Joey Manu

[arcticchris]

RTS is a very good player but Manu is a couple of levels above him and would be a massive loss for the sport, particularly for the Kiwis to lose a true superstar.

 

Its a short career so you can’t begrudge a player taking the megabucks when they are on the table.

[Fly-By-TheWire]

Has any player who has gone across in the last 10 years lived up to the massive salary boost?   Not criticising them, we'd all do the same, but just wondering what the returns are on such investments for RU.   I can think of Sonny Bill, but who has been a big success since?   Genuine question, I watch very little RU.   In fact I watch pretty much no RU.

[Futtocks]

15 minutes ago, Fly-By-TheWire said:

Has any player who has gone across in the last 10 years lived up to the massive salary boost?   Not criticising them, we'd all do the same, but just wondering what the returns are on such investments for RU.   I can think of Sonny Bill, but who has been a big success since?   Genuine question, I watch very little RU.   In fact I watch pretty much no RU.

A little earlier, but Brad Thorn is still highly thought of by both sides of the Great Divide, except by the really bone-headed RU diehards.

The truth is that, despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth, very few players go to RU. Even fewer go that didn't start there in the first place.

Manu is not a typical case and it is significant that he's not going to any club in the Super Rugby implosion.

[Dunbar]

28 minutes ago, Fly-By-TheWire said:

Has any player who has gone across in the last 10 years lived up to the massive salary boost?   Not criticising them, we'd all do the same, but just wondering what the returns are on such investments for RU.   I can think of Sonny Bill, but who has been a big success since?   Genuine question, I watch very little RU.   In fact I watch pretty much no RU.

Semi Radradra is recognised as one of the best in the world in Union.

[StandOffHalf]

Massive loss to the Kiwis. Joey is the best player in the world on his day.

More money to do less, and in nice environs. 

Good luck to him. I do like tuning into the RU on occasion to see how the former RL players go. Makes the games a bit more interesting to view.

Edited February 8 by StandOffHalf

[Dunbar]

1 hour ago, arcticchris said:

RTS is a very good player but Manu is a couple of levels above him and would be a massive loss for the sport, particularly for the Kiwis to lose a true superstar.

 

Its a short career so you can’t begrudge a player taking the megabucks when they are on the table.

Have to say, while I agree Manu is very good I don't think he is better than Tuivasa-Sheck when they are both at their best.

[ghost crayfish]

I think Manu has mostly been pretty ordinary for the Roosters the last year or two. That whole team in fact has looked pretty stale for a while, so it's no surprise he's looking for a new challenge. And if he doesn't want to play against the club, it makes sense to chase a big Union pay day. He's a loss to the Kiwis, but it's not the end of the world. I actually think the Roosters have known this was coming for a while and have bought Dom Young in with an eye to him eventually playing right centre.

[Futtocks]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

Semi Radradra is recognised as one of the best in the world in Union.

He hasn't come back from RU and been tested at the highest level yet.

[AB90]

5 hours ago, Damien said:

People said all this when Roger Tuivasa-Sheck went and yet no one really noticed he was gone. The NRL went on to bigger and better things and the next young stars came through.

Agreed and it will be no different with Manu who has much lower profile than RTS at the time of his defection.

In a year or two time there will be a couple of kids that most haven’t heard of at present that will be just as big of stars as Manu in the NRL. When RTS announced his leaving in 2021 the Warriors had a young Aussie kid called Reece Walsh at the same position ready to take his chance if given the opportunity.

 

 

[Fly-By-TheWire]

11 hours ago, Dunbar said:

Semi Radradra

Yes, forgot about Radradra.

11 hours ago, Dunbar said:

Manu is very good I don't think he is better than Tuivasa-Sheck when they are both at their best.

I like both JM and RTS, but I feel that Joseph Suaalii was an even bigger loss. Firstly as he seemed to have bigger potential, and secondly, he played union as a youngster so is more likely to adapt and succeed.

Still, free market and there are plenty of talented young players waiting in the wings in Aus.

The biggest worry is Super League losing it’s stars to the NRL (although I love seeing them make it over there) and possibly to French RU.

Edited February 9 by Fly-By-TheWire

[Dunbar]

15 minutes ago, Fly-By-TheWire said:

Yes, forgot about Radradra.

I like both JM and RTS, but I feel that Joseph Suaalii was an even bigger loss. Firstly as he seemed to have bigger potential, and secondly, he played union as a youngster so is more likely to adapt and succeed.

Still, free market and there are plenty of talented young players waiting in the wings in Aus.

The biggest worry is Super League losing it’s stars to the NRL (although I love seeing them make it over there) and possibly to French RU.

I am much less concerned about Super League talent going to the NRL.

It is orders of magnitude better than our players going to Union and the flow of talent is both directions.  Yes, we have KPP, Will Pryce and Smithies to the NRL in '24 but the likes of Luke Thomson, Matt Moylan, Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Lachie Miller are coming here.

[The Rocket]

10 hours ago, Futtocks said:

He hasn't come back from RU and been tested at the highest level yet.

Mate, he didn`t need to be tested at the highest level and I assume you are meaning at the international level, what he was doing at Parramatta was the highest level, he was a special.

[Futtocks]

37 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Mate, he didn`t need to be tested at the highest level and I assume you are meaning at the international level, what he was doing at Parramatta was the highest level, he was a special.

That was before he went off to RU. Now we have to see if he's still special after that.

