NEWS Walters names his halves

[abashii]

I might be mistaken here, but didn't Walsh say after the trial it was his first ever game against adult men? You'd want to be pretty bloody confident or terribly desperate to throw in a young fella who's never played against adults into a disorganised team that spent the last season getting torched on and off the field.

 

[Foordy]

Foordy must be busy, no ‘dislike’ reaction yet.

a) i was sleeping after night shift
b) i never said we would challenge for the premiership in 2021 ... hell, i never even said we'd be challenging for the top 4. I have maintained the entire pre-season (and i still maintain that we won't have a season anywhere near as bad as 2020; i said we'd be challenging for the top 8; i said that i predict we will be in the usual mid table huddle and finish in the 6-10 range

 

[Sproj]

If we were any chance of challenging for a premiership I'd be all for bringing in Walsh early but this will be nothing but a hope we don't embarrass ourselves year so it's far better to let Walsh keep developing in qcup and maybe when we're mathematically out of the finals give him a few games at a fullback.

I'm expecting multiple big name signings for next year. 2022 we can start being competitive again

Who are the players off contract 21 that we should be targeting?

From what I can see, there is only really:

Mann
Hoy (I think he will want way too much as well)
Molo
B.Lee
Hughes (he wants too much and 99% of players who leave the Storm system suck thereafter)
Opacic (I thought he signed more than one year but he is listed as off contract after this year)
Capewell
Gagai
Su'A
Walters (I only list him because he is 99.9% certain of being here if Kevvie is next year)
B.Smith (evidently)

So out of that lot (or others I haven't included), who do we go after? And are any of those the missing ingredients we need? Some of them would certainly add a LOT to the squad overall.

 

[Financeguy]

Who are the players off contract 21 that we should be targeting?

Players to me who could be of some interest depending on their own salary expectations as well as any other player fallout we have are:
(These are in addition to your list which i pretty much agree with)

Braidon Burns (solid centre with no spot in a stacked Souths lineup)
Blake Ferguson (Could be a cheap x factor)
Scott Drinkwater (Fullback or 5/8th depending what we need)
Matt Dufty (I get we have Walsh but if he was going cheap and allow Walsh to ease in off the wing...)
Ben Hampton (getting on in age but more utility value)
Connor Watson (scrappy utility)
Dale Finucane (cant see him leaving Melbourne but you never know, exactly the kind of tough consistent player we need)
Nathan Brown (don't like him but if we needed a TPJ replacement...)
Tohu Harris (Warriors have potential to be a basket case and with RTS leaving he may be persuaded to leave..)
Billy Magoulias (Bit of an old fashioned footballer - should be cheap)
Matt Ikuvalu (Solid winger)
Daniel Tupou (Good winger, could he make way Suaalii)

I'd also like to think our scouting/football department are keeping an eye on players still under contract but blocked by a first picked in their team type player. As an example someone like Tom Starling who will always be behind Josh Hodgson would be a great pickup for a team looking for a young hooker.

 

[NSW stables]

I think the brandon smith signing gets further away from us by the day. If that doesnt eventuate, I would be looking at tom starling and billy brittain as someone who could keep turpin on his toes and fulfil that hooker relief role.

I dont see paix making the transition to the type of hooker we need.

 

[Sproj]

I think the brandon smith signing gets further away from us by the day. If that doesnt eventuate, I would be looking at tom starling and billy brittain as someone who could keep turpin on his toes and fulfil that hooker relief role.

I dont see paix making the transition to the type of hooker we need.

I know it is extremely early in his career but at present, I am not even sure Paix will be a regular first grader unless something dramatically changes. He seems to be the modern day Kurt Baptiste right now.

 

[theshed]

Just to clarify again, I don’t think Walsh should play first grade yet. I was commenting regarding the last quarter of the year and that’s only of his q cup form warrants selection.

