Rumour Warriors Recruitment Discussion and Rumour Mill - 2015 (Part 2)

[tajhay]

This thread continues from Part 1 - https://www.nzwarriors.com/threads/...iscussion-and-rumour-mill-2015.39888/page-132

Current list of rumours

Keiran Foran

• Offered 2m+ a season by the Warriors (Iron Lion )
• Signed a Letter of Intent with the Warriors (Iron Lion )
• Parramatta, Roosters and Bulldogs are the front runners for his signature (Australian Media)
• Very unlikely to move to NZ as his wife does not want to leave Sydney (mt.wellington)
• Will not be joining NZ Warriors. Money is not a factor (Ozwarrior )

Steve Matai

• Staying at Manly this year (Ozwarrior )
• No new information about getting signing with Warriors for 2016 onwards.
• CONFIRMED - Has resigned with Manly for 2 additional years.

Trent Merrin

• Linked with the Warriors, and has been to Auckland to inspect the club and talk to the officials there.(Aus Media)
• Reportedly unhappy with the Dragons, and has been for some time. Possibility he may look to get out prior to 2015 season, however unlikely (Aus Media)

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck

• No new information about Roger Tuivasa-Sheck being a key target for Warriors 2016 onwards every since a NZ media article mentioned it.

Young ESL Prop Forward

• Young player that Sam Tomkins referred to the Warriors. Possibly Ryan Sutton (mt.wellington & GazrethW)

Jason Taumalolo

• Has been offered a contract upto 2m for 2 years starting in 2016 with the Warriors (Media Reports)

See Thread Highlights feature to navigate to the appropriate newsworthy posts.

If anything has been missed, or not mentioned please let us know below and a moderator will update this.

Also a small note, as the season is nearing please try to refrain from offtopic chatter in these threads. These threads are fairly high traffic, and usually go on for many pages. In the interests of everyone reading, please stick to the topic of "Recruitment Discussion and Rumour Mill'. There are plenty of other threads for other types of posts, if not, just create it.

 

[PolarBob]

I'll be interested to see if Merrin is included in any Dragons pre-season action. Be a sign of how far on the outer he is with Mary. If he hasn't decided at least he'll get some suss-out time with Manu and Friendy at the All Stars game.

 

[InsideBall]

I'd say this article is probably closer to the truth, regarding Merrin:

https://m.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...-star-trent-merrin-20150207-138g6p.touch.html

 

[Miket12]

I'd say this article is probably closer to the truth, regarding Merrin:

https://m.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...-star-trent-merrin-20150207-138g6p.touch.html

I'd say after not signing Mutts, the Panthers will be going after Merrin in a big way!

 

[wallacenz]

I'd say after not signing Mutts, the Panthers will be going after Merrin in a big way!

If they werent willing to pay more than the Warriors were offering for Matulino, would they be prepared to offer big money for Merrin?

Their idea of 'lucrative' might be a lot less than other clubs

 

[¿N. ig-mah¿]

Its starting to look like a personal vendeta from Ivan (and maybe Gus). He takes all of our players, and when he loses a battle, he goes after the player we are after, just to spite us. The Panthers have no urgent need for props, but they seem to have unlimited recruitment resources and an eye for our toys.

 

[Kalcod]

Is there a last date before season starts to sign anyone for this year?

 

[Wellington Warrior]

Is there a last date before season starts to sign anyone for this year?

30 June isn't it?

 

[snake77]

Beating out the Panthers to retain Matulino probably puts us behind the Panthers for the race to Merrin. Recruitment is an ever changing think and after missing out on Matulino it is only natural the Panthers change their focus.

They aren't as active as they were when Gould/Cleary first came on board but probably see Merrin as a good replacement for Kite who will be due to retire. For Merrin it keeps him in Sydney and the Panthers are coming off a pretty good season; so he will see them as being further through rebuilding then we are.

Hopefully the tour through the club and the sell job the coaching staff put on has left a good impression.

