2023 Recruitment & Retention Thread

The amount of new info he would write about did seem to take a dip once Brown left/AOB came in, and it probably didn’t help when his kid got let go from the training staff (and joined Brown at the Warriors, interestingly.) Also add in the fact that he was literally on Wests’ payroll in the past couple of years with the podcast there’s definitely reason for people to be skeptical that he was more of a mouthpiece than a journalist. The Ramien saga is the only recent thing I remember where he was confidently in the wrong which would still put him in the top few percent in RL media. He thought Watson would re-sign as well but never reported it as actual news, just his opinion on how it would play out.

It’s not his job anymore so of course he’s going to be breaking less news but I know who I’m going to first for their opinion on a Knights rumour.
 
“Nathan Brown at the Parramatta Eels, I think if the cap goes up to what it’s supposed to what they’re hoping then Nathan Brown will sign at the Wests Tigers. I wrote last week he met Tim Sheens at a coffee shop.

“Also players like Marty Taupau at Manly, he isn’t getting paid right now and doesn’t have a club.

“But for example if Nathan Brown goes to the Wests Tigers that will trigger an opportunity for a Marty Taupau type player, same with Newcastle - he’s also talking to them."

The wording is confusing but I think he's saying we're talking to Brown
 
mullenmagic said:
“Nathan Brown at the Parramatta Eels, I think if the cap goes up to what it’s supposed to what they’re hoping then Nathan Brown will sign at the Wests Tigers. I wrote last week he met Tim Sheens at a coffee shop.

“Also players like Marty Taupau at Manly, he isn’t getting paid right now and doesn’t have a club.

“But for example if Nathan Brown goes to the Wests Tigers that will trigger an opportunity for a Marty Taupau type player, same with Newcastle - he’s also talking to them."

The wording is confusing but I think he's saying we're talking to Brown
Click to expand...

Haha it reads to me like he means Taupau but yea it’s confusing as hell. Must have talked to him when he was on his third bottle of Penfold’s Bin 257.
 
mullenmagic said:
“Nathan Brown at the Parramatta Eels, I think if the cap goes up to what it’s supposed to what they’re hoping then Nathan Brown will sign at the Wests Tigers. I wrote last week he met Tim Sheens at a coffee shop.

“Also players like Marty Taupau at Manly, he isn’t getting paid right now and doesn’t have a club.

“But for example if Nathan Brown goes to the Wests Tigers that will trigger an opportunity for a Marty Taupau type player, same with Newcastle - he’s also talking to them."

The wording is confusing but I think he's saying we're talking to Brown
Click to expand...

Jezuz that's incoherent.

Dunno If Taupau is worth it, doubt he's an upgrade, defensively and attitude wise, compared to giving young prop a go.
 
I think there’s a lot of underestimating of how hard the step up is from juniors/NSW Cup-level contact and intensity in the middle going on here. Unless you’re an absolute specimen like a Tino or Payne Haas, it’s something you generally need to work your way up to. If we’re playing Hetherington on an edge, when one of the twins goes down we currently don’t have a guy we can start at prop and expect to give us 45-50 minutes and 120+ metres week-on-week until they come back from injury.

Simi Sasagi, for example, was smashing out 80 minutes at lock + almost 200 running metres in NSW Cup, but has looked like he was about to keel over after 20-odd minutes of first grade physicality. Crokes is a big minute bulk numbers workhorse in reggies and though he’s wholehearted the same numbers haven’t translated across just yet. I reckon he & Leo might get there eventually but having them work their way up on a minutes restriction, only giving us bigger stints a few times per year when injury forces our hand, is for the best.
 
Letting Barnett walk and then replacing him with a guy he once beat the **** out of in a fight on about the same money would certainly be a choice.

While we’re replacing players with a less physical version of the same thing we might as well go after Mark Fitzgibbon to replace Lachie.
 
Context: From everything I’ve heard, Wests are pushing hard for Nathan Brown and would play him as a starting lock. He’s on a good wicket at Parra and I’m sure they wouldn’t want to pay a lot of freight to move him.

Taupau is seen by Parra as a cheapie way to shore up forward depth and still have cap space to try and retain their halves.

One road is a bidding war, the other is not.

In both cases I’d want them to play the same role, first rotation middle off the bench most weeks, filling in in the starting team in the case of injury. I reckon they’ve both got a couple years in them of still being okay to good at that role, but neither is an every week blue chip starter anymore. So the question isn’t who’s better in a vacuum, it’s a question of dollars.

Could be talked into Brown if there’s an economical way to get him but I’ve never been big on him as a player. It could be argued I have a bias against his player archetype though - I’ve also never thought Jake Turbo was much good either; big “it wouldn’t have been 8 Origin series losses in a row if we had the bottle to drop Gal” guy - so maybe it’s that.
 
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Agree with HarVee, Taupau isn't going to improve our starting pack. That's not why we're looking to sign him. He is FG worthy depth who'll likely become integral at some early stage after an injury or suspension.

Theres no reason Leo Thompson can't improve his performance longevity from last season. He was outstanding for the first portion. I also think Croker showed some signs that he has a complete game, just needs to improve his numbers. I used to knock him as having no chance at a FG career but have completely changed my tune after what I saw if him last year. He's a smart and natural footballer who loves to compete and work. There's no ceiling to that.
 
Leo and Croker are the two "most experienced" middles after the Safs and they averaged 50m and 47m a game this year. And that was off decent minutes, 30-35 a game.

Pretty underwhelming bench (or starters if they want to keep JSaf for impact) and that's before any injuries.

Dunno, maybe they will have to play Hethrington in the middle.

Just highlights you're not going to get away with promoting kids, need to sign someone who can start
 
slotmachine said:
Leo and Croker are the two "most experienced" middles after the Safs and they averaged 50m and 47m a game this year. And that was off decent minutes, 30-35 a game.

Pretty underwhelming bench (or starters if they want to keep JSaf for impact) and that's before any injuries.

Dunno, maybe they will have to play Hethrington in the middle.

Just highlights you're not going to get away with promoting kids, need to sign someone who can start
Click to expand...
Leo and Croker are both young and played one season of first grade. It takes time for young guys to develop their minutes in first grade unless your some freak like Haas.

They will have a big improvement this year after a full preseason and knowing whats expected of themselves fitness wise. I think its unfair to judge them on their numbers from last year.

An experienced, yet cheap experienced prop would be great for us. There will be injuries throughout the year and can't keep the effort up all year, so they need a rest. You don't want to burn them out
 
Taupau attitude was his biggest issue which led to poor defensive attempts and high hit up volume. Potentially a change and a challenge fixes that, as said, as long as he was cheap. He's be cheaper than Brown I imagine We're still going to be short in depth for the fwd pack next season. A few injuries and a lot more pressure is on younger players then preferable. i don't think we can escape that sadly.

Not underestimating anything when it comes to the physical and mental jump in grade. I just don;t think Taupau would be worth it.

Below is a list of props. I's love Sipley or Boyle, but they'd never be released. Even go an Emre Guler over Taupau, solid stats on meters gained. unsure on tck efficiency

1670208304767.png
 
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