NRL Player Movements & Rumours

[1910]

Wow. I liked what I had seen from Dufty, maybe they’d like a consistent performer in Boyd as a trade.

Field too, I think he's a potentially great player for the Dragons. Never seems to find a spot though.

 

[FaithinHook]

The news went through to the keeper on here largely due to the Josh McGuire --> Cowboys business, but Trent Merrin leaving the NRL feels like a big moment.

It wasn't that long ago Merrin was a mainstay of the NSW pack and was considered among the best forwards in the game. Every year it seemed like Merrin was just on the cusp of breaking into that elite category yet time and time again he remained a good club player. When Merrin left the Dragons to accept a starting spot in the Panthers forward pack, it seemed like a real now or never moment for him. Despite a handful of performances, Merrin never quite measured up. In fact he was exposed pretty badly, being moved out of his favoured lock forward position for a 'harder' player in James Fisher-Harris and getting benched time and time again.

I'd love to find the article where Gus took aim at the NSW selectors and basically blamed the omission of Merrin as a key factor in the Blues losing the series. I wonder with the benefit of hindsight whether he thought Merrin really was that crucial?

It also felt fitting that Merrin's departure occurred on the same day as McGuire's. I always saw them as very similar players and while I thought Merrin had a touch more upside to his performances, ultimately I think McGuire has had the better career and really overachieved.

It will be interesting to see what Penrith will do with the extra cash. Merrin was a marquee signing who was delivering mediocre performances so whether it goes into keeping the squad together or luring a player like Martin Taupau remains to be seen. If Penrith could bring a player like him, Klemmer or Segeyaro into the club I'd consider it a net gain. Segs' is a wild card, but the #9 has been a real position of weakness and Segs was far and away their best option when he was at his best.

The only place Merrin over-achieved surely was that surfer chick he used to bang. Talk about punchin above his weight.

 

[jarro65]

Val Holmes to quit the NRL and pursue a career in the NFL.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...m/news-story/630f1ee3eab77133196387914a54a1dd

 

[Unbreakable]

QLD is so fucked for the next 5 years

 

[Harry Sack]

Rothfield though......

 

[Sproj]

He's smaller than Hayne isn't he, what position would he even play?

 

[Accept]

He's smaller than Hayne isn't he, what position would he even play?

Cornerback, Safety, Wide Receiver, special teams. It will be very difficult for him though. Walking into a sport like gridiron with no previous experience and unfamiliar with the rules makes him long odds at ever going anywhere with it. What Hayne achieved in the sport is significant considering the obstacles.

 

[Alec]

Cornerback, Safety, Wide Receiver, special teams. It will be very difficult for him though. Walking into a sport like gridiron with no previous experience and unfamiliar with the rules makes him long odds at ever going anywhere with it. What Hayne achieved in the sport is significant considering the obstacles.

Hayne was honestly a considerably better athlete too. It won't work out IMO.

 

[broncos4life]

Cornerback, Safety, Wide Receiver, special teams. It will be very difficult for him though. Walking into a sport like gridiron with no previous experience and unfamiliar with the rules makes him long odds at ever going anywhere with it. What Hayne achieved in the sport is significant considering the obstacles.

He’s too small for CB. WR would probably be his best option but he would be so far behind when it comes to learning route running etc. that he has no chance.

I could see him go alright as a returner but can’t see any team bothering for anything more than a gimmick.

 

[cakeGG]

He was always going to leave the Sharks, but massive lol@50wboy$ if it's true.

 

[Morkel]

https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/c...s/news-story/ba00c0dd774b8fcca4264570119767a6

Cameron Smith is yet to ink a deal to stay in Melbourne in 2019 but if he does put pen to paper, it may be his teammates who pay the highest price.

If Cameron Smith or any of his Storm teammates won’t be at Melbourne next NRL season, it’s news to the players.
The Storm are back into pre-season training looking to put their gut-wrenching grand final defeat by the Sydney Roosters behind them.
Skipper Smith is yet to re-sign for 2019, seven weeks after the decider, but isn’t due back until January along with the New Zealand players who had post- season Tests.
Centre Curtis Scott said he hadn’t heard anything of a report that Melbourne are looking to off-load some players in order to free up some extra money to satisfy Smith’s contract
Speaking on SEN Breakfast radio on Tuesday, Fairfax rugby league reporter Adrian Proszenko said Melbourne is desperate to keep Smith given the loss of Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk over the past two seasons, and said the big money the hooker is asking for means some of his teammates will be shown the door.
“This is an interesting one, he’s 35-years-old, he’ll be 36 next year and he’s chasing a seven-figure contract,” Proszenko said. “My understanding is Melbourne, in order to meet his asking price, have to move on a few players.
“My mail is that big Sam Kasiano, one of their forwards and a couple of their other teammates — Patrick Kaufusi and Cheyse Blair — have been told they can find new clubs if they can, because they basically want to fit Cam Smith in.
“There’s been a massive transition over there already with Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk moving on, and they’re desperate for Cam Smith to play on with his experience and everything that he brings.
“As it stands they’re only a few weeks away from pre-season and haven’t been able to do a deal, so they’re going to try and move a couple of guys on who are surplus to requirements to fit him (Smith) in under the salary cap.”

