IMO we shouldnt be relying on Madge to pick Stef to get him to stay. We should be getting him excited about being part of the club, offer him the top end of what he is worth and put a pen in his hand. as important as Luai for the rebuild
even if that clause is triggered it just means it doesn’t mean he stays. If he wants to go he’ll go. You’re right we need to sell him a bright future and give him reasons to stay
I think you made a great point in regards to how well Benji can sell the future to Stef. There’s obviously the financial aspect as well, I think he & his wife expecting child no 2 soon. Pretty sure he will want his next contract to set him up well as it’ll probably be his best chance to do so. I don’t know how much that’d mean but if the Tigers could offer something like a $3 mill - $3.5 mill over 4 years now he might be happy to get it out of the way & sign knowing it’s all done. With the help of his manager he could then plan his future in terms of finances etc.Chammas reporting Penrith after Stef for next year. Can’t blame them
stef is a great replacement for Penrith, will madge pick stef in Origin... very unlikely
If Stef keeps playing at this level then he is in with a chance.
I’d be happy if the club came out and offered Stef a 5 year contract for $4mill. I think he’d take that because it’d offer him professional security & his family security. He’s only 24 next month so he’d be 29 at the end of that contract. You’d then have Stef & Sam at the club up until at least the end of 2027. It’d send a message to the kids coming through & other potential targets that players believe in where we are heading. Plus Stef has played only 60 games, that’s basically 2 1/2 years of NRL. He’s about to enter the prime years for a prop. The next 100 games or so will be his best barring injury.
I think you made a great point in regards to how well Benji can sell the future to Stef. There’s obviously the financial aspect as well, I think he & his wife expecting child no 2 soon. Pretty sure he will want his next contract to set him up well as it’ll probably be his best chance to do so. I don’t know how much that’d mean but if the Tigers could offer something like a $3 mill - $3.5 mill over 4 years now he might be happy to get it out of the way & sign knowing it’s all done. With the help of his manager he could then plan his future in terms of finances etc.Chammas reporting Penrith after Stef for next year. Can’t blame them
stef is a great replacement for Penrith, will madge pick stef in Origin... very unlikely
If Stef keeps playing at this level then he is in with a chance.
Stef will be the hottest property in the front row, if you were his manager you do not re-sign early you play your cards right you will have 4 or 5 clubs wanting your signature
You’d then have 2 of the best young props in the game at the club next 3 seasons (4 counting this season) for a combined 1.3 mill a year, or $650,000 each, which given where we’re at as a club is about as good as you can ask for.I’d be happy if the club came out and offered Stef a 5 year contract for $4mill. I think he’d take that because it’d offer him professional security & his family security. He’s only 24 next month so he’d be 29 at the end of that contract. You’d then have Stef & Sam at the club up until at least the end of 2027. It’d send a message to the kids coming through & other potential targets that players believe in where we are heading. Plus Stef has played only 60 games, that’s basically 2 1/2 years of NRL. He’s about to enter the prime years for a prop. The next 100 games or so will be his best barring injury.
I might be rating both too highly at present but it seems to me they both are good players with a lot of improvement in them.You’d then have 2 of the best young props in the game at the club next 3 seasons (4 counting this season) for a combined 1.3 mill a year, or $650,000 each, which given where we’re at as a club is about as good as you can ask for.I’d be happy if the club came out and offered Stef a 5 year contract for $4mill. I think he’d take that because it’d offer him professional security & his family security. He’s only 24 next month so he’d be 29 at the end of that contract. You’d then have Stef & Sam at the club up until at least the end of 2027. It’d send a message to the kids coming through & other potential targets that players believe in where we are heading. Plus Stef has played only 60 games, that’s basically 2 1/2 years of NRL. He’s about to enter the prime years for a prop. The next 100 games or so will be his best barring injury.
To give Stef’s progress some better context Fisher-Harris & Leota are respectively 28 & 29 years of age this year. And there’s little doubt they’ve become much, much better footballers than they were in their first 2 or 3 seasons.I might be rating both too highly at present but it seems to me they both are good players with a lot of improvement in them.You’d then have 2 of the best young props in the game at the club next 3 seasons (4 counting this season) for a combined 1.3 mill a year, or $650,000 each, which given where we’re at as a club is about as good as you can ask for.I’d be happy if the club came out and offered Stef a 5 year contract for $4mill. I think he’d take that because it’d offer him professional security & his family security. He’s only 24 next month so he’d be 29 at the end of that contract. You’d then have Stef & Sam at the club up until at least the end of 2027. It’d send a message to the kids coming through & other potential targets that players believe in where we are heading. Plus Stef has played only 60 games, that’s basically 2 1/2 years of NRL. He’s about to enter the prime years for a prop. The next 100 games or so will be his best barring injury.
