Re: Rumours 2 : Fri Jul 26, 2019 11:51 am  

I wouldn't have thought agents think that Warrington have more money available than others as we face the same salary cap constraint as the rest of SL and they know we already have big earners on the books.

Where I think clubs get fleeced like that is when they are clubs who have recently come in to money, not previously been spending at the full cap but now have money available. The agents know that there is cap space at these clubs and also they are more desperate to get names in to establish themselves as a club with ambition. This was us, in the Cullen era, when we were signing players from Bradford and Saints or big NRL clubs who were not quite good enough for those clubs any more but had the kind of profile we needed.

I think where we may be been overcharged is in chasing halfbacks, because agents have seen us as a club that sees itself as competing for the GF, and you have to have a front line halfback, the last two seasons we've looked in the NRL and picked up players who have commanded big salaries but not been State of Origin level so maybe found it difficult to fit into NRL clubs salary caps at the level they wanted. We've been an obvious target as someone willing to pay big for the halfback that will be the golden ticket to win us the GF.

Re: Rumours 2 : Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:16 pm  

Wires71 wrote:

Do we know that Moran and Middleton directly fund the signings or are they financed through the club through income generated?

Anyhow I do not think it should be too difficult to improve upon Tasi and Sitoleki even if we had Warren Buffet on the board.

We once had the argument of not having money as to why we had a poor squad, we can't use the reverse argument now.

If we don't buy two decent props for 2020 then something is very wrong with the salary cap management and recruitment at the club.

I've no idea whether it's Moran, Middleton or self financing. Either way it doesn't matter, and as you state we cannot use lack of cash as a factor in a poor squad these days. I also agree that we ought to improve on Tasi, Sita and others, without too much difficulty.
The only problem I can foresee is other clubs chasing the same players on our radar and beating us to them, or the price being pushed up because its Warrington.

Re: Rumours 2 : Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:20 pm  

Or thane wrote:

That's a bang on comment, i never actually thought of that and that does make sense. Rubber Duckie has mantioned Eddie Battye and he's a hard working big minutes prop. Doesn't skittle players but do a Quality job for us and take pressure off Hill and cooper. Also if we are prepared to throw big Money at Burgess why not pick up Sebastine Ikahihifo that huddersfield are trying to move on to free up cap space? I bet he still wouldn't command the wage Burgess would but he's a Quality prop. As for other props i'm unsure. But Price & Co will have a much wider net and knowledge of who's available etc so i'm surprised we've heard nothing on the Prop front. I'm just hoping we have 1 or 2 players signed and just keeping it under wraps until the end of the season.

I've also mentioned Battye in another thread, which wasn't a unanimous choice amongst our community. I believe he'd do a good job for us, but have no idea of availability. Not sure about Ikahihifo, as I havent seen a lot of Huddersfield this season. Hope your final comment comes to fruition, without us being underwhelmed a la Tasi.

Re: Rumours 2 : Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:26 pm  

sally cinnamon wrote:

I wouldn't have thought agents think that Warrington have more money available than others as we face the same salary cap constraint as the rest of SL and they know we already have big earners on the books.

Where I think clubs get fleeced like that is when they are clubs who have recently come in to money, not previously been spending at the full cap but now have money available. The agents know that there is cap space at these clubs and also they are more desperate to get names in to establish themselves as a club with ambition. This was us, in the Cullen era, when we were signing players from Bradford and Saints or big NRL clubs who were not quite good enough for those clubs any more but had the kind of profile we needed.

I think where we may be been overcharged is in chasing halfbacks, because agents have seen us as a club that sees itself as competing for the GF, and you have to have a front line halfback, the last two seasons we've looked in the NRL and picked up players who have commanded big salaries but not been State of Origin level so maybe found it difficult to fit into NRL clubs salary caps at the level they wanted. We've been an obvious target as someone willing to pay big for the halfback that will be the golden ticket to win us the GF.

It's supply and demand, and all the good props (even British ones) are all in the NRL. This leaves a second, or even third tier of player compared to previous SL eras, in SL.
I cannot for the life of me envisage an agent giving a flying one about the salary cap when he or she has two or more clubs interested in a client.

Re: Rumours 2 : Fri Jul 26, 2019 3:36 pm  

If rumours are to be believed the strength of clubs in SL is up in the air massively next year. Hull are strengthening nicely on the quiet and Wigan are adding real quality to what is frankly an awful side this year.

Saints are likely to be going the other way at a rapid rate of knots meaning there could be Hull, Wire and Wigan at the top table next year without you needing to sign another player. Catalans could join them but are so inconsistent it's never worth backing them.

Re: Rumours 2 : Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:18 pm  

We all want the next Morley but quite frankly I'd settle for the next Paul Wood right now.

We won the 2012 CC final with a pack of Carvell, Hill, Waterhouse, Westwood, Harrison, Morley, Wood and McCarthy.

So: 3 great props (Morley, Carvell, Hill), 1 good one (Wood), 2 big SR's (Westwood & Waterhouse), 1 smaller workhorse (McCarthy) and a proper LF (Harrison).

In our last game against Cas we had: 2 great props (Hill & Cooper), 1 terrible one (Tasi), 4 smaller workhorses (Clark, Currie, Davies, Hughes), 1 impact prop (Philbin)

The balance is all off.

[Uncle Rico]

Re: Rumours 2 : Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:31 pm  

I know it's out of context but if ever there was an example of read em and weep

Re: Rumours 2 : Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:13 pm  

Jack Napier wrote:

We all want the next Morley but quite frankly I'd settle for the next Paul Wood right now.

We won the 2012 CC final with a pack of Carvell, Hill, Waterhouse, Westwood, Harrison, Morley, Wood and McCarthy.

So: 3 great props (Morley, Carvell, Hill), 1 good one (Wood), 2 big SR's (Westwood & Waterhouse), 1 smaller workhorse (McCarthy) and a proper LF (Harrison).

In our last game against Cas we had: 2 great props (Hill & Cooper), 1 terrible one (Tasi), 4 smaller workhorses (Clark, Currie, Davies, Hughes), 1 impact prop (Philbin)

The balance is all off.

Worlds apart but inflation alone has taken 400k out of the value if the salary cap in that time.

Plus there are deeper set issues with recruitment it has been hit and miss under both coaches, I know that one player was brought in despite the coach saying no and we persisted in bringing in a player who openly admitted he would rather stay at his club.

Big players will go where they feel they can win a trophy we pay big money because its not really a probability they will get a grand final win with us. Leeds managed to get a good squad on reasonable wages because you will more than likely get a grand final win. Players go to Wigan for their history and good record in finals despite not always having the best squad or being favourites.

We seem to have tried to spread our money too wide in players like akoula Jason Clarke tasi Hughes on squad fillers rather than get 3 good solid players and use youth to cover where squad cannot during a season?

Re: Rumours 2 : Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:21 pm  

I very much doubt any player turns us down on the basis of not getting to finals. 8 major finals since 2010.

Re: Rumours 2 : Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:41 pm  

I think it is fair to say that ,especially in our trips to Old Trafford ,we have put up excellent efforts and have generally lost by fine margins ,brought about by mysteriously caused injuries to key players , uneven refereeing decisions &, at times, deliberate gamesmanship by the likes of Ryan Bailey.