Scott said he hadn’t heard anything about players being moved on to keep Smith and said it was business as usual with the Storm captain absent.
“He doesn’t normally come back until after Christmas so it’s pretty normal at the moment,” Scott said.
Should Smith need some assistance with his contract he could call on prop Christian Welch, who spent time in October at Harvard completing a short course in Effective Negotiation Skills.
“I finished my degree last year so I just saw a short course that would be good for me post-career,” Welch said.
The 24-year-old intends to represent himself in his contract talks which are likely to start before round one.
Welch said the 21-6 grand final loss to the Roosters still stung and would provide some motivation through the pre-season.
“Especially with it being such a disappointing performance in the grand final,” Welch said.
“It’s such a long year to get to the grand final and to perform like that … it’s certainly motivating for us to start the pre-season well and get through our work.”

 

[Browny]

Keep tarnishing that legacy Cam

 

[Morkel]

Hayne was honestly a considerably better athlete too. It won't work out IMO.

This is my thought too. Say what you want about his personality, he was a weapon. Not only did he have 10kg on Holmes, but he was able to maintain that weight while still being bloody fast and nimble. IIRC he was the fastest League player (who participated) the year that they pitted some League vs Union vs AFL (or soccer???) players against each other in the sprint.

Unless Holmes is going to play in another position than Hayne was suited to, he's got a long way to go before he even reaches Hayne's physicality pre-NFL, let alone where Hayne was at after dedicated training.

I don't know NFL at all, but I thought there was more emphasis on power than simply speed. Holmes only has speed, and a bit of footwork. He may have exceeded many people's original expectations as to how he'd perform at fullback as compared to wing, but I don't think any of those skills are transferable. There are probably 20 other NRL guys that can offer the same to NFL that Holmes does.

 

[Foordy]

I don't know NFL at all, but I thought there was more emphasis on power than simply speed. Holmes only has speed, and a bit of footwork. He may have exceeded many people's original expectations as to how he'd perform at fullback as compared to wing, but I don't think any of those skills are transferable. There are probably 20 other NRL guys that can offer the same to NFL that Holmes does.

apparently they use the 40m dash as a bench mark.

the players Holmes will go up against (if he plays a similar position to what Hayne did) run the 40m dash in around 4.4secs compared to Holmes 4.6secs ... while also weighing over 14kg more than Holmes

 

[Morkel]

apparently they use the 40m dash as a bench mark.

the players Holmes will go up against (if he plays a similar position to what Hayne did) run the 40m dash in around 4.4secs compared to Holmes 4.6secs ... while also weighing over 14kg more than Holmes

Stuff like this, you guys that know NFL will be able to expand on it for people like me.

What I do know is that, as a rough estimate, at top speed a fast athlete will be going over 10 metres per second. 0.2 seconds might not seem a lot, but in reality that's a 2m difference, which is massive.

 

[Foordy]

Stuff like this, you guys that know NFL will be able to expand on it for people like me.

What I do know is that, as a rough estimate, at top speed a fast athlete will be going over 10 metres per second. 0.2 seconds might not seem a lot, but in reality that's a 2m difference, which is massive.

I'm a bit like you ... most of my knowledge of NFL comes from playing Madden :P

so my info has come from what i have read, and they are saying that the 0.2 seconds slower that Holmes is a pretty big difference (especially given his smaller size)

he should have learned from Hayne ... Hayne essentially fucked his career by going over.

before he left he was on the verge of being a decade long $1 million a season plus player ... comes back and he is struggling to get anyone to want to pay him half that (excluding his successful con job on the Titans of course)

 

[john1420]

Dumb move by Holmes IMO

He is set to sign his biggest contract to date (IIRC) and he throws it all away to try his hand at another sport

Extremely unlikely to succeed and what happens to him when he returns to NRL?

Hopefully he can transition back unlike the Dream Plane

 

[Jedhead]

If I was able to go over there and train with a club on the off chance of playing I'd jump at it. There will be a fair amount of slog, but to experience the whole thing if even for a year is something that not everyone gets to do. The Brain drain never made it over there and failed when he came back here for the simple reason that he lacked the smarts. I mean dropping 20K and your passport to secure your freedom does not look good. Brains and being self-aware is the crucial area where Holmes will succeed where Hayne failed.