NRL General Discussion Thread - 2016

[Harry Sack]

Surely Lyon.....

Trent Barrett is a bit of a potato though, so who knows.

 

[Kimlo]

Hopefully they sign up J Hoffman and grant him the role.

 

[Super Freak]

Hopefully they sign up J Hoffman and grant him the role.

That would be hilarious..

The moans from the Manly supporter base would be music to my ears. To go from Foran to Hoffman.. Haha.

 

[Sproj]

I just want to know though, how is it that Manly can sign their mediocre halfback to a ridiculously over-inflated figure but then still afford to pick up three rep players in Myles, Taupau and Walker?

Is it that because its the off-season no one will notice the fact that they are purchasing established stars?

 

[Rally Towel]

I just want to know though, how is it that Manly can sign their mediocre halfback to a ridiculously over-inflated figure but then still afford to pick up three rep players in Myles, Taupau and Walker?

Is it that because its the off-season no one will notice the fact that they are purchasing established stars?

Believe Myles was off contract, but the other two had contracts in place for 2016. Not unreasonable to think Tits and Tigs would be liable for some of their pay cheque.

 

[Sproj]

Yes but the Titans are also very interested in Walker and have money to burn in their cap, they could easily offer Souths a much more attractive proposition. Other clubs were DEFINITELY interested in Taupau, the Tigers (as pathetically run as they are) did not have to offload him, so why would they have done so AND pay a significant amount of his salary?

 

[Unbreakable]

Just as confirmation to what Thurston did this year..

Dally-M Player of the Year
Dally-M Halfback of the Year
Dally-M Captain of the Year
Provan-Summons Medal
Clive Churchill Medal
NRL Grand Final Winner
State of Origin Series Winner
NQ Cowboys Player of the Year
RLPA Player of the Year
RLIF International Player of the Year
Big League Player of the Year
Big League Halfback of the Year
Channel 9 Australian Sports Star of the Year
Golden Boot
Halfback in the World XIII

Did I forget anything?

 

[Dash]

Just as confirmation to what Thurston did this year..

Dally-M Player of the Year
Dally-M Halfback of the Year
Dally-M Captain of the Year
Provan-Summons Medal
Clive Churchill Medal
NRL Grand Final Winner
State of Origin Series Winner
NQ Cowboys Player of the Year
RLPA Player of the Year
RLIF International Player of the Year
Big League Player of the Year
Big League Halfback of the Year
Channel 9 Australian Sports Star of the Year
Golden Boot
Halfback in the World XIII

Did I forget anything?

Also captained the winning All Stars team and won the Eddie Gilbert medal for indigenous sports person of the year.

Not a bad year.

 

[Broncoman]

Wonder if his trophy case has any space left?

With the Clive Churchill Medal I don't think he should've won it though. I can understand why they gave it to him but I don't really think he was the best Cowboys player in that game going off memory. At times he just has to walk on to the field to win a mom award.

 

[Harry Sack]

Just as confirmation to what Thurston did this year..

Dally-M Player of the Year
Dally-M Halfback of the Year
Dally-M Captain of the Year
Provan-Summons Medal
Clive Churchill Medal
NRL Grand Final Winner
State of Origin Series Winner
NQ Cowboys Player of the Year
RLPA Player of the Year
RLIF International Player of the Year
Big League Player of the Year
Big League Halfback of the Year
Channel 9 Australian Sports Star of the Year
Golden Boot
Halfback in the World XIII

Did I forget anything?

Prickle Sacks Player of the Year

 

[Big Pete]

What a joke.

Maranta was clearly a difference for the Sacks.

 

[Super Freak]

Well, apparently Smith is the reason why Folau did not return to the NRL.

Reports are that Greenberg talked to Folau and when Greenberg approached Smith, he flat out refused to let Folau choose the club he wanted to play for and that the war chest would not be used.

Apparently Smith was only going to let him play for either the Dragons, Knights, Titans or Tigers. Folau did not want to play for any of them. He wanted to play for either Broncos, Storm, Roosters, Bulldogs or Eels. Smith said no to all of them so Folau stayed in Union.

Now, one thing you have to consider is that this info comes from Rebecca Wilson.

But if it's true, then Smith is a goddamn fucking idiot.

 

[Morkel]

Well, apparently Smith is the reason why Folau did not return to the NRL.

Reports are that Greenberg talked to Folau and when Greenberg approached Smith, he flat out refused to let Folau choose the club he wanted to play for and that the war chest would not be used.

Apparently Smith was only going to let him play for either the Dragons, Knights, Titans or Tigers. Folau did not want to play for any of them. He wanted to play for either Broncos, Storm, Roosters, Bulldogs or Eels. Smith said no to all of them so Folau stayed in Union.

Now, one thing you have to consider is that this info comes from Rebecca Wilson.

But if it's true, then Smith is a goddamn fucking idiot.

I never considered the timing but interesting the Burgess thing happened shortly after Smith left. Would he have tried to make Souths pay more?

Wilson is a shit stain, but does she mention why those clubs were / weren't able to sign Folau? Because if it was a "this team is struggling" them the Eels should have been top of the list for being allowed to sign him. Is it something as legitimate as only those clubs had genuine room in their caps and wouldn't be paying unders or have to heavily back-end?

