Gold Coast titans sign wallabies star

[John bird]

1 minute ago, burnleywelsh said:

Maybe because he wants to have a crack at RL 

And good on him.

same goes for any other Aussie RU or NZ RU player . The more the merrier for me.

[eal]

He was pretty ordinary for the Wallabies last season and in Super Rugby this season - nowhere near ready for international Rugby Union. Perhaps he'll hit the big time in the NRL instead? Mat Rogers seems to think he'll do well for what it's worth.

Edited June 13, 2024 by eal

[Damien]

11 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

Don’t know about that. As far as I am aware, most of the top GPS RU talent in Sydney are participating in various NRL club programs and the same said for Brisbane. We’ve had similar NZ media articles posted on this forum of the same thing being done there too.

And just on that:

 

[StandOffHalf]

He's had a couple of cracks at the Wallabies 10 jumper and didn't really impress.

Good luck to him in RL. Always interesting to see how switches between the sports go. 

[stookie]

13 hours ago, burnleywelsh said:

Maybe because he wants to have a crack at RL 

I've done a fair bit of reading about the situation, partly to learn who he is, a large part of RU schadenfreude added as well.

It seems after the disaster that was the Melbourne RU 2024 season, he wanted to return to his family in Queensland. So, no international RU comp, no interstate RU team. The Queensland RU team is apparently well stocked for fly halves (whatever that is), so his only well paid option was one of the Brisbane-ish RL teams.

I also saw a report that the Titans weren't going to pay overs for him, and he eventually agreed to the contract for $300k per year, which isn't a huge amount for someone that played in last year's RU world cup.

I suspect he might struggle with RL at the NRL level, as he has no experience. But I loved his passive-aggressive digs at RU here in Aus in his signing press release, so I'll cheer him anyway.

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, stookie said:

I've done a fair bit of reading about the situation, partly to learn who he is, a large part of RU schadenfreude added as well.

It seems after the disaster that was the Melbourne RU 2024 season, he wanted to return to his family in Queensland. So, no international RU comp, no interstate RU team. The Queensland RU team is apparently well stocked for fly halves (whatever that is), so his only well paid option was one of the Brisbane-ish RL teams.

That's the spin some RU types are putting on it. Others are being a lot more honest.

[NRLandSL]

5 minutes ago, stookie said:

I suspect he might struggle with RL at the NRL level, as he has no experience. But I loved his passive-aggressive digs at RU here in Aus in his signing press release, so I'll cheer him anyway.

A lot of people on here on the boat that he will struggle, I’m going to disagree. I’ve always been silently impressed with him for the wallabies, he gets a lot of slack as all Flyhalfs would do when there teams not performing but he really hasn’t been too bad.

No doubt he is an exceptionally talented rugby player. Hopfully under a new environment, and not having rich rugby union officials breathing down his neck every time he plays he will play to the best of his ability.

[unapologetic pedant]

14 hours ago, John bird said:

And good on him.

same goes for any other Aussie RU or NZ RU player . The more the merrier for me.

Why?

What's so special about RU players?

[John bird]

1 hour ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Why?

What's so special about RU players?

Because they add to our great game like Martin offiah, Jonathan Davies, Scott Gibbs, mathew ridge, inga tuigamala and Craig innes etc.

Edited June 13, 2024 by John bird

[unapologetic pedant]

8 minutes ago, John bird said:

Because the add to our great game like Martin offiah, Jonathan Davies, Scott Gibbs, mathew ridge, inga tuigamala and Craig innes etc.

So you do see Union players as special?

And see no long-term downsides from seeing Union players as special?

[John bird]

Just now, unapologetic pedant said:

So you do see Union players as special?

And see no long-term downsides from seeing Union players as special?

I see them as talented players that add to the spectacle of RL and are imo better suited to RL.

do you have a chip on your shoulder about RU or something mate?

[unapologetic pedant]

4 minutes ago, John bird said:

do you have a chip on your shoulder about RU or something mate?

Not content to settle for parasite status, forever scavenging on RU.

Defeatist, ignominious, precarious.

As exemplified by a century of English RL history.

On 12/06/2024 at 05:56, John bird said:

Personally I’d like to see NRL clubs raid the ranks of Australian, NZ and Fijian schoolboy talent which would be far more cheaper and have a higher chance of success in succeeding in RL than established RU players in their early-mid 20’s.

No ambition to go further upstream? i.e. replace Union with League in as many schools as possible. 

[John bird]

7 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Not content to settle for parasite status, forever scavenging on RU.

Defeatist, ignominious, precarious.

As exemplified by a century of English RL history.

No ambition to go further upstream? i.e. replace Union with League in as many schools as possible. 

Happens to be the reality on the ground for now.

 

[StandOffHalf]

4 hours ago, NRLandSL said:

A lot of people on here on the boat that he will struggle, I’m going to disagree. I’ve always been silently impressed with him for the wallabies, he gets a lot of slack as all Flyhalfs would do when there teams not performing but he really hasn’t been too bad.

