Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Sat Aug 26, 2023 4:41 pm  

Has Brandon Wakeham got a club yet, in the bits of the very poor Tigers I’ve seen this year he’s stood out as a bright spot.

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Sat Aug 26, 2023 9:22 pm  

The answer is that there is no ‘answer’ to the spine issues. We don’t seem to have good enough young players coming through, like Saints for example. All their ‘spine’ are talented young academy players.
We just have to see what we can do with what’s available. Clearly Sinfield isn’t ready at 18, like Dodd was.
Fwiw I’d definitely be playing Newman FB, Miller at 6, then think we could do worse than a Frawley at 7….
Myler is still a useful squad player, Hooley can cover several positions too….

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Sat Aug 26, 2023 10:20 pm  

leedsbarmyarmy wrote:

No one is going to be good enough for Leeds fans, unless he’s a SOO regular

Very typical thanks for the content

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Sat Aug 26, 2023 10:30 pm  

I always think it is easy to say a certain player isn’t good enough, doesn’t have the attributes we need or would be one of the worst players in the position in SL. I also see a lot of comments saying we will have so much cap, how can we possibly end up with that player or this player. However, I very rarely, if ever, see a comment in which a player who has the attributes we say we want, wants to move to SL and is OOC or available is actually named. There is always a lot of comments saying every other club in SL has signed players we should be after and we are miles behind.
Who are these players we should have gone for that others have signed? And who are these hypothetical players in the positions we want, who want to come to SL and are OOC or available?

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Sat Aug 26, 2023 11:29 pm  

Well lp, given that none of us on here are player agents or work for the club, its very hard to tell. But Miller was contracted for two more years at the Knights and we signed him. The point is that the club shouldn't - and clearly hasn't - just assume that a contracted player won't sign. I've named the Dolphins trio (Nikorima, Milford, O'Sullivan) multiple times, all of whom are way better than Clune or Frawley. Are they interested? Don't know. Are they available? No idea.

Hopefully someone at the club is looking into them and others of similar ability, regardless of contract status. All I do know is applying the criteria of decent quality, available and not contracted means signing nobody. If you don't ask you won't know, and what we can offer some of these guys is a length of contract they wouldn't get in the NRL. Not to mention we should have marquee spots available which means the money shouldn't be that far off either.

IMO the time has passed for the club to sign some makeweight plodder at halfback. We currently have no contracted halfback for next season worth squat. Myler is not a starting halfback, as we've found to our cost in 2018 and 2019. Sinfield may or may not make it (frankly if he had a different surname I'm not sure anyone would be pinning much hope on him). And we've had years of mediocrity, with our longest run outside the top 4 since the early 1950s.

So while I don't know who might or might not be available, I do think its time for the club to push the boat out and take a risk on getting the absolute best we can. Its time to draw a line in the sand so everyone can at least feel the club is doing its best to get back to the top. Answering that challenge is up to the club, not us on here randomly naming players (including me of course).

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Sun Aug 27, 2023 5:30 am  

Once were Loiners wrote:

Well lp, given that none of us on here are player agents or work for the club, its very hard to tell. But Miller was contracted for two more years at the Knights and we signed him. The point is that the club shouldn't - and clearly hasn't - just assume that a contracted player won't sign. I've named the Dolphins trio (Nikorima, Milford, O'Sullivan) multiple times, all of whom are way better than Clune or Frawley. Are they interested? Don't know. Are they available? No idea.

Hopefully someone at the club is looking into them and others of similar ability, regardless of contract status. All I do know is applying the criteria of decent quality, available and not contracted means signing nobody. If you don't ask you won't know, and what we can offer some of these guys is a length of contract they wouldn't get in the NRL. Not to mention we should have marquee spots available which means the money shouldn't be that far off either.

IMO the time has passed for the club to sign some makeweight plodder at halfback. We currently have no contracted halfback for next season worth squat. Myler is not a starting halfback, as we've found to our cost in 2018 and 2019. Sinfield may or may not make it (frankly if he had a different surname I'm not sure anyone would be pinning much hope on him). And we've had years of mediocrity, with our longest run outside the top 4 since the early 1950s.

So while I don't know who might or might not be available, I do think its time for the club to push the boat out and take a risk on getting the absolute best we can. Its time to draw a line in the sand so everyone can at least feel the club is doing its best to get back to the top. Answering that challenge is up to the club, not us on here randomly naming players (including me of course).

