St George Illawarra have landed a huge recruitment scalp by securing Australian star Keaon Koloamatangi to a long term near $5 million deal.
It is understood that Koloamatangi has told the Dragons he will join the club from 2027 on a five year deal. The contract is now in the cooling off period.
It is a clear circuit breaker for the Dragons who were in the market for a marquee player.
Koloamatangi’s current club South Sydney wanted to secure him as did Parramatta.
The Dragons though look set to land the prized recruit after gazumping the Eels and Rabbitohs with a monster five year deal
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Why would anyone be in the slight bit surprised with this.
This club only signs discards, rejects or players that no other club bar Parra are chasing.
And before others start saying he's overrated and overpriced, he might be but we have been outgunned by a club on the nose, a club destined to remain cellar dwellats for a few more years.
We need someone to replace JNR and I fear we will not secure anyone based on recent signing history.
We are putting too much faith into our jnrs. We will develop them on the cheap only for other clubs to take them away eventually. Guarantee it.
That's the thing Frank, yes 4-5 years for a 29 year old is a bit much. Yeah $1mil a year is a little too much for Keaon but we offered it and still missed out.
I am not pissed missing Keaon more than I am missing a top talent if that makes sense. Wasn't so much wanting Keaon himself more so wanted to see us have the ability to get him.
He went to the Dragons ffs. They've made the finals once in ten years. That means every club in the game 'had the ability to get him'. They just needed to offer the most money. If we had offered the most we would've got him for sure.
The knockers we have at this club is remarkable,is it too many stubbies or not real supporters
Yeah must be not real supporters who are still here despite not seeing a premiership since 86 - FFS.
There's a reason this club hasn't won jack since and I think it's the acceptance of mediocrity by like minded fans that have shown unwavering support each year - a she'll be right attitude that doesn't put enough pressure on the club.
No it's because we're not a strong club. We've had a revolving door of board members, CEOs, general managers and coaches since 1986 and won nothing. 'Accepting mediocrity' hasn't been the problem. Market forces are what's held us back.
Keep telling yourself that mate.
This club has had people running the joint who are not remotely qualified. Absolute idiots who had no idea how to run a chook raffle let alone a club. Most have only been there to feather their own nests and we rarely had people who were under any pressure to perform. It's actually harder to lose your position at Parra then to get it.
We have plenty of money, we just aren't a serious club with serious people running the joint. Until we start taking premierships seriously, start to hire the right people, put the decision makers under pressure and stop paying for memberships, then the drought will continue regardless of how deep the clubs pockets are.
It's a bit of a shame this as it puts more pressure on our young guns to step up and on Paulo to stay one more year.
Reckon we need to sign someone proven for 2027. Doesn't have to be Payne/Keoan, but up there. There are still some options out there.
But finally, like with my team in Soccer, I don't care that much about signings. They are just nice if they work out. So I'd barely get worked up about a signing.
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We just saw Moale do a Pezet deal with Melbourne, who supposedly do know wrong. So MON was a pioneer there that even the Storm are following his lead now. What a legend MON is, ay?
This is very concerning that the eels seem to always miss out on key signings. This has been a trend for quite a long time but I thought Ryles might be able to change this but still same old story. How can we improve when we can't strengthen our side as can't keep relying on our juniors as we haven't had a strong junior group come through at the same time for 20 years
Don't worry about the amount or the years, the fact is we wanted him and tried to get him but failed, again.
The people in charge of recruitment and retention have continually failed to attract name players to the club and also keep good young talent already at the club.
The club needs to understand that the fan base doesn't accept this continuous failure and expect changes sooner rather than later and if we don't get it the leagues club board members will be held to account at future elections until every one of them has been removed. We have no other course than to put pressure on the touchable board to effect the untouchable board.
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