[PopTart]

Re: Rumours thread : Fri Aug 16, 2024 6:27 am  

Eastern Wildcat wrote:

ME's plan is a long term one, and not a short term one.

Those supporters who are expecting a Cleary, need to come back down to earth an be a little more realistic, we need to remember where we are right now, league wise, and as it stands, were not guaranteed super league just yet.

What we are bringing in mostly, is younger players, with a decent standard, which will hopefully make us a more competetive side for the future.

Going back to ME, what he is doing for the club in terms of players off the field, such as the facilities, ie recovery rooms etc, this can only abode well for the future, in terms attracting players from here and the NRL, that are of a higher calibre. Hopefully, this word will be spread among players, both here and over there. Also further development to the stadium will aid this.

Bang on.
Next year is all about consolidation and being competitive.
Just outside playoffs in first season back would be perfectly fine for me.....as long as we are competitive and building.
SL is a big step up from where we are. It'll take a bit of getting used to.

Re: Rumours thread : Fri Aug 16, 2024 7:48 am  

All good stuff.
Whoever is announced tomorrow will be a quality player I'm sure.
The excitement created at Trinity since ME took over is incredible.
I would think we will have a team to be proud of next season - no we arent going to win as many games next season as this one but the atmosphere at home games will be hyper I reckon.
I can't remember such hysteria about Trinity since the 1960's it really is that good!

Re: Rumours thread : Fri Aug 16, 2024 8:02 am  

I think you are all playing it down a little and hope the club have slightly more ambition.
When you have ben part of a club with no ambition and very little hope for so long it's easy to lower your expectations.
I honestly believe the club will challenge for the top six

Re: Rumours thread : Fri Aug 16, 2024 8:38 am  

Eastern Wildcat wrote:

ME's plan is a long term one, and not a short term one.

Those supporters who are expecting a Cleary, need to come back down to earth an be a little more realistic, we need to remember where we are right now, league wise, and as it stands, were not guaranteed super league just yet.

What we are bringing in mostly, is younger players, with a decent standard, which will hopefully make us a more competetive side for the future.

Going back to ME, what he is doing for the club in terms of players off the field, such as the facilities, ie recovery rooms etc, this can only abode well for the future, in terms attracting players from here and the NRL, that are of a higher calibre. Hopefully, this word will be spread among players, both here and over there. Also further development to the stadium will aid this.

Wouldn’t have Cleary given, he’s always injured . Maybe bob an offer in for Moses

Re: Rumours thread : Fri Aug 16, 2024 8:40 am  

I would like us to be looking at a top line Centre, think with Thornley going, Pratt still very untested at SL level and in my opinion Croft finding his level in the Championship a quality centre is needed as much as any other position.

Re: Rumours thread : Fri Aug 16, 2024 8:43 am  

PopTart wrote:

Bang on.
Next year is all about consolidation and being competitive.
Just outside playoffs in first season back would be perfectly fine for me.....as long as we are competitive and building.
SL is a big step up from where we are. It'll take a bit of getting used to.

Anything is a step up compared to last year. I believe ME will be gunning for a playoff spot in the same way Leigh did. Whether that’s achievable is a different story. Either way, it’ll be nice not getting panned most weeks and not worrying about the club going Pete Tong!

Re: Rumours thread : Fri Aug 16, 2024 9:40 am  

Pat Bateman wrote:

I would like us to be looking at a top line Centre, think with Thornley going, Pratt still very untested at SL level and in my opinion Croft finding his level in the Championship a quality centre is needed as much as any other position.

Cam Scott? Corey Hall? Seem to be stacked at centre. Don't think Croft makes the cut though.

Re: Rumours thread : Fri Aug 16, 2024 10:17 am  

lampyboy wrote:

I think you are all playing it down a little and hope the club have slightly more ambition.
When you have ben part of a club with no ambition and very little hope for so long it's easy to lower your expectations.
I honestly believe the club will challenge for the top six

Top 10-8 and I will be made up.

