Toohey's News

Would love Papalii, he’s still a little bit above average as a starting prop and an elite bench prop. When you’re walking a salary cap tightrope, guys who are older who other clubs baulk at, but who still actually have more to offer in the short term than younger guys with a lot more potential, are the kind of players you need to bring in to navigate that.

And Raiders fans, who annoy me, would hate it…
 
Seano said:
I like Leo, but I reckon Gus has overpaid for him significantly. $825k going to look like pretty good money for a bench prop at the Dogs.
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But the Dogs don’t care to much about that. They will get rid of him really quickly if it doesn’t work out.Look at their recent history.
The Dogs seem to be the new Rorters.
 
Don’t consider Papalli a chance to play for Knights, already stated he doesn’t want to play against Raiders so he is likely ESL bound.
Frizell is still playing well and he looks like another season would be ok, he is living in Hunter so not having to move would suit and his experience is what we need at same time giving our younger boys a chance for further development.
Offer him good money to play in 2026, not over the top pay, with him we know what we are getting unlike some other clubs cast offs, like him to play prop which is what we need.
 
This is just so sad to hear, but hardly unexpected given what we know about concussion now. Unfortunately these numbers will probably just be the beginning of player legacies from playing during a “tough” period of the game.
 
Frank McWilliams said:
Don’t consider Papalli a chance to play for Knights, already stated he doesn’t want to play against Raiders so he is likely ESL bound.
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Nah mate that was just classic Ricky ********. Basically trying to shame him into never suiting up against the Raiders. Papa was asked about it and his response was basically, “ah, no, I’m open to offers from anywhere; the Raiders aren’t offering me another deal so I don’t owe them that.”

Serious question: Is Frizell playing well? Half the time I don’t even notice he’s playing. No impact at all. Papalii still impacts games a lot. He was really good at the highest level of the game last night, yeah he only played 23 minutes but for that 23 minutes he was one of the best middles on the field. Frizell got absolutely *****slapped last time he played Origin…
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Serious question: Is Frizell playing well? Half the time I don’t even notice he’s playing. No impact at all. Papalii still impacts games a lot. He was really good at the highest level of the game last night, yeah he only played 23 minutes but for that 23 minutes he was one of the best middles on the field. Frizell got absolutely *****slapped last time he played Origin…
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It’s funny because purely looking at stats he’s not super impactful in terms of metres, but I’ve definitely noticed him still having some good runs in the middle. His runs still make a lot more impact than Jones or Crokers do anyway.
 
Frank McWilliams said:
Don’t consider Papalli a chance to play for Knights, already stated he doesn’t want to play against Raiders so he is likely ESL bound.
Frizell is still playing well and he looks like another season would be ok, he is living in Hunter so not having to move would suit and his experience is what we need at same time giving our younger boys a chance for further development.
Offer him good money to play in 2026, not over the top pay, with him we know what we are getting unlike some other clubs cast offs, like him to play prop which is what we need.
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Agree Frizell is still playing well, but he isn’t a pure prop. He has become one through necessity for us

Papalii is an outright prop. He would be invaluable to our young up and coming props. And as HarVeeGee13 said, Papalii has stated he is willing to play against Canberra (there was an article on fox sports and zero tackle quoting Papalii) So that’s not an issue moving forward. Price and number of years might be

I still can’t see why we can’t have both, we have roster spots still available don’t we? 2 forward leaders is better than 1 leader if they are pulling in the same direction
 
17/7
Half of it is about whether the fans will miss Ponga if he goes. Toohey concludes Ponga's injury history, various dramas, salary cap space etc all add up to not many will be unhappy if he "rides off into the sunset" - despite his obvious talent and the good memories he leaves.

Says O'Brien is "up for the fight" - Says he met with Gardener and there is no exit strategy in place. O'Brien will do all he can to keep his job and some of the Wests board are still behind him.

Says Gagai and Frizell both have offers on the table but reports they have signed are wrong. They are both still in play.

Says Parr has signed a new multi year deal and is odds on to take over as CEO from Gardner at the end of the season.

Says Jonah Pezet used his time in Newcastle to convince Cooper Votano and his parents to sign with the Storm and Connor Votano is locked up for next year with the Knights, but can talk to others in November.
 
There is also a two page article by Max McKinney in the league HQ section where he goes through what went wrong with the season.
He starts with the poor depth in the squad and goes through injuries, leaving players not putting in, off field dramas and says our attacking style isn't working, which he puts down to the halves not being able to do their job properly because of the role Ponga plays.

The article is 2 full pages and Toohey's article is half a page as usual.
 
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