Realistic Targets For Next Season : Wed Mar 20, 2019 11:37 am  

So as we all know, we will be severely depleted next year and a major overhaul is required. What realistic signings would you like to see.

Here are mine

Personally i don't think we are strong enough at either centre but Sarginson is the one i would lose if i had to pick. I have been saying this for about 3 years but Bill Topou would be the most ideal centre around we could possibly go for. Problem is though, his stock has risen so much would he come? Sounds daft really but Wakefield are a bit more professional and 'homely' that we are at the moment. Do we still have the 'draw' factor?

Loose forward. Lockers i shouldn't imagine will go around again and we keep trying different combinations to plug the gap but there is a player in SL who flies under the radar of everybody who could make the position his own for the next 10 years. An absolute work horse who can get over the line and does a huge amount of work. That man is George Lawler.

Props. We need 2 (at least) but where are there 2 props with enough grunt to give us the extra edge over what we already have. We missed one in the off season. Kopczak would have been ideal for a couple of years but where do we find 2 new ones? Francis Tualau of the Bulldogs is off contract at the end of 2019 is is unlikely to have NRL clubs lining up for him. 24 years old, absolute monster of a man. Would be happy to take a risk on him. Wouldn't cost a lot of money either. The second is the more obvious one. David Fifita is off contract i think at the end of the season. I don't need to explain that one.

Hooker. Tricky one. Kurt Baptiste has signed for the Cowboys this year for a season. Never gets a regular run in the NRL but always seems to sign for the top clubs. He came over and played 1 game for Leigh before being released for personal and family reasons a few years ago. Maybe with the impending thought of him having no club next season might change his mind. Left field suggestion. Brad Dwyer is off contract at the end of 2019. He can unlock any defence and is very underrated.

Second row. Kenny Edwards is off contract at the end of the season. Any club worth their salt would be in for him. Would possibly demand high wages though but a class act nether the less.

Half Back. Maloney has all but said he will be at the Panthers until 2020 and in 2021 he will be 35. Not for me at that age for the wages. Robert Lui is out of contract and is, as we know a powerhouse half who can kick, score try's and tackle.

My two pennies worth. We will have a lot of cap space at the end of the year. Maybe we could fit them all in.

Re: Realistic Targets For Next Season : Wed Mar 20, 2019 11:52 am  

Cherry_Warrior wrote:

So as we all know, we will be severely depleted next year and a major overhaul is required. What realistic signings would you like to see.

Here are mine

Personally i don't think we are strong enough at either centre but Sarginson is the one i would lose if i had to pick. I have been saying this for about 3 years but Bill Topou would be the most ideal centre around we could possibly go for. Problem is though, his stock has risen so much would he come? Sounds daft really but Wakefield are a bit more professional and 'homely' that we are at the moment. Do we still have the 'draw' factor?

Loose forward. Lockers i shouldn't imagine will go around again and we keep trying different combinations to plug the gap but there is a player in SL who flies under the radar of everybody who could make the position his own for the next 10 years. An absolute work horse who can get over the line and does a huge amount of work. That man is George Lawler.

Props. We need 2 (at least) but where are there 2 props with enough grunt to give us the extra edge over what we already have. We missed one in the off season. Kopczak would have been ideal for a couple of years but where do we find 2 new ones? Francis Tualau of the Bulldogs is off contract at the end of 2019 is is unlikely to have NRL clubs lining up for him. 24 years old, absolute monster of a man. Would be happy to take a risk on him. Wouldn't cost a lot of money either. The second is the more obvious one. David Fifita is off contract i think at the end of the season. I don't need to explain that one.

Hooker. Tricky one. Kurt Baptiste has signed for the Cowboys this year for a season. Never gets a regular run in the NRL but always seems to sign for the top clubs. He came over and played 1 game for Leigh before being released for personal and family reasons a few years ago. Maybe with the impending thought of him having no club next season might change his mind. Left field suggestion. Brad Dwyer is off contract at the end of 2019. He can unlock any defence and is very underrated.

Second row. Kenny Edwards is off contract at the end of the season. Any club worth their salt would be in for him. Would possibly demand high wages though but a class act nether the less.

