Even with all that commitment he gives to play, we still can't even give him 400k to play on next year. God I love this club
Didn’t he also turn down a 2 year deal from the Roosters to stay with us?
Toohey's News
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Didn’t he also turn down a 2 year deal from the Roosters to stay with us?
100%. The other problem with paying overs for mid guys is you then have to play them blocking the way forward for talent which will force that talent to look elsewhere....this is why Gus buying his way to a title may work but it may all blow up spectacularly in his face if they miss their window...which would be a real shame....yep a real shame.
PS. The Knights can't buy their way to a title like Gus is trying to do because we're a regional team and we don't have the 3rd PAs of the Sydney clubs or Gus's salary sombrero/media clout. We'll have to build our title. #BuiltNotBought
MBQLD
Sean Rudder
As a guy who’s grown up in country NSW and lives in regional Queensland I always find it strange that Newcastle is considered to be a country town in the middle of nowhere.
It’s a city with lots to offer, warmer than Sydney, MUCH warmer than boring Canberra, cooler than Queensland with a pretty relaxed pace in comparison to the major cities. Crazy thing is it’s only a couple of hours from Sydney if you want all that extra stuff or are prone to homesickness if that’s where the family live, not on the other side of the country!
Perth is a place that will struggle to recruit as proven in the 90’s already.
It’s a city with lots to offer, warmer than Sydney, MUCH warmer than boring Canberra, cooler than Queensland with a pretty relaxed pace in comparison to the major cities. Crazy thing is it’s only a couple of hours from Sydney if you want all that extra stuff or are prone to homesickness if that’s where the family live, not on the other side of the country!
Perth is a place that will struggle to recruit as proven in the 90’s already.
It’s amazing how differently these things are perceived when you have a scarcity mindset due to supporting a poor club vs a good one. The Roosters for example are also moving on a lot of players after making bad signings and everyone praises them for being cut throat and assume they must have targets planned. With us though everyone assumes there must be no plan and we’re idiots for moving along players that currently have us on the bottom of the ladder (not referring to Gagai specifically there but more the others).
mozza
Game on broheim
You’re right but it’s pretty hard to have blind faith in a club that has been so terribly run historically.
KPGreatness
Todd Bates
Yep smart by the club to identify they could get him for less.Even with all that commitment he gives to play, we still can't even give him 400k to play on next year. God I love this club
This is what people got to understand you don’t pay for bloody attachment value, if you can get him for less than you do, gotta stop this attachment to players and feel bad enough to toss them money when it’s not needed.
I love Gagai but club legend or not successful clubs don’t care about emotional value they do what needs to be done all successful business do.
Good on POS for seeing this and giving him the “if you can’t find another club we will keep you for less” at 34, 35 next January POS probably believes no other NRL club will come calling so it puts the club in better position to get him for less, go to the ESL or retire.
Yep. If POS had have re-signed him at 400k when we could get him for half of that people would be criticising that. Especially if Gags falls off a cliff next year.
slotmachine
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
You keep saying this, but there is pretty close to zero good players currently left off contract.
If he's banking on players getting pushed out from other clubs he's essentially relying on luck.
MBQLD
Sean Rudder
I think Gags greatest asset will be as a mentor. He’d be great running around behind the guys at training and just identifying little things they can improve on to take them to the next level.
I’ve said it plenty, lots of opportunities never eventuate as he often tries to go it alone when his outside man is wide open.
He’s a great clubman, a giant in defence and all the passion in the world but the Gags of 2023 isn’t here today and even less likely to be here next year.
I’ve said it plenty, lots of opportunities never eventuate as he often tries to go it alone when his outside man is wide open.
He’s a great clubman, a giant in defence and all the passion in the world but the Gags of 2023 isn’t here today and even less likely to be here next year.
slotmachine
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
I'd sign him just for the experience, 2026 is going to be a bunch of kids losing every week as a 2016 ten year anniversary present.
