Rumour Warriors Recruitment Discussion and Rumour Mill - 2015

[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

 

[Leedslion007]

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.

Don't remind me... Yeah he's gonna be in the England squad for years to come! For me hes got a bit of Brooks about him, aggressive and big motor

 

[¿N. ig-mah¿]

But Konnie will do more in 3 seasons than Ngani will in 10. Ngani is another journeyman.

He will also drop his focus more times in 3 years than Ngani will in 10. He can't stay off social media, or out of the off-field spotlight. How many times has he got himself in trouble? If he can stay clean off the field, and modify his runs a little to preserve his body, then he will last a while, but otherwise, he could end up in and out with injuries.

 

[¿N. ig-mah¿]

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...

The comments about Havili and henry are just silly. They were about 50th on the list of possible Kiwis hookers, but the top 49 were injured. Benry was just a desperate experiment. Sure, it paid dividends, but it won't be re-tried unless there are more depth issues. Havili was fine, too, but he can't play enough minutes to be any more than a bench hooker. There can be no chain of command with any of our hooking options. Leuluai sees himself as the superstar, and will overcall everyone, Havili and Benry don't have the neccessary experience to lead a spine, and Friend is nothing more than a hack these days.

I would be willing to chip in a few bucks to help Leuluai move on, but (depressingly enough) he is our only real option, right now.

 

[surfin]

He will also drop his focus more times in 3 years than Ngani will in 10. He can't stay off social media, or out of the off-field spotlight. How many times has he got himself in trouble? If he can stay clean off the field, and modify his runs a little to preserve his body, then he will last a while, but otherwise, he could end up in and out with injuries.

How many times has he got himself in trouble? Very few actually and as far as I know never in regards to anything serious or illegal. Social media is a fact of life in the 21st century so get used to it. Ten years ago Facebook was an issue, now it's a non event. Although I don't really do any of them, ( I do have a Facebook account but have never posted a single comment) and get frustrated with some squad members disengaging their brains before using them it's not much different from the team owner doing the same thing after too much Halloween punch. While completely modifying his game to lesson injury possibilities is pointless we may as well chase Dane Neilson. No matter how he plays he may finish up with injuries, like every single player in the comp. As for your first statement, that is based on what? Ngani is a good player I'd like the club to try very hard to keep but so far history has shown that Konnie is the better player, I'll worry about the things that may happen if they actually do.

 

[eX | Machina]

If its between Merrin for 750k or Foran for 1M. To me it's a dead set no brainer. Trent Merrin is exactly what this team needs. Easily the best young lock/prop forward coming through.

 

[¿N. ig-mah¿]

How many times has he got himself in trouble? Very few actually and as far as I know never in regards to anything serious or illegal. Social media is a fact of life in the 21st century so get used to it. Ten years ago Facebook was an issue, now it's a non event. Although I don't really do any of them, ( I do have a Facebook account but have never posted a single comment) and get frustrated with some squad members disengaging their brains before using them it's not much different from the team owner doing the same thing after too much Halloween punch. While completely modifying his game to lesson injury possibilities is pointless we may as well chase Dane Neilson. No matter how he plays he may finish up with injuries, like every single player in the comp. As for your first statement, that is based on what? Ngani is a good player I'd like the club to try very hard to keep but so far history has shown that Konnie is the better player, I'll worry about the things that may happen if they actually do.

My first statement is based on Konrad's preseasons up until this season. Ngani has had great pre-seasons, apart from last year. He is always talked up as one of the front runners in preseason training, but has been lumped in with Konrad due to one Tongan holiday.

You are right, Konny hasn't got in any serious trouble, but he has got a name for misbehaving on social media, though he may have it under control as he hasn't done anything wrong for a while. Any more hijinx like the Vasa blowjob tape would cause enough damage to cost him some gametime. (Funnily enough, I was the first person Konrad followed on Twitter - a few years back when he was a junior, when I started a twitter account to follow the players and found Konny had just started his account. I followed him, and made a couple of comments, probably to or regarding Locke or someone, and he followed me. I checked out his account and I was his only follow. Stayed that way for a while, too. But I would rather he stayed away from social media).

I never said Konrad needed to "completely modify his game", as you are saying. He just needs to add a touch of self-preservation, and not make every hit-up a kamikaze run. He used to suffer after almost every charge, but appears to have toughened up a little.

I hope we can keep Konrad in tiptop shape and play him for a few more years, but I wouldn't base my squad around him lasting every game every year. As long as we have good depth to cover, then we will be OK. My initial thoughts would be Konrad, Ngani and Kata (obviously one will have to play NSW Cup or wing) are our top centres, and Lolohea would be better utilised elsewhere, but able to cover in a worst case situation. I see Wright and Allwood as more wing depth, than first choice centre back-up.

 

[surfin]

My first statement is based on Konrad's preseasons up until this season. Ngani has had great pre-seasons, apart from last year. He is always talked up as one of the front runners in preseason training, but has been lumped in with Konrad due to one Tongan holiday.

You are right, Konny hasn't got in any serious trouble, but he has got a name for misbehaving on social media, though he may have it under control as he hasn't done anything wrong for a while. Any more hijinx like the Vasa blowjob tape would cause enough damage to cost him some gametime. (Funnily enough, I was the first person Konrad followed on Twitter - a few years back when he was a junior, when I started a twitter account to follow the players and found Konny had just started his account. I followed him, and made a couple of comments, probably to or regarding Locke or someone, and he followed me. I checked out his account and I was his only follow. Stayed that way for a while, too. But I would rather he stayed away from social media).

I never said Konrad needed to "completely modify his game", as you are saying. He just needs to add a touch of self-preservation, and not make every hit-up a kamikaze run. He used to suffer after almost every charge, but appears to have toughened up a little.

I hope we can keep Konrad in tiptop shape and play him for a few more years, but I wouldn't base my squad around him lasting every game every year. As long as we have good depth to cover, then we will be OK. My initial thoughts would be Konrad, Ngani and Kata (obviously one will have to play NSW Cup or wing) are our top centres, and Lolohea would be better utilised elsewhere, but able to cover in a worst case situation. I see Wright and Allwood as more wing depth, than first choice centre back-up.

Wasn't last year the first year for both of them as fulltime first graders?

 

[jonno]

There can be no chain of command with any of our hooking options. Leuluai sees himself as the superstar, and will overcall everyone, Havili and Benry don't have the neccessary experience to lead a spine, and Friend is nothing more than a hack these days.

I would be willing to chip in a few bucks to help Leuluai move on, but (depressingly enough) he is our only real option, right now.

TL was a big name in England, and he's a regular in the Kiwi's test squad, but for some reason he doesn't seem to be the man when playing for us.... On paper I think he's much better than what he really is.

Maybe he just needs to take a back seat,,,,,,,,,,,, all the way back to Wigan...