Raiders player signing speculation 2018

[MrPosh]

Report today saying the Burgess's could be split up and may leave souths. Sam has a big contract with them, will most likely George or Tom making a move if any of them.
Would love for us to sign George Burgess but its probably no chance of happening and Bennett will keep him at souths.

Talk of George signing for Leeds.

Although he's another Bradford junior, all the Burgesses are Leeds fans.

[Beejay]

Jack Wighton has improved a heap as a first grade NRL player, and the raw talent he has keeps shining through.
As a fullback he’s bog average

He was by so far Canberra’s best player last season.

He played 13 games and was one of our best players in most of them, sure. But lets not get too excited. We only won 6 of those games, against the absolute worst teams.
Jack ran the ball strongly and in the sweep plays he made some good decisions for short and long passes, or to hang onto it and break tackles. His positional play at the back still wasn't up there with the best fullbacks.
He only scored 3 tries, while his try assists were above average at 8.

His stats paint a picture of a very average fullback. Nothing special. The only highlight being his 'average try assist per game' being second to only Tom Turbo.

The eye test tells me he is a strong runner of the ball, who can throw a well timed pass while reading the numbers. He broke tackles and got a pass away to set up more tries than he scored himself. He put great hits on in one-on-one situations. However his overall defensive reads at the back are up and down. His greatest weakness as a fullback is his positioning and decision making defending kicks. As well as his overall busy-ness in popping up in support of others.

Certainly not so brilliant at Fullback that I wouldn't move him. Personally I want him in the front line as a 5/8

[Pete Cash]

a heap of those tries where Wighton is out of position are the result of someone in the main defensive line not being able to tackle and Jack having to come across to make the save. The opposition halfback spots that Jack is now out of position and puts a kick in behind the line or something. I was getting pretty mad at Wighton until I went back and looked at some of the tries given up like that. Tons of them are ultimately the result of a misread on the edges normally caused by lets say Austin

[edwahu]

Of regular fullbacks he was 7th for meters, 2nd for try assists, easily 1st for LBA and most importantly was 3rd lowest for errors and equal lowest for kick errors. Statistically he was in the top tier of fullbacks, if he ran 10 more meters a game he would be top 3 for all the stats that really count for a fullback.

In terms of his positioning, I don't agree it was a big issue last year at all. Tries conceded from kicks wasn't a major issue for us, and drop outs weren't as bad.

[Beejay]

Of regular fullbacks he was 7th for meters, 2nd for try assists, easily 1st for LBA and most importantly was 3rd lowest for errors and equal lowest for kick errors. Statistically he was in the top tier of fullbacks, if he ran 10 more meters a game he would be top 3 for all the stats that really count for a fullback.

In terms of his positioning, I don't agree it was a big issue last year at all. Tries conceded from kicks wasn't a major issue for us, and drop outs weren't as bad.

You can make a case for him being in the top tier, but you'd have to exclude 'Tries scored', and 'line breaks'. He's in the bottom tier of fullbacks based on that.
It's interesting to note that Jack is Number 1 for Try assists, and number 2 for Line break assists. Yet is bottom for doing it himself.
So he's setting it up, or is at least the last pass before the Linebreak/Try, rather than the one doing it. Kind of like you'd expect a half to be.

[zim]

So people's thoughts on the Dufty rumour?

Never been a Dufty fan. Bevan French 2.0 at the moment.

As for us signing him; we play a defensive structure that requires a bigger fullback or at least a smarter one with a bit of chutzpah.
But it'd be better than relying on Abbey and you'd think he's not going to attract big money offers.

[Matt]

Of regular fullbacks he was 7th for meters, 2nd for try assists, easily 1st for LBA and most importantly was 3rd lowest for errors and equal lowest for kick errors. Statistically he was in the top tier of fullbacks, if he ran 10 more meters a game he would be top 3 for all the stats that really count for a fullback.

In terms of his positioning, I don't agree it was a big issue last year at all. Tries conceded from kicks wasn't a major issue for us, and drop outs weren't as bad.

Yep. Nice stat work

[Matt]

Of regular fullbacks he was 7th for meters, 2nd for try assists, easily 1st for LBA and most importantly was 3rd lowest for errors and equal lowest for kick errors. Statistically he was in the top tier of fullbacks, if he ran 10 more meters a game he would be top 3 for all the stats that really count for a fullback.

