his definitely a Tim Sheens type of forward I have him locked in as wearing the 13 in 2023 with Papali’i and Bateman on either side.
Sheens has made the point a couple of times that Talau and Blore are like new signings, let’s hope they are injury free and key parts of the new-look team.
What I like about TT being a 13 is that he has already shown he has the mindset to handle NRL on a weekly basis. Our other young options are absolute rookies and that 13 position will likely be too much for them to handle regularly at this stage.
The other thing I like about TT is his awareness and attitude... the recent COE opening pics with he and a few other young guns making pseudo hand signs, he wasn't.
Just thinking about Adam Doueihi, now I’ve no idea where he’ll be in 2024 but assuming he’s part of the squad 2023,which seems likely enough given he’s contracted & we need halves, my hope is this: Adam has a short break post World Cup and begins training before Christmas, maybe mid December. Given he played less than half of 2022 and only 3 games at the World Cup I’d hope he wants to hit the ground running in 2023. If he is to leave in 2024 then playing a big part in achieving something special at the Tigers with some of his mates would be a great way to go out. If he’s to stay then it’d be a great way to show everyone exactly what he’s all about. That’s what I’d be advising him if I was close to him.
Not sure when Adam is due back at training but he could do worse than return Dec’ 10th at the Members Christmas bbq. Meet everyone and enjoy the day as if it’s all a fresh and exciting start at the club which, to a great extent, it is. Then the following Monday get stuck in.
Dylan Brown announced yesterday that he is taking a break and delaying his contract negotiations which I think is a great opportunity for WT. My concern is that I dont think Parra can keep Moses and Brown and when they lose one, they will throw the chequebook at the other and keep that one. IMO Moses would be a better fit for us, so hope we could get Moses wrapped up before Brown commits. I think if Brown leaves Parra, the Eels will keep Moses.
@tiger5150 The Eels know they’ll have a job keeping both but they still could. They’ll be throwing a lot at them especially if the ‘cap’ increases substantially. I think if the Tigers are to get either of them it will probably be for well & truly overs. If the $1.4 million ( or $1.6, I can’t recall) a season for Munster was anything to go by then I’d expect, if Benji wants one of them, it’ll be a very big offer.
@tiger5150 The Eels know they’ll have a job keeping both but they still could. They’ll be throwing a lot at them especially if the ‘cap’ increases substantially. I think if the Tigers are to get either of them it will probably be for well & truly overs. If the $1.4 million ( or $1.6, I can’t recall) a season for Munster was anything to go by then I’d expect, if Benji wants one of them, it’ll be a very big offer.
I agree and I think Tigers will have to pay upwards or $1.2M to get Moses and IMO they should. It IS way overs but we need to get a top rank half to make this squad challenge for the 8.
@tiger5150 The Eels know they’ll have a job keeping both but they still could. They’ll be throwing a lot at them especially if the ‘cap’ increases substantially. I think if the Tigers are to get either of them it will probably be for well & truly overs. If the $1.4 million ( or $1.6, I can’t recall) a season for Munster was anything to go by then I’d expect, if Benji wants one of them, it’ll be a very big offer.
FWIW they are more confident of keeping Brown than Moses...
@tiger5150 The Eels know they’ll have a job keeping both but they still could. They’ll be throwing a lot at them especially if the ‘cap’ increases substantially. I think if the Tigers are to get either of them it will probably be for well & truly overs. If the $1.4 million ( or $1.6, I can’t recall) a season for Munster was anything to go by then I’d expect, if Benji wants one of them, it’ll be a very big offer.
FWIW they are more confident of keeping Brown than Moses...
Makes sense to me. I expect Brown to be cheaper than Moses despite being younger. IMO Brown is like Benji light or a Shaun johnson type player, a running 5/8, whereas Moses is more like a classic halfback with a better passing and kicking game.
- @avocadoontoast Just saw Fox and the Astonisher are reporting the Dolphins offering $1million a season (maybe more, didn’t read article, just headline) for Brown. If that’s the case who do you prioritise if you are the Eels?