Aren't Nikorima and O'Sullivan the Dolphins current starting half back combo? Starting half backs in the NRL do not generally have a move to England on their career wish list. Don't think the Dolphins have an upgrade lined up for next year - although that could change- so our chances of persuading either are slim to none. Given Milford's current standing in the game eyebrows would be raised both here and in the NRL if we were to sign him - but not in a good way. I suspect the Dolphins would likely kick in for part of what would still likely by a marquee wage (never a good sign) to get him off the books. You never know, he might be sensational over here, but there would be substantial risk involved. For the record I have no idea who we could or should sign from the NRL, and for that reason I'm hoping Smith's contacts and knowledge of players can turn up some lads who can make a difference.

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Sun Aug 27, 2023 7:15 am  

Once were Loiners wrote:

Well lp, given that none of us on here are player agents or work for the club, its very hard to tell. But Miller was contracted for two more years at the Knights and we signed him. The point is that the club shouldn't - and clearly hasn't - just assume that a contracted player won't sign. I've named the Dolphins trio (Nikorima, Milford, O'Sullivan) multiple times, all of whom are way better than Clune or Frawley. Are they interested? Don't know. Are they available? No idea.

Hopefully someone at the club is looking into them and others of similar ability, regardless of contract status. All I do know is applying the criteria of decent quality, available and not contracted means signing nobody. If you don't ask you won't know, and what we can offer some of these guys is a length of contract they wouldn't get in the NRL. Not to mention we should have marquee spots available which means the money shouldn't be that far off either.

IMO the time has passed for the club to sign some makeweight plodder at halfback. We currently have no contracted halfback for next season worth squat. Myler is not a starting halfback, as we've found to our cost in 2018 and 2019. Sinfield may or may not make it (frankly if he had a different surname I'm not sure anyone would be pinning much hope on him). And we've had years of mediocrity, with our longest run outside the top 4 since the early 1950s.

So while I don't know who might or might not be available, I do think its time for the club to push the boat out and take a risk on getting the absolute best we can. Its time to draw a line in the sand so everyone can at least feel the club is doing its best to get back to the top. Answering that challenge is up to the club, not us on here randomly naming players (including me of course).

Well said

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Sun Aug 27, 2023 7:19 am  

We aren’t actually a million miles off and sometimes it’s just that one or two key players which turn losses into wins (we have had lots of narrow losses this year).

I’m not happy with the performance of the pack despite some improvements on paper: we aren’t making the yardage or hitting hard enough in D for me. Losing Walters takes us backwards and so we need a really good prop or second row in there for me.

Half backs is hard because everyone is competing for the limited talent out there - nevertheless Sezer and Austin didn’t really work, we haven’t been working there for years and we are now having to replace both positions.

Re. Sinfield he regularly gets MoM in the Academy and is a good goal kicker as well as scoring tries - he is good. Whether he’ll make it is anyone’s guess but he isn’t just in there on surname alone.

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Sun Aug 27, 2023 7:25 am  

Couldnt agree more regarding the 'who should we sign instead lines' we constantly get in here, its pointless because we are not privy to what the club has already tried to do and what is actually possible....what i will say, if frawley is the best we can come up with/available, then it has been awful succsesion planning by the club, by hook or by crook, plenty of less established SL clubs have managed to find better halfs over the last couple of years.

If the rumoured resigings of fusitua and bentley are true, then no wonder we'r struggling..using cap space on players who need a list of 'if's' to be valuable is a terrible way to build a squad.

Bentley - 'He misses a lot but makes a lot'... 'if he can keep his head'.. if he's playing with a better pack'.. 'if everyone else is making meters' at what point do you look at the player and think about what he's actually offering? We have a younger, better version of him already, awful decision if we keep him imo

Fusitua - 'if he can stay fit' well he hasnt for 4 year so evidence suggests he cant, using a quota spot on him is an absolute waste, big, athletic outside backs are a dime a dozen in the NRL, if we cant use a quota spot and find one then we arnt looking hard enough, for balance, using it on a centre instead of a winger would make more sense as Nene is better on the wing

Miller is a good exciting signing, and somewhere i would focus my attention is the NSW cup team he played in last year...Miller, kayal iro, tom hazeleton. All would of been quality additions while not being established nrl players....but again, i dont know if the club have looked, so pointless asking what i would have done

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Sun Aug 27, 2023 8:25 am  

Looking at the rhinos Twitter, oh to have someone of Iestyn Harris' talent.