OFFICIAL Walsh signs with the Broncos until 2025

[Marty Deutschmann]

Yep, I’ e heard plenty of talk that left centre rather than FB will be his long term position, probably means we lose Herbie, but we can’t keep everyone and have others coming through like Mariner we din’t want to lose either.

Good headaches for Kev anyway. Pity we can’t get Walsh this year, seemingly…

People think that Herbie is the one we'll lose..

Why are we all so secure that Staggs won't be the one to fall and be released early?

That leaves Herbie 3, Cobbo 4

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

I don't mind if we lose Herbie. Don't get me wrong, as a centre, I will take Herbie over almost anyone. But I don't think he's a fullback at all. We've been down this road with Josh Hoffman where a great winger wants to be a poor fullback or he's gonna cause issues.

Herbie over Staggs? Might come down to that..

 

[Kimlo]

He is good but ahead of TMM is a bit far, he is not as composed as martin even if his ability is higher.

Remember when Cowboys made the final without Thurston, it wasn't a surprise that Martin was heavily involved when that happened(though yes Morgan was the main reason).

There's definitely an argument for TMM, but personally, I don't rate him as anything more than a stop gap fullback, I think he's a 5/8 and we don't need him there. That's just me though, I know plenty on BHQ rate him highly as a fullback, and I love his defence out there but if it comes down to Walsh or TMM, I'd pick Walsh every time. He's our junior, he's 6 years younger, he has elite potential.

 

[Financeguy]

People think that Herbie is the one we'll lose..

Why are we all so secure that Staggs won't be the one to fall and be released early?

That leaves Herbie 3, Cobbo 4

I guess with Herbie only signed for 2023 and Staggs signed out until the end of 2025 it's pretty obvious who the more likely candidate is out of the 2 that will depart the club sooner if it is one or the other.

Having said that, it would be a safe bet that the conversation you mention about the idea of moving Staggs on and keeping Herbie as an option would have been discussed in the Dave/Ikin/Walters think tank.

 

[Big Del]

Anyone that thinks Tesi is a reliable NRL quality fullback should become a dolphins supporter.

Time will tell .
The best athlete ever seen is is still very young in his career . I liked what I saw yesterday .

 

[Big Del]

I think Walsh is over rated but he is still far in front of tesi offensively, and even defensively. TMM offensively he is better but defensively he isn't. I think TMM links in well in a backline and gives the right pass more often than not but Walsh does that plus lurks in the middle with footwork like niu (niu can't pass and often stuffs up backlinr plays).
I think Walsh can improve his defence with the right coaching and attitude. Whether that happens is yet to be seen but it's far more likely than niu or TMM surpassing him in attack. All that being said, still think he's over rated in the media, but definitely worth the money we are paying him in reports as long as he doesn't bring a bad attitude that upsets the apple cart of a well performing team on the up even without him.

Walsh has played a lot more games and done a lot more training in his position than Tesi .
Tesi was only slotted into FB at the last moment when a player got injured . Then missed pre season with injury . Played a cpl of games and out again .

He is still very young . Time and experience could be his making .

 

[Bongo]

Anyone that thinks Tesi is a reliable NRL quality fullback should become a dolphins supporter.

I think he is not there yet but could become that. If this was the 90s he would not have debuted yet. His game is certainly improving and he could become a good fullback in mould of Rhys Wesser. I think a year or two in England would be good for Niu. He is still very young.

 

[pennywisealfie]

Herbie over Staggs? Might come down to that..

If Herbie were to come out and say he wants to play centre, I absolutely would take Herbie over Staggs.

 

[Bongo]

I thought Tesi was pretty excellent, a few moments of dumb, but two of his try assists were absolute pearler passes and his support play was good.

Unlike Isaako, I think he could become a handy fullback, we really should try to offload him to the Dolphins, he's good enough to be a first grader.

Why offload him if he is signed next year. Id only release him if there is a salary cap benefit or if dolphin's pay a transfer fee. Especially if TMM goes, he would be good back up at the very least

 

[Kimlo]

Why offload him if he is signed next year. Id only release him if there is a salary cap benefit or if dolphin's pay a transfer fee. Especially if TMM goes, he would be good back up at the very least

I don't think it's fair to keep him as depth mainly, but also he wouldn't be on a budget contract, I'd guess he's on the 350-400k mark, so if we can save that we should. It all comes down to cap space though, if we've got plenty of breathing room you leave him as depth, but if it's tight you free up the money in case we need a mid-season signing, or we may even sign someone in the off season. A backup 9 would be nice.