In terms of his positioning, I don't agree it was a big issue last year at all. Tries conceded from kicks wasn't a major issue for us, and drop outs weren't as bad.

You can make a case for him being in the top tier, but you'd have to exclude 'Tries scored', and 'line breaks'. He's in the bottom tier of fullbacks based on that.
It's interesting to note that Jack is Number 1 for Try assists, and number 2 for Line break assists. Yet is bottom for doing it himself.
So he's setting it up, or is at least the last pass before the Linebreak/Try, rather than the one doing it. Kind of like you'd expect a half to be.

The modern fullback is a half.

Yes, you'd expect a little more personal productivity, but look at Darius Boyd, made a career on setting it up from FB rather than scoring them. No reason Jack cant be that. I mean, Boyd has plenty of rep experience

[edwahu]

You'd think if Rapana is injured for the majority of the year we suddenly have a good chunk of what we need for any of these Fullback signing options. I believe you have to sign someone in the same position though, which means Johnston would be an option but Dufty wouldn't.

Or we could try and find a specialist winger.

[Coastalraider]

Of regular fullbacks he was 7th for meters, 2nd for try assists, easily 1st for LBA and most importantly was 3rd lowest for errors and equal lowest for kick errors. Statistically he was in the top tier of fullbacks, if he ran 10 more meters a game he would be top 3 for all the stats that really count for a fullback.

In terms of his positioning, I don't agree it was a big issue last year at all. Tries conceded from kicks wasn't a major issue for us, and drop outs weren't as bad.

You can make a case for him being in the top tier, but you'd have to exclude 'Tries scored', and 'line breaks'. He's in the bottom tier of fullbacks based on that.
It's interesting to note that Jack is Number 1 for Try assists, and number 2 for Line break assists. Yet is bottom for doing it himself.
So he's setting it up, or is at least the last pass before the Linebreak/Try, rather than the one doing it. Kind of like you'd expect a half to be.

The modern fullback is a half.

Yes, you'd expect a little more personal productivity, but look at Darius Boyd, made a career on setting it up from FB rather than scoring them. No reason Jack cant be that. I mean, Boyd has plenty of rep experience

Just a little theory of mine on why Jack doesn't have great line break stats - with the naked eye he attacks the line in the same way he defends it - front on trying to go over the top of his man. If you look for great running fullbacks like RTS or Barba or Teddy, they aim their runs at the gaps, not the man.

[Beejay]

Of regular fullbacks he was 7th for meters, 2nd for try assists, easily 1st for LBA and most importantly was 3rd lowest for errors and equal lowest for kick errors. Statistically he was in the top tier of fullbacks, if he ran 10 more meters a game he would be top 3 for all the stats that really count for a fullback.

In terms of his positioning, I don't agree it was a big issue last year at all. Tries conceded from kicks wasn't a major issue for us, and drop outs weren't as bad.

You can make a case for him being in the top tier, but you'd have to exclude 'Tries scored', and 'line breaks'. He's in the bottom tier of fullbacks based on that.
It's interesting to note that Jack is Number 1 for Try assists, and number 2 for Line break assists. Yet is bottom for doing it himself.
So he's setting it up, or is at least the last pass before the Linebreak/Try, rather than the one doing it. Kind of like you'd expect a half to be.

The modern fullback is a half.

Yes, you'd expect a little more personal productivity, but look at Darius Boyd, made a career on setting it up from FB rather than scoring them. No reason Jack cant be that. I mean, Boyd has plenty of rep experience

Mainly as a winger he does, yeah.

Just so we're clear, the point I'm making is that Jack's game is not so perfectly suited to fullback. His best features would suit him being a 5/8, and his 'improvement areas' are those skills directly associated with a Fullback.

[MS_1302]

All this talk of Wighton at 5/8 is very concerning; he is a talent but too inconsistent. I wont even start on his kicking game or lack thereof; cant rely on Hodgson and Sezer all day; need the 3 options to make the team a contender not pretender.

Disclaimer all of the above deemed "IMO" -

[Beejay]

Having Wighton in the front line is going to be way better for our defence than having sam Williams.

Problem is, what do you weaken to replace Wighton, or how weak do you make fullback after taking out Wighton (eg, Brad Abbey into the team).

Finding a good fullback is easier than finding a competent half.

How about we look to Penrith. DWZ is killing it for New Zealand at fullback, but as of now will come back to club land to play wing behind Dylan Edwards. There's also Caleb Aekins who played one game last year and was really really good.
That's 3 good fullbacks at the one club. Someone's going to be disappointed.