No doubt he is an exceptionally talented rugby player. Hopfully under a new environment, and not having rich rugby union officials breathing down his neck every time he plays he will play to the best of his ability.

I quite like the look of his running game and he is a big body. I wonder whether he might be turned into a ball-playing lock.

[John bird]

17 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

I quite like the look of his running game and he is a big body. I wonder whether he might be turned into a ball-playing lock.

I’m sure the titans will experiment with him in the Queensland cup next year.

[NRLandSL]

5 hours ago, StandOffHalf said:

I quite like the look of his running game and he is a big body. I wonder whether he might be turned into a ball-playing lock.

If his defensive game is up to scratch I don’t see why not. I assume he will play in the halves though given the titans have had issues filling those jumpers this year.

[The Rocket]

On 13/06/2024 at 01:55, John bird said:

It is strange that he didn’t sign for another Aussie super rugby team or a French or Japanese team.

Couple of years in League and he`ll go back to union three times the player he is now. Maybe then he could nail down the spot- I believe he was a number 10, whatever that is - he had lost after the Aussie`s dismal union world cup showing.

[The Rocket]

11 hours ago, stookie said:

I've done a fair bit of reading about the situation, partly to learn who he is, a large part of RU schadenfreude added as well.

It seems after the disaster that was the Melbourne RU 2024 season, he wanted to return to his family in Queensland. So, no international RU comp, no interstate RU team. The Queensland RU team is apparently well stocked for fly halves (whatever that is), so his only well paid option was one of the Brisbane-ish RL teams.

 

 

11 hours ago, Damien said:

That's the spin some RU types are putting on it. Others are being a lot more honest.

So committed to returning to Queensland that he held talks with Newcastle Knights.

[The Rocket]

10 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Why?

What's so special about RU players?

Mate the headlines alone are worth it. To the casual sports fan and our fumbleball rivals seeing headlines all week, front and back page, " Another Wallabies star leaves rugby union for League " only increases the public perception that League is the unstoppable behemoth now so you better take notice. I`m sure this flows onto tv eyeballs, spectators and sponsorship dollars. 

I agree with your argument that we can rely on this sort of thing alone to generate publicity and growth but there`s no reason why it shouldn`t be part of our armoury in taking League to the number one winter code in our region.

 

[Anita Bath]

12 hours ago, John bird said:

Because they add to our great game like Martin offiah, Jonathan Davies, Scott Gibbs, mathew ridge, inga tuigamala and Craig innes etc.

Not one of them was a wallaby. 

Who was the last Wallaby to make it to Origin or Kangaroos after switching codes. I am thinking Michael OConnor over 40 years ago. Surely I must have missed someone.

Ricky Stuart toured Argentina with Wallabies but never played a test…switching codes in 1988.

Scott Gourley played 5 tests for Wallabies and then one game for Kangaroos v PNG in 1991.

So lets not expect to find the next Dally Messenger from the current list of Wallabies.

[unapologetic pedant]

3 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Mate the headlines alone are worth it. To the casual sports fan and our fumbleball rivals seeing headlines all week, front and back page, " Another Wallabies star leaves rugby union for League " only increases the public perception that League is the unstoppable behemoth now so you better take notice. I`m sure this flows onto tv eyeballs, spectators and sponsorship dollars. 

I agree with your argument that we can rely on this sort of thing alone to generate publicity and growth but there`s no reason why it shouldn`t be part of our armoury in taking League to the number one winter code in our region.

Headlines are here today gone tomorrow.

NRL will only overtake AFL when elite schools are playing League.

[RayCee]

4 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Mate the headlines alone are worth it. To the casual sports fan and our fumbleball rivals seeing headlines all week, front and back page, " Another Wallabies star leaves rugby union for League " only increases the public perception that League is the unstoppable behemoth now so you better take notice. I`m sure this flows onto tv eyeballs, spectators and sponsorship dollars. 

I agree with your argument that we can rely on this sort of thing alone to generate publicity and growth but there`s no reason why it shouldn`t be part of our armoury in taking League to the number one winter code in our region.

For years many fine NZ RL players switched to RU but the NRL's rise now has it going the other way. Unfortunately, France has historically lost so many fine RL players to the other side and still does, which reflects the state of the game there.  

For RL to be poaching players in Australia is a sign they have the upper hand. The media reports will remind the public of that fact.

[The Rocket]

6 hours ago, RayCee said:

For years many fine NZ RL players switched to RU but the NRL's rise now has it going the other way. Unfortunately, France has historically lost so many fine RL players to the other side and still does, which reflects the state of the game there.  

For RL to be poaching players in Australia is a sign they have the upper hand. The media reports will remind the public of that fact.

Exactly.

[Damien]

Both players released early:

[Futtocks]

Good news; their new clubs can start working on them a.s.a.p.