All this talk of no other options except Stef for the Panthers is quite odd. If I were the panthers I would not be paying $750k to $850k for Stef or any imported middle for that matter, the reality is that if you look at the way they play, the middles are not as relevant to their attack and defense as they are for us, they have big bodies and strong defenders across their backline so you really don't need to pay for the best middles in the game. Why do the best middles in the game seem to be at the Broncos, Panthers, Storm (not so much this year) and roosters? its because they are not out there busting a gut trying to get their team on the front foot, early hit ups with good meters are delivered by the backs and most of the work is done before the forwards are called upon, also the backs executing solid tackles are shutting down second phase play so the middles are not getting run ragged in defence chasing the ball. This means they can play big minutes and always have the energy for a big hit in defense or big hit up in attack no matter how many minutes they have been out there. Surely the panthers can save a few dollars and get a couple of big boppers from their junior ranks under the wing of leota and Yeo to develop into middles who do a job for them.
It does seem likely that we will be able to compete with any club in terms of $ for stef. More likely it would be a weak club (dragons, dogs) that would have capacity/need to pay up for a prop. It would seem unlikely Stef would choose that option.
True, but if the Tigers were to table a $4 million offer for 5 years within the next few weeks it might be beneficial in terms of being able to plan how to look after his earnings now rather than 7 or 8 months from now. It’d also allow Stef to focus on football without any outside noise regarding his future.I think you made a great point in regards to how well Benji can sell the future to Stef. There’s obviously the financial aspect as well, I think he & his wife expecting child no 2 soon. Pretty sure he will want his next contract to set him up well as it’ll probably be his best chance to do so. I don’t know how much that’d mean but if the Tigers could offer something like a $3 mill - $3.5 mill over 4 years now he might be happy to get it out of the way & sign knowing it’s all done. With the help of his manager he could then plan his future in terms of finances etc.Chammas reporting Penrith after Stef for next year. Can’t blame them
stef is a great replacement for Penrith, will madge pick stef in Origin... very unlikely
If Stef keeps playing at this level then he is in with a chance.
Stef will be the hottest property in the front row, if you were his manager you do not re-sign early you play your cards right you will have 4 or 5 clubs wanting your signature
agree with you, only the struggling clubs would pay big dollars for him.It does seem likely that we will be able to compete with any club in terms of $ for stef. More likely it would be a weak club (dragons, dogs) that would have capacity/need to pay up for a prop. It would seem unlikely Stef would choose that option.
Also think it’s important the Tigers table a substantial offer now to take this ridiculous clause of playing Origin & making the 8 out of the equation. If Stef plays Origin or we make the 8 great but the focus for Stef and the team is playing their best each week, starting this week against the Panthers.I think you made a great point in regards to how well Benji can sell the future to Stef. There’s obviously the financial aspect as well, I think he & his wife expecting child no 2 soon. Pretty sure he will want his next contract to set him up well as it’ll probably be his best chance to do so. I don’t know how much that’d mean but if the Tigers could offer something like a $3 mill - $3.5 mill over 4 years now he might be happy to get it out of the way & sign knowing it’s all done. With the help of his manager he could then plan his future in terms of finances etc.Chammas reporting Penrith after Stef for next year. Can’t blame them
stef is a great replacement for Penrith, will madge pick stef in Origin... very unlikely
If Stef keeps playing at this level then he is in with a chance.
Stef will be the hottest property in the front row, if you were his manager you do not re-sign early you play your cards right you will have 4 or 5 clubs wanting your signature
agree with you, only the struggling clubs would pay big dollars for him.It does seem likely that we will be able to compete with any club in terms of $ for stef. More likely it would be a weak club (dragons, dogs) that would have capacity/need to pay up for a prop. It would seem unlikely Stef would choose that option.
IMO we will need to pay at least $100K pa more than Panthers, but Dogs etc would need to beat us $$$. I thikn the $800K figure is high but probably about right.
At the end of the day I think we need to look longer term about our potential spine from a cap and market value POV. I think its going to be something like:
1. Bula - 70% of market peak for fullback
6. Galvin - 70% of market peak for fullback
7. Luai - 90% of market peak of fullback (already paid)
8. Stef - 80-90% market peak of fullback
Bottom line, we need to keep these guys and build a team around them. We dont have the luxury of plans B, C, D, E etc....
What grudge? Or are you just feeding off comments of others on here?On form in the last 5 games, I think Stefano should be picked, however it will be make or break for him re NSW in the next 2 weeks vs Penrith and Broncos. If he dominates (even in a losing team) than Madge will be forced to pick him. Madge's grudge is more than likely with the old management, now those clowns have moved on it would be very petty of him to punish Stef to get back at the tigers.
Man, if you're going to keep dishing out your anti-Maguire vitriol, then you should expect responses from those who disagree with you. Or are you immune from that?@mercy-rule there’s heaps of spite, I think Madge is a complete dud. Sheens was a complete dud when he came back too. Get over it.
