Gold Coast Titans Discussion

[The Don]

I’m happy to talk Titans but this should really go in your thread from now on. This is a Broncos player movement thread, so in terms of the Titans, in this thread no one cares.

Fair enough, figured it was relative given I was replying and trying to say it is probably just media beat up given circumstances with the Broncos being the only one looking into him. Can you reply with quote across threads?

 

[Dexter]

Yes

 

[BroncsFan]

They can’t afford an 800k player... they’re not getting much or any salary cap relief from Shannon Boyd retiring and I am pretty sure Ryan james wasn’t off contract... they also have a few players that are being overpaid that nobody wants

They shouldn't be getting any cap relief for Boyd.

You can't medically retire for being fat and no longer able to play the game.

 

[Kooly87]

James was off contract and Boyd was granted a release as reported on NRL.com. The only overpaid ones left would be Ash and possibly Wallace on 600k which is barely a salary cap killer. I won't go into too much detail as I have posted it somewhere else before but we have literally got rid of over 4M of cap space this year and signed just over 2M to come in. I repeat we are not struggling for cap space. Only reason we wouldn't have a go is we already have a fairly strong forward rotation and our weaknesses are elsewhere. Obviously some of that cap might also be needed for upgrades and a salary cap decrease is also a possibility.

As much as I would usually love to have him at the Titans if he comes to QLD I would have money on it being the Broncos. Not because we don't have the money but because he isn't what we lack and hence wouldn't bring as much value as a strike centre or elite hooker. Hope you get him.

He simply isn't a good value purchase for the Titans. Not that he in himself wouldn't be good value, but you're correct in saying you have other problem areas in the squad that need attention far more than purchasing another big minute Middle Forward. Someone besides Brimson in your backline who can ask questions in attack seems to me to be a pretty logical priority for you guys.

 

[Kooly87]

Fair enough, figured it was relative given I was replying and trying to say it is probably just media beat up given circumstances with the Broncos being the only one looking into him. Can you reply with quote across threads?

I thought it was entirely in context with the conversation to be honest, so personally I don't really see the issue.

 

[BroncsFan]

Mate, it isn't about the medical grounds, it's about the player themselves and particularly the club they play for and how invested the NRL is in seeing that club get what they need. It's why Inglis was able to be retired at a club like Souths despite signing up to play 5 minutes later in the ESL and now is even talking up an Origin comeback, also why the Titans who the NRL have had enough of propping up financially are able to get someone like Boyd off their books with no real questions asked if it helps them relieve a financial burden and become more competitive.

Of course it is ... that's why I continue to highlight it.

No fucking way should it be going unchecked that a prop who played this year should be able to retire on medical grounds because the game has passed him by.

Also Cartwright apparently walking away from his $500k-$800k contract with no other contract in place... why would he do such things??

Is he planning to become an anti-vax influencer on Instagram or did he simply get paid out by the NSWRL behind closed doors so the great white hope of the comp can afford a ludicrous contract to bring Fifita to the Tweed Coast Titans

 

[1910]

Of course it is ... that's why I continue to highlight it.

No fucking way should it be going unchecked that a prop who played this year should be able to retire on medical grounds because the game has passed him by.

Also Cartwright apparently walking away from his $500k-$800k contract with no other contract in place... why would he do such things??

Is he planning to become an anti-vax influencer on Instagram or did he simply get paid out by the NSWRL behind closed doors so the great white hope of the comp can afford a ludicrous contract to bring Fifita to the Tweed Coast Titans

He hasn't retired on medical grounds, he was released because he wants to go back to his farm- any payout will be on the Titans cap for two years.

 

[The Don]

Of course it is ... that's why I continue to highlight it.

No fucking way should it be going unchecked that a prop who played this year should be able to retire on medical grounds because the game has passed him by.

Also Cartwright apparently walking away from his $500k-$800k contract with no other contract in place... why would he do such things??

Is he planning to become an anti-vax influencer on Instagram or did he simply get paid out by the NSWRL behind closed doors so the great white hope of the comp can afford a ludicrous contract to bring Fifita to the Tweed Coast Titans

Sorry, didn't want to reply in that thread as not relative. On Boyd, I am pretty sure he was actually granted a release that he asked for due to injuries. Hence it wasn't a medical retirement but him walking away. Whether he was paid out after for requesting a release I have no way of knowing, but dissimilar to I assume Cartwright he does have a family farm to fall back on financially so it isn't totally out of the question. The whole Cartwright fiasco has been confusing. I think it is admirable if he truly just left because he is homesick and misses family etc. but personally, it baffles me why he would just walk away. We already would've had enough for Fifita regardless of Cartwright's decision though.

To be fair, I know exactly what you mean though, we lost Arrow due to that garbage medical retirement of Burgess who had a contract until 2023 and walked into a role with the club. There is way too much inconsistency not only on the field but off of it in the NRL lately.

 

[WASSHHH]

James was off contract and Boyd was granted a release as reported on NRL.com. The only overpaid ones left would be Ash and possibly Wallace on 600k which is barely a salary cap killer. I won't go into too much detail as I have posted it somewhere else before but we have literally got rid of over 4M of cap space this year and signed just over 2M to come in. I repeat we are not struggling for cap space. Only reason we wouldn't have a go is we already have a fairly strong forward rotation and our weaknesses are elsewhere. Obviously some of that cap might also be needed for upgrades and a salary cap decrease is also a possibility.

As much as I would usually love to have him at the Titans if he comes to QLD I would have money on it being the Broncos. Not because we don't have the money but because he isn't what we lack and hence wouldn't bring as much value as a strike centre or elite hooker. Hope you get him.

