Rumour Warriors Recruitment Discussion and Rumour Mill - 2015

[jonno]

There seems to be a lot of envy on here about the possibility of Merrin getting a big contract... If we could get Merrin for 300k would anyone be objecting?

And looking at last seasons stats, we do need him...

Rapira averaged 42 mins a game for 83 meters.
Matagi averaged 35 mins a game for 82 meters.
Mutts averaged 54 mins a game for 95 meters.

Only Lillyman did the business averaging 46 mins a game for 118 meters.

Mutts was claiming an injury cloud, after his poor diet, after losing his best mate Rusty.... after.... after..... after......

Of our other big men...

Lousie averaged 35 mins a game for 55 meters
Ikahihifo averaged 45 mins a game for 70 meters
Gubb is average at best.
Lisone looks good but is still unproven. Is he going to step up and hit 150 meters in a game straight away?
Vete was awesome in the U20's but hasn't really kicked on at all playing against men.

We can't be leaving the meters game up to our edge forwards and our outside backs and expect to win this comp...

If we truly want to win this comp I say sign him up.

 

[wallacenz]

Making metres up the middle is Vatuveis job though..

Seriously though, attack wasn't the Warriors problem last year because Manu and Konrad are such a handful. Need to get out of the danger zone?, its not the forwards hitting it up, its normally Manu.

The Warriors need to sort out the defence but it always seems like when the defence is going well the attack sucks and vise versa, like all the gas is used doing one thing or the other. Manu last year was about the only guy who hammered it up on attack and came in and hit hard on defence, he had a great year last year.

Edit: so I'd have to say yes to Merrin if he is going to improve the defence and take the pressure off the outside backs on attack

 

[jonno]

Its tiring thinking about whether Friend will have to keep making 50 tackles and trying to distribute, or if Leuluai will smuther Johnson and if he is capable of 80 minutes, or whether Havili will ever crack it, or if Benry can fill in on a regular basis to give Leuluai or Havili a rest, or whether Kata should be developed into a dummy half, or if Roache can be brought up, or if there is something in Lolohea that could be developed in that direction, or if Manu should be moved into hooker, or ............................. (oh, my head!!!)

We need a hooker who we all know without question is the strongest distributor we have, and can tackle dominantly, and can do the job (whether for 80 minutes, or with help from a benchie).

Leuluai, Havili and Henry all played against the Kangroos and didn't look out of place at all. We were competitive in those games. I think the problem isn't with hooker it's more a problem of chain of command in our spine...

This year either Leuluai or Chad needs to step up and become the leader of our spine, so that Shaun Johnson and Tomkins can float around and work their magic... or we need Foran...

I think for this reason we went better without Leuluai playing... Chad, the former captain of the Aussie U20's, is maybe more respected as our spine leader... Strange I know but that's what it looked like to me....

Maybe we just need to trade Leuluai out...

 

[jonno]

Making metres up the middle is Vatuveis job though..

Seriously though, attack wasn't the Warriors problem last year because Manu and Konrad are such a handful. Need to get out of the danger zone?, its not the forwards hitting it up, its normally Manu.

The Warriors need to sort out the defence but it always seems like when the defence is going well the attack sucks and vise versa, like all the gas is used doing one thing or the other. Manu last year was about the only guy who hammered it up on attack and came in and hit hard on defence, he had a great year last year.

We need to move Manu to the middle and leave him on the wing at the same time... How's that cloning technology coming along?

 

[Second Man Play]

I'm with you. He's a good player but he's not worth that money. 750k is money thee x factor game winning players receive. Not a prop. Even james Graham isn't worth 750k and that's sayin something because he's the best prop going round.

Um no actually the 'x factor players' are all going to be starting to make 1 million plus in the coming years. Anywhere between 500-750 will be for very good representative level forwards. Percentage of the cap wise 750 is barely much more than what we were paying guys like Price/Wiki/Tate etc

 

[Afakasi247]

Making metres up the middle is Vatuveis job though..

Seriously though, attack wasn't the Warriors problem last year because Manu and Konrad are such a handful. Need to get out of the danger zone?, its not the forwards hitting it up, its normally Manu.

Problem is, we shouldn't be relying on our outside backs to do the hit-ups from our own half - that's why we need barnstorming front rowers whose only job is to take the big charges.

