2024 Squad, Signings and Rumours Thread

[Cowabunga]

I'm with ya Tolkien. We have no idea what these players can do under Des + they're all young. I'm going to take a wild guess and no players are going to get worse under Des.

I'm excited for AJ + Sami together which looks like it will be happening, It's an awesome story if AJ takes to centre well, Him and Sami coming up together + Mo who are the juniors that started this. Jojo could turn into anything still and especially under Des who's coached some very good centres.

Guys like Schoupp, KH and basically everyone in our squad has good potential, We finally have a coach who actually knows how to build on it. Holbrook was a bad development coach imo, He didn't make any players really better then they would've been. He actually threw a lot of them to the wolves.

[MaroonTitan]

I know that I’m in the minority here but I really don’t think we HAVE to go to the player market right now. There isn’t a value for money player who would exceed what we have in our positions especially with out pathways

We are about to become a developmental club imo so we get to become really picky and choosy about where we put our money.

I’m excited for it

I agree too, mate. I think you're in the majority. We're all excited about the players we have coming on. Des will get it right.

I'm hoping that Fermor fixes our right edge in D with AJ and Kelly plays all season like he did in his best moments this year. If he does and Schoupp stands up in QCup and pushes for a spot, we won't need another centre (or centre that plays wing well). I think some of the great talent we've got coming through will start to peak in a couple of years. In the meantime and especially if injuries strike, I'd love to have Reimis at the right price. Tass is also a very exciting prospect and any club is lucky to have him. If AJ plays left centre, we wouldn't need Tass but from what I understand AJ is likely to play right centre and Kelly on the left. If AJ plays left centre then Reimis would be solid on the right (and offer quality cover for the wings) - at the right price.

But I agree. We don't need to rush to market. These are just considerations in my head and we don't need to pay overs for anyone again. I'd just love us to go deep in September in 24/25 before winning our maiden Premiership. I think it'll help get there quicker.

[Cowabunga]

NZT explained it.

We all hope that, but when your'e spending 1m on Fifita and 600k or so on Fermor.... That's your budget when we have 4 other 2nd rowers, We're already at 2m in one position then. Anyone one of them could blossom under Des or not, We'll see.

Taas is 4 years older the Jojo who's a serious prospect as well.. The plan looks to be AJ to play right centre so what would actually be a good price to pay Reimis to sit out or would we cut someone to play him, Which we'd have to pay someones contract out to.

[NZTITAN]

Titans have signed Raiders outside back Harley Smith-Shields

[5 Year Contract]

We’ve signed Harley Smith-Sheilds from the raiders as “depth”. Didn’t see much of him last year and what I saw was as pretty meth but depth is depth I guess and I think he was coming off a major injury last year too

[hungryjacks]

Thats a crazy signing honestly and I am sure the raiders are annoyed at losing him. Good player with alot of upside. Maybe they think his injury is too severe to recover from, time will tell now. He is good enough I think that he shouldnt be considered just depth but a genuine chance of becoming a regular starter for us.

[Hail Sezer]

Jeez, HSS was an extremely good prospect who’s injury run really derailed his trajectory. Canberra had huge wraps on him as a potential rep centre.

Hard to say what we’re getting really given his time in the rehab group but his lack of consecutive games probably helped us with affordability. If he stays healthy and can get back to playing how he was, it’ll be an excellent pickup.

Didn’t realise he was still only 23 as well.

[T0ken]

The Gold Coast Titans have added backline depth for the next two seasons, signing Canberra centre Harley Smith-Shields.

The strike outside back has played 15 NRL games and was named the Raiders Rookie of the Year in 2021.

The Canberra junior was a prodigious talent in the club’s lower grades, but a season-ending knee injury kept him off the field in 2022.


He returned to play six NRL games for the Raiders last season, as well as starring for their NSW Cup side.

Titans head coach Des Hasler says Smith-Shields will be a great addition to the Titans side.

“Harley has shown he has a high level of football IQ and is looking for an opportunity to take his game to the next level,” he said.

“He adds to our outside back stocks and I’m confident he will be pushing to be part of our first grade squad on a regular basis.

“We look forward to welcoming him to the Gold Coast and are excited to see where he can take his football at the Titans for 2024 and beyond.”

The 23-year-old will begin training with the squad this week.

- - - Updated - - -

So we got spry out and brought HSS in?

Wonder how much we are paying him

[NZTITAN]

Whenever we make depth/fringe FG signings, always ask yourself on a scale of 1-10 how likely would the Melbourne Storm do this.

A 23-year-old high IQ outside back with elite speed who was probably Canberra's best outside back coming through the lower grades and a guy they thought could play origin?, yeah, this is textbook Melbourne.

[mdrew]

certainly adds to the competition for spots in the outside backs in 2024.

[The Birdman]

Hopefully Schoupp gets a tap on the shoulder at training this week.

[Menoitios]

This is the same bloke that was set to move to the eels for the last 4 weeks of the year...but the eels changed their minds at the last minute. Now the raiders have released him from the last year of his contract. Interesting. I'm sure our medical staff have done their due dilligence.

I like it! I think he'll explode under the mentorship of Hasler. Des has the ability to get players self-confidence skyrocketing by reassuring them of his belief in their abilities. He's up there with Bellamy and Bennet in that regard.

[Titanic]

At 1.83m and 94kg HSS is a similar build to what we have but I'm sure he wouldn't have broken the bank. I think the Eels didn't want to swap Ethan Sanders for him but Brad Arthur certainly seemed keen. On the injury front his is an interesting case. He had to have a hamstring transplant to repair his ACL and his brother Jese (who lives on the Coast) donated his to keep HSS' league dream alive. Happy to trust in Des on this one. He certainly had great wraps on him before his injuries.

[GCTTSD]

Must mean schoups on the outer or moving to backrow maybe. Gotta be a new rule though no more signing any outside backs unless there over 6ft5 we need some size and airial threats now

[T0ken]

Problem with 6ft5 backs is generally they get injured outside of the elite 1% that make the nrl and they are usually genetic freaks and don’t have size on them or more accurately their size is relative to their speed needs and height so they have a higher centre of gravity and can get bullied easier

What we need is to make sure the skills coaches are drilling contested catches and doing a bunch of box jumps

Melbourne partner with afl clubs for this and it’s generally payed off over the years

Edit: Tallest Players over 6ft5

200cm (6' 7")
Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Dominic Young

199cm (6' 6")
Jason Saab

198cm (6' 6")
Austin Dias, Thomas Hazelton, Zac Hosking, David Klemmer, Shaun Lane, Alex Young

197cm (6' 6")
Matthew Eisenhuth, Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, Campbell Graham, Josh Kerr, Taniela Paseka

196cm (6' 5")
Kane Bradley, Thomas Burgess, Ben Condon, Tuku Hau Tapuha, Edrick Lee, Jordan McLean, Haumole Olakau'atu, Reimis Smith, Joseph Suaalii, Daniel Tupou

195cm (6' 5")
Jackson Frei, Tohu Harris, Ryan Jackson, Tui Kamikamica, Viliame Kikau, Heilum Luki, Loko Pasifiki Tonga, Kai Pearce-Paul, Preston Riki, Daniel Saifiti, Jacob Saifiti, Toni Tupouniua, Christian Welch, Isaah Yeo