Genuine remark / question, as I don’t follow the Titans.

If you’ve only signed $2mil for next year, surely Fifita and Tino take up most of that, so you haven’t signed anyone else, or at least anyone of note?

 

[Kimlo]

No more discussion about Titans contracts in the Broncos thread please unless it's directly related to the Broncos. It's not convenient to try to keep up on player movements if 3 pages is littered with Titans contract discussion. Any Titans related posts, this thread is here for it. I've moved any Titan's posts to here.

 

[The Don]

1.25 million + 600,000. Ese ese 300,000 MINIMUM. Say 500,000 on upgrades. There's also no way you get every single CENT of the contracted players contracts off of the salary cap, that'd be politis-like cap management with some souffs-level NRL help . You release 8 players you need to replace all 8 in your cap space. You can't just fill spots with 4 million dollar players

Boyd, Proctor and James wages get close to adding up to Ese'ese Tino and Fifita's. So this idea of 8 players out 3 in isn't completely realistic. But yes I do understand your point. We also have Watkin's 2021 money, Arrow, Peats and by the looks Cartwright all leaving who wouldn't be on peanuts and given the current off contract list I am willing to assume we can get players cheaper then them to offset Fifita's even more so.

If they asked for releases... every single cent does come off in that case. Still unsure on Cartwright though hence he was in the second list. 4 million dollar players? I count 2 with Ash's contract ending next year leaving us with 1 from 2022 onwards? Even 500k on upgrades to 2 interchange props ain't realistic.

 

[The Don]

No way you’ve got those three under $2mil, especially when Fifita is taking $1.25mil of it...

Sounds like some Roosters accounting to me.

I said just over 2M, should end up around 2.3M odd.

 

[Dexter]

@The Don where do you see Tanah Boyd in the next few years. Just a benchy or likely to fill the hooking role.
He has come along nicely this year and will prove to be more than handy in the next few seasons.

 

[The Don]

@The Don where do you see Tanah Boyd in the next few years. Just a benchy or likely to fill the hooking role.
He has come along nicely this year and will prove to be more than handy in the next few seasons.

Honestly, I have no idea. Up until Canberra game where he got a chance at five-eighth he hadn't particularly impressed me. Seemed to give it a decent crack in that game and came up with a few quality plays. Hard to tell. No reserve grade is a killer. I just don't see him getting much of a chance bar injuries and by all reports we seem to have some quality halves coming through in Toby Sexton and Tom Weaver too. Obviously I am willing to give him time but he hasn't really looked suited to the hooker role with a number of errors and service not up to scratch yet. All depends on whether they can coach him for it I guess.

On that note though, they are parading that Boyd-Fifita combo from schoolboy days so maybe he'll get a crack in trials and possibly early rounds next year?

 

[Kooly87]

Honestly, I have no idea. Up until Canberra game where he got a chance at five-eighth he hadn't particularly impressed me. Seemed to give it a decent crack in that game and came up with a few quality plays. Hard to tell. No reserve grade is a killer. I just don't see him getting much of a chance bar injuries and by all reports we seem to have some quality halves coming through in Toby Sexton and Tom Weaver too. Obviously I am willing to give him time but he hasn't really looked suited to the hooker role with a number of errors and service not up to scratch yet. All depends on whether they can coach him for it I guess.

On that note though, they are parading that Boyd-Fifita combo from schoolboy days so maybe he'll get a crack in trials and possibly early rounds next year?

I think if you don't have a gun Dummy Half, you'd damn sure better have a gun in the Halves and probably a gun at Fullback too.

The Titans don't really have a gun in any of these roles yet, so Dummy Half seems to me like it would be a priority position to recruit for.

In 1. Brimson 6. Taylor 7. Fogarty they have a competent spine with a bit of upside potential in the future, but they don't have a top 5 player in any of those positions, so they ideally need to look to recruit a high quality Dummy Half at some point to help balance out the rest of that spine.

FWIW we don't have a Top 5 player in any of our spine positions either, which goes a long way to explaining why we're running second last.

 

[theshed]

Being cautious, I would say given we don't have anything nearing an elite hooker currently and centre depth being pretty weak, 9th/10th would probably be a pass with top 8 obviously being the goal. Given Holbrook has performance clauses in his contract from I assume 2022, I would say top 8 would be expected from then on.

Kelly being out this week I assume really scares me because the depth there is so poor with many fans not even seeing Young T at the other side of the field bringing much yet. Combine that with Rein and Clark being reserve grade hookers at any other club and I don't want to be too optimistic just yet. We bring in a quality hooker over the off season I will probably say top 8 no doubt.

In all seriousness, do you think you guys would benefit from Andrew McCullough? Would be great for experience and club culture.

 

[Sproj]

If Smith went to the Titans, I reckon he would be amazing for unlocking Taylor and Brimson. Titans have a decent starting forward pack to look forward to with:

8. Phototaker
9. ??
10. Wallace
11. Fifita
12. Alphabet
13. Ese'ese

15. Fermor

Just need something on the bench as I am not sure what else is there next year in the forwards but the key (like most sides) is to get someone to direct them around at 9. Would love for the Storm to go with B.Smith, C.Smith to Titans and Grant to Broncos. 66% of that extremely unlikely to happen though.

 

[Sproj]

In all seriousness, do you think you guys would benefit from Andrew McCullough? Would be great for experience and club culture.

I actually think he would be a good option if they miss out on Smith.