Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[2041]

I don't, but if the alternatives are so impressive, why can't they replace him this week?
This reeks of 2022. Only a poorly run Club doesn't spend to it's Cap. We have a shit squad, but don't spend what were actually able to. To me, that's forfeiting. I know this because Sheens said we are "way under" the Cap for 2023 at the 10yr Member function at the COE.

They want to free up the cap room for 2024-25 but Parra's offer is for now: they want Ofehangaue to shore up their bench this season, which is why they're desperate enough to offer to take that contract off us. Our young players are coming through and should be bolstering the squad in the next couple of seasons. This isn't a perfect match. But if we held on, would there have been an offer to take Ofehangaue on full freight at the end of the season? Quite possibly not.

You say "only a poorly run club doesn't spend to its cap" but I could just as easily say only a poorly run club spends its cap on dross just because that's what's there. Remember the last time we had cap room and we went out and spent it all in a roster management move known as "sign everyone who happens to be available right now"? How did Packer, Matulino, McQueen, Reynolds etc work out for us?

You have to ask yourself a few questions here:
- Are we going anywhere in 2023 to the extent that it's worth making future sacrifices to keep this specific roster together?
- Is Joe Ofehangaue on a contract that will deliver value over 2024-25?
- Could we have reasonable expectations of spending the money better elsewhere?
- Can we reasonably hope to cover what Ofehangaue offers on the park for less money in 2024-25?
- Can we reasonably assume there will be as good an offer as the one Parramatta are making now to take Ofehangaue's contract off us in the 2023-24 off season?

To me, the answers are no, no, yes, yes and no. On which basis letting him go is a no-brainer. It's fine that you think different, but "I want better players NOW" isn't a plausible basis for roster construction. Nor is "no-one will sign for us anyway so who cares about the cap". Basically, anything that is the equivalent of acting like a sulky pre-teen isn't the right way of going about constructing a successful roster.

 

[Tom Shines]

They want to free up the cap room for 2024-25 but Parra's offer is for now: they want Ofehangaue to shore up their bench this season, which is why they're desperate enough to offer to take that contract off us. Our young players are coming through and should be bolstering the squad in the next couple of seasons. This isn't a perfect match. But if we held on, would there have been an offer to take Ofehangaue on full freight at the end of the season? Quite possibly not.

You say "only a poorly run club doesn't spend to its cap" but I could just as easily say only a poorly run club spends its cap on dross just because that's what's there. Remember the last time we had cap room and we went out and spent it all in a roster management move known as "sign everyone who happens to be available right now"? How did Packer, Matulino, McQueen, Reynolds etc work out for us?

You have to ask yourself a few questions here:
- Are we going anywhere in 2023 to the extent that it's worth making future sacrifices to keep this specific roster together?
- Is Joe Ofehangaue on a contract that will deliver value over 2024-25?
- Could we have reasonable expectations of spending the money better elsewhere?
- Can we reasonably hope to cover what Ofehangaue offers on the park for less money in 2024-25?
- Can we reasonably assume there will be as good an offer as the one Parramatta are making now to take Ofehangaue's contract off us in the 2023-24 off season?

To me, the answers are no, no, yes, yes and no. On which basis letting him go is a no-brainer. It's fine that you think different, but "I want better players NOW" isn't a plausible basis for roster construction. Nor is "no-one will sign for us anyway so who cares about the cap". Basically, anything that is the equivalent of acting like a sulky pre-teen isn't the right way of going about constructing a successful roster.

They thought he played well enough last season to warrant a 3 yr extension signed 6 months ago.. a contract they expected to deliver value for three years..

Now last years grand finalist sees an opportunity to pick that contract up… do their coaches think they can get more out of him then our coaches? You would have to think so right?

 

[jadtiger]

I don't, but if the alternatives are so impressive, why can't they replace him this week?
This reeks of 2022. Only a poorly run Club doesn't spend to it's Cap. We have a shit squad, but don't spend what were actually able to. To me, that's forfeiting. I know this because Sheens said we are "way under" the Cap for 2023 at the 10yr Member function at the COE.

