NRL Player Movements & Rumours

[Mick_Hancock]

I think Luai is a very different type of signing. Look it was the right idea wrong player. Luai doesn’t drive culture or obtain great leadership qualities and doesn’t have a consistent and sustainable 1.2 million dollar performance in him without a number of million dollar players alongside him. I don’t see where the value is coming from if they don’t recruit better around him.

If he was overpriced alongside a quality number 7 sure but I just don’t think Tigers have the cattle to get what you want out of him currently. In saying that for 1.2 million they have a 3 time premiership winner at 26 years old. They got themselves 5 years to get the best out of him and that will mean improving heaps of areas of there side. They have there hands on some very talented pieces at that club it’s not all doom there. The 5 years is what’s of value to them they have 5 years of a top quality 6 with his prime still to come to figure it out the rest of the puzzle.

I think they’ve just put $6+ mill in the bin.
He ISN’T a halfback. He isn’t an organiser. He definitely isn’t a leader of men, someone you would go to battle for.

Take the same money for a 26 year old Reynolds. Sure, doesn’t have 3 premierships (the other 2 will come in 24 & 25) but he is a man you want to play with. A leader and a genuine halfback.

It’s not like, they’ve compromised and signed a half that everyone is dying to play with… it’s Jerome fucken Luai….

 

[Mick_Hancock]

Oh and another thing…. **** the Tigers…
I hope they battle it out for the spoon with Dolphins & Cows….

As always - The Rorters and Storm can get fucked too. Just know that those 2 teams are always implied in the “get fucked” stakes. Even if it’s a completely different rant, the above ALWAYS applies.

 

[Fitzy]

I think they’ve just put $6+ mill in the bin.
He ISN’T a halfback. He isn’t an organiser. He definitely isn’t a leader of men, someone you would go to battle for.

Take the same money for a 26 year old Reynolds. Sure, doesn’t have 3 premierships (the other 2 will come in 24 & 25) but he is a man you want to play with. A leader and a genuine halfback.

It’s not like, they’ve compromised and signed a half that everyone is dying to play with… it’s Jerome fucken Luai….

Where’s these other players though? They don’t exist and the ones that do don’t want to go to the Tigers. It’s all good and well to have a different opinion but where is the better alternative. Look I don’t think it’s going to turn them into a force but it gives them 5 years to have a high level piece at there disposal if they can manage to get their roster into a contending or even top 8 position. Koroisau, Sezer and Bula are good enough to extract the majority of that value out of him and the remaining is what you spend just to get him through the door. When you have been the joke of the comp that’s what you have to do to get quality through the door.

As much as he is a total **** he is a good 5/8 that has won 2 premierships with Api, has a grand final experienced directing halfback and one of the best young fullbacks. 1.2 is the new 1 million. This isn’t a David Fifita 1.2.

Do I think alone he is a 1.2 player, no. But I don’t think he is as alone as you think. I doubted him for Samoa in the wc and whilst I hate the **** he has a much better spine at the Tigers to play a supporting role. We can only wait and see but worst case scenario is they took a valuable piece out of Penrith and are still shit, sounds like a dream outcome for the Bronx.

For a notoriously shithouse run club with no remote success in over a decade you get a winner through the door and you got 5 years to figure it out. Anyone in a perennially shit state as themselves would take that risk. Could take them another 6 years to get even remotely close to being able to get a player of his value. You have to take the chance. Considering they would otherwise be paying the same amount of money every year without Jarome Luai in the side who gives a ****.

Players aren’t lining up to resurrect the Tigers. This one is, you take that chance everyday of the week if you are them. It’s all about perspective what’s bad for some teams isn’t necessarily for another.

 

[Morkel]

I'll absolutely be enjoying death-riding Luai at the Tigers at every opportunity. He's getting his big pay-day but will be exposed for how very limited he is as a player.

