Recently, on a podcast that is run by Taylan and Terrell May, Iongi has stated he would like to remain an Eel for his career to repay the faith shown in him by the club.
Question is can MON get a deal done ?
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Well that's good news, but it would wrong for the club to jump in a sign him up on a very long contract. That's what desperate clubs do, and it means they get locked in on a player regardless of how he performs in future seasons. I would much rather have our players needing to give 110% each week to keep the up and coming juniors at bay. What if he stagnates and doesn't improve, and in the meantime we have another player leapfrog him? In the end, the coach will pick the best 17 each week, and JR has shown he is willing to drop any player who is not pulling his weight.
With 2 new clubs entering I don't think we can play around with his contract, he might get snapped up by another club pretty quickly. Seems like a player who can be the fullback for next 10 years and that's rare to find in the nrl today. Just hope they can work a deal out that benefits both sides before other clubs come throwing millions around
I always hear "2 new clubs coming in" I could be way off but I do not see PNG making that much damage in the player market. Even Perth have conceaded they will struggle. I could see players, not many, going to Perth but being a new franchise it is hard. Even Dolphins struggled to get players first and that is a great place to live.
How the hell, other than offering insane money, will PNG get quality players and if they do how will they get them for more than 2 years as most will sign to their money and or an opportunity and the hell out of there once another club shows interest.
Yeah it's not really that PNG coming in that bothers me, it's the player agents using the extra clubs to drive prices up on players. Similar to what matto did to us with dolphins. They sneaky buggers
PNG won't be playing under the same rules as the other 18 clubs. They will be given a raft of benefits to attract talent. An almost unlimited salary cap,. government and NRL funding, tax breaks for players.
This has been a fix ever since it was announced by Each Way Albo and V'Landys, and will forever remain a fix to keep them successful. The NRL as we once knew it is officially dead.
IAN, it's interesting how many folks including yourself are going straight to doubt mode (or beyond) over PNG.
Not trying to challenge you in anyway at all, perfectly reasonable and understandable to doubt the idea. However, I think there is a pretty good chance it works out.
Is it really that bad over there? De Belin who has been over there quite a bit said he'd definitely be keen to explore that option in the future. I understand he is probably in a beggar can't be chooser situation. However, the work I do in sports administration isn't quite on the level of professional rugby league, but if it was, and I was offered a job there, I'd consider it for sure!
what do you think will be the major reason players won't want to play there?
Rampant rates of crime, foreign country, weather issues - how many games will be played there before May? The Parramatta experiment of playing in Darwin in April after moving it from June was a failure. there's a myriad of reasons the top tier players won't go there unless there is a massive financial incentive. The NRL will have to be rigged to get them successful and attracting talent from Australia.
Crime / Weather / Family life / Poverty?
They should have continued with them playing during the season in National type games but added more. Its also about the common sense approach; the NRL should have ensured NZ have two teams - for me this would help reduce the amount of kids coming over here and then the NRL should be forced to develop $$$ more kids here in the bush / country / coast into league.
But no, old snake eyes weak as piss Albo and Co do the politics - I do follow that but it is no way a longevity win; the Chinese have more power and i for one do not trust the PNG with $$$, as foreign aid has been sent their for years, and what is the outcome?
I just don't see a huge difference between living in a secure housing estate and living in low socioeconomic places anywhere in Australia.
I think people would say NZ wouldn't work because of travel if it wasn't already working.
They won't be at risk in anyway, they will have a HUGE and FANATICAL supporter base, endless TPAs, this is where general public and professional athletes and sports people seem to split. The love of the game, competition and the thirst for legacy is paramount above all else.
I think they will have no problem filling a top 30, and will find success quickly.
Well De Belin would be 37 when PNG enter the comp. He would be looking at an extra pay day to finish his career where he missed two years of. Issue wont be exactly getting players but keeping players longer than say 2-3 years would be an issue. The main attraction to players would be money and opportunity. Once they have 2 years of that they will try and go elsewhere. Plus those without a family of their own would more likely go there.
The Warriors now are only starting to have a few players from Australia stay there long term; Ford, Barnett, Egan. Before Aussie players would stay for 2-3 years then leave back to Aus. They had a period in mid 2000's with Price, Tate and Lillyman as well. But NZ is a much better place to live than PNG which is categorised as the 2nd most dangerous country in the world.
Listen to Hannah Hollis, she lived there when she was a teen as her parents were journalists and were placed there. She said a few times her and her family were in a situation where they were held a gunpoint, on a tram was an incident where a man had a gun and they were hiding.
Now granted, NRL players would be treated as kings in the compound not having to leave to get essentials. The compound itself would have shops to get stuff but for how long can someone live there? Remains to be seen.
But there was an advisor on 2GB last year talking about how PNG is a great idea etc. When grilled about the safety of living there he said there are no concerns about living there and attracting players to play for PNG.
Right, so if there are no concerns why build a compound and offer tax free salary? V'Landys said before the Dolphins came in that they only want franchises that can hold their own financially. Right, so other than government money how can PNG hold their own? This is nothing about footy, if it was you would attract the polynesian population with a team for Tonga, Samoa and Fiji based in NZ? With all due respect they make more impact on the game than PNG, fanbase would be big in Australia too. League is the no.1 sport in PNG, that is all they have. This selection is politically based and that is it. When seeing the money offered, of course V'Landys takes it and has a bit of a approach of being a reason China is not infiltrating PNG. He will feel he made a difference. What if after 10 years there is a new government? Public pressure that we are paying for this and they are rubbish? Then when the funding is gone what happens then?
NRL should have never made this choice. If it works? Then great, i will admit i was wrong and it is great for the game. I feel Cairns pitch was dumb but made more sense. Where PNG would be based in Cairns. The only positive would be Parramatta doesn't need to fear coming last with PNG in the comp.
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