Re: World Cup player let down : Fri Nov 18, 2022 11:35 am  

I do agree that the WC has not really drawn up the talent that was talked about. For me PNG’s best player Edene Gebbie didn’t even play. Feels like a false economy too because How can you judge a player on 3 games getting battered by tier 1 teams.

Re: World Cup player let down : Fri Nov 18, 2022 11:54 am  

As has been said the problem is there aren't as many players available as people were hoping for the reasons outlined earlier. For me though there is some talent around amongst the 'available' players, trouble is because of the paucity of numbers no doubt everybody else has spotted them as well, likely including the Aussie clubs. Signing a completely untried player comes with a large chunk of risk and all of a sudden because of other interest to get them to come over here to a lower end club those players have probably gone from a 50K risk to an 80K+ one. Given our budget contraints its a bold move to take that punt on someone who may turn out to be a Stanley Gene but is just as likely to be a Wellington Albert.

The problem we have now though is that most available homegrown talent that would improve us is now already signed up for next season somewhere and the majority of clubs are settled with their squads and aren't necessarily wanting to trade players. There is going to have to be some serious wheeler dealing done to fill the squad gaps wwith sufficient quality.

Re: World Cup player let down : Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:34 pm  

vastman wrote:

Despite Trojans admirable efforts, am I the only one who saw very little available raw/unknown quality at this WC.

I watched every game and not a single available player stood out. Despite what people say PNG were poor and the supposed toughness of their pack a bit of a joke. Fiji no more flair than Dewsbury in March IMHO. Lebanon, a great effort, but quality, err no.

Truth is the NRL is now far bigger and the second grade competitions also offers a decent living to a lot of players who twenty years ago would have made their way to the UK.

Let's concentrate on our Academy and British players we can pick up from other SL clubs or the Championship. It's far easier, probably far cheaper and frankly the players look far better. If later next year some quality in the NRL is freed up then fine, but most will likely be snapped up by other NRL teams in truth.

Sad, but the much vaunted quota spot is becoming a touch redundant imho as there is not much to fill it with, hence the drive by clubs like Saints and Leeds in particular to hoover up any potential young talent outside the SL.

To be honest although I did try my best it certainly was slim pickings. I don’t actually think it helped with some less established nations playing each other. It’s hard to guage the potential of players not playing against what you would call SL/NRL opposition. In a way it’s some what of a punt.

We may have to take a bit of a punt though.

Re: World Cup player let down : Fri Nov 18, 2022 1:49 pm  

vastman wrote:

I agree, to an extent but things have changed dramatically since then. The point I'm making is that players like JD or Perry would probably now stay in Oz and play second grade, they may even have got a gig for the Dolphins to add depth or be set up for Perth in a few years time. To know how player hungry the NRL now is, you only have to look at Dom Young with 2 SL games to his name, or better still a former Trinity Academy player Wesley Bruins, who virtually none of us had ever heard of, got a one year development deal in Oz and could have stayed there if he'd wanted to.

SL for most Southern Hemisphere players is really a last ditch these days, unless they are star signings, which I suppose Prescott just about is and thus on decent money compared to what they would get in Oz.

For me it's slim pickings, and thats why I understand why a thoughtful coaching team like Applegarth/Ford are taking their time. I'm sure there are still some out there but we won't be the only ones looking, so it's hard work. So with that in mind I do think Leeds have the right idea on Championship second chancers.

Back to the main point, I still wasn't impressed with many of the players I saw who weren't already tied to the NRL.

Have they? I`m not sure, I`d say it`s actually tougher to get game time in the top tier over there than it was 15/20 years ago so you could argue there is a lot more quality players with very few or no NRL appearances at all. How many NRL games had big Dave played when he came over? The likes of Jai Field has around 10 NRL appearances and he`s probably the best player in the comp.

Re: World Cup player let down : Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:27 pm  

vastman wrote:

Add to that agents who keep players on the market as long as possible and play clubs off against each other.

That tactic wont work with us because I think we are the only club left with space in England. Puts us in a strong position I would think.

Re: World Cup player let down : Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:04 pm  

Prince Buster wrote:

That tactic wont work with us because I think we are the only club left with space in England. Puts us in a strong position I would think.

Salford have a space and if they fancy the South of France instead then Catalans have two.

Re: World Cup player let down : Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:12 pm  

Sacred Cow wrote:

Salford have a space and if they fancy the South of France instead then Catalans have two.

Ah thought it was only us, didnt realise Salford still had space, nevertheless I still think we must be in a buyers market if players want a contract in England

Re: World Cup player let down : Fri Nov 18, 2022 11:37 pm  

Joining in the conversation from down under… I think the biggest issue now is that (unless we are talking a mega marquee player) is that there is more money in bush football than much of the English game…

There are players playing locally to me who are on considerable expenses sponsored by local businesses. Average wages here are much higher than in the UK… the economy is good and opportunities are plentiful

All of which means slim pickings for SuperLeague.

The best options are with those who want to travel and play footy

Re: World Cup player let down : Sat Nov 19, 2022 3:35 pm  

There Will always be decent quality players wanting a taste of a different lifestyle and earning a good living along the way , chancing their arm over here .Who had heard a lot about Fifita before he rocked up and thrilled us with his on field off field antics over the years, I’ll take that every day of the week thank you . Gone are the days of 3 months on a cruise ship to get here , it’s 24 hrs which in the big scheme of things is nothing . The odd player doesn’t settle but the majority stay their full contract and even extend and most add to overall quality of our teams .

Re: World Cup player let down : Sun Nov 20, 2022 9:26 am  

There's always clubs, both here and in Aus, trying to move players on to make space in their salary cap.

We're here ready for those players, and if the parent club is really desperate they will pay part of the wages to get the player here.

With Miller, for example Hull pretty much paid his wages because they wanted rid of him.

I'm confident we will get a couple of good players in before the season starts, maybe have room left for a mid-season transfer or loan deal too.