 

[Mick_Hancock]

Can’t wait to shit on Luai at every opportunity. If you guys think I was a c*nt to the “coaches special little guy” at the start of the season you ain’t seen nothing yet…

BTW - I am now the President for the “Billy Walters is the Greatest Player to ever pull on a Broncos Jersey fan club”

Billy has proved 99% of this forum wrong, myself included… the other 1% are just determined to be offended by him… @McHunt I’m looking in your direction

 

[Mick_Hancock]

Where’s these other players though? They don’t exist and the ones that do don’t want to go to the Tigers. It’s all good and well to have a different opinion but where is the better alternative. Look I don’t think it’s going to turn them into a force but it gives them 5 years to have a high level piece at there disposal if they can manage to get their roster into a contending or even top 8 position. Koroisau, Sezer and Bula are good enough to extract the majority of that value out of him and the remaining is what you spend just to get him through the door. When you have been the joke of the comp that’s what you have to do to get quality through the door.

As much as he is a total **** he is a good 5/8 that has won 2 premierships with Api, has a grand final experienced directing halfback and one of the best young fullbacks. 1.2 is the new 1 million. This isn’t a David Fifita 1.2.

Do I think alone he is a 1.2 player, no. But I don’t think he is as alone as you think. I doubted him for Samoa in the wc and whilst I hate the **** he has a much better spine at the Tigers to play a supporting role. We can only wait and see but worst case scenario is they took a valuable piece out of Penrith and are still shit, sounds like a dream outcome for the Bronx.

For a notoriously shithouse run club with no remote success in over a decade you get a winner through the door and you got 5 years to figure it out. Anyone in a perennially shit state as themselves would take that risk. Could take them another 6 years to get even remotely close to being able to get a player of his value. You have to take the chance. Considering they would otherwise be paying the same amount of money every year without Jarome Luai in the side who gives a ****.

Players aren’t lining up to resurrect the Tigers. This one is, you take that chance everyday of the week if you are them. It’s all about perspective what’s bad for some teams isn’t necessarily for another.

The whole club needs to get nuked.
Flush it down the toilet and start again.

 

[Renegade]

Normally I'd hate on the dude but the Tigers have been awful for years, I hope for their sake he's the catalyst for a (positive) change, they deserve a break (the fans).

 

[Big Pete]

You need to trust your development but you don’t make the 8 without a decent spine. If a guy of Laui’s caliber becomes available you do your best to land him. The reported amounts are steep but I would’ve said the same about Parra signing Moses and I doubt they regret that decision even if they haven’t won a GF.

Trust your development system to uncover forwards and outside backs. Legitimate good spine options only show up once every few years.

I don't think it's a matter of paying too much money - moreso how it could potentially upset the apple cart. Don't forget when Parramatta signed Mitchell Moses there was a vacancy at the time because the Eels had to release Foran from his contract early to get under the cap. Don't forget they had Gutho playing 6 because they had nobody else.

At Wests, they had just added four new halves to their roster, with the hope being that between Sullivan, Fainu and Galvin they'll be set for the next 3-5 years. Before they've even had an opportunity they've gone ahead and signed Luai who is bit of an unknown outside of Cleary and that Panthers system.

But I think you've nailed the rationale.

 

[theshed]

I don't think it's a matter of paying too much money - moreso how it could potentially upset the apple cart. Don't forget when Parramatta signed Mitchell Moses there was a vacancy at the time because the Eels had to release Foran from his contract early to get under the cap. Don't forget they had Gutho playing 6 because they had nobody else.

At Wests, they had just added four new halves to their roster, with the hope being that between Sullivan, Fainu and Galvin they'll be set for the next 3-5 years. Before they've even had an opportunity they've gone ahead and signed Luai who is bit of an unknown outside of Cleary and that Panthers system.

But I think you've nailed the rationale.

Smart move. Now they’ve got an experienced half with 3 or 4 promising young players fighting it out to join Laui and Api in the spine. Those that get the shits and miss out can be moved on once you’ve decided who to commit to long term.