[The Future is League]

22 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:

set to leave the roosters at the end of next season to join either Japanese or French RU! - what a crying waste of talent - one of the biggest stars of the modern generation and prob on his day and in form the worlds best rugby league player currently - it can be forgiven of the 30 somethings but not our prime talents like JM 

OK. Time to forget him and move on.

[Phil]

It’s a short career which could be over in the next tackle, he’s just looking after himself and his family 

[The Rocket]

Really interesting article on pathways coming out of New Zealand:

Kiwi-NRL Junior Spotlight: Under 19 Basics & The 1st 15 Pipeline — The Niche Cache (theniche-cache.com)

"NZR will never lack rugby union depth but the dirty secret is that 1st 15 footy is a certified Kiwi-NRL pipeline".

"the NRL pipeline is better for school leavers who have ambitions of being a professional footy player."

 

 

Edited February 10 by The Rocket

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

On 08/02/2024 at 17:31, graveyard johnny said:

RTS has just wasted a couple of years in RU - doubt he will ever be the same on his return 

He barely broke a sweat or touched a ball/tackled and earned the same/more 

Probably saw it as a nice bit of paid leave 

[Sports Prophet]

I will never get on board with the argument “we’ll move on and just get another star through the system”. 

Yes we will move on and yes, more stars will come through. Does this mean we should be content with a player in our top 5% of talent, finding another sport presents a better opportunity for him to demonstrate his skills?

No matter how much positive spin you want to put on it, RL is lesser for not having Joey Manu playing in it.

[The Rocket]

2 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

I will never get on board with the argument “we’ll move on and just get another star through the system”. 

Yes we will move on and yes, more stars will come through. Does this mean we should be content with a player in our top 5% of talent, finding another sport presents a better opportunity for him to demonstrate his skills?

No matter how much positive spin you want to put on it, RL is lesser for not having Joey Manu playing in it.

My sentiments exactly SP, the game is poorer without the highlights of  Radrada, Manu, Gasnier etc. not to mention the bad message it sends out there about our sport. Part of the answer for me would be for us to have more glamour clubs, it`s no surprise that most of our defectors leave the game from clubs like the Roosters, Broncos, they are about as high as you can go in clubland, we need a big glamorous French club, we`re getting there, the Warrior`s to have the profile and success of the Broncos, and a couple of the Pommy clubs to be able to pay top dollar and have that glamour image like they used to. This will give superstar players somewhere to go and strut their stuff before they think about union.

[JonNgog]

And it’s a worry that French and Japanese RU are increasingly being seen as the places for rugby players to make a bit of money… in a short career, a lot of players will be taking that very seriously

[Dunbar]

9 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

My sentiments exactly SP, the game is poorer without the highlights of  Radrada, Manu, Gasnier etc. not to mention the bad message it sends out there about our sport. Part of the answer for me would be for us to have more glamour clubs, it`s no surprise that most of our defectors leave the game from clubs like the Roosters, Broncos, they are about as high as you can go in clubland, we need a big glamorous French club, we`re getting there, the Warrior`s to have the profile and success of the Broncos, and a couple of the Pommy clubs to be able to pay top dollar and have that glamour image like they used to. This will give superstar players somewhere to go and strut their stuff before they think about union.

They are not going to strut their stuff, they are going for the money.

Two professional clubs in the UK have gone bust in the last couple of years trying to pay the stupid wages in a sport that can't afford it.  Others are in massive debt.

That's not where we should be headed.

[The Rocket]

12 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

They are not going to strut their stuff, they are going for the money.

Don`t agree, Manu had a 1.2m dollar offer from St. George on the table which he rejected. These blokes are the best of the best in our game and would be continually told so, even that mouth breather Williams was saying the other day that players like Manu should be showcasing his skills to a much wider audience than he is getting in League. These are still young blokes , they`d believe that stuff, of course as long as the money is at least on par.

Edited February 15 by The Rocket

[Dunbar]

20 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Don`t agree, Manu had a 1.2m dollar offer from St. George on the table which he rejected. These blokes are the best of the best in our game and would be continually told so, even that mouth breather Williams was saying the other day that players like Manu should be showcasing his skills to a much wider audience than he is getting in League. These are still young blokes , they`d believe that stuff, of course as long as the money is at least on par.

Explain to me, without the money being involved, why French Rugby Union offers him a higher profile and more glamour than the NRL does in Australia. 

And remember, this can't be for the profile of the international game as he would need to play in New Zealand for that. 

(I have excluded Japan because every argument is multiplied by 10).

[Sports Prophet]

1 hour ago, The Rocket said:

Don`t agree, Manu had a 1.2m dollar offer from St. George on the table which he rejected. These blokes are the best of the best in our game and would be continually told so, even that mouth breather Williams was saying the other day that players like Manu should be showcasing his skills to a much wider audience than he is getting in League. These are still young blokes , they`d believe that stuff, of course as long as the money is at least on par.

Mouth breather, I love that payout but always forget about it

[The Rocket]

We might have lost Manu, but RTS is back. Big time.

Just finished watching the Warriors`/ Wests Tigers trial match, and RTs is looking as world-class as ever - electric- great news for the Warriors and New Zealand.

I know we hear the argument that the game goes on when one of the best players leave but it`s only when you see them back you realise what we were missing. Every time he touched the ball the crowd came to life.

Welcome back Roger.