2015 Squad Signings and Rumours Thread

[Titan4Life]

We should honestly be chasing Te'o extremely hard. He would be the perfect buy but I understand that he will demand a lot of $. However, surely we could outbid the Rabbits or Roosters. Convincing him to come would be another hurdle..

[JunctionBlock]

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Obviously following Manly I have seen a fair bit of Hoppa and his two years saying prayers have set him backwards. Either that or yet another player that Parra have killed. As you say he would be a great team member if he could get back to something he was like before he left.

At $800K that's a crazy amount of money for his current form.

[Titanic]

Can I ask where all of our salary cap has gone for next year?

We have lost so many big name, big money players for next year with Dave Taylor (400k/year), Nate Myles (400k+/year), Aidan Sezer (300k/year) plus the other 12 or so guys leaving. My question is that we haven't really made any expensive signings which make me wonder where the rest of the cap is? Are we saving it until 2017 when there is more quality on the market?

My understanding is that we spend a fair bit of our cap addressing shortfalls in club finances and let's be honest after this season we wouldn't be rolling in it and probably have to off-load players just to stay afloat.

I have been questioning that for a while and I don't think anyone has come up with the answer yet.
I was listening to Trent Hodko being interviewed on MMM today and he was asked why he took the Knights over the Titans. He said he was more impressed with their roster. They have just won the spoon so he obviously didn't hold us in high esteem player wise.

I doubt he could say, "I joined them because I think they can win back to back spoons." Of course he's going to talk-up his decision.

[Hail Sezer]

Hoppa = no

Munster = perfect and he won't get to play fullback for the Cowboys for long with Ponga on the rise (they'e after CM too). If we have a real dig and can get a decent finish next year, the appeal of coming back to QLD for 2017 and playing with a young dynamic spine might be give us a shot

Te'o = yes pls but we wouldn't be able to offer more than Roosters, Rabbits or Broncos (regardless of our cap position)

On another note - I think that LG has given us a whole new sense of attraction for a hole running back rower. Who wouldn't want to run off that? Look what he's done to Paasi who has never even played that position before...gifting him linebreaks on a silver platter.

[RileyC]

When cannot make a bid for hoppa he will just turn out the same way Jamal Idris did...
Munster would be good but i think he could fall into the leave bellmay curse which many others have e.g. dane neilsen plus he has many good players surrounding him at melbourne which unfortunately we don't have at the titans
Ben Teo' would be good but he would take to much cap.. would be better making a bid for Josh Papaili or Martin Tapau
Agnatius Paasi definitely needs to start next year (In the back row of course)

[RileyC]

I think we should also retain christian hazard and jamal fozgartry because they are both good young players both unlucky with injuries and we need to also keep depth in our halves with recent years of injury
Hazard dominated in nyc 2013 and scored a ridiculous amount of tries as a halfback in holden cup but has been unlucky with injuries in recent years
William Zillman and Anthony Don also both need to go so we can play younger counterparts such as tyrone roberts davis, greg l and brian kelly
On a separate note: Does anybody know who our goal kicker will be in 2016 if tyrone roberts doesn't start? , does anybody know whether ash taylor or kane elegy is a better gk as either will likely be the gk for the titans i would assume

[Hail Sezer]

I think we should also retain christian hazard and jamal fozgartry because they are both good young players both unlucky with injuries and we need to also keep depth in our halves with recent years of injury
Hazard dominated in nyc 2013 and scored a ridiculous amount of tries as a halfback in holden cup but has been unlucky with injuries in recent years
William Zillman and Anthony Don also both need to go so we can play younger counterparts such as tyrone roberts davis, greg l and brian kelly
On a separate note: Does anybody know who our goal kicker will be in 2016 if tyrone roberts doesn't start? , does anybody know whether ash taylor or kane elegy is a better gk as either will likely be the gk for the titans i would assume

i'd assume LG will kick, too much pressure on Ash in his first year of NRL - just look at how nervous he was in his debut!

Welcome to the forum man. Seen you around before, perhaps on IG.