You have to remember most of our new signings from this year are young, and haven’t played at this level never mind SL level.

The philosophy this year has been to take players out of a part time environment and give them a year in a full time environment to get them up to speed for a potential return to SL.

There are a lot of unknowns in the squad for 2025 even with some of the higher profile signings and lots of them are lads who have been on the fringes of match day 17 with their current squads.

The 2 marquee lads (so far) are very exciting and players we could only dream of signing 12 months ago and obviously bring proven quality to the squad and I am aware that we will have done our homework but we will be running with 2 new halves hopefully a new 9 and maybe even a new 1.

Mr Carter did some very positive things for the club however I used to cringe with some of his comments prior to the season saying he felt we had a real chance of a top 5 finish etc, it probably worked to get a few more few the gate early doors but soon caused probably more to turn away when it was clear that wasn’t going to be the case.

If we can consolidate our position being comfortably out of the bottom 2 plus the improved facilities etc it will be easier to attract players for the next tier of quality. We have our marquee guys but we have had to pay over market value to get them, however they are statement signings.

Cas due to their uncertain position are really struggling to recruit for next year with targets signing elsewhere for less money than Cas are offering because they are worried about the clubs status next year.

The positivity at the club at the moment is fantastic but to keep this momentum up I think it’s also very important for the club to maybe under promise in 2025 and over deliver. 6th or 7th in 2025 would be a remarkable return to SL in my opinion.

8th-10th for me is more realistic and quality play even in defeat, that we will invariably see a lot more of again in 2025, would be a great platform for the club to really kick on to that next level in 2026-2027.

Re: Rumours thread : Fri Aug 16, 2024 10:33 am  

dboy wrote:

I'm giggling at the idea that Booth has "decent speed" - he's absolutely rapid!!

Also worthy of note - we aren't announcing our marquee signings until we are confirmed to be IN Superleague.

Any signing announced until then is a bonus.

Don’t normally disagree with you but he’s not truly rapid imho but I agree he’s not far short. He looks quicker than he is imho because he has great balance, bit like TJ.

However he’s definitely quick enough to do almost anything he wants, That said I’ll be more than happy if you’re proved right.

Re: Rumours thread : Fri Aug 16, 2024 10:49 am  

Eastern Wildcat wrote:

ME's plan is a long term one, and not a short term one.

Those supporters who are expecting a Cleary, need to come back down to earth an be a little more realistic, we need to remember where we are right now, league wise, and as it stands, were not guaranteed super league just yet.

What we are bringing in mostly, is younger players, with a decent standard, which will hopefully make us a more competetive side for the future.

Going back to ME, what he is doing for the club in terms of players off the field, such as the facilities, ie recovery rooms etc, this can only abode well for the future, in terms attracting players from here and the NRL, that are of a higher calibre. Hopefully, this word will be spread among players, both here and over there. Also further development to the stadium will aid this.

Firstly I think we need to stop bringing Ellis into the player side of things. Other than making cash available he has nothing to do with who we sign. He’s a smart man, so he knows he knows Sid all about signing players. This is all the work of Powell and co.

Basically though you’re correct. I will add one thing, there is imho no point bringing in a NRL superstar in season one, it would be counterproductive imo. For the first few seasons we need to build a team and an ethic. When that’s in place, it’s then you add the final ingredients.

If you did what Alegend suggests you end up with a Wally Lewis situation - a player who is far too good for the team and earns far more than they do, although the latter is always a problem.

People wax lyrical about Lewis as a player and rightly so, but his impact on the fans was way higher than on the team, who remained pretty dire..

It’s all about timing, and next season will require a team effort first and foremost. Once we are established, then we wave the cheque book.

If you want proof look at KR, they have built gradually and it’s worked. They could probably now attract the highest quality NRL players available, and it would probably work for them. Not sure we could do that in year one even if we tried.