 

[Fitzy]

Smart move. Now they’ve got an experienced half with 3 or 4 promising young players fighting it out to join Laui and Api in the spine. Those that get the shits and miss out can be moved on once you’ve decided who to commit to long term.

I agree none of them are good enough to even suggest they will be anywhere near as good as luai and especially not good enough to be stopping a club from going after that sort of deal.

 

[KateBroncos1812]

Oh and another thing…. **** the Tigers…
I hope they battle it out for the spoon with Dolphins & Cows….

As always - The Rorters and Storm can get fucked too. Just know that those 2 teams are always implied in the “get fucked” stakes. Even if it’s a completely different rant, the above ALWAYS applies.

Don't worry I am manifesting a third wooden spoon for the Tigers and a premiership for us

 

[Big Pete]

Smart move. Now they’ve got an experienced half with 3 or 4 promising young players fighting it out to join Laui and Api in the spine. Those that get the shits and miss out can be moved on once you’ve decided who to commit to long term.

The Luai move could turn out to be a stroke of genius, but to have made that signing after signing four other halves suggests an error has been made somewhere. It seems like an attempt at a course correction which doesn't bode well for 2024 and could set a bad precedent heading into 2025.

 

[Fitzy]

The Luai move could turn out to be a stroke of genius, but to have made that signing after signing four other halves suggests an error has been made somewhere. It seems like an attempt at a course correction which doesn't bode well for 2024 and could set a bad precedent heading into 2025.

Galvin is ages off and reports are they see him as a second rower. Fainu not good enough for next year. Sezer is clearly the 7 for as long as he is the best option to play halfback. Finally Sullivan is the likely 6 option next year and then him, Sezer and Fainu will fight it out to play alongside Luai.

 

[Morkel]

Or the Tigers end up with a situation like ours, with Norman and Hunt fighting it out as the "young half to partner the experience half (Wall-P)". But because players mature and develop at different rates, the wrong string can get plucked. Or poached. Or developed wrong. Are their coaching staff going to be up for it?

And even if Luai has it in him to be a decent controlling half, is he going to put in the effort to reach that potential? I can see his ego pushing him to "prove the h8ters wrong", maybe getting a year or two of his best attempts, but unless success comes their way I can see it exploding spectacularly. Insta stories of the fans being losers while he has $6 million reasons to smile etc. An early release and paying a shit tonne of freight while he plays for someone else is definitely a familiar Tigers story.

 

[Allo]

It just reeks of a classic Tigers signing

Pay huge overs over a long time for a bog-average player with a massive ego.

The rest writes itself.

I know the fans have suffered for almost 2 decades now, but so have we as far as premierships go and while we obviously have a lot more ability to dig ourselves out of a hole, the club made a grand final inside 3 years from getting a spoon*

Tigers haven't made finals since 2011 and are two spoons on the trot

I don't hate the Tigers and I want them to be better than they have as they have some likeable players, and a new board and front office should hopefully help, along with Benji who we know doesn't suffer poor trainers or players not putting in, but I just don't see this as a good signing for anyone except Penrith, Luai and his manager

 

[BroncosFever]

Well one way or another we will get to see how good Luai actually is, the general opinion for a long time has been that without Cleary he is nothing.

Luai could find himself in a position we as Bronco fans know all too well about, a potentially above average 5/8 without a dominant halfback on a lucrative salary.

 

[Sproj]

Tigers fans better hope Benji turns out to be a great coach because if he isn’t, Luai seems like the type of guy who won’t be putting in if his heart isn’t in it and that should have alarm bells going off for the Tigers if they stay an average side. They have the talent in the side and coming through to be far better than they have been, just need a good coach to harness it. Is that Benji? I have my doubts.

 

[Xzei]

think the tigers will be fine api in all honesty is probably there better option at 7 there were points last year where he was playing more a cam smith role given how crap the halves options were,only thing they would really need to find is a quality end of set kicker.