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Recruitment and Retention for 2028

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Flegler

Looks like 2 of the 3 clients from ignite are leaving


Not at all surprised do the math's it be to keep herbie (under same magement ) there can see it now and ignite are losing players fast to other agency's by the droves not just our club but we will still need another prop not just a makeshift one
 
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Flegler leaving is a good thing, I want him to do well for us in 2027 and in the future for his new club and yes, he's still serviceable but he's paid like a marquee forward and just hasn't been one since his injury, we have another year with him to get Su'a and then some other young guns ready and if need be Su'a and Kaufusi can easily take Flegler and Stone's roles for one season then Kaufusi gets phased out as a second young forward becomes ready to take that spot, or we transition Finefuiaki or Lemuelu into a middles role and the other plays second row with Pouniu

That's 900k in cap space back for 2028, goes a long way towards retaining Herbie, Plath, Katoa and Donoghoe who are the priorities and we can get the same output we get from Flegler for a third of the cap space from Su'a and other young up and comers

At the end of the day we've been getting 400k a season output from Flegler on 900k a season. Ditching that contract is exactly what the club needs to manage the cap and prioritise keeping everyone else we want to keep, then getting Kaufusi's money back as well due to retirement at the end of 2027 is big too

Hopefully we can get early Plath, Donoghoe and Katoa extensions and retain Herbie and we'll be well positioned to be a top 4 side for a long time.
 
Flegler leaving is a good thing, I want him to do well for us in 2027 and in the future for his new club and yes, he's still serviceable but he's paid like a marquee forward and just hasn't been one since his injury, we have another year with him to get Su'a and then some other young guns ready and if need be Su'a and Kaufusi can easily take Flegler and Stone's roles for one season then Kaufusi gets phased out as a second young forward becomes ready to take that spot, or we transition Finefuiaki or Lemuelu into a middles role and the other plays second row with Pouniu

That's 900k in cap space back for 2028, goes a long way towards retaining Herbie, Plath, Katoa and Donoghoe who are the priorities and we can get the same output we get from Flegler for a third of the cap space from Su'a and other young up and comers

At the end of the day we've been getting 400k a season output from Flegler on 900k a season. Ditching that contract is exactly what the club needs to manage the cap and prioritise keeping everyone else we want to keep, then getting Kaufusi's money back as well due to retirement at the end of 2027 is big too

Hopefully we can get early Plath, Donoghoe and Katoa extensions and retain Herbie and we'll be well positioned to be a top 4 side for a long time.
Flegler leaving is genuinely helpful. Kaufusi can definitely hold the front row down in his position especially with the same low minutes. Pouniu can take position in the back row and kuli can have a shot in the middle. Bish bash bosh.
 
So if the media is to be believed we're losing Bostock, Flegler and Herbie and have no signings coming up

Surely that's not possible it's like 2.5m in cap space between them or more like 3.2m if w factor in Kaufusi retiring at the end of 2027 plus having already offloaded Isaako Averillo Keeley and Nikorima and only signing Williams and depth players/rookies plus Safiti was on 800k too

It kind of feels like if we lose one of Bostock or Herbie we have to be retaining the other at this point if Flegler is going otherwise we are going to have an insane war chest even after extending Katoa/Plath/Donoghoe given all three are already on deals and only need upgrades - the upgrades can't be worth more than 1.5m or so max even if we're paying all three their maximum, presumably Katoa will be on 1.2-1.4 range pre/post cap jump, then Plath on say 900k and Donoghoe on 750-800k or whatever vs their current salaries

I feel like if we keep Herbie on say 1.2m that roughly lines up with the cap making sense after we upgrade the key three players next season if we lose Bostock and Flegler to roughly keep the roster we have at that point with Finefuiaki transitioning into the middle if that works if we keep Lemuelu so we won't need to sign a new prop if that's the case.
 
Flegler leaving is genuinely helpful. Kaufusi can definitely hold the front row down in his position especially with the same low minutes. Pouniu can take position in the back row and kuli can have a shot in the middle. Bish bash bosh.
theres no way we loose thom an then put makeshift prop in
 
So if the media is to be believed we're losing Bostock, Flegler and Herbie and have no signings coming up

Surely that's not possible it's like 2.5m in cap space between them or more like 3.2m if w factor in Kaufusi retiring at the end of 2027 plus having already offloaded Isaako Averillo Keeley and Nikorima and only signing Williams and depth players/rookies plus Safiti was on 800k too