 

[007]

Time will tell .
The best athlete ever seen is is still very young in his career . I liked what I saw yesterday .

I think he is not there yet but could become that. If this was the 90s he would not have debuted yet. His game is certainly improving and he could become a good fullback in mould of Rhys Wesser. I think a year or two in England would be good for Niu. He is still very young.

Respectfully to both of you, he just doesn't have the football IQ. Its not natural to him. Hes a rocks and diamonds football brain.

You wont ever be able to rely on him to make a critical tackle or choose the right play cleaning up a ball on our line. His instinct in defense is reserve grade standard.

 

[lynx000]

Respectfully to both of you, he just doesn't have the football IQ. Its not natural to him. Hes a rocks and diamonds football brain.

You wont ever be able to rely on him to make a critical tackle or choose the right play cleaning up a ball on our line. His instinct in defense is reserve grade standard.

You played a fair bit of fullback didn't you?

 

[Big Del]

I don't get why you'd want to find a way to squeeze niu into our team next year. Walsh and TMM are better on just about every level at fullback, and in the halves. There's about 6 better options in the centres.
Ask yourselves this, what other nrl team would he being the 1st choice fullback? And if you do find one (I couldnt) then I still guarantee they would be looking for an upgrade signing. He's a talent with his ball running sometimes but he is missing so many areas that a quality fullback needs these days. I think he will be a career 2nd string fullback. A quality one, play between 80-140 first grade games, but still not the first choice at any club he goes too for longer than a season. Maybe I'm missing something, he has had great games, but he just gives me the isaako vibes. Amazing athlete and plenty of skill but just lacks the footy smarts and variety in his game.

Respectfully to both of you, he just doesn't have the football IQ. Its not natural to him. Hes a rocks and diamonds football brain.

You wont ever be able to rely on him to make a critical tackle or choose the right play cleaning up a ball on our line. His instinct in defense is reserve grade standard.

He is 19 / 20 .
And has played how many games as FB after being slotted into the role after a team mate withdrew in the warm up ?
Then missed preseason injured .
I think you are judging on too small a sample size .
His defence looked fine to me yesterday .

 

[007]

He is 19 / 20 .
And has played how many games as FB after being slotted into the role after a team mate withdrew in the warm up ?
Then missed preseason injured .
I think you are judging on too small a sample size .
His defence looked fine to me yesterday .

Hes had enough time in grade (Q cup/NRL) now to start seeing what he is like.

Yes he was fantastic in attack yesterday - but the Ramsay, Suli and Feagai efforts really worry me.

 

[Big Del]

Hes had enough time in grade (Q cup/NRL) now to start seeing what he is like.

Yes he was fantastic in attack yesterday - but the Ramsay, Suli and Feagai efforts really worry me.

Willison missed badly .
Tesi had no chance after that .
The other two I can forgive . Give him a month and see .

He had the balls to escort those grubbers dead . I have seen plenty of FBs give up 6 agains in that situation . He also stopped a player in open field from a break . A step up from Darius surely ?

 

[Johnny92]

Hes had enough time in grade (Q cup/NRL) now to start seeing what he is like.

Yes he was fantastic in attack yesterday - but the Ramsay, Suli and Feagai efforts really worry me.

Ramsay one he was way out of position TMM and Walsh would of been there, Suli would of been hard to stop but he gave himself no chance with how he positioned his body, Feagai was terrible a one on one tackle if it wasn't for Palasia back in cover it would of been a try.
The efforts on the grubbers into the ingoal were pretty casual aswell, he got lucky with the bounce of the ball on one occasion.
Dragons were very poor with their halves and last play options, better teams would of exploited that.

His attack was great yesterday minus a few things but as we've seen with TMM being a big attacking threat isn't everything especially against the top tier teams.

 

[Mister Wright]

I know I’m in the minority, but although Walsh is the better fullback right now, there’s just something about Niu to me that I think he’ll end up the better all round player. Some of his vision and skill is top class. Once he gets a bit more experience and a consistent run he could start putting it all together.

 

[Sproj]

I know I’m in the minority, but although Walsh is the better fullback right now, there’s just something about Niu to me that I think he’ll end up the better all round player. Some of his vision and skill is top class. Once he gets a bit more experience and a consistent run he could start putting it all together.

I'm with you BUT the obvious caveat is, will he unlock that potential or will he go the way of Isaako and just never actually get there? I really like Niu and there is something about him that makes me worry whether getting Walsh back might also end up being a shame. I honestly don't know though. This signing has me torn so much. Walsh is obviously a massively promising kid with huge upside...but you know what, so is Tesi.