We don't have a "shit" squad but we certainly have "shit" management from the board down and "shit"coaching.I expected our squad to go about 11-13 as it is a reasonable but not outstanding squad.WE are not even close to achieving this but it is not the players at fault it is the [This word has been automatically removed]wits above them

 

[2041]

They thought he played well enough last season to warrant a 3 yr extension signed 6 months ago.. a contract they expected to deliver value for three years..

Now last years grand finalist sees an opportunity to pick that contract up… do their coaches think they can get more out of him then our coaches? You would have to think so right?

I absolutely acknowledge that the extension was, in retrospect, a mistake. Others have said it was given before we signed Klemmer, though, so there may be some rationale for it. But you have to deal with the situation as it is now. That contract was given, and now the Tigers have been offered an opportunity to undo the mistake. The stupid move would be to refuse to take that opportunity.

If you want to die on the hill of Parramatta's recruitment and retention being the model to follow feel free to do so. I'd suggest they're terrible at it and this reeks of a panic move from a club that can see its premiership window slamming shut. I guess time will tell.

 

[Eternal Tiger]

They want to free up the cap room for 2024-25 but Parra's offer is for now: they want Ofehangaue to shore up their bench this season, which is why they're desperate enough to offer to take that contract off us. Our young players are coming through and should be bolstering the squad in the next couple of seasons. This isn't a perfect match. But if we held on, would there have been an offer to take Ofehangaue on full freight at the end of the season? Quite possibly not.

You say "only a poorly run club doesn't spend to its cap" but I could just as easily say only a poorly run club spends its cap on dross just because that's what's there. Remember the last time we had cap room and we went out and spent it all in a roster management move known as "sign everyone who happens to be available right now"? How did Packer, Matulino, McQueen, Reynolds etc work out for us?

You have to ask yourself a few questions here:
- Are we going anywhere in 2023 to the extent that it's worth making future sacrifices to keep this specific roster together?
- Is Joe Ofehangaue on a contract that will deliver value over 2024-25?
- Could we have reasonable expectations of spending the money better elsewhere?
- Can we reasonably hope to cover what Ofehangaue offers on the park for less money in 2024-25?
- Can we reasonably assume there will be as good an offer as the one Parramatta are making now to take Ofehangaue's contract off us in the 2023-24 off season?

To me, the answers are no, no, yes, yes and no. On which basis letting him go is a no-brainer. It's fine that you think different, but "I want better players NOW" isn't a plausible basis for roster construction. Nor is "no-one will sign for us anyway so who cares about the cap". Basically, anything that is the equivalent of acting like a sulky pre-teen isn't the right way of going about constructing a successful roster.

You make some valid points, and I agree with 50% of your theory. But, were consistently releasing players for a rainy day, and were in a Semi Final drought. We were told that we would be playing an attacking brand of football, yet the Coach's didn't realise that the 6 and 7 they chose to move forward with, were incapable of delivering this plan. We have scored the LEAST amount of points in the NRL in 2023. Do you have faith in their ability to recruit the right players, we have looked inept for the majority of this year.

 

[Tom Shines]

I absolutely acknowledge that the extension was, in retrospect, a mistake. Others have said it was given before we signed Klemmer, though, so there may be some rationale for it. But you have to deal with the situation as it is now. That contract was given, and now the Tigers have been offered an opportunity to undo the mistake. The stupid move would be to refuse to take that opportunity.

If you want to die on the hill of Parramatta's recruitment and retention being the model to follow feel free to do so. I'd suggest they're terrible at it and this reeks of a panic move from a club that can see its premiership window slamming shut. I guess time will tell.

We should be the last team to criticise any other teams recruitment… particularly last years grand finalists and a team that has been successful the past few years.

You are saying it’s a “panic” move when they are just making the same decision the Tigers made six months ago…

He seems out of form admittedly …but he has been on the market for 5 minutes and the Eels have already jumped…

To let him go now seems an amateur move …should have waited until they had a replacement lined up even if that meant the off season.. we seem to be the ones that are panicking to let him go immeadiately because someone jumped to take him on..

 

[2041]

You make some valid points, and I agree with 50% of your theory. But, were consistently releasing players for a rainy day, and were in a Semi Final drought. We were told that we would be playing an attacking brand of football, yet the Coach's didn't realise that the 6 and 7 they chose to move forward with, were incapable of delivering this plan. We have scored the LEAST amount of points in the NRL in 2023. Do you have faith in their ability to recruit the right players, we have looked inept for the majority of this year.