It kind of feels like if we lose one of Bostock or Herbie we have to be retaining the other at this point if Flegler is going otherwise we are going to have an insane war chest even after extending Katoa/Plath/Donoghoe given all three are already on deals and only need upgrades - the upgrades can't be worth more than 1.5m or so max even if we're paying all three their maximum, presumably Katoa will be on 1.2-1.4 range pre/post cap jump, then Plath on say 900k and Donoghoe on 750-800k or whatever vs their current salaries

I feel like if we keep Herbie on say 1.2m that roughly lines up with the cap making sense after we upgrade the key three players next season if we lose Bostock and Flegler to roughly keep the roster we have at that point with Finefuiaki transitioning into the middle if that works if we keep Lemuelu so we won't need to sign a new prop if that's the case.
i reckon we get a decent prop as no way we have money there for a rainy day
 
Plath will do decent minutes at prop I assume this year if Donoghoe is still doing most of the lock minutes

But yeah I could see us going to market

Su'a will likely be the one taking Flegler's place though especially if Flegler leaves in 2028 not 2027 so he'll have a season of first grade by then
 
plath a prop yeah i doubt it and only way fuis does it s if we get injures in game
 
Plath will do decent minutes at prop I assume this year if Donoghoe is still doing most of the lock minutes

But yeah I could see us going to market

Su'a will likely be the one taking Flegler's place though especially if Flegler leaves in 2028 not 2027 so he'll have a season of first grade by then
Surely Knowles will move to prop.
So if the media is to be believed we're losing Bostock, Flegler and Herbie and have no signings coming up

Surely that's not possible it's like 2.5m in cap space between them or more like 3.2m if w factor in Kaufusi retiring at the end of 2027 plus having already offloaded Isaako Averillo Keeley and Nikorima and only signing Williams and depth players/rookies plus Safiti was on 800k too

It kind of feels like if we lose one of Bostock or Herbie we have to be retaining the other at this point if Flegler is going otherwise we are going to have an insane war chest even after extending Katoa/Plath/Donoghoe given all three are already on deals and only need upgrades - the upgrades can't be worth more than 1.5m or so max even if we're paying all three their maximum, presumably Katoa will be on 1.2-1.4 range pre/post cap jump, then Plath on say 900k and Donoghoe on 750-800k or whatever vs their current salaries

I feel like if we keep Herbie on say 1.2m that roughly lines up with the cap making sense after we upgrade the key three players next season if we lose Bostock and Flegler to roughly keep the roster we have at that point with Finefuiaki transitioning into the middle if that works if we keep Lemuelu so we won't need to sign a new prop if that's the case.
Ray Stone as well and Kodi and Isaako are already gone. Unless they signed Hammer for about 1.7 mil a year, you'd think we have some cap space coming up. Just so 2 257Matt understands the Dogs aren't poaching Donoghue or anyone else we want to keep.
 
Cowboys circling Flegler.

Told you.

Kind of knew he would be off though..

Wont go into it. However, I new for an obvious he was leaving the area, as I see him him a fair bit.

His family also have a banana farm up there.
 
I think that's mutually best for all parties, we get the cap space back

Hopefully he has a good 2027 with us assuming we don't agree to an early release but i'd be fine with an early release if the Cowboys had an asset we wanted in exchange. It's a pity we don't need a second rower since Nanai is off contract and nobody else the Cowboys have off contract for 2028 is anyone we'd actually want. Hess isn't good enough, Taumalolo is too old and will retire a Cowboy and the rest aren't players we'd want on our roster anyway

I assume we either keep him for 2027 and he goes to the Cowboys for 2028 at this stage but we'll see I guess

Hopefully we get Herbie contract extension news soon and/or Bostock deciding to stay
 
I think that's mutually best for all parties, we get the cap space back

Hopefully he has a good 2027 with us assuming we don't agree to an early release but i'd be fine with an early release if the Cowboys had an asset we wanted in exchange. It's a pity we don't need a second rower since Nanai is off contract and nobody else the Cowboys have off contract for 2028 is anyone we'd actually want. Hess isn't good enough, Taumalolo is too old and will retire a Cowboy and the rest aren't players we'd want on our roster anyway

I assume we either keep him for 2027 and he goes to the Cowboys for 2028 at this stage but we'll see I guess

Hopefully we get Herbie contract extension news soon and/or Bostock deciding to stay
Well he sold his house.

Not sure what that means. But thats how i figured something was happening. And it may happen soon.
 
