Reports are circuling that due to changes in British Rugby stating teams can now only have one marquee signing allowed per team, forcing salary cap issues. Meaning Semi could well and truly be on his way back to Australia. Mention of NRL clubs monitoring him are normal, he was a world class player when he left and believe he is still is. The Dolphins are one team eyeing him, though talk is he prefers to come back to Sydney, the other team is the Roosters cause of course it is the Roosters, three inevitabilities in life; Death, Taxes and Roosters signing a big name player. Questions will then be raised, what about Parramatta? To that i say what about us?
Few things come to mind, one being can we afford him, two do we need him and three do we even want him. Let's start with do we need him, no we do not, but always nice for a luxary. He is better than Sivo no doubt about it, Sivo was brought in to replace him and did a good job, but he wasn't even close to Semi, nor should he of been. Sivo is an NRL quality winger who can find the line, but has shown except for his rookie year he be a bit lackadaisical, he makes metres but can drift out of games when needed. Semi though practically carried us to a top 4 finish in 2017, imagine him in his prime with the team we have built now. Is he going to be like he was in 2017? no idea, there is a chance not exactly as he is a bit older and not sure how much Rugby has taken out of his body, but we can expect a big game player for sure. Do we need him? well not really, but he is very handy to have in our team, we are need of a winger incase Sivo moves on (i'll get to that later) but it is not a massive need for a top winger with Dunster and Simonsson contracted for the future. Also, one knock on our team is no superstar in our team, Semi could be that man and makes us unstoppable, he might be that last link towards getting better than Melbourne and Penrith consistently.
Next, can we afford him? Well what is his value? does he chase money? does a club throw massive cash at him to sell season tickets like Wests for example? does he take less to come to Parramatta where it started or to go to a top team like the Roosters. Well, Sivo is one area this could come in. He is off-contract at the end of 2022, with an option for 2023. So far, Sivo has yet to take it up, there are reports that Sivo is looking at French rugby, has been for a while to the point where we upgraded his deal with Parramatta in 2020 to push them away. Sivo's deal is 400k, is that enough to sign Semi? well maybe but Parramatta also have Dylan Brown to sign up who could take a fair bit of cash, but in a positive note the new bargaining agreement could push the salary cap up more in 2023. If we let Sivo go we could have cash for Semi, we could just persevere with Dunster, Simonsson, Russell and Komolafe/Loizou coming through. There are other things like what back-rower we want to target, Nathan Brown is off contract in 2023, does Mahoney back-flip? (KIDDING!!!!!!, just wanted to piss people off with it haha), there are different things we need the money for do we want to cash out big money for a winger?
Finally, do Parramatta want him? Well they have sured up a few wingers for the future with the mind that Semi was never going to come back. Now he may be available do we go for him? well this current Parramatta management is different to the one he left in 2018. They are more savage than the prior mob, more so with the approach of not bowing down to many players at all nor seeing players as irreplaceable. This management go with a next man up mentality, more so if one player leaves due to the value being different to their demands we get someone that fits the value and the way we play, it can be good and bad but we have got some good results. So do we go for him? Maybe but this management have no relation or soft spot for Semi due to him leaving before they got in, only BA has been around him.
It will be fascinating to see how it pans out, i would love to see Semi come back, could it be like Hayne in the Gold Coast where he just was not the same and comes back batted and bruised or is he the face of the Dolphins.
Replies
Are you for real even posting this? If we can afford him, we need him, plain and simple.
Are sure about that? with this management? Not knocking but being realistic, this management only sign if it fits within their value, only exception being Gutho and maybe Moses.
If it is reasonable money, absolutely. We are in an absolute mess with winger injuries.
That is the thing what is reasonable to them? 400k seems the sweet spot considering how they paid Sivo, but does Semi like that?
Ive a feeling he will take the biggest deal on offer, he'd probably be silly not to.
The flippers will offer him upwards of 600k for sure, they are getting desperate.
To afford semi we'd have to offload sivo, another player id be loooking to offload is Matterson, getting rid of these two guys would free some cash up but thats easier said than done..
Cant see semi coming back but you never know.
Only issue is Matto might be needed if we cannot get a back-rower we want, we might not have cash after signing Semi. Matto atm is not getting many offers, he may take a cheap deal of around 350-400 to stay for another 2 or so seasons.
Though i believe we are arranging our cap next year with Sivo's deal included, that being around 400k, so maybe we can use that for another back-rower.
Dylan Brown is a massive priority atm to them i believe.
Our management is not that different to 2017
We may have had a different board structure but the principles of Donelly managing have not changed.
It seems to me that if you have the opportunity to buy the worlds best footballer, it is a no brainer. What you have listed are the obstacles which are as prevalent as you apply, but your article is a false premise confused by desire and ability.
Your actual heading is an oxymoron, "do we even want him".
You are writing your apologies before you need to.
Do you think Brad and the boys sit around before a game and list all the reasons why they can't win? Your article makes such an assumption.....Electric Eel's first sentence was spot on.
Fair enough Poppa on comments in making an assumption, i hope i am wrong as i would love Semi back. But i disagree, with all due respect, in the sense that how many world class footballers have we actually gone for or bought? Semi might be different as we have connections but we are not a club to go for superstars that price themselves out. It makes sense what you are saying Poppa though, i 100% understand what you are saying, but though i do not know myself if they would be or not nor will nobody else til we hear it or see it, i just feel on past off-seasons we had chances to go for superstars and did not really make a divot, Staggs being the only the one we went hard for if you call Staggs a superstar. But do not take it as me knocking you Poppa, more so a rebuttal of some sorts. Your comment was fair.
Though we do have O'Neill, Rogers and Sarantinos calling the shots with BA, that is a bit different, the coaching staff not so much with BA and Murphy.
No worries LB but I think your tying yourself in a few knots, not everyone starts with a Mercedes but using your argument about buying high profile, we broke a few records with Foran, unfortunately the scars from the scorch marks have not quiet disappeared, but even Merc's can be bombs after a while.
I hope I have put some substance into the discussion.....one other thing, is I think you can ask the questions but then wait to get some responses and then make your point of view.....you have a habit of answering the discussion as soon as you complete the question.
i.e. argue like shit after you have heard all the opinions
Yeah fair, i just prefer to write it like that. It is how i talk i guess. I know what you mean don't ask a question then answer it but i could just simply change it to talking my points then say "do we need him" at the end to open comments.
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