44 replies to this topic

[1976PMJwires]

Sought after!!!

[terrywebbisgod]

A case of "who" not "wow"

[Tommy The C5t]

A case of "who" not "wow"

He's no Ben Cross

[terrywebbisgod]

He's no Ben Cross

Ah touche

[PC]

A typical Bulls overseas signing. Young and with something to prove just like Vainikolo, Withers, Hape and Robbie Paul. If he's half as good as them we'll do OK.

[PC]

Also, according to Wikipedia, he's scored 5436 points in 43 NRL games and is better known as Kobe Bryant. Class.

[Emosi Koloto]

So, potentially the backline next year could be

1. Kearney
2.Ah Van
3. Royston
4. Luiila
5.
6. Herbert
7. Jeffries.

Full of average overseas players, you guys need some strong leadership to prevent this.
I have seen a fair bit of a young centre called Rob Hawthorne who looks the goods, this is a slap in the face to him and the much improved Jason Crookes.

[The Future is League]

I can only draw the conclusion that the offers he had from them 2 NRL clubs were a lot less than the Bulls were offering. surely the exchange rate being what it is at the moment between the Aussie $ and the £ the 2 offers must have been very paltry, and why were no other clubs interested in him if he has the ability they say he has?
I think this is another NRL blank coming to Super League.

[philipw]

I can only draw the conclusion that the offers he had from them 2 NRL clubs were a lot less than the Bulls were offering. surely the exchange rate being what it is at the moment between the Aussie $ and the £ the 2 offers must have been very paltry

With the increase in NRL salary cap next year, their new minimum wage is AU$100k, approx £65k so it wouldn't have been too paltry- makes you wonder how much he's been offered at Bradford. (and I'm not having a dig there!)

[Amber Avenger]

Sought after!!!

Sports club in "trying to make new signing sound impressive" shocker.

Ce message a été modifié par Amber Avenger - 17 juin 2011 - 08:29 .

[Bulligerent]

Some predictable responses already on this thread. Truth is, nobody here really knows how Lulia will go, from a Bradford perspective I can only hope it's well.

I certainly remember a lot of the same things already said about Lulia being said about Kearney and L'Estrange when they came over and both have gone on to be very good super league players and were sought after by two of the bigger teams in SL until they recently signed new contracts. of course, as another poster has pointed out, you could go back even further and point out players like Withers, Hape, Vainikolo etc etc. There are of course examples that can be drawn to contradict those successes, that goes for all clubs. I'll give the lad a chance rather than cast him off before he's even in the country.

As for players like Crookes and Hawthorne, it is up to them whether they make it or not. Hawthorne has potential but is still very young and would be bucking the trend in SL generally were he to be playing game in game out in his position in next season, he's a work in progress who won't be unduly affected by the arrival of someone like Lulia for 2 years.

Crookes has had his own chances and has enjoyed a number of good spells in or on the fringes of the first team and hasn't really grasped them and made himself irreplaceable. Perhaps we are seeing his emergence now during his current run of first team action, only he can prove that is the case.

If these players are good enough they will come through, the Bulls have a number of decisions to make in respect of the backs for next season. Unfortunately for us and some of those players who may not be here next year, a few haven't had the game time to prove themselves due to injuries and whether they are English ot Antipodean, if they aint proving themselves on the park, they aint going to get the contracts; that's the life of a professional sportsman I guess.

[Bullseye]

So, potentially the backline next year could be

1. Kearney
2.Ah Van
3. Royston
4. Luiila
5.
6. Herbert
7. Jeffries.

Full of average overseas players, you guys need some strong leadership to prevent this.
I have seen a fair bit of a young centre called Rob Hawthorne who looks the goods, this is a slap in the face to him and the much improved Jason Crookes.

Bulls contracted backs and halfbacks for 2012 are as follows:

Kearney, Crookes, Platt, Sykes, Briggs, Jeffries, Southernwood and now Lulia. Doesn't look that bad to me in terms of overseas players.

Anyway, even if we do sign a couple more it doesn't bother me so long as they bring some quality. The club's junior policy has brought in a lot of young players recently (Whitehead, Olbison, Burgesses, Donaldson, Kopczak, Crookes, Addym, Bateman, O'Brien) so doesn't need to justify itself.

[Errol Stock]

Some predictable responses already on this thread. Truth is, nobody here really knows how Lulia will go, from a Bradford perspective I can only hope it's well.

