Meaney is going to Melbourne.
Jackson- keep.
Chricton or T Katoa release, we don't need 2 small wingers, both are ok players.
Dietz - undecided.
Lewis - probably release.
C. Smith - undecided.
Otherwise I agree.

I am not sure about the reserve grade fullback.
We probably need to find a good utility- fullback/winger/centre - we have Allan but need a player with more spark.
A quantity specalist hooker is essential.
A quality starting prop is essential.
I want to see how the young players go this weekend.
For most other positions I prefer to promote young players if they are good enough.

Fair enough it was dumb, dumb, dumb, why am I not surpised Napa, Wardell and Katoa were involved.
They are dumb on and off the field. Still it is a bonus they are not playing this week.

I am disappointed in Wakeham, Schoupp is young and inexperienced, I'll cut him some slack for a first offense.

Meaney’s gone.

Punt T Kotoa and Chrichton, not modern day wingers and bog average for any era anyway.

Lewis had a thousand chances, gone. Wakeham almost in the same boat, but if he’s under contract better make it a big year.

Atoni not worth bidding against, if The Tigers want him he can take their overpayments.

Dietz can play Reggies elsewhere.

NRLol saying the club didn’t do enough to inform the players of the restrictions... Sharts not fined, Dugan copped $25K

I thought Meaney departure was still just a rumour. If it's now confirmed, we definitely need a fullback- a proper one. 

Needs to be someone who can set the defence line. Not just run. 

Releasing DWZ and Hoppa are good decisions. Releasing Meaney with no proven replacement is poor.

I'm all for releasing half the team, but we need to replace them with equal, better or potential better players. 

For that reason I dont think guys like T Katoa, Chrichton and Dietz are on much $$$. Lewis might be on decent coin but I doubt he's on much more than around 400k. For a spine player and with too many question marks on the makeup of our halves, I think its worth keeping him. 

But you're probably right, we can only keep 1 if Wakeham or Lewis. Cant get rid of both. Need a backup half to Avo /Burton.

Personally, I'd keep them both at current value.

Meaney wasn’t released.

I think the problem with the Dogs is we wait for current player contracts to run out, wait to have the money and cap space to enter the market and...... no talent left in the open market.

We should be making behind the scene enquiries to recruit better players even before we run out the contracts of existing players.

For the last decade or so, all I hear about is that there is noone worth chasing on the market....

If you’re keeping them for backup, which you say you are and I say that’s all they’re worth, then you’d like to think we have someone in the system that deserves the chance more, or we can fill spaces with better pickups from outside.

They’ve all had their chance, all of them, and we’ve seen everything we need to see to make judgement on them. Keeping them around just prevents someone else from having their shot, and we need to see them.

Well its beyond stupid we didnt go after Nicko Hynes if we hadn't resigned Meaney.

He is the hottest property on the market and will kill it in next few years. 

Well dont to the Sharks. They showed us how it's done. 

Yeah, Sharks payed $600k, or maybe more, for him, for 3 years.

Did you want to pay him more than Burton, seeing as we’ll probably have to upgrade him by the end of next year to stop him hitting the market?

I dont disagree with you.
But for every one of those you let go, you need to replace. I'm not sure who's on the market list, but I bet there arent any "standouts". 

Anyone got a list or a link?

Personally yes.
I think Hynes has proven himself more so than Burton. 

Both will be good. But Hynes is challenging the top fullbacks of the comp. Burton is still not 8n the top echelon. 

We need a good long term spine and having those 2 would have been halfway there. Add Averillo at 5/8th and we would only be 1 good hooker from a top spine.

Paying min 600 or 700k for a superstar fullback is the norm. I dont understand why you think it's not money worth spent.

It's quite obvious we are still overpaying our forwards...

It’s because who we’ve got on the books in the backs for 2002 already Marki, and that’s with DWZ gone, Can you not count or are you just not paying attention? We can’t afford to pay backs NRL money to play Reggies while we don’t have a forward pack for them to play behind.

Whether you like them or not, there’s already 4 players… at least by my count… who’d back themselves to play NRL #1, and probably all of them capable. Sure we’d all like better, we’d all like Turbo, but money for a #1 is money better spent elsewhere right now.

We have some decent players in reserve grade, specifically wingers and centres.
And we have a gun centre in flegg. 

Forwards wise I think we need an experienced prop and hooker, that isn't about depth, key positions in the starting line up.