Not to say that these players can't help out every now-and-again, but Manu constantly bringing the ball up while our props only rack up 70-80m per game isn't good enough, and it isn't a structure which should continue. That's why signing a player of the caliber of Merrin, a origin-level forward who can charge the ball up, and play with high effort and aggression, week-in and week-out is what the Warriors forward pack needs to set the tone. Sends a message to players like Matagi, Rapira and even Mutts - meritocracy will not be tolerated under this new regime.

His price may be of concern, but I think bringing in a "marquee" forward will do much more for this team than spending over a million on Foran.

 

[Jordan G]

Yeah. Agree with all your comments. Ngani is a shock. He has progressed well-better than I expected. But Doyle's actions seem to echo my gut feelings about all those players over the past 2 years. From the first season I saw Ngani in NYC I thought he was better at the basics than 99% of young guys. Same with Fusitua actually. But I felt his attack was not going to get much better and he might become a journeyman. His height limits him also. He is vulnerable if a decent jumper competes with him in the air. That said he looks like a good learner and deserves a chance to prove he can overcome his weaknesses.

RFM I had high hopes for. Fish also. What a shame but understandable. Looks like we are not going to hang on to mediocrity any more. You have a couple of seasons to prove yourself or move on. That's professionalism.

More evidence we are moving in the right direction. Matagi and Rapira aren't what we need. We need more big boys up front who can bend the line and not take backward steps. Good for the NYC boys to learn early that just being one of the Bros with potential is not enough any more.

Mutts only agreed to 2 years. A sign neither party is sure about the other. Watch that space..

Kata and Havili are the ones that intrigue me. What does Doyle think of them? Kata looked good in 9's but for mine he and Havili have the wrong physiques for their positions.

Lolohea and Hurrell could be the Poly version of Gasnier/Cooper. Or maybe Meninga /Daley.

Agree with that. We always have so many potential juniors coming through that players need to either step up or move aside. If you don't have the extra couple of percent you won't last.

Kata/Havili I would also like to know where their long term futures are viewed.

I don't think there's much to Mutts in regards to the two year contract. These days players need to be signed up well before their current contract ends, it's the nature of the beast. Signing a 2 year extension means we have him for the next 3 seasons which is a pretty standard length of time for any deal.

 

[Blain]

Matulino will be a long serving player next year, so you could put that $200k towards Merrin's signature in reality. Helped us hold on to Mannering last season I'm assuming too.

Easily worth it.

 

[jonno]

Um no actually the 'x factor players' are all going to be starting to make 1 million plus in the coming years. Anywhere between 500-750 will be for very good representative level forwards. Percentage of the cap wise 750 is barely much more than what we were paying guys like Price/Wiki/Tate etc

$750k is 11% of the cap for one kick as, marque player... And we have the space to fit him in.

The roosters were reported last year to have an estimated $8 million worth of talent in their $6.5 million cap. Why do we have only $5 million worth of talent in our $6.5 million cap?

 

[Slash Razor]

The roosters were reported last year to have an estimated $8 million worth of talent in their $6.5 million cap. Why do we have only $5 million worth of talent in our $6.5 million cap?

thats why the Chooks win Comps, they go after the big boys, while we chase the Mateos of this world, glad things are changing at the front desk and changing rooms of the Warriors, if we have to throw money at marque players to come, throw money! people think high quality players are worth squat, Merrins a machine, sign him up if he wants to come, he'll show some our wussy forwards how its done...

 

[Nahz]

There seems to be a lot of envy on here about the possibility of Merrin getting a big contract... If we could get Merrin for 300k would anyone be objecting?

And looking at last seasons stats, we do need him...

Rapira averaged 42 mins a game for 83 meters.
Matagi averaged 35 mins a game for 82 meters.
Mutts averaged 54 mins a game for 95 meters.

Only Lillyman did the business averaging 46 mins a game for 118 meters.

Mutts was claiming an injury cloud, after his poor diet, after losing his best mate Rusty.... after.... after..... after......

Of our other big men...

Lousie averaged 35 mins a game for 55 meters
Ikahihifo averaged 45 mins a game for 70 meters
Gubb is average at best.
Lisone looks good but is still unproven. Is he going to step up and hit 150 meters in a game straight away?
Vete was awesome in the U20's but hasn't really kicked on at all playing against men.

We can't be leaving the meters game up to our edge forwards and our outside backs and expect to win this comp...

If we truly want to win this comp I say sign him up.

this..very basic & simple in the game of footy...no go forward,no go anywhere!

