[Chris71]

Re: Shopping list for 2025 : Fri Aug 30, 2024 10:37 am  

I think Rapana even at his age is a great player and very good signing and should go very well in SL no doubt about that or his experience and leadership qualities, but feel there is a genuine question mark over whether he is what we need player wise based on the rest of the recruitment done and areas we are still short in.

It appears that in terms of filling the remaining quota spots Myler/Cartwright have gone for players he knows fairly well and worked with before which I can understand but currently I am struggling to get enthused about next season based on everything so far. As for Sezer I'm pretty much 'meh' as he's not the running half I was hoping or lead to believe we were looking for and he hasn't lit up SL other than doing well in his first season, for Leeds he was anonymous to say the least.
The one I really struggle with is Cust as just I feel that'd be a wasted quota spot on a player that's hardly played since he came to SL, in fairness I'm pretty sure you could find a non quota player instead for the role that they see Cust in.

Whilst I appreciate the player pool is pretty dry the club will be expecting fans to pay top dollar for memberships and match day tickets and after the past 2-3 seasons alone of broken promises, the recruitment if we are to be genuinely truthful hasn't really matched the talk and for many I fear the end of the line may well have been reached.

Re: Shopping list for 2025 : Fri Aug 30, 2024 10:38 am  

Cust
Herman
Rapana
Sezer
Sao
Cartwright
Asiata

That’s all our quotas full then, allegedly Sezer has signed.

Re: Shopping list for 2025 : Fri Aug 30, 2024 11:04 am  

When you look at the team we potentially have for 2025 and compare it with a team we would like to try be getting above next year its not bad at all really... Take the Giants for example...

New coach expected unless they go full time with Robinson, they losing Milner, Marsters etc, i havent heard too much in terms of rumours of who they will be bringing in roster wise next season other than a link to Granville at 9 so with that been said they could line up like the following... see how it compares to us...

FB Connor (NRL Level Full back in Rapana is better and wont have a brain explosion)
WG Swift (Martin not at that level yet so they have that one over us)
WG Bibby (Briscoe is steady which is about on par with how id describe Bibby)
CE Naiqama (Hardaker better IMO)
CE Cudjoe (Chamberlain not as experienced but Cudjoe isn't a world beater)
HB Clune (Sezer every bit as good and i wont hear anything else)
HB Lolohea (Abdull better with ball in hand, Lohohea has better running game but is inconsistent)
HK Granville? (Cust again would be better IMO than him and Burouh and Balmforth look exciting)
PR Ikahifo (Herman miles better)
PR Burgess (Aydin/Ashworth maybe lose out here)
SR Savelio (Cartwright gets the nod already for me from what i have seen)
SR Greenwood/Livett ( Lane/Holmes probably on par with both, all hardworking)
LF Rushton (Asiata, need i say more?)

Now as i say that's one club and they may bring in one or two but it just puts things into a bit of a perspective, a team that we realistically are looking to get to the level of next season have one maybe two players that would be better than ours and that's it! I could d similar with Leigh, Salford, Cas etc once recruitment draws to a close and a bet you that it wont be too dissimilar in terms of quality.

Re: Shopping list for 2025 : Fri Aug 30, 2024 11:36 am  

I take Leeds being interested in getting Rapana as a positive sign in hindsight none of our duff signings the last few years were linked with anyone.

We might have though we'd been clever and found a gem but our scouting ain't all that

Re: Shopping list for 2025 : Fri Aug 30, 2024 11:50 am  

Chris71 wrote:

I think Rapana even at his age is a great player and very good signing and should go very well in SL no doubt about that or his experience and leadership qualities, but feel there is a genuine question mark over whether he is what we need player wise based on the rest of the recruitment done and areas we are still short in.

It appears that in terms of filling the remaining quota spots Myler/Cartwright have gone for players he knows fairly well and worked with before which I can understand but currently I am struggling to get enthused about next season based on everything so far. As for Sezer I'm pretty much 'meh' as he's not the running half I was hoping or lead to believe we were looking for and he hasn't lit up SL other than doing well in his first season, for Leeds he was anonymous to say the least.
The one I really struggle with is Cust as just I feel that'd be a wasted quota spot on a player that's hardly played since he came to SL, in fairness I'm pretty sure you could find a non quota player instead for the role that they see Cust in.

Whilst I appreciate the player pool is pretty dry the club will be expecting fans to pay top dollar for memberships and match day tickets and after the past 2-3 seasons alone of broken promises, the recruitment if we are to be genuinely truthful hasn't really matched the talk and for many I fear the end of the line may well have been reached.

All very good points. After the fanfare of the new investment and Asiata signing I was genuinely excited about the future.

Most of the non quota signings have been average at best but understandable given the market at the time.

I was really expecting the quota signings to compensate for that.

I'm at a loss with the Cust signing it just seems a waste of a valuable quota place.

The Sezer signing is particularly disappointing. After missing out on Lam I believed that we would have signed a half back of similar quality and style to compliment Abdull.

Rapana is high quality and despite his age has plenty to offer but he's a winger who has played full back and both of these positions are covered.

The positives for me are we are entering a new era after years of dross with a new team a new coach with plenty of quality youngsters coming through and with the hope of more investment.

Next season I'm not expecting much improvement position wise but I do expect not getting humiliated every week. That's setting a low bar especially after the new investment was announced.

Re: Shopping list for 2025 : Fri Aug 30, 2024 12:04 pm  

Marcus's Bicycle wrote:

All very good points. After the fanfare of the new investment and Asiata signing I was genuinely excited about the future.

Most of the non quota signings have been average at best but understandable given the market at the time.

I was really expecting the quota signings to compensate for that.

I'm at a loss with the Cust signing it just seems a waste of a valuable quota place.

The Sezer signing is particularly disappointing. After missing out on Lam I believed that we would have signed a half back of similar quality and style to compliment Abdull.

Rapana is high quality and despite his age has plenty to offer but he's a winger who has played full back and both of these positions are covered.

The positives for me are we are entering a new era after years of dross with a new team a new coach with plenty of quality youngsters coming through and with the hope of more investment.

Next season I'm not expecting much improvement position wise but I do expect not getting humiliated every week. That's setting a low bar especially after the new investment was announced.

Good post

Re: Shopping list for 2025 : Fri Aug 30, 2024 12:13 pm  

Dave K. wrote:

Cust will be the cover if he signs

Searched the club's tweets regarding confirmation that Cust has been signed..
Can't find anything at all...yet.

Re: Shopping list for 2025 : Fri Aug 30, 2024 12:22 pm  

Cuddleclub wrote:

Good post

Thank you but in reality I've just echoed what Chris has said but not as eloquently

Re: Shopping list for 2025 : Fri Aug 30, 2024 12:23 pm  

The halfback in Davidsons exclusive will be Cust, I don’t think the club has actually announced him yet.

Re: Shopping list for 2025 : Fri Aug 30, 2024 12:24 pm  

DSJ1983 wrote:

The halfback in Davidsons exclusive will be Cust, I don’t think the club has actually announced him yet.

It's not. It's Dishwater