Re: Wes Naiqama to London? : Tue Aug 19, 2014 2:17 pm  

Wes is over 30 and hasn't played regular firstgrade for about 4 years.
He played 73 games of firstgrade for Newcastle, but he only had about 2 good years and the rest of the time he was in and out of firstgrade.
His best time at Newcastle was as a fullback, but he also played wing and centre.
His best playing days were in his early 20s at Saint George when he had some real pace, but he lost that pace a long time ago.
His best attribute now is his goal kicking. He has got better and better at that over the years and has been kicking in the high 80% range for the last few years. Something like 88%.

Re: Wes Naiqama to London? : Tue Aug 19, 2014 4:38 pm  

roopy wrote:

Wes is over 30 and hasn't played regular firstgrade for about 4 years.
He played 73 games of firstgrade for Newcastle, but he only had about 2 good years and the rest of the time he was in and out of firstgrade.
His best time at Newcastle was as a fullback, but he also played wing and centre.
His best playing days were in his early 20s at Saint George when he had some real pace, but he lost that pace a long time ago.
His best attribute now is his goal kicking. He has got better and better at that over the years and has been kicking in the high 80% range for the last few years. Something like 88%.

Having one attribute would still place him higher than Ben Farrar.

Re: Wes Naiqama to London? : Tue Aug 19, 2014 6:55 pm  

roopy wrote:

Wes is over 30 and hasn't played regular firstgrade for about 4 years.
He played 73 games of firstgrade for Newcastle, but he only had about 2 good years and the rest of the time he was in and out of firstgrade.
His best time at Newcastle was as a fullback, but he also played wing and centre.
His best playing days were in his early 20s at Saint George when he had some real pace, but he lost that pace a long time ago.
His best attribute now is his goal kicking. He has got better and better at that over the years and has been kicking in the high 80% range for the last few years. Something like 88%.

Following that description of him, he would probably jump at the chance to come to London, especially if they are offering him more money than Penrith. He won't crack the NRL at Penrith while Whare and Idris and brother Kevin are fit.

Apart from his excellent goal kicking, which is valuable, he might still have enough pace for the Championship, especially if he is playing centre. My questions would be: (1) does he have good ball control; (2) does he have elusive footwork (his brother sure does); (3) is he a reasonably good defender? If the answer to all three is yes, then he should be snapped up immediately.

Re: Wes Naiqama to London? : Wed Aug 20, 2014 2:58 am  

(1) does he have good ball control; Surprizingly, yes he does. In his young days he had hands like feet, but these days he has safe hands.
(2) does he have elusive footwork (his brother sure does); Not really. He is 100+ kg and breaks tackles with strength, but footwork is not his thing.
(3) is he a reasonably good defender? Yes. He is a good defender at NRL level. Good enough to play second row in a few games for the Knights and do the job well in defence.

Re: Wes Naiqama to London? : Wed Aug 20, 2014 6:12 am  

roopy wrote:

(1) does he have good ball control; Surprizingly, yes he does. In his young days he had hands like feet, but these days he has safe hands.
(2) does he have elusive footwork (his brother sure does); Not really. He is 100+ kg and breaks tackles with strength, but footwork is not his thing.
(3) is he a reasonably good defender? Yes. He is a good defender at NRL level. Good enough to play second row in a few games for the Knights and do the job well in defence.

Based on your judgment of Wes Naiqama's talents, I would think that London should be very enthusiastic about signing him.

Re: Wes Naiqama to London? : Thu Aug 21, 2014 5:55 am  

Ben Farrar will be playing next year, at least as of the last time I talked to him (at HKR game).

Re: Wes Naiqama to London? : Wed Aug 27, 2014 9:27 am  

Officially confirmed on a 2 year deal.
Another good signing with the promise of more.

Re: Wes Naiqama to London? : Wed Aug 27, 2014 9:52 am  

Wow... and official now. I wonder if Jamie Soward had a helping hand in this too, but either way some top recruitment from Joey Grima. Just praying the 2015 season isn't another damp squib and we win promotion. Great news!!

Re: Wes Naiqama to London? : Wed Aug 27, 2014 10:14 am  

You can't fault the recruitment, and remember we are still in August, well done.

Re: Wes Naiqama to London? : Wed Aug 27, 2014 1:29 pm  

Torbreck wrote: Wow... and official now. I wonder if Jamie Soward had a helping hand in this too, but either way some top recruitment from Joey Grima. Just praying the 2015 season isn't another damp squib and we win promotion. Great news!! Soward sure did give us a few good words as seen from this article; http://www.times-series.co.uk/sport/114 ... os/?ref=la Great stuff. Really looking forward to next season. Just hope we get an investor to stay at the Hive now! Let's build some Community roots in North West London.

Torbreck wrote: Wow... and official now. I wonder if Jamie Soward had a helping hand in this too, but either way some top recruitment from Joey Grima. Just praying the 2015 season isn't another damp squib and we win promotion. Great news!! Soward sure did give us a few good words as seen from this article; http://www.times-series.co.uk/sport/114 ... os/?ref=la Great stuff. Really looking forward to next season. Just hope we get an investor to stay at the Hive now! Let's build some Community roots in North West London.