You say this but there are players becoming available all the time. I mean Payne Haas is being shopped around. Not saying we’d ever sign someone like him but this year in particular has shown contracts aren’t worth the paper they’re written on these days. There’s always movement.
Holding a bit of $$$ for opportunities instead of overpaying players that haven’t helped us might not be the worst idea in the world.
slotmachine
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
The same people patting POS on the back for signing no one will be the same howling about how **** a coach AOB is next year when he's got about 4 NRL standard forwards in the squad.
KPGreatness
Todd Bates
AOB is a **** coach regardless of who he has.
That’s what annoys people, people can defend him all they want it’s their opinion and they are entitled to it but for mine he is crap and nothing can change my mind on that, we will never be even close to winning a title while AOB is at the helm and I’d put money on it.
Les Misérables
Mark Hughes
Literally everyone in the RL community, except for a minority of insular and defensive Knights supporters, agrees with you.
On the very general and critical standards applied to coaches in the NRL, AOB is a failure. Knights supporters reach ever so desperately for elements of success and lean on those things to find hope, when things are much simpler than that. We suck. The footy is embarrassing and we get belted every week.
The coach needs to go. Pretty simple.
Les Misérables
Mark Hughes
At this point, its more or less anyone who prefer AOB to keep his job.
Yeah Roosters was a two year deal, wasn't 100% sure myself. Knew full well it was one year with another as an option no guarantees. Team is doing their bit knowing it will be hard for him to get anything more then a year on what he was on.
So let's say he comes back to us (and for the sake of discussion) and says another team has offered $350k do you want to match it?
How far low would the offer have to be to want to match it if the answer for the above is 'No'?
I would probably not have been fussed if they took up the option...
I was going to say something similar the other day too when someone was calling Newcastle regional.
As a bloke from the bush, Newcastle is huge to me. I get that Sydney is only a stones throw away, but they wouldn’t have anything you need there that Newcastle doesn’t do they?
Newcastle have nice beaches if that’s your thing, there’s a lot to do there, the people are nice and they have the best fan base. I’ve never understood how the location could be used as a need to pay overs for players.
As I said in another thread, who is the miraculous coach we bring in to make us a 100% better?
Flanagan is meant to be the next coming of Christ according to media and content creators yet his eammm for the past 2 years gets smacked by 50-60 pts every 3rd game.
Hasler who powerbrokers outside of the Knights tried doing a sneaky signing with, has an incredibly good forward pack and backline depth and yet The Titans are way way worse off and now dead last
McGuire has one of the most talented teams on his books and they are playing worse than Brisbane did last year. - Granted i'll give him longer as its his first half a season in charge.
So all this constant talk of how bad Obi is, yet he gets his team to the final last two years with some of the worse halves combos and this yr has a horrendous forwards injury crisis and rookies playing each week and a FB barely 50% healthy mentally and physically yet the team still tries its guts out most weeks, with a couple exemtions, yet the team hasnt had 50 put on them.
Agree whole heartedly that the attack has been horrid, but I feel a lot of that is down to ball control and no forward domination, the few wins we've had this year has been when Jsaf has played and got us forward and ball conrol has been good which has allowed the attack to flow a bit.
So, Les IF you continue with the addage Obi is horrendous at coaching I want to start hearing your plan, because I all I'm seeing is complaints but no answers. What coach will do better with this current squad? with current injury crisis and depth???
Yep all fair points , I want Obi gone as much as anyone . Mainly for the no attack , minimal mistakes style he still persists in trying to implement . But I'm at all the home games & there is no denying the effort is there . It has to be frustrating for the players as well . Not sure Obi had much to do with the 2nd half the other knight . But under the circumstances can't see any standout candidates . I like Brad Arthur but Parra fans were calling for his head years before he left .Hopefully we will a change in our game plan over the next couple of weeks . But can't say I'm overly confident 