Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Thu Nov 24, 2022 10:43 pm  

Thing is the more Catalans pay towards his wage the more counts against their cap. As such the amount they have for a suitable NRL replacement reduces which likely explains their reluctance to pay any more. Anyway another article on the subject. https://www.totalrl.com/super-league-forward-may-be-forced-to-play-for-reserves-if-deal-with-rivals-not-forthcoming/ WITH most Super League clubs having done their wheeling and dealing for the 2023 season, the focus is firmly on to pre-season. However, for a few clubs in particular, recruitment has perhaps some lengths to go before it is finalised. That is certainly the case for Catalans Dragons and Wakefield Trinity with both having a number of spaces left on the quota in order to bring in overseas stars. With Wakefield linked with Catalans prop Dylan Napa, that would have repercussions for both Super League sides, freeing up another quota space for the French club and bringing Trinity’s quota number to six. According to French publication, L’Independant, if Wakefield do not sign Napa, then he “will be made available to the reserve team of Saint-Estève / XIII Catalan, upon his arrival in France.” Effectively, that would see the former Sydney Roosters prop out of the picture for Steve McNamara and the first-team. Alongside Napa potentially leaving, a deal has already been struck with the Warrington Wolves that will see Josh Drinkwater play the next two years at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Despite being classed as the Dragons reserves and the obvious links bewtween the two Saint-Estève XIII Catalan are actually their feeder club meaning they are a stand alone team in their own right. I wonder if technically they could 'transfer' (or permanently loan) Napa to them thus removing him from their cap onto the feeder clubs? He'd never be able to play for the Dragons again but as long as he gets paid via the feeder club is that a loophole for them to exploit? I'm sure there are ways and means to ensure Saint-Estève have the funds. Maybe i'm just a cynic.

Thing is the more Catalans pay towards his wage the more counts against their cap. As such the amount they have for a suitable NRL replacement reduces which likely explains their reluctance to pay any more. Anyway another article on the subject. https://www.totalrl.com/super-league-forward-may-be-forced-to-play-for-reserves-if-deal-with-rivals-not-forthcoming/ WITH most Super League clubs having done their wheeling and dealing for the 2023 season, the focus is firmly on to pre-season. However, for a few clubs in particular, recruitment has perhaps some lengths to go before it is finalised. That is certainly the case for Catalans Dragons and Wakefield Trinity with both having a number of spaces left on the quota in order to bring in overseas stars. With Wakefield linked with Catalans prop Dylan Napa, that would have repercussions for both Super League sides, freeing up another quota space for the French club and bringing Trinity’s quota number to six. According to French publication, L’Independant, if Wakefield do not sign Napa, then he “will be made available to the reserve team of Saint-Estève / XIII Catalan, upon his arrival in France.” Effectively, that would see the former Sydney Roosters prop out of the picture for Steve McNamara and the first-team. Alongside Napa potentially leaving, a deal has already been struck with the Warrington Wolves that will see Josh Drinkwater play the next two years at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Despite being classed as the Dragons reserves and the obvious links bewtween the two Saint-Estève XIII Catalan are actually their feeder club meaning they are a stand alone team in their own right. I wonder if technically they could 'transfer' (or permanently loan) Napa to them thus removing him from their cap onto the feeder clubs? He'd never be able to play for the Dragons again but as long as he gets paid via the feeder club is that a loophole for them to exploit? I'm sure there are ways and means to ensure Saint-Estève have the funds. Maybe i'm just a cynic.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Thu Nov 24, 2022 10:57 pm  

