Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Jun 02, 2023 5:14 pm  

Jonh
I named 7 players more important to the team than King (obviously imo) and I suspect that 4 of them will be on lower wages than King. If he got a contract with us on similar terms to his Wire deal then for me he would poor value for money. He isn’t even the best centre at the club.

As I said previously a centre who can’t pass isn’t a centre. How many times has he actually passed to his winger? He has a very good work ethic but for me that just isn’t good enough particularly if he is on a big wage.

I’d agree with a previous poster who classified him as a workhorse. You shouldn’t pay workhorses star players wages.
We all make mistakes in our opinions of players and if I’ve called King wrong and over the next few seasons King stays and is a roaring success I will gladly hold my hands up.

Obviously SW never made any errors in his signings Pettybourne, Tautai, Nuuausala and Laukaki for example were all brilliant signings. All good coaches make poor signings. It’s inevitable.
King on a substantial wage with his current capabilities for me would be a very poor use of the salary cap.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Jun 02, 2023 5:40 pm  

They’ll always have to weigh up value for money. If King can sit on a very good salary at Wire and wants similar money here and isn’t being offered it, he’ll more than likely go back. There’s no doubt in my mind that he wants to be here (he looks to be loving it and seemed sore about the reception he got at Wire earlier in the season) but Wigan won’t offer silly money.

I look at him vs a fully fit Thornley and there isn’t a huge difference in quality. The offload King has puts him ahead but everything else is much the same and I’d presume the salary expectation of both are vastly different. If we have the chance to get Keighran on less money, I’m absolutely fine with that. He’s a dangerous ball runner and a good goal kicker. We then have Eckersley waiting in the wings and could extend Thornley. I certainly don’t see signing King as a do it at all costs move.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Jun 02, 2023 6:23 pm  

My issue with both King and Thornley is neither have a lot of pace (nor does Wardle, for that matter). Keighran and Eckersley are a different story.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Jun 02, 2023 6:28 pm  

The reason I hold King in such high regard and feel he is so important to our team is a very simple one, and it comes down to our game plan and his role within that game plan.

To put some context around this I will reference the recent Origin game.

James Tedesco NSW captain and Origin legend ran for over 200m, numerous tackle busts etc but he is in danger of getting dropped and is bearing the most criticism for the loss.

If you look at his stats no way do you think he is on the losing side let alone the performance has put him in danger of getting dropped.

The reason for his criticism is because he simply does not fit in with the style of the Blues. The attack was clunky because of his lack of ability to work with his halves and was playing an individual game which did not compliment the game plan.

I appreciate some do not like it and some don’t seem to understand it however Kings main role within our game plan is to take the early carries off our line in our half and get our sets on a roll.

How teams start sets generally dictates how they finish sets. Wingers generally take the first carry followed up by the centre in our game plan. King is outstanding at the second/third carry out of our half.

We have seen French used in that role as a carrier and he really struggled…it’s not what he does.

That second/third carry is one of the toughest to take but he takes them up all match and occasionally gets the arm free for the offload too which is invaluable in the field position arm wrestle.

Our main creative outlet tends to come from 1 with passes to the wing these days not the centre, but then again I still think he has done reasonably well in the attacking half of the field too.

The big bonus in this is that he is also British so non quota which is a big tick in the position we currently find ourselves.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Jun 02, 2023 8:40 pm  

moto748 wrote:

My issue with both King and Thornley is neither have a lot of pace (nor does Wardle, for that matter). Keighran and Eckersley are a different story.

Isn’t Wardle rapid?

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Jun 02, 2023 9:08 pm  

NSW wrote:

Isn’t Wardle rapid?

I'd say he's about par for the course of SL centres.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Jun 02, 2023 9:45 pm  

Just saw an article about Smithies and the Australian agency which says he's under contract until the end of 2025? When was this contract signed?

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Jun 02, 2023 10:09 pm  

jonh wrote:

The reason I hold King in such high regard and feel he is so important to our team is a very simple one, and it comes down to our game plan and his role within that game plan.

To put some context around this I will reference the recent Origin game.

James Tedesco NSW captain and Origin legend ran for over 200m, numerous tackle busts etc but he is in danger of getting dropped and is bearing the most criticism for the loss.

If you look at his stats no way do you think he is on the losing side let alone the performance has put him in danger of getting dropped.

The reason for his criticism is because he simply does not fit in with the style of the Blues. The attack was clunky because of his lack of ability to work with his halves and was playing an individual game which did not compliment the game plan.

I appreciate some do not like it and some don’t seem to understand it however Kings main role within our game plan is to take the early carries off our line in our half and get our sets on a roll.

How teams start sets generally dictates how they finish sets. Wingers generally take the first carry followed up by the centre in our game plan. King is outstanding at the second/third carry out of our half.

We have seen French used in that role as a carrier and he really struggled…it’s not what he does.

That second/third carry is one of the toughest to take but he takes them up all match and occasionally gets the arm free for the offload too which is invaluable in the field position arm wrestle.

Our main creative outlet tends to come from 1 with passes to the wing these days not the centre, but then again I still think he has done reasonably well in the attacking half of the field too.

The big bonus in this is that he is also British so non quota which is a big tick in the position we currently find ourselves.

This post is probably the worst post in rlfans history. It started poorly by claiming tedesco was a nsw legend lol and then was just a load of nonsense that had nothing to do with king lol ?????

I’m confused.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Jun 02, 2023 10:23 pm  

TheWarringtonWolve69 wrote:

This post is probably the worst post in rlfans history. It started poorly by claiming tedesco was a nsw legend lol and then was just a load of nonsense that had nothing to do with king lol ?????

I’m confused.

I wouldn’t expect you to get it so don’t worry about it.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Jun 02, 2023 10:30 pm  

Jonh posts his honest opinion with total lucidity and largely with factually based comments.
You endlessly fish. A sad life lad. Go out and have a quiet pint with a mate or a colleague. It’s much more enjoyable.