[edwahu]

I reckon Penrith will release Edwards before DWZ, given the formers injury record.

The main issue with fullbacks is they all think they deserve "fullback" money.

[Beejay]

Halves are in shorter supply than fullbacks. Plus Penrith can't pay both Edwards and DWZ the money they would be worth on the open market.

[Beejay]

I must say, the kind of shrewd, aggressive targeting of player that would be called for in this situation is very UN-Raiders like and I don't expect it to happen.

[Seiffert82]

Jack Wighton has improved a heap as a first grade NRL player, and the raw talent he has keeps shining through.
As a fullback he’s bog average

He was by so far Canberra’s best player last season.

He was certainly up there while on the park. Unfortunately most people have made their mind up about him, but when he was stood down it essentially put the final nail in the coffin of our season.

[FROG]

I've been one of Jacks harshest critics. I thought his positioning played a major role in our first 3 losses. The titans game in particular. Pretty sure all their tries were off grubbers. That said, I'll admit he turned his season at around the same time it was announced he had off field issues to deal with. Its almost as though he was relieved once it was made public. He was no doubt one of our best players from that point.

If he is earning what has been reported (circa 800k) then he'd certainly want to be one of our best players!! Are we getting value for money.. I'm not sure that we are. Do I think he can make the transition to 5/8. Yes I do.

[greeneyed]

Canberra Raiders’ star Aidan Sezer lists Hammondville, Sydney triple-decker home for sale: https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-es ... 46860a2c1d

Aidan settling in Canberra?

[sprintman]

Sharks looking at Johnstone

[greeneyed]

Dragons looking at Jarryd Hayne: https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pr ... 7d5dff6b58

[Brew]

Raiders looking at themselves.


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[SeeBee101]

Raiders looking at themselves.


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Haha..

Here we go again with teams that shouldn't have ANY room left in their cap, buying players that should be on a lot of money (Johnston/Hayne). Meanwhile, we will probably promote two of our under 20 blokes to replace Rapana and the halfback we desperately need....

[greeneyed]

I do hate the Sharks... but you've got to give them credit for how they manage their salary cap... salary cap breach investigation aside, of course! But they never upgrade a player early. They wait until a new deal needs to be arranged. They are prepared to let players go who demand too much when the next contract comes. James Maloney won them a premiership, but they refused to upgrade his deal early and were prepared to let him walk. They were prepared to let Bird walk... even if they were upset about it. We seem to be constantly upgrading players, locking them in earlier than need be.

We changed emphasis from being a development club to a club that buys talent, but you need to be ruthless if you're doing the latter. If we genuinely have no money left in the cap... as we're constantly being told... we're clearly not being ruthless enough in our salary cap management. I do like the fact that the club refused to pay Paulo and Boyd any more than they were worth... and it signaled that they don't want to tie up too much money in forwards. But I still for the life of me, cannot understand how we have no money for a top line half (if one were indeed available) having lost Paulo, Boyd and Austin.

[roneel78]

I do hate the Sharks... but you've got to give them credit for how they manage their salary cap... salary cap breach investigation aside, of course! But they never upgrade a player early. They wait until a new deal needs to be arranged. They are prepared to let players go who demand too much when the next contract comes. James Maloney won them a premiership, but they refused to upgrade his deal early and were prepared to let him walk. They were prepared to let Bird walk... even if they were upset about it. We seem to be constantly upgrading players, locking them in earlier than need be.

We changed emphasis from being a development club to a club that buys talent, but you need to be ruthless if you're doing the latter. If we genuinely have no money left in the cap... as we're constantly being told... we're clearly not being ruthless enough in our salary cap management. I do like the fact that the club refused to pay Paulo and Boyd any more than they were worth... and it signaled that they don't want to tie up too much money in forwards. But I still for the life of me, cannot understand how we have no money for a top line half (if one were indeed available) having lost Paulo, Boyd and Austin.

With Bird and Maloney, they did have good replacements coming in tho....Dugan and Moylan. Doubt they let them go otherwise


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[SeeBee101]

In 2018 the Sharks managed to sign Moylan, Dugan and Woods. Meanwhile, we signed Gubb City. Says it all really....

[El_Capitano]

Dragons looking at Jarryd Hayne: https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pr ... 7d5dff6b58

Now GE, is this really raiders signing news? #wrongthread


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[greeneyed]

Well I thought someone might like to speculate about whether the Raiders might like to sign Mr Hayne.