If he really is off side with the Dragons it could be a race to see who can fit him in for 2015.

 

[mt.wellington]

Warriors coach Andrew McFadden says the club needs to improve its recruitment
DAVID LONG

NEW HOME: Back-rower Bodene Thompson signed with the Warriors ahead of the 2015 season.

Warriors star Ben Matulino may have put pen to paper on a new contract to remain at the Warriors when his current deal runs out at the end of the season, but the club still has plenty of work to do to keep its other key assets.

Players like Konrad Hurrell, Manu Vatuvei and Ben Henry all need to be retained for the Warriors to be regarded as contenders from 2016 and beyond. But there are a bunch of players for whom the club will have to take a wait-and-see approach before offering a new contract.

Warriors coach Andrew McFadden says planning ahead is something he's constantly working on, along with the club's general manager of football operations, Dean Bell.

It is a tricky job, though, to work out which players are likely to come through in each position, where the holes are, who's exceeded their "best before" date and at the same time stay within the salary cap.

Managing all of this isn't something the Warriors have always done well and in the past they've let quality players go like Elijah Taylor, Peta Hiku and Lewis Brown, while keeping hold of some duds from the under-20s and also recruiting some average players and McFadden says this is an area they want to improve.

"We've got to do that better, in terms of managing our salary cap and squad," McFadden told Sunday News.

"We want to make sure we get the best out of this squad but we also know that realistically there will be some turnover, so we've got to make sure we get the right ones and we're always improving our squad."

There have been rumours that the Warriors could add more players to their squad for this season, with Manly centre Steve Matai the player mentioned the most, but McFadden ruled out Matai or anyone else coming and said they're sorted for 2015.

"I wouldn't think there will be anyone coming to the club this year," he said.

"Recruitment and retention is a constant, it's always revolving and we're looking at 2016. For 2015 we're pretty much done, we're happy with our squad and we have to get the best out of it."

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/leagu...ays-the-club-needs-to-improve-its-recruitment

 

[gREVUS]

why would Ben Henry b in that list with Konni and Manu? With his injuries he hasnt actually shown that much, where as Konni is a no brainer and Manu has possibly just had his best ever season

 

[Hadyn]

Beating out the Panthers to retain Matulino probably puts us behind the Panthers for the race to Merrin. Recruitment is an ever changing think and after missing out on Matulino it is only natural the Panthers change their focus.

They aren't as active as they were when Gould/Cleary first came on board but probably see Merrin as a good replacement for Kite who will be due to retire. For Merrin it keeps him in Sydney and the Panthers are coming off a pretty good season; so he will see them as being further through rebuilding then we are.

Hopefully the tour through the club and the sell job the coaching staff put on has left a good impression.

If he really is off side with the Dragons it could be a race to see who can fit him in for 2015.

Suits me big time.Good player and all that but definitely not worth the money mentioned which is going to be even higher now if the panthers are looking to blow everybody out of the water to get him.
Crazy Uncle Ivan can have him.You need a good props to win the comp but you also need good back rowers, halves,spine,centres,wings and fullbacks plus a good hooker and don't forget a good bench.
Ivan the wonderful seems to be forgetting the old rule that the more you pay in one position the less you have to spend elsewhere.He can have Merrin.

 

[¿N. ig-mah¿]

Suits me big time.Good player and all that but definitely not worth the money mentioned which is going to be even higher now if the panthers are looking to blow everybody out of the water to get him.
Crazy Uncle Ivan can have him.You need a good props to win the comp but you also need good back rowers, halves,spine,centres,wings and fullbacks plus a good hooker and don't forget a good bench.
Ivan the wonderful seems to be forgetting the old rule that the more you pay in one position the less you have to spend elsewhere.He can have Merrin.

And if we keep passing good props up. or letting them get away to hold on to the same old weak-arse props, then we will never win anything.