 

[ZTop]

Players to me who could be of some interest depending on their own salary expectations as well as any other player fallout we have are:
(These are in addition to your list which i pretty much agree with)

Braidon Burns (solid centre with no spot in a stacked Souths lineup)
Blake Ferguson (Could be a cheap x factor)
Scott Drinkwater (Fullback or 5/8th depending what we need)
Matt Dufty (I get we have Walsh but if he was going cheap and allow Walsh to ease in off the wing...)
Ben Hampton (getting on in age but more utility value)
Connor Watson (scrappy utility)
Dale Finucane (cant see him leaving Melbourne but you never know, exactly the kind of tough consistent player we need)
Nathan Brown (don't like him but if we needed a TPJ replacement...)
Tohu Harris (Warriors have potential to be a basket case and with RTS leaving he may be persuaded to leave..)
Billy Magoulias (Bit of an old fashioned footballer - should be cheap)
Matt Ikuvalu (Solid winger)
Daniel Tupou (Good winger, could he make way Suaalii)

I'd also like to think our scouting/football department are keeping an eye on players still under contract but blocked by a first picked in their team type player. As an example someone like Tom Starling who will always be behind Josh Hodgson would be a great pickup for a team looking for a young hooker.

Ferguson will be anything but cheap

 

[Sproj]

Ferguson will be anything but cheap

Not necessarily. He is starting to get on in age now and I think has a bit of an injury history in recent seasons. He won't be basement cheap but may not be as expensive as he once was either.

 

[Jedhead]

I think the centre we could really get value from is Zac Lomax. He has everything I want to see in a centre. He's also got a ton of resilience and is as robust as they come. I'd make a big offer for him and have Staggs on the other side. With MILF and Tommy, Coates and Herbie on our wings and Walsh (next year) as our FB. That is a backline worth building (provided Staggs learns to defend).

 

[Sproj]

I think the centre we could really get value from is Zac Lomax. He has everything I want to see in a centre. He's also got a ton of resilience and is as robust as they come. I'd make a big offer for him and have Staggs on the other side. With MILF and Tommy, Coates and Herbie on our wings and Walsh (next year) as our FB. That is a backline worth building (provided Staggs learns to defend).

I know its early doors but lets give Niu a chance. He could turn into something at centre.

 

[Shane Tronc]

Croft and Paix have played some first grade and have shown they need further development m. Paix playing would minutes every week in the 9 jersey would benefit him if he is a 9. Walsh may be worth having a crack in the 14 and let him get a taste at fullback and 9 like pappy for Melbourne. He wouldn't need to be named every week and could go back to QCup too where requured. I think Walsh looks like being a step above the others and may belong in first grade already.

Papenhuyzen was playing regular ISC before he was brought into the storm team on the bench... Walsh at 14 is going to add little value to our team and not benefit his development. It was a lot different for Paps at the storm, he was coming off the bench into a team directed by Cam in which everyone knew their roles. It’s much harder to make an impact as a bench utility when you’re playing in an omnishambles of a team like ours

 

[Jedhead]

I know its early doors but lets give Niu a chance. He could turn into something at centre.

You're right he could but there is no harm in bringing in genuine competition.

 

[Sproj]

You're right he could but there is no harm in bringing in genuine competition.

I'd be going for Opa of course.

 

[Jedhead]

I'd be going for Opa of course.

Yeh Tom might be serviceable, but we want next level in order to challenge for a premiership. We're not with Opa in our backline. We'd be more tredding water waiting for somebody like - like Lomax!

 

[Harry Sack]

Still baffles me that Parra got him so cheap.

 

[Financeguy]

Ferguson will be anything but cheap

Depends on who wants him, he is at the tail end of his career, won’t have a lot of demand if he has a season like he had in 2020

 

[Sproj]

Yeh Tom might be serviceable, but we want next level in order to challenge for a premiership. We're not with Opa in our backline. We'd be more tredding water waiting for somebody like - like Lomax!

Except he will be expensive and we will probably already have one extremely overpriced centre already in Staggs who will probably be on 1.1 million.