Half Back. Maloney has all but said he will be at the Panthers until 2020 and in 2021 he will be 35. Not for me at that age for the wages. Robert Lui is out of contract and is, as we know a powerhouse half who can kick, score try's and tackle.

My two pennies worth. We will have a lot of cap space at the end of the year. Maybe we could fit them all in.

Cap space is one thing, but actual money is another, seems like a lot of Sl owners/chairmen are fed up of bankrolling a dyimg sport.

Re: Realistic Targets For Next Season : Wed Mar 20, 2019 12:00 pm  

The problem is that Toupu and Fa’fita are under contract. Toupu till the end of 2020 and Fafita has an NRL option at the end of this year otherwise he is also there till 2020. I’m sure the KE lad also has a deal in place for the next few years.

The main thing we MUST sort ASAP is the Edwards situation. He cannot now bevthe next Wigan coach that is clear, so we need to be sorting a new one or backing Lam. Worst thing to do would be mess around much longer and then miss out on players the 2020 coach wants.

This entire mess with Edwards could have huge repercussions on our next few seasons unless it is sorted very very quickly.

Re: Realistic Targets For Next Season : Wed Mar 20, 2019 12:04 pm  

I would raid Wakefield in all honesty (sorry Wakey fans).

Chris Chester would be my choice for coach and Tupou and Fafita would be excellent signings.

Re: Realistic Targets For Next Season : Wed Mar 20, 2019 12:12 pm  

What do we think of Josh Jones? Off contract at Salford for 2019, 25 years of age.

Always looked a really good player for me. Strong, powerful, athletic. I would rather have him than Willie Isa.

Re: Realistic Targets For Next Season : Wed Mar 20, 2019 1:02 pm  

To be fair we need the coaching situation sorting as it is Rads and Lenagen seem to do all the recruiting and that's not turning out very well is it compared to some clubs ?! Lets get Edwards in and let him decide which player he wants or doesn't want

Re: Realistic Targets For Next Season : Wed Mar 20, 2019 1:40 pm  

cadoo wrote:

What do we think of Josh Jones? Off contract at Salford for 2019, 25 years of age.

Always looked a really good player for me. Strong, powerful, athletic. I would rather have him than Willie Isa.

He’d be right up towards the top of my list on current form. I’d be looking for two halves, a hooker and a prop as well but realistically I doubt we’ll get anything like what we want/need. I couldn’t throw too many realistic names at you in regards the NRL because the ones I know of aren’t realistic and any others I don’t know enough about but at Superleague level guys like Hastings, Sneyd, Parcell and Fafita would be right up there in my mind. In truth though all would have other clubs bidding for them and when that happens it makes those unrealistic as well because we’ll not outbid many clubs.

Re: Realistic Targets For Next Season : Wed Mar 20, 2019 1:41 pm  

cadoo wrote:

What do we think of Josh Jones? Off contract at Salford for 2019, 25 years of age.

Always looked a really good player for me. Strong, powerful, athletic. I would rather have him than Willie Isa.

I will let you in on a little secret about Josh Jones. Real quailty player, i agree. I saw him in a pub just after it was announved he was leaving Union and signing for Salford. I told him i rated him as a player and we could have done with someone like him at Wigan. His response was "i would never play for Wigan" make of that what you will

Re: Realistic Targets For Next Season : Wed Mar 20, 2019 1:45 pm  

Is 'promotion from the Championship' a reasonable response?

Re: Realistic Targets For Next Season : Wed Mar 20, 2019 1:53 pm  

TonyM19 wrote:

Is 'promotion from the Championship' a reasonable response?

Heres where i think we are going into 2020, assuming Lockers and Leuluai retire and GW leaves to Canberra:

1. Hardaker
2. Manfredi
3. Gildart
4.
5. Davies / Burgess
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. Flower
11. Greenwood
12. Farrell
13.

14. Bullock
15.
16.
17. Powell / Shorrocks

If so, that is alarming. You need at least 2 new props, 2 halfbacks, a starting hooker, and a loose forward? Other than the fullback thats an entirely new spine!