Eels Blogs

Replies

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              Anguillidae > Poupou Escobar July 13, 2021 at 1:57pm

              What the Tigers paid is now extremely good value for a State of Origin representative. We didn't have the necessary foresight and botched the negotiations. 
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                SuperEel 22 > Anguillidae July 13, 2021 at 2:00pm

                He's not an Origin rep. He's nowhere near it. Freddy stuck him in the squad because the Tigers didn't play on the weekend. It's how you slowly bring a young bloke into Origin. He'd be nowhere near playing. Freddy did the same with Campbell Graham for the first two games.

                But a few weeks ago Stefano was dropped from a struggling Tigers side.

                 
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                  Anguillidae > SuperEel 22 July 13, 2021 at 2:02pm

                  Semantics. Let me rephrase - he was named in the Origin 'squad' by better judges than you or I. 
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                    Brett Allen > Anguillidae July 13, 2021 at 3:28pm

                    Yes based in potential. The club recognised his potential but weren't prepared to pay what the Tigers were prepared to pay, nor did we have a spot in our best 17 for him, unsurprisingly the Tigers did. 
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                Brett Allen > Anguillidae July 13, 2021 at 3:26pm

                There's never any guarantee with any young player. To say that the club didn't have the foresight to retain us revisionist bullshit at best. 
                If guys like Gus can get it wrong from time to time, then don't tell me Utoikamanu was a lay down misere, cis it's just not true. 
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                  Da Rock > Brett Allen July 13, 2021 at 3:28pm

                  contracted for more than 300k without playing a minute for first grade?

                  if eels had signed him up to that then, there would have been a riot.

                  Utoikamanu or Kaufusi?

                  Think i know which one i would keep. 
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                    Anguillidae > Da Rock July 13, 2021 at 4:25pm

                    I would have liked to have kept both (certainly over a few others in the roster).
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            Brett Allen > Anguillidae July 13, 2021 at 3:23pm

            Yes, and we wanted to keep him, but he wanted more money than we were prepared to pay at the time. There's a shortage of talent in the league since less than half the clubs are developing, so the few that do are going to lose a few. 
            The Panthers have lost Burton, Naden, Aekins, CHN, just off the top of my head, and will lose more, but they're not gonna stop developing.

            Nor should we. 
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    Poupou Escobar > NBE aka Embers July 12, 2021 at 4:15pm

    

    This is the official off contract list:

    Cartwright
    Ferguson
    Hughes
    Lussick
    Oldfield
    Rankin
    Roache
    Smith
    Stone
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      Clintorian > Poupou Escobar July 12, 2021 at 5:56pm

      

      Bryce Cartwright is the only 1st Grader we re-sign here.

      Top 30 contracts could be
      – Nathaniel Roache (hooker depth & development)
      – Will Smith (backline backup)
      – Rankin (half depth)
      
      We should be looking to sign Connor Watson for our full-time 14.
      It's a critical position these days and a position we're not utilizing more.