Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:20 pm  

christopher wrote:

Doesn’t a club revamp start with getting rid of players who don’t want to be here?

That takes longer than a year.

Whilst I agree with your general point, one could point out that this ‘revamp’ of the squad has been happening since 2016 (or should have been) with little sign of it ending so how much longer is it going to take?

Given GH hasn’t been able to sort this out in that time so far, what gives us confidence that he will do in time for 2024 or 2025?

The same issues with our squad/recruitment/salary cap usage that people have been bringing up ever since the golden generation ended seem to be the same issues we still have now which I think is the source of much frustration amongst a proportion of the fan base….ie if GH/the club are aware of the issues, why are they still ongoing after all this time?

Yes, it takes more than a year, even more than 2-3 years but this has been ongoing (2017 aside) for 7 years and currently shows no signs of being sorted for next season unless the club have a number of significant and quality new recruits to announce that we don’t know about yet.

I can see why patience is wearing thin amongst some of the fan base. I know mine is and I’ve been a season ticket holder since 1980 so have seen plenty of poop times

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:21 pm  

Seth wrote:

Theres a balance to be had though between the quality of skills a player possesses, and the desire to give everything to the cause. Ie, no we wouldn't be a better team 'if only we had 17 James Donaldsons'.

But what if we could transplant Donaldsons brain and heart into the body of Mitch Achurch?

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:27 pm  

cheekydiddles wrote:

Whilst I agree with your general point, one could point out that this ‘revamp’ of the squad has been happening since 2016 (or should have been) with little sign of it ending so how much longer is it going to take?

Given GH hasn’t been able to sort this out in that time so far, what gives us confidence that he will do in time for 2024 or 2025?

The same issues with our squad/recruitment/salary cap usage that people have been bringing up ever since the golden generation ended seem to be the same issues we still have now which I think is the source of much frustration amongst a proportion of the fan base….ie if GH/the club are aware of the issues, why are they still ongoing after all this time?

Yes, it takes more than a year, even more than 2-3 years but this has been ongoing (2017 aside) for 7 years and currently shows no signs of being sorted for next season unless the club have a number of significant and quality new recruits to announce that we don’t know about yet.

I can see why patience is wearing thin amongst some of the fan base. I know mine is and I’ve been a season ticket holder since 1980 so have seen plenty of poop times

I do get that, but when was the last time we had as big a clear out of players, early 2000? yes that should have happened before now but at least its happening now, we also have some decent young players coming through.

It's really frustrating for us all, but personally I do think the current clear out and patience with the younger players will pay in the end.

The biggest issue we have doing this now is that overseas recruitment is really important but also because of the Ads salary cap more difficult than its ever been. There's a lot of talk from Smith about players being a good fit for the club, hopefully that means players that want to be here to help the cause not ones that will jump ship at the back end of the season A la Austin

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:40 pm  

ArthurClues wrote:

I watched the Raiders v Sharks game back in full. At the risk of being shot for treason, I thought he went OK. Canberra were clearly playing to a very set game plan with the scrum half (I forget his name) doing the majority of the kicking. Frawley's main role looked to be to drop Wighton off on the inside ball and support breaks through the middle, both of which he did. Beyond that his passing was decent, he did take on the line a couple of times on the back of quick play the balls, he didn't drop a ball, concede a penalty or miss a tackle. He even had a pop at a drop goal on the stroke of half time (which hit the post) which puts in a minority of one in terms of game management in the Rhinos 2023 set up. I'm not saying he's a great player, or the answer to our problems but I do think some of the stick he's copping on here is a bit over the top. For a half back who allegedly doesn't run with the ball he's scored quite a few in (10 in 52) the NRL. For context Jackson Hastings has managed 4 in 85 NRL games. Our chances off success next season are going to be dependent on a number of signings, not one. If Frawley is the steady away six to a more dynamic seven I won't complain. If he's Myler's half back partner I will. I'm not going to moan too much until we have the complete picture.

As massively underwhelming as signing Frawley might seem, we have to give him a chance at least.
Presume Wighton, who has played regularly at 6, is playing in the centre and Frawley at 6, so that says something.

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:48 pm  

Simmo71 wrote:

As massively underwhelming as signing Frawley might seem, we have to give him a chance at least.
Presume Wighton, who has played regularly at 6, is playing in the centre and Frawley at 6, so that says something.

As mentioned earlier Wighton is only playing centre as Croker is injured

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:51 pm  

christopher wrote:

He went a strange way about staying with us if he really wanted to.

I guess we'll never know but both Austin and GH have both said it was Austin who initiated the move, Austin apparently after taking a call from his mate Widdop asking him to help them out - that's going well!

How does a starting OQ player go to the club and tell them that he wants to leave and help another SL team while contracted to Leeds??
And Leeds just say, yes no problem.
Got to be way more to it than that.

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:55 pm  

Simmo71 wrote:

How does a starting OQ player go to the club and tell them that he wants to leave and help another SL team while contracted to Leeds??
And Leeds just say, yes no problem.
Got to be way more to it than that.

Who knows, Im just saying what they have both said.

ATEOTD I don't want a player that would do that at the club, I said the same when Austin started spouting off in interviews about his contract, that never sat right with me and smacked of arrogance after having a few good games after a season and a half of inconsistent form.

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:00 pm  

Barrie’s Glass Eye wrote:

But what if we could transplant Donaldsons brain and heart into the body of Mitch Achurch?

I don't know about as a rugby player, but what a catch he would be!

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:01 pm  

STEVENM1000 wrote:

As mentioned earlier Wighton is only playing centre as Croker is injured

Fair enough, but Stuart could have easily put someone else in the centre and played Wighton at 6.
But he hasn't.

Not gonna lie, I'm underwhelmed.
But if he signs, we've got an OQ 6 with NRL pedigree who is currently playing in the NRL, which is what we all wanted.
Got to give him a chance.
And he may link nicely with Miller.

Re: Transfer Talk / Rumour thread V4 : Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:05 pm  

Simmo71 wrote:

Fair enough, but Stuart could have easily put someone else in the centre and played Wighton at 6.
But he hasn't.

Not gonna lie, I'm underwhelmed.
But if he signs, we've got an OQ 6 with NRL pedigree who is currently playing in the NRL, which is what we all wanted.
Got to give him a chance.
And he may link nicely with Miller.

On the face of it it is an underwhelming signing, but we can only really judge him on what he does when he's here, we can't judge him on what he did at the Giants 4 years ago.

There is also a shortage of half backs, I don't think there's any headline signings in that position been made by any other SL club from Australia has there?