Sacred Cow wrote: Thing is the more Catalans pay towards his wage the more counts against their cap. As such the amount they have for a suitable NRL replacement reduces which likely explains their reluctance to pay any more. Anyway another article on the subject. https://www.totalrl.com/super-league-forward-may-be-forced-to-play-for-reserves-if-deal-with-rivals-not-forthcoming/ WITH most Super League clubs having done their wheeling and dealing for the 2023 season, the focus is firmly on to pre-season. However, for a few clubs in particular, recruitment has perhaps some lengths to go before it is finalised. That is certainly the case for Catalans Dragons and Wakefield Trinity with both having a number of spaces left on the quota in order to bring in overseas stars. With Wakefield linked with Catalans prop Dylan Napa, that would have repercussions for both Super League sides, freeing up another quota space for the French club and bringing Trinity’s quota number to six. According to French publication, L’Independant, if Wakefield do not sign Napa, then he “will be made available to the reserve team of Saint-Estève / XIII Catalan, upon his arrival in France.” Effectively, that would see the former Sydney Roosters prop out of the picture for Steve McNamara and the first-team. Alongside Napa potentially leaving, a deal has already been struck with the Warrington Wolves that will see Josh Drinkwater play the next two years at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Despite being classed as the Dragons reserves and the obvious links bewtween the two Saint-Estève XIII Catalan are actually their feeder club meaning they are a stand alone team in their own right. I wonder if technically they could 'transfer' (or permanently loan) Napa to them thus removing him from their cap onto the feeder clubs? He'd never be able to play for the Dragons again but as long as he gets paid via the feeder club is that a loophole for them to exploit? I'm sure there are ways and means to ensure Saint-Estève have the funds. Maybe i'm just a cynic. My understanding is that the cap spend sits with the club they're playing for, not the one paying the wages. So Catalans could pay him, but he would count towards our cap not there's. I believe that's how we got Dean Hadley a few years back. And to a lesser degree, Simon Grix. Wire needed cap space for Chris Sandow, and Grix was out injured. He came to us with little or no chance of playing whilst Wire paid his wages.

Sacred Cow wrote: Thing is the more Catalans pay towards his wage the more counts against their cap. As such the amount they have for a suitable NRL replacement reduces which likely explains their reluctance to pay any more. Anyway another article on the subject. https://www.totalrl.com/super-league-forward-may-be-forced-to-play-for-reserves-if-deal-with-rivals-not-forthcoming/ WITH most Super League clubs having done their wheeling and dealing for the 2023 season, the focus is firmly on to pre-season. However, for a few clubs in particular, recruitment has perhaps some lengths to go before it is finalised. That is certainly the case for Catalans Dragons and Wakefield Trinity with both having a number of spaces left on the quota in order to bring in overseas stars. With Wakefield linked with Catalans prop Dylan Napa, that would have repercussions for both Super League sides, freeing up another quota space for the French club and bringing Trinity’s quota number to six. According to French publication, L’Independant, if Wakefield do not sign Napa, then he “will be made available to the reserve team of Saint-Estève / XIII Catalan, upon his arrival in France.” Effectively, that would see the former Sydney Roosters prop out of the picture for Steve McNamara and the first-team. Alongside Napa potentially leaving, a deal has already been struck with the Warrington Wolves that will see Josh Drinkwater play the next two years at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Despite being classed as the Dragons reserves and the obvious links bewtween the two Saint-Estève XIII Catalan are actually their feeder club meaning they are a stand alone team in their own right. I wonder if technically they could 'transfer' (or permanently loan) Napa to them thus removing him from their cap onto the feeder clubs? He'd never be able to play for the Dragons again but as long as he gets paid via the feeder club is that a loophole for them to exploit? I'm sure there are ways and means to ensure Saint-Estève have the funds. Maybe i'm just a cynic. My understanding is that the cap spend sits with the club they're playing for, not the one paying the wages. So Catalans could pay him, but he would count towards our cap not there's. I believe that's how we got Dean Hadley a few years back. And to a lesser degree, Simon Grix. Wire needed cap space for Chris Sandow, and Grix was out injured. He came to us with little or no chance of playing whilst Wire paid his wages.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Thu Nov 24, 2022 11:18 pm  

imwakefieldtillidie wrote:

My understanding is that the cap spend sits with the club they're playing for, not the one paying the wages. So Catalans could pay him, but he would count towards our cap not there's. I believe that's how we got Dean Hadley a few years back. And to a lesser degree, Simon Grix. Wire needed cap space for Chris Sandow, and Grix was out injured. He came to us with little or no chance of playing whilst Wire paid his wages.

