Paul Vaughan signs with the Dragons

[Matt]

We also picked up that you Bulldogs guy. So we have 2 youngsters who have come into to learn the ropes for when the likes of Lima and Soliola get moved on.

[afgtnk]

I see Priest and Vaughan as having essentially the same body type. Considering Priest usurped Vaughan in the top 17, and is probably on only about $150K (just guessing), it makes sense to let Vaughan go. We replace like for like and save $300K to retain players beyond their current contracts. A club like ours needs a cheapie like Priest to remain competitive. Its the price of success.

Sad to see a local boy go. I hope he stays and wants to prove himself, but ~$600K a year is ridiculous to turn down.
Good luck to him whatever he decides.

What do you mean by that? Priest is a lot smaller. He's closer to Bateman than he is to Vaughan. Paul would have a good 10-15kg on him.

I like Clay but atm he's a bit of a lightweight. I'd like to see what he can do with the opportunity of a full FG off-season condition program before judging him fully.

Assuming Paul does leave though, I think the drop off in quality from Junior/Boyd is too great - unless Lima can channel his form of years gone by and stay injury free.

[reptar]

Priest will be right with a full off-season under his belt.

[Raidersfan]

are we there yet ?

[RTW]

Priest will be right with a full off-season under his belt.

He won't have a full off season under his belt.


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[reptar]

Priest will be right with a full off-season under his belt.

He won't have a full off season under his belt.

I didn't say THIS off-season!

[BJ]

This is where we can't compete with the third party deals from other clubs. That extra money allows clubs to stockpile talent like Vaughan. We are under more pressure to juggle players and salary cap around. Wouldn't it be great to have Corey Parker for $200k, imagine what he'd bring to our squad.

Our 3rd party game is also pretty strong from what I've heard

I don't know what you have heard or how good your sources are. But I hear we've only gone from almost bottom to middle of the pack. The top 4 TPA teams are well out in front of the others and Warriors are the only team approaching towards Broncos, Bulldogs, Roosters and Souths.

The NRL controlled teams have gone backwards as well to help our position.

[RTW]

This is where we can't compete with the third party deals from other clubs. That extra money allows clubs to stockpile talent like Vaughan. We are under more pressure to juggle players and salary cap around. Wouldn't it be great to have Corey Parker for $200k, imagine what he'd bring to our squad.

Our 3rd party game is also pretty strong from what I've heard

I don't know what you have heard or how good your sources are. But I hear we've only gone from almost bottom to middle of the pack. The top 4 TPA teams are well out in front of the others and Warriors are the only team approaching towards Broncos, Bulldogs, Roosters and Souths.

The NRL controlled teams have gone backwards as well to help our position.

Surely if we have another successful season it will continue to improve. Although no doubt TPA's will be scrapped before we get anything near to the top 4 teams


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[BJ]

This is where we can't compete with the third party deals from other clubs. That extra money allows clubs to stockpile talent like Vaughan. We are under more pressure to juggle players and salary cap around. Wouldn't it be great to have Corey Parker for $200k, imagine what he'd bring to our squad.

Our 3rd party game is also pretty strong from what I've heard

I don't know what you have heard or how good your sources are. But I hear we've only gone from almost bottom to middle of the pack. The top 4 TPA teams are well out in front of the others and Warriors are the only team approaching towards Broncos, Bulldogs, Roosters and Souths.

The NRL controlled teams have gone backwards as well to help our position.

Surely if we have another successful season it will continue to improve. Although no doubt TPA's will be scrapped before we get anything near to the top 4 teams


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Yep Broncos will start 4th party deals.

[reptar]

Surely if we have another successful season it will continue to improve. Although no doubt TPA's will be scrapped before we get anything near to the top 4 teams

Yep Broncos will start 4th party deals.

That's what Roberts was doing research into.

[Ruben Daley]

If we have TPA cash equivalent to the difference between Priest's salary and Vaughan's projected salary then we probably shouldn't be using it on Vaughan. That's several hundred thousand dollars, Priest may not be quite at Vaughan's level (yet) but he's good and that kind of cash could bring in a quality player in a position we need more depth in like the outside backs.

[LP Raider]

Like I said in another thread, Priest is no guarantee of coming back. He has a pretty serious injury and the Raiders forking 100k for the deal doesn't sit well.

I'd be holding out atm and seeing how Priest recovers before releasing Vaughan.

[Riaan]

It will be interesting to see if we can offload Fensom after Vaughn goes. If Fensom is on similar money to Vaughn and we chip into Fensom's 2017 wage we could easily have around $600k free

[LP Raider]

Had a good laugh today with my Dragons mate at work.