 

[Browny]

Any links?

 

[Super Freak]

I never considered the timing but interesting the Burgess thing happened shortly after Smith left. Would he have tried to make Souths pay more?

Wilson is a shit stain, but does she mention why those clubs were / weren't able to sign Folau? Because if it was a "this team is struggling" them the Eels should have been top of the list for being allowed to sign him. Is it something as legitimate as only those clubs had genuine room in their caps and wouldn't be paying unders or have to heavily back-end?

They had room in the cap, but Smith would only allow Folau to play for one of NRL's four solvent clubs. Likely to be Titans.

Here is the article.

The full extent of the mistakes made by former NRL boss, Dave Smith, comes to light with each day he is absent from the corner office at Moore Park headquarters.

The worst blunder of all is the revelation that Smith refused to open talks with Israel Folau after the superstar fullback declared an interest in returning to the code from rugby union earlier this year.

The Daily Telegraph can exclusively reveal that the NRL’s football boss, Todd Greenberg approached Folau before he re-signed with the Australian Rugby Union. Greenberg is a close friend of Folau’s and saw him as the number one target for a return to the code, particularly after the superstar said he would be interested.

An experienced league hand, Greenberg knew the value Folau could deliver in two key areas — crowds and participation at the junior level.

He is one of the top three most popular footballers in either union or league.

Although Greenberg refused to comment at length this week, he confirmed that he did speak to Folau. Greenberg approached Smith after the initial talks, who repeatedly told his senior executive that the only way he would entertain discussing a return for Folau would be on Smith’s prohibitive terms.

Smith said a flat no to allowing Folau to choose his own club. He said the NRL would choose the club at which he would play and that raiding the NRL’s war chest was not an option.

The Australian Rugby League Commission were not made aware of the interest from Folau but, given the current make up of the ARLC, the chances of the board seeing the value of Folau were minimal anyway.

The clubs Folau expressed an interest in returning to were the Broncos, the Storm, the Roosters, the Bulldogs or the Eels. Smith said a flat no to all five.

He insisted Folau’s return would only be considered if he agreed to play at one of the NRL’s four insolvent clubs — the Gold Coast Titans, the Newcastle Knights, Wests Tigers or St George Dragons.

Smith named the Titans as the most likely winner of his signature, a notion abhorrent to Folau who wanted to play alongside former Queensland Origin team mates and in a high performance, elite environment.

The Titans are one of four franchises being underwritten by the NRL.

I understand Greenberg pleaded with Smith to reconsider, to allow the open market to determine where Folau might play league, but Smith was determined to select one of the four clubs, each of which Folau would not entertain.

Smith also refused to meet with Folau or his management, leaving the rugby union convert no choice but to re-sign with the ARU.

While there is no suggestion Folau is not happy with his new contract or his decision to play on in rugby, it is a savage indictment on Smith’s leadership that the biggest name in either code was allowed to slip through the net.

Smith made a similar error with Sam Burgess, refusing to intervene to keep the Souths star here after his initial approach from rugby union.

The Folau fumbling underlines the sad fact that the Smith tenure allowed rugby league to flounder to its very core.

The problems were huge and confronting: insolvent clubs with questionable new boards, executives on ridiculous salaries with little or no role to play in the day to day running of the game and 12 clubs who are so angry that a rebellion is not as remote a possibility as some may believe.

One staffer said this week that the NRL had completely lost its way, led by a board that is generally unaware of the internal problems that wrack the organisation.

“John Grant has taken charge and looks like he wants to stay here for a long stint but he was half of the problem in the first place,” he said. “We are surrounded by people who have no idea about the core values of the game.”

Reflective of the issues confronting any new chief executive who takes charge is the rising anger and fear within club ranks that the allocation of funds is mismanaged and that the constitution of the ARLC denies all 16 clubs any say in the management of the game.

Without 14 of the 18 possible votes, no changes can be made to the make up of the ARLC, effectively allowing commissioners to continue to re-elect themselves for new, lengthy tenures.

The Daily Telegraph also understands that nobody from the recruitment firm or the ARLC has approached several obvious and highly regarded candidates for the chief executive’s job, including Warriors chief, Jim Doyle.

Little wonder then that Israel Folau ran for cover, now to be known as the big fish that got away.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...r-ceo-dave-smith/story-fnp0lyn3-1227617132833

 

[Nashy]

But yeah, he was awesome guuuuuyz!

 

[Browny]

Wow what a balls up

 

[Morkel]

I don't agree with those actions, but from a game-wide aspect it makes sense. Like we've all been saying, why allow Souths to have Burgess and the Roosters to have SBW, when there are clubs that are struggling? It makes sense to assist those that need it most. Isn't that what a draft will be for? The lower clubs get first pick?

My opinion is **** them, there's a reason those clubs are chock-full of suckinginess and they shouldn't be rewarded with an elite player because they're incompetent.

What we are all aware of of course is that the NRL clubs and officials are infected with agendas. Any time I hear a club official bitching about the "core values of the game" I automatically think of old heads lamenting their loss of influence now that the game is independent.

And Rebecca Wilson knows nothing but selective half-truths and gutter journalism.