Yeah you’re probably right, guess he wouldn’t count on the Dragons cap either way, they’d just have to pay him his full wage if loaned to the reserves rather than part of it if us. Probably depends how much meat Bernard Guash sells this Christmas. Whatever Napa is going to have to drop some demands if he wants to play at a decent level or just sit in Elite 1 and collect his large wage packet for 12 months.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Thu Nov 24, 2022 11:31 pm  

Sacred Cow wrote:

Yeah you’re probably right, guess he wouldn’t count on the Dragons cap either way, they’d just have to pay him his full wage if loaned to the reserves rather than part of it if us. Probably depends how much meat Bernard Guash sells this Christmas. Whatever Napa is going to have to drop some demands if he wants to play at a decent level or just sit in Elite 1 and collect his large wage packet for 12 months.

I don't think Catalans will have an issue paying all his wages, but if we could pay even 30% it's money saved for them. I suppose it depends how quickly then can identify a replacement. If what I think is right, should they pay him off that'll count as cap spend so the best case is that they find him another club. Some of it's assumptions but that's how I see it. I think Salford are the other club with a quota spot. Other than that it's the NRL, who wouldn't be able to compete with either way.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Fri Nov 25, 2022 7:03 am  

Reports coming in from the Yorkshire Post that we're now only set to make 1-2 signings as per an interview with MA, 1-2 less than previously stated. Looks like some deals have either fallen through or never there in the first place.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Fri Nov 25, 2022 7:50 am  

TimmySmith wrote:

Reports coming in from the Yorkshire Post that we're now only set to make 1-2 signings as per an interview with MA, 1-2 less than previously stated. Looks like some deals have either fallen through or never there in the first place.

Well I sincerely hope, if that's correct, that one of them is a quality prop because, otherwise it might be another long season!

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Fri Nov 25, 2022 8:10 am  

TimmySmith wrote:

Reports coming in from the Yorkshire Post that we're now only set to make 1-2 signings as per an interview with MA, 1-2 less than previously stated. Looks like some deals have either fallen through or never there in the first place.

Listening to players agent Craig Harrison on YouTube last night, his opinion seems to be most clubs are holding back on spending money at the moment, due mainly to the uncertainty of IMG proposal not being fully announced until the end of next season. Yes I know some clubs have made signings, but Harrison reckons the market has been unusually slow this offseason.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Fri Nov 25, 2022 8:19 am  

TimmySmith wrote:

Reports coming in from the Yorkshire Post that we're now only set to make 1-2 signings as per an interview with MA, 1-2 less than previously stated. Looks like some deals have either fallen through or never there in the first place.

It’s not how many players you have it’s how good they are.

A few years ago the club were getting slagged off for buying to many players for the sake of it. Now we have a patient coach and it’s still wrong.

You could have a squad of forty and it be rubbish, injuries permitting you could have a squad of twenty and win the league if they were the right twenty.

People seem to want their cake and eat it with cream.

It’s still November, let’s wait til February before judging.

Frankly makes no odds when we sign them just so long as they are right.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Fri Nov 25, 2022 8:27 am  

I recall the squad was too big for the season just gone and as Vasty alludes too diluted with decent squad players but not every week players. There are no quick turnarounds from next year so the club can slim the squad down a bit and have the right players challenging to play as opposed to filling a shirt. Bowden Butler Tofua etc were brought in during the season after we had settled the squad. Lineham went on loan and is now back in the fold. All now with a fresh coach who listening to reports is like a breath of fresh air. He knows what he wants so let's see. I am really happy it's shaping up and if people can listen to the narrative properly we are looking for players to challenge the right positions and give the team more depth with the right player not because they have a shirt.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Fri Nov 25, 2022 9:04 am  

2 signings to replace the two pack stalwarts in Fifita and Arona will do for me. They were not bit part players and were quality props that have not yet been replaced.

Although plenty of time before start of season this unique intense pre season training that’s been mentioned could get missed ….