I still think JAC is a likely fullback, no one good will come to play fullback in reserve grade.
If JAC doesn't work out the options are Averillo and Allan...

A better bet is keep some cash in reserve in case a gun young fullback becomes available midseason.

Meaney should have been playing fullback from round 1 last year instead he has had 2 seasons of coaches prefering to play slower less competent players. In the end we still don't know if he is a top NRL fullback. Had he been treated better, and had more opportunity, he might have stayed.


That is the problem with playing 2nd rate players, and signing 2nd rate players, they may block the path of a more talented young player.

The list that Zef and I are happy to part with are all 2nd rate.

You don't know that.

Napa is probably over paid.
Thompson is probably on good money.
Elliott would have been in demand...
Most of the rest are probably on the lower end of the scale.

We need to offload some starting with Napa. 

But we you look at where we lose games it is in the forwards, particularly if any one of Thompson, Hetherington, Jackson and JMK are not playing.  Even with all 4 available we sometimes give up a lot of size and quailty to opposition packs.

If is very unusual for the Dogs to have poor forwards, whenever we do we finish bottom or close to bottom of the table, everytime.

How can you say that? 
How can you possibly think money spent outside the spine is better spent? 

We know Hoppa is gone at seasons end. We knew this 2 years ago. He is on big money I can assure you. All we had to do was give his contract value to a high profile fullback. We could have bought anyone for the center roll if we dont feel we have young guys that can fill the roll. 

I think it was a lost opportunity. I dont know what has been promised for JAC but if it was the fullback spot, it could certainly affect or delay our rebuild...

I'm not interested in players backing themselves in the #1 spot. I want runs on the board. We invested time in Meaney. And we are now losing him with no confirmed better replacement.

Chalk this as a stuff up by the coach and admin.

"A better bet is keep some cash in reserve in case a gun young fullback becomes available midseason"

Yep. I've seen this episode before....
Nicko Hynes is your young gun fullback who can already double as as 5/8th. Was available from 2022 when we have a warchest, yet is signed for Sharks in no fuss deal and for value money.

Let's face it. We arent interested.

It's not a size thing. It's a style of play.
Our forwards look 10 times better when they play in reserve grade than they do in first grade. Not just because the game isnt is quick. Its sometimes quicker. But our reserves team plays a better style of game and their abilities come to the fore better.

Hetherington and Thompson being new players, bring that much needed speed and desire to hit the ball up properly and bend the line. They time their runs better. 

If we can improve that aspect of our game, our guys would look good enough. But we need 2 or 3 new faces to help playing that style long enough that it doesnt get rubbed out and we fall back into 1 out hit ups.

I was very much against Pangai Junior previously because he's an idiot. But I think we need him for 2 years to just run to the line and throw offloads. I dont care much if only 50% are successful. We just need to have someone create chaos in tackles and become unpredictable. Kasiano style.

Once we develop respect from other teams and they fear our offloads, we can get rid of him as he'll be a liability in a premiership contending team.

Use and abuse.

Quite easily when it’s already spent. Why not buy Hynes AND then just keep going on FB’s if there’s no money better spent outside the spine.

It’s not only the money it’s the roster space, and on outside backs for ‘22, unless there’s further movement we’re full. Even with Hoppa and DWZ and Meaney and you could probably throw a couple more in gone.

And do remember also, you would’ve had to bid in excess of $600k for Hynes, not as if it was just money we had down the back of the couch. We don’t have the money, or the space.

It’s that simple.

I dont understand.
I thought we had a war chest. I thought we had a heap of players coming to end of their contracts (at least 8 or 10) at years end. 

We have 3 known recruits (JAC, Burton and Naden) who will all be in the top 30. By my count, we would need to either resign existing players to fulfill the top 30 commitments, recruit new guys or promote from lower grades.

I can understand the top 30 but I would be livid if our current squad is even at 75% of the 9Million cap. If its beyond that  I want a complete overhaul of the board.

NOW.

More recruits are coming, some will be lower graders promoted.
The club has a plan and they are not telling us what the plan is.

I expect a lot of turnover.

I will be disappointed if we let Atoni and Odgen both go, becuase if we can fix up their defence they are part of the solution.

A club can never sign it's way to success, it needs to be able to develop players and improve players.
Signings need to be targeted, high priced signings who are certain NRL starters and depth signings who are NRL capable at the right price.