I told him about the Vaughan situation, then he said, yeh but we need a hooker, then he said half, then centre.

I finished off with fullback, but you can have one of our props for 650k.

[RTW]

Whilst I understand that players only have a short career and they have to set themselves up whilst they can I am still surprised that Vaughan is willing to leave a year early from the Raiders.

If he goes to the Dragons he can pretty much guarantee that the team will not be successful in the next two or three years.

If he stays at the Raiders he has a chance to win a comp with a group of already established mates.

MacGregor is no guarantee to be coach half way through next year let alone be someone who is gong to improve his game.

When a team is successful rep honours follow which should be very evident from the fact that Boyd is about to make his test debut.

Obviously he is going to come off the bench next year but Klemmer somehow got himself an origin jersey having never started there is the difference in salary if he wants to work for it.

But having said all that the easy decision is to take a big pay day....


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[sprintman]

What is the deal with Priest injury? Will it come good or will he be another Clyde who never really recovered

[Botman]

LP seems to think it's a pretty horrific injury
I've got no reason to doubt him, and frankly whilst i appreciate what Priest gave us this season, he's not a guy i am counting on long term. The odds of him being a 27 year old making his debut and being a long term valuable contributor is pretty slim tbh. If he bucks those odds great, but to me he seems like a perfect 18-25 roster guy. Cheap, reliable and enthusiastic. Ideally he's not in your top 17 and i think his ruck defence was exposed too often this year.

[Raidersfan]

Not sure why there is a concern for Priest's injury .. he was on crutches and attended one of the training sessions the team had which was some two days after surgery.

[-TW-]

It's not like he died or anything, sometimes bones break so bad they never heal right that's all

[simo]

It actually broke in a good spot didnt it? Above the ankle

[bleedgreen99]

What is the deal with Priest injury? Will it come good or will he be another Clyde who never really recovered

There will never be another brad clyde

[reptar]

So.. did he sign yesterday?

[simo]

Hes in fiji

[reptar]

What is the deal with Priest injury? Will it come good or will he be another Clyde who never really recovered

There will never be another brad clyde

https://twitter.com/bradclyde1 who's that, then? And can he tackle?

[LP Raider]

LP seems to think it's a pretty horrific injury
I've got no reason to doubt him, and frankly whilst i appreciate what Priest gave us this season, he's not a guy i am counting on long term. The odds of him being a 27 year old making his debut and being a long term valuable contributor is pretty slim tbh. If he bucks those odds great, but to me he seems like a perfect 18-25 roster guy. Cheap, reliable and enthusiastic. Ideally he's not in your top 17 and i think his ruck defence was exposed too often this year.

My posts regarding his injury are reports from someone who knows him, as I am, take it with a grain of salt.

Like most thinks probably nothing in it and will be back to training soon.

[Seiffert82]

What is the deal with Priest injury? Will it come good or will he be another Clyde who never really recovered

There will never be another brad clyde

https://twitter.com/bradclyde1 who's that, then? And can he tackle?

Why did I click on that link?

[reptar]

What is the deal with Priest injury? Will it come good or will he be another Clyde who never really recovered

There will never be another brad clyde

https://twitter.com/bradclyde1 who's that, then? And can he tackle?

Why did I click on that link?

That's a question only you can answer.

[greeneyed]

Canberra Raiders confident they have cavalry to cover Paul Vaughan if he leaves

The Canberra Raiders are confident they can cover Paul Vaughan without needing to sign anyone else, as the feeling grows the prop is likely to leave.

"We're keeping an open mind on it all. You don't want to lose a player out of a side that's got to second spot in the competition and one game off the grand final, it's a bit hard, but sometimes you've got to move forward as well," Mulholland said.

"I think Ricky's pretty comfortable with where we are with the roster. We'll have some improvement with [utility] Jordan Turner, Lachlan Croker will be back [from a knee reconstruction].

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/rugby-l ... rxaxp.html

[greeneyed]

And Bird categorically ruled out.

[Matt]

Id say that means he is definitely gone

[Seiffert82]

Just waiting to dot the i's and cross the t's.

[Matt]

Id say so

[Raidersfan]

are we there yet ??

[BigPapa]

We also picked up that you Bulldogs guy. So we have 2 youngsters who have come into to learn the ropes for when the likes of Lima and Soliola get moved on.

Anyone know much about Makahesi I think that's his name the Bulldogs forward we recently signed?

[simo]

Looks a solid kid