molman
Jim Lenehan (48)
Thanks for the update.
Good to know. I wonder if we'll see him this Friday against the Rebels. Mitch Short has been doing well, but I'm still keen to see if Gordon has evolved his game at all.
Waratahs 2020
- Thread starter RugbyReg
- Start date
Thanks for the update.
Good to know. I wonder if we'll see him this Friday against the Rebels. Mitch Short has been doing well, but I'm still keen to see if Gordon has evolved his game at all.
B
Bobby Sands
Guest
Joe Suuali would be a good signing because;
1. He is a good player, who is head and shoulders ahead of his peers and has good work ethic and low key values.
2. We need to strike back, and show league they can't just poach our best players. As far as optics go, this is a strong win for RA.
3. As Horan said today in the Bronco mail, RA needs hero's, needs superstars and as Newcastle have shown, in a modern economic climate sometimes you need to take a punt to land a superstar. I think this is shrewd business, and a much needed morale booster.
1. He is a good player, who is head and shoulders ahead of his peers and has good work ethic and low key values.
2. We need to strike back, and show league they can't just poach our best players. As far as optics go, this is a strong win for RA.
3. As Horan said today in the Bronco mail, RA needs hero's, needs superstars and as Newcastle have shown, in a modern economic climate sometimes you need to take a punt to land a superstar. I think this is shrewd business, and a much needed morale booster.
Number 7
Darby Loudon (17)
Teams are out. Both Holloway and Gordon on the bench.
Derpus
Nathan Sharpe (72)
You have to assume Penney does not think he's up to it.
sendit
Bob Loudon (25)
Given his history and the fact Walton hasn't exactly set the world on fire you'd think he'd at least give him a crack at playing
Derpus
Nathan Sharpe (72)
Yeah, i would have thought so too.
In three starts Walton has made 30 tackles with 1 miss (according to ESPNscrum). He hasn't been dynamic in attack but he's been incredibly solid in defence.
Given how torrid our defence was earlier in the season I reckon he's taken his opportunity really well. For a guy that just turned 20 he's going great.
I'd also like to see Moeroa given a crack but I think he's going to have to wait until an injury or given a bench spot ahead of Nawaqanitawase.
rugboy
Jim Clark (26)
Have to disagree:
1. He is a good age player, quite different than going up against open age men. He wasn't head and shoulders ahead in last years Schoolboys team.
2. Strike back is one thing, we did that with young ones like Harris, Bell, Harrison as well as Korobriete, T Wright and Vunivalu etc. Completely destroying our contracting model at the expense of our current playing group, who are reportedly again today seething about the situation in this climate is lunacy.
3. This is a punt like no other and could be a financial disaster for the whole code. To compare it with Newcastle and I assume Ponga is light years apart. That was one club, who paid a reported 650k (well within their financial means) for a player who had played First grade to get him from Nth QLD. They have now paid reportedly over 1 mil for a player now established as one of the games best in his position and a current origin player. None of this is remotely similar to Sua'ali'i situation. Ex players have short memories, I wonder what Horan would have thought at the height of his playing days if the ARU would have signed a 16 year old for more than he was then on .....
molman
Jim Lenehan (48)
This is an area I have a lot of concern about irrespective of his potential (which is a forecast, not a quantifiable fact). The timing is just so off with this period of solidarity in pay-cuts to then have a large expenditure on a new prospect. The optics are just really poor and the damage you may cause with your existing player pool could be large, unless you are just writing off the old generation and purely thinking that it will be a Suuali and your U20's boys in RWC 2023.
As an aside, would it be different if Twiggy signed him?... would that be a path or avenue for RA in keeping him in Rugby Union whilst avoiding some of the issues existing Wallabies / the top talent might have with this deal?
wamberal
Phil Kearns (64)
If South Sydney believe that he has a lot of potential in their code, so do I. Have you seen the highlights? Plus guy can kick - according to a quote from Rod Kafer, further than any current Wallabies (that comment was made a couple of years ago!!!).
It won't be Twiggy, according to what sound like pretty reliable reports, there is other private money floating around. As for what the other players think, that's up to them. But I would have thought that most of them would actually like to have a genuine star in our ranks for a change. This is not much of a gamble, in my humble opinion. He comes across as a genuine kid, from a settled family background, with high levels of just about measurable talent that makes a great rugby player.
rugboy
Jim Clark (26)
Thats exactly what they are highlights, against kids. we've all seen many highlights videos of many kids some we never hear of again, others struggle in open age groups, few ever transfer those "highlights" into anything meaningful. No doubt his size and athleticism are great against 16 year olds, as already mentioned he was not a "standout" for the Oz schoolboys last year.
Really? You get this is a team sport right. Hopefully young Sua'ali'i can play 1-15 by himself if the current rumblings amongst players are anything to go by. There may be significantly more players heading OS. Id imagine working in my firm and the boss rolls in some 16 yo super genius with numbers to do the same job as me while earning 5 times the salary being paid the same as the CEO. Id be chuffed...... Little solace with the thought I get to work with a genius.
1 million on a 16 year old is not much of a gamble? you realise the game is broke, many have been let go and we have no broadcast deal?
sendit
Bob Loudon (25)
Except he’s already trained with the South’s NRL team and they were raving about him. Sam Burgess said “This was six months ago and he was right in the contact like any other first grader. Now I’ve never seen a kid do that never mind an outside back.
“So like I say I hate wrapping young kids because I think it is unwarranted, but I have seen him first hand and this kid is pretty special.”
Couple of ordinary schoolboys game against multiple training sessions with a 1st grade side with one of the stars of the game saying he was pretty bloody good
rugboy
Jim Clark (26)
Training with the NRL team for talented juniors isn't that rare. a number of the better 16/17/18 year olds do a few weeks of pre season with NRL teams during school holidays. Seen plenty of players train like Tarzan also. Proof is on the field and he hasnt yet done anything to justify ridiculous money outside his own age group.
sendit
Bob Loudon (25)
Kinda is, regardless the glowing review speaks for itself, the amount League we’re willing to offer speaks for itself.
Is it a gamble? Sure, what in life worth having isn’t though. You can’t really argue against the amount they’re paying him when we literally have zero idea what the $ value of it is, and if some rich businessman wants to fork out for him to play Union (which I think we can all agree has happened whether it’s been explicitly reported or not), so bloody be it, and be thankful that we someone is willing to do so
Is the timing great, probably not, but at the same time it’s not like RA was trumpeting their impending victory, it’s most likely it was a leak from someone within the ranks of Rugby League. But I’d rather get a few quite well paid footy players noses bent out of shape and work on smoothing that over than missing out on, at this early stage what could very well be the talent of a generation. Coupled with the fact that his marketability is huge and it sends a clear message that Union is an option to young dual code footballers.
I’ll take that gamble everyday of the week
Adam84
Rod McCall (65)
agreed that what he is right now doesn't command the wages that are been thrown about, however this is clearly an investment to secure his services for what he will potentially offer in the future, and the wages getting thrown about are based on his future potential value.
Yes its a gamble, but its also a gamble to ignore the talent that he is displaying.
Yes its a gamble, but its also a gamble to ignore the talent that he is displaying.
dru
David Wilson (68)
The first post that has me getting behind it. We didn't commit millions at 16 on Tupou though, did we.