If Baz already has his first choice halves and fullback signed to 2022, he isn't going to sign a high priced backup fullback to play reserve grade.

A lot of players ask what position they will be playing before they sign and reserve grade isn't the answer top players are looking for.

You are bang on HD.

The key sentence in your post is the second last paragraph. If Baz has locked in the fullback spot with either JAC, Allen, Averillo or some other unnamed recruit and it fails, it's all on him.

If it works out.... genius!

Going with the grain, you dont get criticized much if things go bad. But if you make a left field decision and fails, it leaves a sour taste in most peoples mouth. One they wont forget when the coaches contract is up for renewal.

JAC at fullback wont be a complete disaster. His speed in attack will ensure it isnt. 

But I feel we could have been even better with him on the win and a specialist (proven) fullback.

I dont think it would have broken the bank either.

Kurt Capewell signs with Broncos.

Ikin was asked on NRL360 who he would chase first when he starts at the Broncos and he didn't hide naming Capewell as his first target.

Must have been talks before Ikin came on board but he certainly made sure the i's and t's were sorted quick smart. 

I think JAC is plan A, I can see why Baz is taking the gamble, becuase I would.
If it doesn't work out, JAC reverts to wing.

What we can afford is a top class unknown young player to be an additional option for fullback/wing/centre. We don't guarantee that guy a position, just if he is good enough he is a candidate for 3 NRL positions.

I want the coach making the recruitment calls, but not managing the overall strategy.
So the coach owns results for 1-2  seasons, but further down the track the club is managing the cap and the lower grades.

The other consideration is spread our bets over multiple positions.
If is no good have 5 great fullbacks if we only have 2 ordinary hookers.

Hooker and prop are high priority, very high priority.

JAC at fullback, well I was more confident about Thurston and Harry Grant,  but I am very confident. If it works it is this kind of elite territory we are talking about, behind Trubo, Teddy and Pappenwhatever, but elite, the kind of eilte that wins games.

I have been wrong and right before, but a hunch is a hunch, if it blows up it will not be the first or last time.

Some of this discussion is not making a lot of sense. Let's say Baz has a FB in mind for next year, then how are we going to sign a backup FB when there is hardly enough decent quality FBs for each team to even have one each. Plus all the talk of "why didn't we go for Hynes" it wasn't that long ago that everyone was saying that behind the lack of forward power we have now that JAC, Burton and Naden will look ordinary. We need a quality hooker and at least one quality prop. Fvck the FB position, fvck the backline, with a decent forward pack the backs will sort themselves out

Don’t do your sums based on who we have off contract, do them based on who we have on contract.

For ‘22 we have in the outside backs contracted on NRL money, Allen, JAC, Cotric, Naden, so there’s four of five spots with NRL money spent on them. Complimenting them we have Sloop and Alomoti, one of if not both we’d be hoping becomes a permanent NRL player and as such will have to be upgraded come the end of ‘22. Ockunbar whom I’m expecting we’ll keep, and there’s Avo who might be tried at FB, if not we’re also over flowing in the halves.

Burton is on a two year deal with an option in his favour, so I would guess and I bet I’m right he’s open to offers come Nov ‘22 and seeing as we’re obviously under- paying him before he even walks in the door, we got to have room to upgrade him, probably by near double, for ‘23 and might even have to upgrade him as soon as he walks in the door for goodwill. Remember we’re getting him for… $400k I think, somebody’s gonna be offering him $800k plus for ‘24 ( in Nov ‘22) so we gotta be ready for that.

And remember Nicks Hynes comes at 3 years (and that’s important, considering who we have to upgrade, (Burton, one or both of Sloop and Alomoti) at $600k p.a to enter the bidding.

Do your sums man, The Board’s done theirs.

All i can say is that if JAC was even a smidgen chance of being a fullback in the role that Bellamy wants them to be, he would have had the jump on Cam Munster, Jarome Hughes, Scott Drinkwater, Ryan Pappenhuyzen and Nicko Hynes.

The fact that he wasnt even considered has alarm bells ringing.

Its about long term plan ODF not short term.
If we focus only on forwards and hookers, in a couple of years when we realise we are desperate for a top line young fullback, there will be non available or you'll pay over 1M.

Nicko Hynes was a lost opportunity at a value price. 

Im not discounting the need for a good hooker or prop, our team needs more than 1 area of improvement. But you have to take the opportunities when they present and not bury your head in the sand and then ask why there is no opportunity when you want it.