As another poster has pointed out, you could go back even further and point out players like Withers, Hape, Vainikolo etc etc. There are of course examples that can be drawn to contradict those successes, that goes for all clubs. I'll give the lad a chance rather than cast him off before he's even in the country.

If these players are good enough they will come through, the Bulls have a number of decisions to make in respect of the backs for next season. Unfortunately for us and some of those players who may not be here next year, a few haven't had the game time to prove themselves due to injuries and whether they are English ot Antipodean, if they aint proving themselves on the park, they aint going to get the contracts; that's the life of a professional sportsman I guess.

Spot on - and yes there are typical forum sterotype comments - "I have never heard of him so he must be average".

Who had heard of Jeremy Donnagher and Graham Bradley? They made a massive impact in the years we had them.

Wait and see then pass comment - and even then a certain Mr Vainakolo took a year to develop - sure as hell was worth it though

[Saint Toppy]

So, potentially the backline next year could be

1. Kearney
2.Ah Van
3. Royston
4. Luiila
5.
6. Herbert
7. Jeffries.

Full of average overseas players, you guys need some strong leadership to prevent this.

Signings like this really show the level of ambition of Bradford these days, They and Potter seem to have settled for being a mediocre team just fighing it out for a top 8 place.
Compare this list to say the overseas players at Saints:-
Hohia - NZ International
Meli - NZ International
Puletua - NZ International
Perry - Aus International
Laffranchi - Aus International
Flannery - Origin player

No comparison !

OK so occasionally there's a really good one like Hape & Vainikolo were, but when they are filling their team with players who haven't made it in the NRL then questions really need to be asked.

[Bulligerent]

Signings like this really show the level of ambition of Bradford these days, They and Potter seem to have settled for being a mediocre team just fighing it out for a top 8 place.
Compare this list to say the overseas players at Saints:-
Hohia - NZ International
Meli - NZ International
Puletua - NZ International
Perry - Aus International
Laffranchi - Aus International
Flannery - Origin player

No comparison !

OK so occasionally there's a really good one like Hape & Vainikolo were, but when they are filling their team with players who haven't made it in the NRL then questions really need to be asked.

A double edged sword ST; when those 'occasional' good ones, Hape and Vainikolo came over, they weren't internationals either and went onto become internationals because of the careers they had at the Bulls.

Lulia is a Cook Island international and so effectively it is a non-starter of an argument as to whether he could have an amazing stint in SL and force himself into the reckonning for Aus (although we all know the Green n Golds record on 'converting' players, but that's another thread). Realistically, given the competition he has for places in the backs at Aussie test level and the fact he is coming in to our competition completely unheralded, common sense tells us he wouldn't make it anyway but just because he hasn't played at that level does that preclude him from having the potential to become a very good SL player?

The jury is out and I accept your point; on paper, Lulia isn't in the same class as some of those you mention but the game isn't played on paper and as a Bradford fan, I have to give the lad a chance because of what I have seen this club do with exactly this type of player in the past. Time will tell if that faith is justified or not.

On the flip side, I would also suggest that a couple of the players on your list haven't necessarily proved up to their billing based on the Saints' fans opinions of them but hey, they are internationals so I guess the club must have it right and the Saints fans wrong?

[Bullseye]

Signings like this really show the amount of money Bradford have

Edited for accuracy.

HTH

[Tommy The C5t]

Unfortunately we don't have the benefit of a never ending supply of sugar from the bowl that daddy fills like Warrington, Huddersfield and Wigan have so we have to be careful with the limited amount of money we have available to spend on players.

[1976PMJwires]

Unfortunately we don't have the benefit of a never ending supply of sugar from the bowl that daddy fills like Warrington, Huddersfield and Wigan have so we have to be careful with the limited amount of money we have available to spend on players.

Sorry Mick, But selling cheap pledge tickets gets the lesser players!!!

ripe what you sow

[Bulligerent]

Despite the full cap being available? Not spending the cap when we could be is REAPING what we sow.

Perhaps leaving one or two threads open for sensible debate rather than degenerating into another scene from a playground slapstick might be a good idea - your credibility is beginning to look shot to pieces.

[Tommy The C5t]

Sorry Mick, But selling cheap pledge tickets gets the lesser players!!!

ripe what you sow

Wrong Paul because selling cut price season tickets has been a revelation for the Bradford, with the revenue being taken this year having eclipsed the previous years income.

Which all means that the pledge 10,000 scheme issue been a complete success and will therefore be repeated for years to come.