 

[Johnnyray]

$750k is 11% of the cap for one kick as, marque player... And we have the space to fit him in.

The roosters were reported last year to have an estimated $8 million worth of talent in their $6.5 million cap. Why do we have only $5 million worth of talent in our $6.5 million cap?

Apparently after the club got docked competition points in 2006 for accidentally over spending their salary cap, to make sure this thing would never happened again Eric Watson ordered them to never spend full allotted amount as that will make up for any future errors ...

 

[jonno]

Apparently after the club got docked competition points in 2006 for accidentally over spending their salary cap, to make sure this thing would never happened again Eric Watson ordered them to never spend full allotted amount as that will make up for any future errors ...

Well I think now we have Doyle steering the ship we should be able to run right up to the rev limit on our cap....

And third party agreements should be maxed out as well. We already have the biggest sales of Jerseys in the NRL, so it shouldn't be too hard to get third party deals for our big guns surely....

 

[jonno]

thats why the Chooks win Comps, they go after the big boys, while we chase the Mateos of this world, glad things are changing at the front desk and changing rooms of the Warriors, if we have to throw money at marque players to come, throw money! people think high quality players are worth squat, Merrins a machine, sign him up if he wants to come, he'll show some our wussy forwards how its done...

The guy would be good for gate sales as well...

Edit: Plus he should know how to beat the fucken dragons... arrrrrrrrrr

Have we ever signed a player from the Dragons before? I reckon that's the real key to winning a premiership.

 

[Slash Razor]

The guy would be good for gate sales as well...

oh hell yea cause hes a hard nut, will bring that intimidation factor, that's what the crowds deserve, and that ll show at the gate, everyones so over the collar grabbing, skipping and dancing at the line, Mateo style of yesteryear, best thing ever getting rid of him, now lets get some real forwards not ballet dancers...

 

[jonno]

oh hell yea cause hes a hard nut, will bring that intimidation factor, that's what the crowds deserve, and that ll show at the gate, everyones so over the collar grabbing, skipping and dancing at the line, Mateo style of yesteryear, best thing ever getting rid of him, now lets get some real forwards not ballet dancers...

If we can afford to pay Mateo $600 in 2013 with a $5.8 million cap, we can definetly afford to pay Merrin $750 in 2015 with a $6.5 million cap...

 

[ToiletDuck]

So, am I right in making the following statements re the 4 players we've been linked to..

Foran - Very unlikely to be heading to NZ despite us offering him the world, reportedly because he doesn't want to leave Aus with young family etc.

Matai - Will play 2015 season with Manly and no closer to knowing whether we're still interested in him from 2016 onwards.

Merrin - Continues to be linked with the Warriors along with other clubs for 2016, but looks to definitely be leaving the drags. Still unlikely to be headed to NZ for partner-related reasons.

RTVS - nothing new.

Can anyone add anything to any of that?

 

[mt.wellington]

So, am I right in making the following statements re the 4 players we've been linked to..

Foran - Very unlikely to be heading to NZ despite us offering him the world, reportedly because he doesn't want to leave Aus with young family etc.

Matai - Will play 2015 season with Manly and no closer to knowing whether we're still interested in him from 2016 onwards.

Merrin - Continues to be linked with the Warriors along with other clubs for 2016, but looks to definitely be leaving the drags. Still unlikely to be headed to NZ for partner-related reasons.

RTVS - nothing new.

Can anyone add anything to any of that?

All other rumours have seen players sign elsewhere. The only other one that I can remember is the two Pommie players that Iron Lion mentioned.

I know one is a young forward from Wigan that Sam Tomkins rates highly and got the club onto him. Not sure on the other but he may come from Wigan as well. RidingPie PaulCharnock Wigan Warrior Kittwazzer do you guys know who I maybe talking about? Young prop who has huge raps on him.

Anyway, we're not meant to know about this so dont tell anyone. Secret should be safe on the internet...

 

[GazrethW]

I would assume Ryan Sutton. Realistically he's by far the best young prop prospect at Wigan. Only played a few first team games up to now but he's got a good workrate and has stood up well against bigger and more experienced packs. Think he was part of a young team who absolutely beat the he'll out of an experienced group of Leeds forwards at magic last year.

 

[Wiill7]

We need havili playing ,the forwards are like sitting ducks because everyone knows friends just going to pass , offers no confusion around the ruck .not saying the forwards don't have to step up because they do ,but havili in hooker would give the boys a little more space and at least make the defence think