[TitanSam]

Tbh I still thought Ash wasn't bad I mean come on it was a huge crowd, he was marking Cooper Cronk, and he was expected to control the game. A lot on a debutants shoulders in his first game. I thought he first kick was just nerves but after he did a couple of pin point bombs which I thought were solid

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Sorry went a bit off topic but I think Kane will kick

[Hail Sezer]

Tbh I still thought Ash wasn't bad I mean come on it was a huge crowd, he was marking Cooper Cronk, and he was expected to control the game. A lot on a debutants shoulders in his first game. I thought he first kick was just nerves but after he did a couple of pin point bombs which I thought were solid

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Sorry went a bit off topic but I think Kane will kick

That's exactly my point. Ash was good. But his first kick was a clear indication of how much the occasion got to him. Let him keep his game basic and build from that. I still think he can beat Tyrone for that other half spot.

[JunctionBlock]

I think we should also retain christian hazard and jamal fozgartry because they are both good young players both unlucky with injuries and we need to also keep depth in our halves with recent years of injury
Hazard dominated in nyc 2013 and scored a ridiculous amount of tries as a halfback in holden cup but has been unlucky with injuries in recent years
William Zillman and Anthony Don also both need to go so we can play younger counterparts such as tyrone roberts davis, greg l and brian kelly
On a separate note: Does anybody know who our goal kicker will be in 2016 if tyrone roberts doesn't start? , does anybody know whether ash taylor or kane elegy is a better gk as either will likely be the gk for the titans i would assume

Henry didn't use them (fogarty and Hazard) this year when the opportunity arose so I don't see the need to sign them again for next year. If no one else is chasing them then it's probably safe to leave them where they are and use second tier if needed (if thats how it works)? I'm guessing Henry see's our depth as LG, Tyrone Roberts, Ash Taylor and Mortimer again.

You'll fit right in with the Zillman needs to go comment and I've silently got the fingers crossed that we find a way to see his retirement happen in the off season after his surgery. I personally like Don, I think he has earned his spot even though Henry saw it fit to drop him where he had a season ending injury. Don and Nene on the wings with their height could be a huge advantage for our kicking game next year. Mead to Fullback of course (Teke) and Hoffman to centre if he can learn to pass.

[DavidBouveng]

I thought LG being a gifted ball handler and kicker would have a natural ability to kick goals at an acceptable level...maybe 67-70%, more with practice....but he has impressed me and has 8/10 although not too many sideline attempts.

With a good pre season he could be really handy

[Titanic]

Left centre and both edge defences are still issues for me ... as is the backrow and Bird.

I must admit that I really like the prop rotation of Douglas, Shillington, James and Peteru (assuming Paasi is now a 'work in progress' backrow).

I like Friend at 9 (but can he still still go for 80?) with Mortimer as back-up and a developing Moseley. Having Srama, Mortimer, Falloon at the club and then bringing in Redman wouldn't have helped Moseley's confidence. I expect a lot more from him in 2016.

I am less enthusiastic about the backrow of Bird, Taia, Burr, Paasi and Pettybourne. I think Burr will spending a lot of time in QCup.

Elgey, Roberts and Taylor (in that order) look fine to me.

As for the rest, only Roberts, Macdonald and Mead are assured of selection in my books while Zillman and Gordon can't feature at all. Anybody see Gordon get schooled in the QCup game in Moresby?

[The Mole]

Would anyone be interested in Rangi Chase.

Apparently he's not getting along with Salford and our friend Koukash. He keeps getting linked with a return to the NRL.

He'll be 30 next year. He's experienced, talented and whilst never dominated at Test level for England, he's easily one of better halves/players in super league. IMO he'd perfect to partner Elgey. This way Taylor will be brought up slowly and properly without rushing his development. Former Keebra Park product, ticks all the boxes.

We could swap him for Gordan, Srama and Zillman.

Thoughts?

[TitanSam]

We have Tyrone Roberts aswell you know. We shouldn't be looking at halves, we need to turn our attentions elsewhere especially Back-Row

[Surfers66]

Would anyone be interested in Rangi Chase.

Apparently he's not getting along with Salford and our friend Koukash. He keeps getting linked with a return to the NRL.

He'll be 30 next year. He's experienced, talented and whilst never dominated at Test level for England, he's easily one of better halves/players in super league. IMO he'd perfect to partner Elgey. This way Taylor will be brought up slowly and properly without rushing his development. Former Keebra Park product, ticks all the boxes.

We could swap him for Gordan, Srama and Zillman.

Thoughts?

I was keen on Rangi a few years ago when we lost prince. not now though. Looks slow and only getting slower.
Our halves will be fine with Elgey/Roberts and a developing ATay in QCUP.

Im more concerned about having a bit of mongrel about us in 2016. We need a McQueen/Tapau/Moa/ Napa