NRL 2010

[pig]

Sounds like Folau might actually go to the Rebels, supposedley he has till Friday to activate an out clause he had put in his contract with the Broncos when he signed.

[mr selfdestruct]

Originally Posted by pig

Sounds like Folau might actually go to the Rebels, supposedley he has till Friday to activate an out clause he had put in his contract with the Broncos when he signed.

That would be awesome but I bet it's about as made up as Slater being linked with them, just someone making up rumours.

[QWERTY?]

twas in the sydney morning herald again today about Falou, $1mil a year contract

also

"Patrick Ah Van will make his first appearance of the season on Saturday. "

ugh, you know things are going badly when they have to put him in the starting line up....

I see price is STILL out, mannering, manu, seymour as well....

seymour should be back soon though no?>

[QWERTY?]

The Rebels are almost certain to today announce Folau as their latest signing, with the 21-year-old to tell his NRL club Brisbane he will not be triggering a two-year option to remain in Queensland. His offer to switch codes is about $600,000 a season, not the $1 million figure reported this week, and includes about $100,000 in top-up funding from the Australian Rugby Union.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...0428-tsj2.html

[Warrick]

whoa @ michael luck smashing into brent tate, his nose looked smashed!

[Warrick]

OINK!

[QWERTY?]

wellllll it was better than last week, but still quite shit.

[QWERTY?]

The Warriors have signed back-row forward Steve Rapira from North Queensland for the 2011 season.

The 21-year-old younger brother of Sam Rapira has signed a two-year contract with an option for the 2013 season.

[Saladin]

Pretty Awesome - Sam's a machine, so hopefully Steve'll do just as well. Interesting though that he left after 08 stating that he was behind the likes of Mannering, Fai and Luck in the pecking order but the Warriors still have quite a large backrow stock; wonder if this is a sign that Luck and/or Lillyman aren't going to be resigned for next season?

Hopefully it's just the latter! Or possibly Matulino's out of favour as well?

[Ultimative]

Well Steve is definitely a lock, a Jeremy Smith type player. I'd say both Luck and Lillyman are likely gone seeing as we're after Mateo as well.

Vatuvei, Mannering and Seymour are most likely back after the bye, so we'll see if it's a team thing or a Cleary thing...

It's a Cleary thing.

[QWERTY?]

Purely speculation, I would have thought Luck would have been the price replacement, hes a tackling machine, hardly ever injured (minus his head bleeding every game) filled in as capt most of last season, perhaps he has expressed that he wants to leave, would be pretty shitty if they cast him off.

Lillyman can go for all I care...

I wonder if they'll look for a first class prop to replace Price, perhaps someone who'll get cast off by the storm?

[QWERTY?]

Also, I wonder if they dont make the finals this year if Cleary will be goneski. I see Mick Potter (St Helens) is looking for an NRL coaching gig.

[mr selfdestruct]

Surely Cleary has done his dash, so over him.

[QWERTY?]

yeh I kind of wonder how he kept his job after last season, if they keep going at this rate he has no chance.

[Ultimative]

Rumor has it Warriors will be putting in a bid for Adam Blair, and also that Bluey would like to coach us. From VOT so grain of salt and all that.

Yeah I'm done with Cleary. Boring coach, seems to suck all of the natural talent out of the players, especially the forwards/second rowers. Team selections are shit and listening to him talk is like watching paint dry.

[mr selfdestruct]

He always sounds so unenthused like he'd rather be doing anything else, so go do something else fucker.

[Saladin]

I joined a facebook group!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php...24243550925003

[pig]

The Warriors have signed Feleti Mateo & Krisnan Inu from the Eels apparently & have also resigned Luck, pretty huge snagging those 2 wonder if it means Tate is gonna be a Bronco again.

[MrTTTT]

could be the money freed up with price retiring? [though I do think Tate will go too]

we still need a new prop i reckon - adam blair? jeff lima? we should get one of the Storm superstars.

[QWERTY?]

I hope they secure Maloney for next season, and hopefully Seymour performs at his previous levels and stays as well (though im unsure how much they would have under the cap to keep both of them)

this must be McKinnon's last year no? they have no reason whatsoever to resign him now with Inu in the mix, put hohaia at fullback where he should be, slotting into the halves/hooker when required.

[Saladin]

McKinnon's already locked in till 2012 from what I read, though they might negotiate an early release?

Tate's up to Tate I guess, I'm sure they'd love to have him if he wants to stay, but it'll also be dependant on what Price does next year. They'll probably be trying to offer him a management style role.

[Ultimative]

Following on from a couple of pretty awesome signings, this weeks team is almost full strength.

1 LANCE HOHAIA
2 KEVIN LOCKE
3 BRENT TATE
4 JEROME ROPATI
5 MANU VATUVEI
6 JAMES MALONEY
7 BRETT SEYMOUR
8 SAM RAPIRA
9 AARON HEREMAIA
10 MATAUPU POCHING
11 SIMON MANNERING (c)
12 UKUMA TA'AI
13 MICHEAL LUCK
Interchange (one to be omitted):
IAN HENDERSON
JEREMY LATIMORE
BEN MATULINO
RUSSELL PACKER
JESSE ROYAL

That starting 13 is pretty badass. Definitely the strongest lineup we've had all year. If we don't beat the Cows without Thurston....urgh.