If he does leave a season early I guess it opens up the possibility of us going to market for a middle and trying to get an early release for them

Is there anyone else we have that's first grade ready for 2027 other than Su'a in the middles already at the club? We need 2 to replace Stone and Flegler if he leaves, Su'a is one, Kaufusi is an option for the other spot but that leaves no depth if we get injuries surely we need at least 1-2 more middle options if we're releasing Flegler early if it happens

I doubt the Knights would release Jacob Safiti a year early as they're contending too if he leaves, same for Broncos with Willison, we definitely don't want Fotuaika anywhere near the club, maybe a Chiefs bound player as a one year stopover but they don't have any middle forwards yet and assuming Talty goes there we wouldn't want him anyway

I assume the club does have a plan if we're releasing Flegler early if it happens

The club obviously has to keep our 'win now window' intact in 2027 in terms of not releasing anyone key early without getting equivalent back but in Flegler's case his contract is so bad that maybe we can
 
Surely Knowles will move to prop.

Ray Stone as well and Kodi and Isaako are already gone. Unless they signed Hammer for about 1.7 mil a year, you'd think we have some cap space coming up. Just so 2 257Matt understands the Dogs aren't poaching Donoghue or anyone else we want to keep.
no way will they covert someone into a prop they need a full time prop
 
If he does leave a season early I guess it opens up the possibility of us going to market for a middle and trying to get an early release for them

Is there anyone else we have that's first grade ready for 2027 other than Su'a in the middles already at the club? We need 2 to replace Stone and Flegler if he leaves, Su'a is one, Kaufusi is an option for the other spot but that leaves no depth if we get injuries surely we need at least 1-2 more middle options if we're releasing Flegler early if it happens

I doubt the Knights would release Jacob Safiti a year early as they're contending too if he leaves, same for Broncos with Willison, we definitely don't want Fotuaika anywhere near the club, maybe a Chiefs bound player as a one year stopover but they don't have any middle forwards yet and assuming Talty goes there we wouldn't want him anyway

I assume the club does have a plan if we're releasing Flegler early if it happens

The club obviously has to keep our 'win now window' intact in 2027 in terms of not releasing anyone key early without getting equivalent back but in Flegler's case his contract is so bad that maybe we can
i reckon Mat Croker could be a option does big minutes mobile good of the bench amd not as expensive, and would know the woolf boys
 
Yeah he's def not a marquee forward but if we need a serviceable mid range forward he would work nicely

Does anyone know what the plan is with Zac Garton? I'm not too familiar w his game but the internet seems to think he's a second rower but he's very much locked out of playing first grade in the second row for us at the moment with Finefuiaki, Lemuelu and Pouniu all there too unless Lemuelu isn't re-signed and/or Finefuiaki moves to the middle like Koloamatagi did for Souths
 
Yeah he's def not a marquee forward but if we need a serviceable mid range forward he would work nicely

Does anyone know what the plan is with Zac Garton? I'm not too familiar w his game but the internet seems to think he's a second rower but he's very much locked out of playing first grade in the second row for us at the moment with Finefuiaki, Lemuelu and Pouniu all there too unless Lemuelu isn't re-signed and/or Finefuiaki moves to the middle like Koloamatagi did for Souths

Moeaki Fotuaika i would bet you could get him n crocker at same time n still have some thom's money left ( mo works well with woolf n he seems to target guys hes had in past or in tongan squad)​

 
So if the media is to be believed we're losing Bostock, Flegler and Herbie and have no signings coming up

Surely that's not possible it's like 2.5m in cap space between them or more like 3.2m if w factor in Kaufusi retiring at the end of 2027 plus having already offloaded Isaako Averillo Keeley and Nikorima and only signing Williams and depth players/rookies plus Safiti was on 800k too

It kind of feels like if we lose one of Bostock or Herbie we have to be retaining the other at this point if Flegler is going otherwise we are going to have an insane war chest even after extending Katoa/Plath/Donoghoe given all three are already on deals and only need upgrades - the upgrades can't be worth more than 1.5m or so max even if we're paying all three their maximum, presumably Katoa will be on 1.2-1.4 range pre/post cap jump, then Plath on say 900k and Donoghoe on 750-800k or whatever vs their current salaries

I feel like if we keep Herbie on say 1.2m that roughly lines up with the cap making sense after we upgrade the key three players next season if we lose Bostock and Flegler to roughly keep the roster we have at that point with Finefuiaki transitioning into the middle if that works if we keep Lemuelu so we won't need to sign a new prop if that's the case.
Katoa, Donoghoe and Plath hit the next contract cycle all 3 are due to massive pay days. Both Katoa and Donoghoe been on massive unders to what their market value is right now. Both Donoghoe and Plath on top of getting a massive pay day will also want position assurance something neither has received in the last 12 months. So much of the future cap will be to the retention of them 3.

Pouniu will also be in that contract cycle he will no longer be the rookie payment player.

Depends when and where the 20th team comes into the competition as this changes the market again.
 
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