Re: Tony Smith : Wed Sep 14, 2022 5:47 am  

GrahamBray wrote:

It does feel like that doesn't it? But, if Jake is adamant that he won't sign beyond his current deal it does make sense to try to cash in on him now, in order to be able to sign players that could offer the team a more balanced look. Either way, I'll be gutted when he does leave, given us some great memories and always wound up the opposition, often without trying!

100%, it just needs to be handled well by the club, explain there reasons and announce 2/3 signings at the same time

Re: Tony Smith : Wed Sep 14, 2022 8:18 am  

Tarquin Fuego wrote:

And so Jake, by far our best player, is on the way out !
That's just like when we lost Tevita Vaikona, Lee JAckson etc
What a crazy decision if he goes

Smith said everyone had a clean slate and he would assess things , but looks like he has already made up his mind regarding Connor.
Pearson probably wanted someone with a more ruthless streak and not have a coach with a team full of his pals , which I think was an accusation against some former coaches.

You need to move players on before bringing any in , so Connors departure fits in there.
Not sure what , if any transfer fee he would command , you only have to look at the Toby King situation for a comparison.

Re: Tony Smith : Wed Sep 14, 2022 8:23 am  

Captain Dave wrote:

Smith said everyone had a clean slate and he would assess things , but looks like he has already made up his mind regarding Connor.
Pearson probably wanted someone with a more ruthless streak and not have a coach with a team full of his pals , which I think was an accusation against some former coaches.

You need to move players on before bringing any in , so Connors departure fits in there.
Not sure what , if any transfer fee he would command , you only have to look at the Toby King situation for a comparison.

I'd imagine it would be just a swap with Wardle tbh.

We'd have some more wiggle room on the cap. I'd guess Wardle will be on less money than Connor

Re: Tony Smith : Wed Sep 14, 2022 8:36 am  

mwindass wrote:

I'd imagine it would be just a swap with Wardle tbh.

We'd have some more wiggle room on the cap. I'd guess Wardle will be on less money than Connor

That's right , you've also got the quota space available which makes things interesting but probably not enough cap space for a higher end player with just Connor moved on.

Re: Tony Smith : Wed Sep 14, 2022 10:43 am  

Craig Harrison has said that Connor is on around 200k - marquee style money. If so, freeing up 200k probably gives you Wardle and Longstaff, with some money to spare. If Griffin goes, who is definitely on 100k plus, that gives you hopefully a decent 7

Re: Tony Smith : Wed Sep 14, 2022 10:54 am  

Irregs#16 wrote:

Craig Harrison has said that Connor is on around 200k - marquee style money. If so, freeing up 200k probably gives you Wardle and Longstaff, with some money to spare. If Griffin goes, who is definitely on 100k plus, that gives you hopefully a decent 7

Sill think we would be light in the second row unless Carlos moves there but I'm not entirely convinced that is a good idea.

It's complicated matters that if Connor goes we surely have to replace him with a NRL half back and don't have the luxury of a quota spot for second row.

Re: Tony Smith : Wed Sep 14, 2022 3:02 pm  

Dave K. wrote:

100%, it just needs to be handled well by the club, explain there reasons and announce 2/3 signings at the same time

Need to be signings that enhance the team and not just fillers
dont think the likes of Wardle and Lawrence would do that.
Priority is at least one big mobile second row,two would be better and add some real speed on a wing

Re: Tony Smith : Wed Sep 14, 2022 4:24 pm  

Tony Smith has a long history of getting rid of controversial players. Not surprised if he’d want rid of Connor