There's still talk we've got enough cap space to nab a Storm star. They seem to be talking a lot about Blair, but also I've heard maybe both Blair and Lima. Doubt that though.

If we could grab Blair, next years team will be pretty amazing (if we can keep Tate aswell). But so long as Cleary is in charge, I don't think we'll really be going anywhere.

$$$ Needs to be thrown at Kearney, I'm sure some Storm players will come a bit cheaper.

[QWERTY?]

thats a badass lineup, if price was in there, that'd be one hell of a team.

where the hell is price anyway? he'll have missed over 1/2 the season soon..

so glad Seymour is back, hohaia is a brilliant utility & fullback, but I still dont rate him in the halves, hopefully the blow the cows out of the water.

What did locke do to deserve to get his place back?

[QWERTY?]

I see no Lewis Brown in the squad? injured?


Cleary gold:

It's a bit like in Happy Days when The Fonz ain't around. Ralph Mouth and Potsy can only keep it going so long. We've got a few blokes back this week and that will definitely boost everybody's confidence. They won't change everything themselves but ... if you are standing next to some of those guys in the field you feel a bit bigger.

[Ultimative]

Price re-injured his heel trying to get ready for the Raiders game, apparently. He's gone for a long time as he now needs to fully rest again, then get his fitness back up. I doubt we'll see him on the field again. Unless he mysteriously comes right around Origin time.

Don't know about Locke but Ah Van has a broken jaw which may have opened the door for him, although Tupou has been playing well.

Brown was injured vs the Raiders. Hope it isn't too serious, hes been going so well D:

[QWERTY?]

ahh right, pretty shitty way to end your playing career an entire season on the couch....
A bit of an odd injury as well, his heel and all, though i could see how it would be impossible to play if it was inflamed in any way.

Also: I always see Ah Van as more of a liability than anything, he is exposed hugely on defense and always has massive brain explosions which always cost points.

[Saladin]

I thought Ah Van did pretty well against the Raiders - haven't seen anything from Locke all season except one outstanding break down the sideline a few weeks back before he lost the ball, and players have been going down his side like a turnstile. Though to be fair I reckon Tate's been pretty woeful at giving him any space.

Same as Tupou, what's he done with his starting spot apart from stop before the line every time to do a little jig? So he's back to the juniors where someone might be dumb enough to fall for it

[pig]

Interesting read about how Souths got Sam Burgess on their books for probably a lot less than what other clubs would have thought.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...0510-uot6.html

Looks like Isaac Luke is an identical deal which im surprised at tbh.

[QWERTY?]

yeh I wouldnt be surprised if Burgess walks out before his time is up when he gets a huggggeeeee super league offer, though he's pretty young, he'll be pulling in the big bucks later on (form provided)

they really need to sort out the salary cap debacle.

[QWERTY?]

And the coaches keep lining up for jobs in the NRL next year

Michael Potter - St Helens.
Brian McLennan - Leeds (former kiwis coach).
Nathan Brown - Huddersfield, former St George.

If I was Cleary I would seriously worried about my prospects if the warriors dont perform in the next 5-6 weeks.

[Ultimative]

Kearney could quite possibly have a job here next year too. I'd take him over any other coach there. Then Bluey, easily.

[QWERTY?]

yeh if kearney could instill the kind of mentality they have at the storm it would be brilliant.

[pig]

With St George trying to sign Mark Gasnier they may be running into trouble re-signing people coming off contract at the end of this season, Jeremy Smith might end up going elsewhere. Cinovaceva has re-signed with Penrith so the Broncos ( who were after him ) might be signing some big names for next season, Hannat or Tate or some Storm players.

[Saladin]

Broncs will be keen as for Tate to replace Folau.

[QWERTY?]

I guess thats where Inu comes into the picture, when Ropati is on form he is excellent, especially coupled with big Manu.

Speaking of Manu his contract must be up soon no? I wonder what kind of offers he'll get from other clubs, i could only imagine the insane damage he could do with a top side.

[wugambino]

Originally Posted by QWERTY?

I guess thats where Inu comes into the picture, when Ropati is on form he is excellent.

Ropati hasent been on form in years and is probally the worst defensive center in the NRL ... just sayin

[QWERTY?]

hahaha come on now, he's not that bad, well last year he was wooooeeeful

[QWERTY?]

Mannering = out.
Brown = In.

[Ultimative]

Beasts contracted will the end of next season. We need to give him whatever he wants, but really I can't see him playing for another club.

Ropati needs to fuck off. His form as been so shit, let him go somewhere else, use the no doubt decent money he's on to entice Tate to stay. Inu + Tate. I just hope Tate doesn't get into SSO (doesn't look like he will) as that will drive his price up even more >_<

[Saladin]

Geez.. What a game. Looked for all money like Klein was trying to give the game back to the Cowboys, but luckily they held on.

Reckon Ropati had a decent game considering his position shift..