I mean, sure - it's hard to disagree with that. On the other hand, some of this comes back to the same issue: you can only sign what's there. We went hard after the only game-changing half who was plausibly on the market for 2024 and if you want to put a positive spin on it we made him think very seriously about our offer - and made his current club up theirs - even though we were never favourites to get him. I find the crappiness of our halves intensely frustrating but we can't magic Jonathan Thurston out of thin air. I'm not particularly enthused by Shaun Johnson, Mitchell Pearce, Joel Schuster or any of these names - but those are the ones that might be available. It's a huge problem but I'm not sure I'm ready to blame the current setup at the club for not fixing it.

On the other hand, the recruitment we have done has largely been pretty good. I've never liked the Bateman signing but Klemmer and Koroisau are delivering pretty much exactly what we hoped for, and Papali'i is showing good signs.

I think a lot of this is beside the point, though. Even if our recruitment was universally dreadful it wouldn't mean letting the Ofahengaue contract go would be a bad move. It's not a sensible position to say that doing a reasonable thing to save money is a bad idea because "we'll only waste it anyway". Am I confident the Tigers are going to find a brilliant way to use 600k for the next two seasons? Absolutely not. Am I confident that spending 600k on Joe Ofehangaue for the next two seasons isn't a brilliant way to use money? Almost certainly.

 

[bptiger 0]

This is how I see this playing out , our gun forwards are going to look at this and say to themselves, we are going to have carry this team even more if the. Club keeps letting go of 1st grade quality, joffa may not be a gun forward to some but he is way ahead of what we can bring up from the useless nsw cup team , so unless the club have a player to bring in to show the gun players yes we are going to strengthen the team rather than make u blokes work harder I can see this blowing up in there faces

 

[2041]

should have waited until they had a replacement lined up even if that meant the off season..

But the offer wasn't for the off season - it was for now. Parramatta are desperate to shore up their bench forwards NOW because they fall apart when RCG and Paulo are off the field and they still think they can win a premiership. That's why they are willing to overpay for Ofehangaue - but it only applies now; in the off season they could find plenty of options to play bench middle.

If the Tigers have decided the Ofehangaue contract was a mistake it makes sense to unload it when there's an offer on the table. This might be different if we were battling for the finals or the minor premiership, in which case of course it would be foolish to weaken the roster even if it's for long-term gain. But you've seen the ladder, I assume.

 

[Kelce68]

I don't, but if the alternatives are so impressive, why can't they replace him this week?
This reeks of 2022. Only a poorly run Club doesn't spend to it's Cap. We have a shit squad, but don't spend what were actually able to. To me, that's forfeiting. I know this because Sheens said we are "way under" the Cap for 2023 at the 10yr Member function at the COE.

I reckon your arguments here have merit and a large part of me agrees with you, however, I'm still waiting to hear how you'd spend it.

Given the current market, in the current year, where are you spending this money that you're so critical of the club for not spending?

 

[2041]

You and the club may have already forfeited 2024-25 and that’s why people put shit on the club. The focus should be winning next week and then every week after. Not some bullshit about 3 years time.

I'm not sure whether you're misunderstaning on purpose or not, but just to be clear: I am talking about getting better in 2024-25. We can do this by not spending 600k on a bench prop and instead using that money to sign players we need. No-one is saying anything about three years' time.

 

[Tom Shines]

But the offer wasn't for the off season - it was for now. Parramatta are desperate to shore up their bench forwards NOW because they fall apart when RCG and Paulo are off the field and they still think they can win a premiership. That's why they are willing to overpay for Ofehangaue - but it only applies now; in the off season they could find plenty of options to play bench middle.

If the Tigers have decided the Ofehangaue contract was a mistake it makes sense to unload it when there's an offer on the table. This might be different if we were battling for the finals or the minor premiership, in which case of course it would be foolish to weaken the roster even if it's for long-term gain. But you've seen the ladder, I assume.

I get it mate… offers are made all the time in this league..

So why not wait until the off-season.. like I said .. we are the ones panicking… I could see the Dolphins for one being interested in him..

