Parramatta have tabled Keaon Koloamatangi a monster four-year offer in a bid to prise the representative forward out of South Sydney.
The Roosters are also monitoring the situation, given forward Angus Crichton is off contract and considering a switch to rugby at the end of next season. Perth also inquired about 27-year-old Koloamatangi’s plans, but were told he wants to remain in Sydney.
However, the Eels are shaping as a genuine threat to South Sydney’s bid to retain the former NSW and Tonga star. Sources not authorised to speak publicly told this masthead the Eels have weighed in with a four-year offer worth seven figures a season.
Parramatta officials, including coach Jason Ryles, have met with Koloamatangi and his manager.
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Public perception in the media and world is more bullish outside 1EE and our circles of contacts which is more Doomsday & Fatalistic. Birds of a feather stick together. Even the bookies, Sportsbet, has us 8th with the Sharks. We came second on the RLPA Players in club rankings. We would think that's meaningless for dopes, but to CEOs, Matt Cameron and Jim Sarantinos, it's a positive sign that the coaching, culture and environment within the club is heading in the right direction or at least players perceive that. There were positive signs for us in the last two months. I hope it's heading in the right direction. Time will Tell. I will watch with interest without assuming too much yet...
Don't mention Jim Sarantonis in the same breath as Matt Cameron , it's a slur on Matt .
They are different types of CEO's Frankie, Jim is a tradional finance backed CEO with a corporate management approach. I think he is learning pretty quickly about the football side of things. We and he did not have the experience or guidance that was having Brad Arthur in such a role as Ivan Cleary.
You may find that Matt Cameron has had a similar learning path about being a CEO from a corporate perspective, his football knowledge was ingrained and luckily evolved with the vision of Ivan Cleary.
One got lucky the other did not. Both may end up very similar over time as being knowledgeable running a football club. Even Matt Cameron had to put up with the various donkey's he found through Parramatta at a point in time.
One final point you seem to paint Jim Saratinos as some sort of unqualified idiot....... I think you are way of beam making such accusations from a vacuum of ignorance.
Stop and think for one minute, who were Parramatta's previous CEO's?
Frankie, you're a clever & successful man, and often correct.
The thing is we think the world of Matt Cameron now, and so do I. But have a look at what we said about Matt Cameron back in 2012. He was "rubbish" and a reason our juniors were stuffed. He was also a dope on here by our standards.
I like Matt Cameron a lot, and I have listened to him talk (many, many hours) but could you imagine this resume?
A former woodwork teacher, who didn't want to stay in coaching because it didn't have a secure income like his teaching days, and who didn't want to be a business leader or owner like his stressed-out dad. Would you hire him as GM or CEO based on that?
When was the last big name he signed, despite all their success? They have a similar issue to us in that we don't have the Billionaire Benefactors who dig deep in their pockets and pour millions outside the cap for R&R.
But he's down to earth, transparent, a thinker, clever and a realist. A great CEO, since 2022 after the Panthers had already started their premiership run. He also admits the footy programme follows Ivan Cleary's footy strategies, and just does his best to create the best environment possible to support Cleary. They all trust each other. But if Cleary isn't the great coach he is, they don't have their success.
In essence, regardless of what we think about Jim, that's pretty much what he's trying to do to turn the club around. Ryles seems to have potential, and my understanding is they all respect each other up top and are on the same page. He has my respect for that, and he's always been respectful of everyone around him and has the club's best interest at heart. I hope they succeed.
Please don't be another Justin Poore
I hope we don't get him, would rather see him stay at Souths or go to Saints. He is not worth anywhere near a mil. He's a middle that can play big minutes, that's it.
I like him as a player but not for the price.
Surely we can identify 2 x 18-20 Year old forwards that will potentially play Origin and offer them $500k a season each ?
I doubt that JB, identifying those youngsters and paying them 500k would be prohibitive odds.....
When you think of it and forgetting the actual individual (which is subjective) any forward/player that you buy for $1m and is not already an Origin Player would be a punt of no certainty.
Of course there are plenty of players that have played Origin and you would not feed.....Matto is an example, would you have identified him as a youngster, plenty did! didn't mean anything at the end....there's plenty similar.
One final point, budgeting what you pay for a player is not a full assesment....its like making any investment, the alternatives and the affordability make it so i.e. whether we pay 500k or a Million depends on what choices do we have, spending 500k and leaving the rest in the bank and getting nothing in comparison. So getting the player you want has to be the objective....there are plenty we want but we cannot get them or even in some cases retain them.
Dyllan Brown subjectively would have stayed with Parra on say 950, he was paid 1.4m alternatively, do we have a replacement for him at 950? NO and I would not have paid a cent more than 950, I think he subjectively did not warrant higher but unless we can find a better cheaper alternative we are weaker than we were! Untill then we grab someone we think is ok at 1m and hope like shit he justifies the price.
Poppa I just don't think a forward is worth near halfback money, unless he is of Payne Haas's calabre.
With salary cap rising, the normal range is going to be around that for a rep quality forward. Only going to get worse
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