Merrin is a neccesity. Matulino, Rapira and Matagi are taking us nowhere. If we have to up the offer to beat out Ivan, then I'll chip in my pocket money.

 

[t-wade23]

With the way the Comp has headed the last 2-3 years having a good- dominant forward pack is the way to go you only have to look at the teams that made the GF last season both have dominant forward packs.

At the moment Our forward pack is average and you saw what Shaun Johnson can do behind a good forward pack so im all for paying over the market for Merrin cause he is a proven player at club level and rep level.

Signing Hoffman and Bodene was a good start but now it's time to pay up for some grunt in the props cause if you play 40-50 mins a game and can't get over a 100 metres then Its not good enough.

 

[ToiletDuck]

According to that latest article Merrin wants $800k and there is more than one club willing to give it to him. Looks like we'll be the unlucky runner-up again. If we can't even stump up more cash then there's little incentive for a trans-Tasman move, sadly.

 

[mt.wellington]

According to that latest article Merrin wants $800k and there is more than one club willing to give it to him. Looks like we'll be the unlucky runner-up again. If we can't even stump up more cash then there's little incentive for a trans-Tasman move, sadly.

If Merrin thinks he's going to get that at Penrith off Gus Gould then he's dreaming. Gus doesnt pay overs. For anyone. Even when Uncle Ivan is begging him. Ask Ben Matulino...

 

[Mr Brownstone]

If Merrin thinks he's going to get that at Penrith off Gus Gould then he's dreaming. Gus doesnt pay overs. For anyone. Even when Uncle Ivan is begging him. Ask Ben Matulino...

Didn't Gus pay $900k a season for Soward? Whatever it was the Telegraph put the boot in big time only to be silenced by Soward having a blinder of a season.

 

[ToiletDuck]

Didn't Gus pay $900k a season for Soward? Whatever it was the Telegraph put the boot in big time only to be silenced by Soward having a blinder of a season.

Yeah the rumour was $3.6 mill over 4 years, which was ridiculous and I think largely thought of as complete BS.

If Merrin thinks he's going to get that at Penrith off Gus Gould then he's dreaming. Gus doesnt pay overs. For anyone. Even when Uncle Ivan is begging him. Ask Ben Matulino...

True. Though that Triple M article mentions Peachey, Brown and Kite all coming off contract at end of the year. Also "It's understood the Dragons are one of six clubs - including the Warriors, Broncos, Sea Eagles and Roosters - that are after the 25-year-old Origin back-rower."

Seems to be a new club after him every week. I find it hard to believe the Sea Eagles have $800k spare for him, given their current issues re-signing their halves. Similarly the Broncos pack is stacked and would be on a ton of cash.

https://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/s...for-st-george-illawarra-dragons-trent-merrin/

 

[Fazz]

why would Ben Henry b in that list with Konni and Manu? With his injuries he hasnt actually shown that much, where as Konni is a no brainer and Manu has possibly just had his best ever season

Uh ... what? I'm guessing you are one of those "Well, he hasn't scored 20 tries, must be a dud" types.

Benry was invaluable last year at filling in holes all over the park when we inevitably had a mid game injury. Some of his defensive efforts and 1% plays were excellent. I'm not saying he's going to win us a game singlehandedly, but he's a very handy player. Probably this generations Lance Hohaia, in that he can cover just about anything (centre, 5/8th, hooker, second row, lock) to an acceptable or better level.

 

[mt.wellington]

Sam Powell and Ryan Sutton.

RidingPie PaulCharnock Wigan Warrior Kittwazzer Leedslion007 can you guys fill us in on these two? Hearing these are the two Poms we are talking to and we have actually signed them for 4 years. Ryan is the young promising prop and Sam Powell is a hooker. Meant to be here this year.

As for Matthew Lodge he isnt coming...

*Edit Wrong Warriors it seems. They both just signed for Wigan...

https://www.eatsleepsport.com/rugby-league/warriors-tie-down-duo-1877201.html#.VNbjOhZ95uY