I've always been a huge fan of Olam.
He's exactly what we need as a club.
He'll bring some confidence to the rest of the team.
Yes he had a tough year following some major injuries, but don't write him off so easily
he is probably the best centre at our club
Blore is replaceable in a position we have plenty of depth in.
A good move hopefully year 3 we can flog his contract off to super league or something
I agree
Everyone says he was horrible last year, but still played 17 first grade games for storm, and his stats were still better than our best Centre in Toa. One had their worst year and the other their best.
He's easily our best Centre.
Regarding risk for third year, I agree let's deal with that then. Let's focus on making finals threat next 2 years and things will resolve themselves from there
Will he be our best centre in 2026?
IMO I hope not.
I also want to throw out another POV regarding Olam. Disregarding $$$, Im happy enough to have him next year because as others have said, our centre stocks are very low and I think he increases our potency close to the line.....however....
Another consideration is balance. Olam doesnt have footwork and isnt particularly fast. He is a brute force crash through kind of player and that has been successful in the Storm squad. I question how it might work in our squad. Olam has always played left centre at Storm, that will mean he will likely play outside Papali'i who is similarly a "crash through" kind of 2RF. Personally would prefer a speedster outside paps.
@garry I think we got a pretty good deal..
If he was on 600k for 3 years and Storm are paying 400k (200k each year) that means we get him for 3 years on average salary of 465k for a top line centre. He will add the experience and aggression we lack so IMO looking forward to him playing.
@mercy-rule I will let you know how blore goes in the qld cup running around for easts tigers.
@tiger5150 if Paps and Olam are next to each other it can help them both as the defence has to make a decision on who’s getting the ball hopefully leaving one to go one on one with a defender. A lot will depend on how well our halves can read the defensive line in the attacking zone
@tiger5150 if Paps and Olam are next to each other it can help them both as the defence has to make a decision on who’s getting the ball hopefully leaving one to go one on one with a defender. A lot will depend on how well our halves can read the defensive line in the attacking zone
Agree with this to a large extent. Obviously a big problem we had last year was scoring once we got to the opposition 20. We have been hoping and praying for a half that is capable of "picking that lock" in their 20 and we may have that in Sezer/Sullivan/Fainu, and even more confident in Luai for '25.
In the short term, most of Olams trys are short crash overs, busting defences with brute force and that works as good as any. I (I think) take your point that if defences are worried about an Olam crash run, Papali'i hitting a hole works just as well and vice versa.
@tiger5150 if Paps and Olam are next to each other it can help them both as the defence has to make a decision on who’s getting the ball hopefully leaving one to go one on one with a defender. A lot will depend on how well our halves can read the defensive line in the attacking zone
Agree with this to a large extent. Obviously a big problem we had last year was scoring once we got to the opposition 20. We have been hoping and praying for a half that is capable of "picking that lock" in their 20 and we may have that in Sezer/Sullivan/Fainu, and even more confident in Luai for '25.
In the short term, most of Olams trys are short crash overs, busting defences with brute force and that works as good as any. I (I think) take your point that if defences are worried about an Olam crash run, Papali'i hitting a hole works just as well and vice versa.
I’m really just hoping one of the halves can finish things off inside the 20.
That is a good deal
