Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Sun Oct 02, 2022 7:51 pm  

not sure Macdonald is a big upgrade on sutcliffe. and he has an overseas spot. think we could have done better

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Sun Oct 02, 2022 8:01 pm  

bdrhino wrote:

Have we actually signed the prop from leigh?

And how would we be getting both with only Thompson leaving from OQ.


Ah, the fusitua leaving rumour..

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Oct 03, 2022 6:27 am  

Magic Superbeetle wrote:

You can have a squad of 30. Of those 30, the top 25 earners count towards the cap. So if the 25th highest earner in the squad earns 25k, and then you sign someone in 30k, the total cap spend has increased 5k - as the player earning 25k becomes the 26th highest earner and therefore doesn’t count on the cap

I wonder if any of our Championship new signings won’t count on the salary cap then if they’re not one of the clubs top 25 earning players

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:11 am  

Interesting to see if we get some ignings confirmed this week then.... tbh I'm a little underwhelmed with what's coming in, I'm not wanting to sound negative but was especially hoping for a bit of class up front.

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Oct 03, 2022 10:45 am  

I can't help but thinking that letting Sutcliffe go is a mistake... especially when we'll use up a quota spot on his replacement.

Watching the NRL grand finals it's really occurred to me that the game has evolved from having gun centres that you give early ball to, and let them try to make breaks outwide. With the exception of Crighton, none of the centres in the GF are big name players. You can say the same for Souths or the Sharks too. The back three are now way more important than the centres, who mostly need to be good defensively.

I think moving forward, it makes more sense to upgrade Fusitua and find a long term solution to our fullback issue. Can only see Hardaker or Myler playing at their current level for another couple of years.

The front row also HAS to be a priority if we are to compete with Saints next year.

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Oct 03, 2022 10:59 am  

Its a bit chicken and egg with the centres. Joey Manu is a real threat for the Roosters and a huge part of their game. At the Bronocos, Farnworth and Staggs are key to their game. Olam is a weapon for the Storm.

For me the issue with Sutcliffe isn't so much his general standard as a centre, but the fact that he represents an ongoing acceptance of blah players. Hopefully whoever we get is an upgrade.

Agree entirely re the front row. Smith didn't reinvent the game this season, he managed a team with a duff front row to win despite that glaring weakness. I'd be surprised if he wasn't the first to say that he'd rather have a better set of props. It looks like we're not going to get in a star prop, but hopefully between our new signings we'll have the makings of a gun front row when Prior and Tetevano leave.

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Oct 03, 2022 1:49 pm  

Once were Loiners wrote:

Its a bit chicken and egg with the centres. Joey Manu is a real threat for the Roosters and a huge part of their game. At the Bronocos, Farnworth and Staggs are key to their game. Olam is a weapon for the Storm.

For me the issue with Sutcliffe isn't so much his general standard as a centre, but the fact that he represents an ongoing acceptance of blah players. Hopefully whoever we get is an upgrade.

Agree entirely re the front row. Smith didn't reinvent the game this season, he managed a team with a duff front row to win despite that glaring weakness. I'd be surprised if he wasn't the first to say that he'd rather have a better set of props. It looks like we're not going to get in a star prop, but hopefully between our new signings we'll have the makings of a gun front row when Prior and Tetevano leave.

Agreed. Thought Sutcliffe looked well below Saints backline in the GF. Front row is the biggest issue without a doubt.

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:57 pm  

Trebor1 wrote:

Agreed. Thought Sutcliffe looked well below Saints backline in the GF.

I thought so too. To be fair he did well in the second half of the season (as he did in our GF run/win in 2017), and he scored some crucial tries in important games, but he's just not the player for a club of our ambitions. He's not in the same class as past players like Senior, Godden, Moon, Carroll, Watkins and even Hurrell, so we needn't worry too much about him leaving. You'd have thought that if he had star quality in him we'd have seen it by now. Newman has way more potential and Hardaker is a better centre too.

If Sutcliffe goes well at Hull and scores a few against us, so be it. Even the likes of Keinhorst have played well against us but I wouldn't want them back at Leeds.

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:19 pm  

Exeter Rhino wrote:

I thought so too. To be fair he did well in the second half of the season (as he did in our GF run/win in 2017), and he scored some crucial tries in important games, but he's just not the player for a club of our ambitions. He's not in the same class as past players like Senior, Godden, Moon, Carroll, Watkins and even Hurrell, so we needn't worry too much about him leaving. You'd have thought that if he had star quality in him we'd have seen it by now. Newman has way more potential and Hardaker is a better centre too.

If Sutcliffe goes well at Hull and scores a few against us, so be it. Even the likes of Keinhorst have played well against us but I wouldn't want them back at Leeds.

Yep agree fully with that. We need to have better in that position

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:09 am  

tad rhino wrote:

not sure Macdonald is a big upgrade on sutcliffe. and he has an overseas spot. think we could have done better

You're right, he's not. He'd be a massive upgrade.

Can pass, tackle and is quick.