In the meantime he provides much needed depth at the very least … if not an opportunity to recover his form and perhaps a change of mind

We don’t need another back half of the season like last year when we were the zombie team getting belted each week .., doesn’t seem to do much for the young guys…Murphys Law that they will cop injuries and perhaps Klemmer will be picked in Origin so they could struggle for depth..

Anyway … it seems pointless continuing this conversation… I had a similar discussion last offseason when they let Hastings go and someone was trying to tell me that was a good idea as they had just signed Wakeham to provide depth.

 

[earl]

you can only shop around a player when they’re under contract if they agree to it.

I hear you and you are right but I think clubs put a lot of pressure on players to leave. The best case I can think of is Musgrove who I think @THE_POM stated wanted to stay but they pushed him out.

 

[2041]

I get it mate… offers are made all the time in this league..

So why not wait until the off-season.. like I said .. we are the ones panicking… I could see the Dolphins for one being interested in him..

In the meantime he provides much needed depth at the very least … if not an opportunity to recover his form and perhaps a change of mind

We don’t need another back half of the season like last year when we were the zombie team getting belted each week .., doesn’t seem to do much for the young guys…Murphys Law that they will cop injuries and perhaps Klemmer will be picked in Origin so they could struggle for depth..

Anyway … it seems pointless continuing this conversation… I had a similar discussion last offseason when they let Hastings go and someone was trying to tell me that was a good idea as they had just signed Wakeham to provide depth.

Sure - time will tell. I will just note that I'm not sure holding out for an imaginary offer from the Dolphins is absolutely how I'd play this if I was in charge, and that there's a big difference between losing a plausible first grade half back and a borderline starting middle forward. But yeah, I think we've both said our bit.

 

[Eternal Tiger]

I reckon your arguments here have merit and a large part of me agrees with you, however, I'm still waiting to hear how you'd spend it.

Given the current market, in the current year, where are you spending this money that you're so critical of the club for not spending?

My only issue is, Ofahengaue is a very capable NRL player. If we haven't signed a player of similar calibre, why release him, as you say the market seems empty. HOPEFULLY the WT surprise me and have an alternative, and I'll happily put my hand up and say I'm wrong. I just want to support a successful team.

 

[supercoach]

I hear you and you are right but I think clubs put a lot of pressure on players to leave. The best case I can think of is Musgrove who I think @THE_POM stated wanted to stay but they pushed him out.

You’re right,but it works both ways. If a player wants out he can also apply pressure. Either way, who ever is driving for the release usually wins

 

[Tom Shines]

Sure - time will tell. I will just note that I'm not sure holding out for an imaginary offer from the Dolphins is absolutely how I'd play this if I was in charge, and that there's a big difference between losing a plausible first grade half back and a borderline starting middle forward. But yeah, I think we've both said our bit.

yep ..let’s wait and see … how he plays at the
Eels and how our depth goes in his absence…

You gotta an easier user name to remember then the other guy who was arguing about Hastings so we can touch base later in the year..,

 

[Robbie's Love Child]

Whats the bet we're paying a fair chunk of money for Joffa to move on. Seriously wasnt he resigned when Sheens was in full control, Madge was gone by that stage?
Very odd and stupid thing to do.

I don't think we will pay anything, Fulton will be a smart operator, the eels are desperate. Joe O is a lovely bloke but he is not a props bumhole and has zero ball playing skills for a 13, I am glad that he is not taking up a place in the 30 heading forward, Blore and Matamua are way more beneficial on the bench.

 

[tigger19]

I get the argument to save $$ in this year and next 2 years cap, the tigers have only just starting getting a solid forward pack together with some depth to it, so you going to release someone who is an experienced origin or former origin player there better be someone decent coming into the team regardless if your making finals or not

 

[jadtiger]

I don't think we will pay anything, Fulton will be a smart operator, the eels are desperate. Joe O is a lovely bloke but he is not a props bumhole and has zero ball playing skills for a 13, I am glad that he is not taking up a place in the 30 heading forward, Blore and Matamua are way more beneficial on the bench.

From what i have seen Matamua has a long way to go to be FG ready but i certainly hope he makes it,Blore i completely agree should be in the 17