Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Fri Nov 25, 2022 3:30 pm  

TimmySmith wrote:

Just to be clear I never said anyone was wrong, just posting what had come out of the Yorkshire Post.

Personally I agree with your statement, it isn't all about how many players you have in the squad but IMO we do need a couple of bodies through the door for depth.

Currently we have uncertainty on Croft, Windrow (could be wrong but sure someone mentioned him being OOC),Shaw and we know Davetanivalu and Evans have gone. At best case scenario on MA's latest comment our squad would be at 26 which is way below the average over recent years.

It isn`t about how many players you`ve got until you get inevitable injuries then all of a sudden it is about how many players you`ve got. It`s difficult to get a balance between quality and quantity, even more so when working on tight budgets but it can be done, we`ve managed it in the past.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Fri Nov 25, 2022 5:28 pm  

vastman wrote:

Don’t agree with the last bit. Trinity tends to be a club that resurrects careers more than most. If a player like Napa buys in then he will be a star, same applies to Prescott.

For us with Napa it’s purely money imo, the less we pay the less the risk.

He’s been on the slide for 4 years now, I’d maybe agree if he was a good to average player but he has been a top player and it looks like his desire has totally gone.

It may seem like a dream move for some in SL but the move to Catalans for him should have been a massive fall from Grace with nobody in the NRL wanting to touch him but rumours persist about his off field discipline and attitude.

I don’t see that decline changing were he to come to Wakefield.

Put it this way despite their lack of pedigree in comparison I’d personally much prefer Mago or Atoni over a player who has more ability than both but looks to have given up to a certain extent.

[PopTart]

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Fri Nov 25, 2022 6:23 pm  

jonh wrote:

He’s been on the slide for 4 years now, I’d maybe agree if he was a good to average player but he has been a top player and it looks like his desire has totally gone.

It may seem like a dream move for some in SL but the move to Catalans for him should have been a massive fall from Grace with nobody in the NRL wanting to touch him but rumours persist about his off field discipline and attitude.

I don’t see that decline changing were he to come to Wakefield.

Put it this way despite their lack of pedigree in comparison I’d personally much prefer Mago or Atoni over a player who has more ability than both but looks to have given up to a certain extent.

I feel the same.

I went to see Mal Meninga speak yesterday. He was brilliant as you'd expect.
When he was asked about picking a team for Australia and what he looks for, he said Character.
He went as far as to say he picked character over skill.

And that is why I wouldn't choose Napa.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Sat Nov 26, 2022 8:41 am  

PopTart wrote:

I feel the same.

I went to see Mal Meninga speak yesterday. He was brilliant as you'd expect.
When he was asked about picking a team for Australia and what he looks for, he said Character.
He went as far as to say he picked character over skill.

And that is why I wouldn't choose Napa.

Well that means you’d have never picked Hanley or Brough or any number of top players. To quote a well known coach , the sort of bloke you’d have in your team is not necessarily the sort of bloke you’d invite home for dinner’.

Life is nowhere near that simple, not even for you, far to cowboys and Indians.

[PopTart]

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Sat Nov 26, 2022 9:31 am  

vastman wrote:

Well that means you’d have never picked Hanley or Brough or any number of top players. To quote a well known coach , the sort of bloke you’d have in your team is not necessarily the sort of bloke you’d invite home for dinner’.

Life is nowhere near that simple, not even for you, far to cowboys and Indians.

Hanley has lots of character. I think you misunderstand the meaning of the word.
It isn't about being friendly and nice. It's about personal integrity. Resilience. Dedication to the cause.

And I'm quoting the current world cup winning coach and Hall of Fame player. I'm just passing on the wisdom. It's up to you if you want to take it.

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

PopTart wrote:

Hanley has lots of character. I think you misunderstand the meaning of the word.
It isn't about being friendly and nice. It's about personal integrity. Resilience. Dedication to the cause.

And I'm quoting the current world cup winning coach and Hall of Fame player. I'm just passing on the wisdom. It's up to you if you want to take it.

I do get what you’re saying now or to a point but it’s fraught with difficulties imho.

Problem is neither you or I or Jonh know the full story or the real person. You can’t just bin a great player based on a flaccid few seasons. There may be many reasons and perhaps Mash has the key.

It’s a balance. I take it that you accept that if we got Napa who’s only 30 playing anything like then we’d have one of the best in SL?

So with that in mind what are we willing to risk to find out

From what I can see it’s not that much as it looks like we expect the French to bankroll his move to a good degree.

If we are getting Napa on say 60% of his current wage id risk it.

It also looks like Catalan want space for a mega signing rather than shifting Napa on due to poor form, he played a fair few games. Some not impressed but I thought he went ok when I saw him.

We just have to trust that due diligence has been done if we do sign him

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Sun Nov 27, 2022 8:44 am  

vastman wrote:

I do get what you’re saying now or to a point but it’s fraught with difficulties imho.

Problem is neither you or I or Jonh know the full story or the real person. You can’t just bin a great player based on a flaccid few seasons. There may be many reasons and perhaps Mash has the key.

It’s a balance. I take it that you accept that if we got Napa who’s only 30 playing anything like then we’d have one of the best in SL?

So with that in mind what are we willing to risk to find out

From what I can see it’s not that much as it looks like we expect the French to bankroll his move to a good degree.

If we are getting Napa on say 60% of his current wage id risk it.

It also looks like Catalan want space for a mega signing rather than shifting Napa on due to poor form, he played a fair few games. Some not impressed but I thought he went ok when I saw him.

We just have to trust that due diligence has been done if we do sign him

Catalans have just signed Adam Keighran from the Sydney roosters, not a prolific name maybe they are just balancing the books by getting rid of Nappa.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Sun Nov 27, 2022 9:44 am  

chissitt wrote:

Catalans have just signed Adam Keighran from the Sydney roosters, not a prolific name maybe they are just balancing the books by getting rid of Nappa.

Maybe a chicken and egg situation though, where the decision to get rid of Napa came 1st? He has been a major flop for Catalans, and I can't recall any positives from him during his televised appearances. At one point I thought Leeds would similarly ditch Tetevano but he seems to have straightened himself out a bit.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Sun Nov 27, 2022 10:13 am  

Wollo-Wollo-Wollo-Wayoo wrote:

Maybe a chicken and egg situation though, where the decision to get rid of Napa came 1st? He has been a major flop for Catalans, and I can't recall any positives from him during his televised appearances. At one point I thought Leeds would similarly ditch Tetevano but he seems to have straightened himself out a bit.

That's my opinion as well, from what I saw he never looked interested, so it's not difficult to see why Catalans wanted to move him on, this Keirghan looks like he's another victim of the abundance of Aussie players that can't get a game, they've signed him on a 12 month contract at whatever they've paid for him so if things don't turn out it's not that big a problem.

Re: What we currently look like for 2023 : Sun Nov 27, 2022 10:26 am  

I've just been having a quick look at the super league stats for last year, to compare Napa with some of our own.

He did get suspended, but his number of games played are on a par with some of ours.

However, on players I looked at conceded less than Miller, Lino and Fifita.

Maybe he's not quite the penalty machine we all thought.

Would just like to see us get over the line now with some of these players we have been linked with.