Daniel Alvaro, Mitch Cornish, Isaac De Gois, Bureta Faraimo, Tyrell Fuimaono, Michael Gordon, James Hasson, Luke Kelly, Cameron King, Kieren Moss, Cody Nelson, Corey Norman, Rory O'Brien, Junior Paulo, Nathan Peats, Kaysa Pritchard, Scott Schulte, Kelepi Tanginoa, Vai Toutai, Honeti Tuha, Joseph Ualesi, Danny Wicks, Matthew Woods
The list above is provided to rekindle the brain as to which players are off contract at the end of this year, 23 in total. This blog is about the lose of just one of them to sign another player in his place. There's little doubt that several of them are on pretty basic money while others on good money indeed, I think this is where there is a stumbling block in this blog discussion, & some have raised this point already, as I have as well.
Jennings will not come cheap even if the chooks have to pay out some of this years contract money, if Jennings comes here he will want a 3 year contract, perhaps a 4 year one, I for one would not sign him for the later time, & I would rather see how the young imports such as Gutherson goes before making a decision. Some time back Jnr had indicated he wanted to stay here, but the $$$ signs have gone up since then, his impact for the last 2 years have been minimised by the judiciary & injury, so I would not want to see big $$'s offered unless incentive based deals are still allowed & that is for the new one & based on his on/off field records.
I doubt that BA & the club are wanting to lose him either, but as there is a long list they have to look over, then I doubt if they will be rushing to sign on a player who may want to go elsewhere. Besides Jnr, there are the clubs 3 main hookers in the list +1 who is a look in for the role also, likely to be reduced by one if IDG retires as expected. So throwing this in to the debate, if Jennings does not come this year its perhaps possible he will next year so I hope its for 2 years only, & likely means that Jnr may end up at the raiders (good name of club methinks) but, with 21 others to be reduced severally all of whom will be playing for their futures, & that means a loss of at least 12 of them, leaving 10 to continue, perhaps.
The perhaps will depend very much on other new signings, the cap increase & what it will allow. By at least round 10 this year there will be a short list to be kept & contracts to be offered, there will be others wanted from the opposition plus from lower grades as well who want to show their wares as well.
Why then such an emphasis on 2 players who are 1 a possible loss & the other a possible gain, who may or may not warrant it? Out of the off contract list there are some fair players who I would also not like to see lost to the club, some may have good offers to go elsewhere, others back to the parks, even though they have bright futures which will be a loss as well. So something to really look over again in the shadow of 2 players.
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Out of that list I would keep Daniel Alvaro, James Hasson, Cameron King Kieren Moss, Cody Nelson, Junior Paulo, Danny Wicks, Mathew woods the rest are gone or wenty contract
wouldn't keep Peats?
Looking at the list of off contract players tends to cloud fans' thinking, leading to delusions of how many millions of dollars must be freed up by such a horde of uncontracted players (most of them second tier and therefore freeing up zero cap space).
Far more useful is to look at who is contracted for the following year. Bear in mind that plenty of these guys will be on more in 2017 than they are on this year by virtue of back-ending, which is a fact of life in most contracts, especially for youngsters.
Fullback: French
W/C: Folau, Gutherson, Morgan, Radradra
Half: Foran
Hooker: -
Edge forward: Edwards, Gower, Ma'u, Moeroa, Pauli, Scott
Tight forward: Mannah, Terepo, Watmough
Utility: Takairangi
So as you can see, our prioroty signings/re-signings for 2017 are a hooker (or two) and another half. If French isn't ready we'll probably need a fullback too, unless Gutherson is going to shift back there. But then we'll probably need another outside back instead.
But one thing we can see straight away is that we have plenty of forwards. We will need to sig/re-sign more but it is far less urgent than the need for other positions.
Spot on Pou, recruitment decisions should always be made with the aim of bridging the gap between what/who you currently have and the players (either off contract or on the open market) who can fill the spots and do the necessary jobs at the cheapest price.
Lots of players off-contract does not equal lots of money to spend, nor does a few players off-contract mean no money to spend - it's all relative to the types of contracts those players were on and as Pou has indicated, there are a lot of second-tier/minimum wage earners on that list.
Our priority will be a half, followed by a hooker, followed by a fullback/outside back (depending on how Gutherson is viewed long term).
Some of these positions we need to fill we have some leverage in terms of how much money we can spend and because of the marketplace, others regardless of the marketplace we will need to upgrade significantly. It's all about balance and how we can maintain the core we want to maintain, as long as we can. For this reason I would imagine that Corey Norman or a half replacement, would be our number one recruitment/retention priority.
very true for this year, as all those players on the list are here & provide for that depth including those contracted beyond this year.
The question then becomes who is retained, along with any new signings, along with what cap increase etc we get.
Clint & Pou, you are both correct & it reflects much of what I am aiming at & all have to understand about the releasing of players & signing of new ones.
As for delusions, I think a lot of the debate about the Paulo move & Jennings swap, is more than having a bit of a reality check over the players who are off contract end of the season, not just one.
The eels web site has around 40 players listed, which certainly would be the 2nd tier & some Wenty players, & I for one would like to see the site changed to indicate which grade they are in. EG. & I Hate using Moanly as an example but they list 25 on their site, so I assume that is their top tier group.
The players that I look at being the target for new contracts, which also means an upgrade for them are, Alvaro, Fuimaono, Norman, Peats, & likely Pritchard as well as King. They will likely be the main targets although whatever offer has been made to Paulo.
If both King & Pritchard measure up, it will place a huge amount of pressure on Peats, who may end up also in being made redundant.
If French is not ready, then Gordon could have 12 month extension if he wants it, & it covers the kicking department as well. While not his preferred position, I actually wonder if French may make a better option in the halves if Norman is not resigned, could also mean Kelly moves on.
Keep Cornish, Gordon if he plays well this year, Moss, Norman, Peats, Schulte, Tanginoa, Tuha, Wicks and get rid of the rest but not for Jennings as he is not worth what he is asking. Would rather give 2 or 3 young blokes a go to prove themselves for the same amount as it would cost for overrated inconsistent Jennings.