[JezTez1984]

I do hate the Sharks... but you've got to give them credit for how they manage their salary cap... salary cap breach investigation aside, of course! But they never upgrade a player early. They wait until a new deal needs to be arranged. They are prepared to let players go who demand too much when the next contract comes. James Maloney won them a premiership, but they refused to upgrade his deal early and were prepared to let him walk. They were prepared to let Bird walk... even if they were upset about it. We seem to be constantly upgrading players, locking them in earlier than need be.

We changed emphasis from being a development club to a club that buys talent, but you need to be ruthless if you're doing the latter. If we genuinely have no money left in the cap... as we're constantly being told... we're clearly not being ruthless enough in our salary cap management. I do like the fact that the club refused to pay Paulo and Boyd any more than they were worth... and it signaled that they don't want to tie up too much money in forwards. But I still for the life of me, cannot understand how we have no money for a top line half (if one were indeed available) having lost Paulo, Boyd and Austin.

Like I said earlier, we obviously have money. It is not rocket science. Sorry but you have no clue if you think we have no money after letting Paulo, Boyd and Austin walk.
You are kidding yourself if you think we are just sitting on our hands watching the world go by and not making any attempts to sign good players.

Which (if any) of our previous signings have been widely reported in the press before they signed???? I think you will find "none" is the answer. They have all basically been announced out of the blue with very little/no press coverage.

Also, in terms of salary cap management... I would much rather we manage the cap as we are clearly currently doing, which is hooking underperforming, overpaid players such as those mentioned and using that money WISELY and waiting for the right target to become available and not wasting the money on a waste of talent like josh **** Dugan who mind you probably signed for close to a million.

Also waiting until players contracts are about to expire is full of flaws. Tell me, would you really want all of your top talent coming onto the open market, this also most likely increasing their asking price (which was the case with Paulo and Boyd).
As if you would want to risk losing players like Tapine, cotric and all of our other stars because you were too blind to re-sign them early.

That is certainly not the definition of good salary cap management, sorry....

[JezTez1984]

Well I thought someone might like to speculate about whether the Raiders might like to sign Mr Hayne.

That's a solid hell no. Has produced ONE good season in his entire career, which was 2009 which is now 10 years in the past. No thanks.

[LP Raider]

Well I thought someone might like to speculate about whether the Raiders might like to sign Mr Hayne.

NFWWIWTBAtmyclub.

[greeneyed]

I do hate the Sharks... but you've got to give them credit for how they manage their salary cap... salary cap breach investigation aside, of course! But they never upgrade a player early. They wait until a new deal needs to be arranged. They are prepared to let players go who demand too much when the next contract comes. James Maloney won them a premiership, but they refused to upgrade his deal early and were prepared to let him walk. They were prepared to let Bird walk... even if they were upset about it. We seem to be constantly upgrading players, locking them in earlier than need be.

We changed emphasis from being a development club to a club that buys talent, but you need to be ruthless if you're doing the latter. If we genuinely have no money left in the cap... as we're constantly being told... we're clearly not being ruthless enough in our salary cap management. I do like the fact that the club refused to pay Paulo and Boyd any more than they were worth... and it signaled that they don't want to tie up too much money in forwards. But I still for the life of me, cannot understand how we have no money for a top line half (if one were indeed available) having lost Paulo, Boyd and Austin.

Like I said earlier, we obviously have money. It is not rocket science. Sorry but you have no clue if you think we have no money after letting Paulo, Boyd and Austin walk.

You are kidding yourself if you think we are just sitting on our hands watching the world go by and not making any attempts to sign good players.

Which (if any) of our previous signings have been widely reported in the press before they signed???? I think you will find "none" is the answer. They have all basically been announced out of the blue with very little/no press coverage.

Also, in terms of salary cap management... I would much rather we manage the cap as we are clearly currently doing, which is hooking underperforming, overpaid players such as those mentioned and using that money WISELY and waiting for the right target to become available and not wasting the money on a waste of talent like josh **** Dugan who mind you probably signed for close to a million.

Also waiting until players contracts are about to expire is full of flaws. Tell me, would you really want all of your top talent coming onto the open market, this also most likely increasing their asking price (which was the case with Paulo and Boyd).

As if you would want to risk losing players like Tapine, cotric and all of our other stars because you were too blind to re-sign them early.

That is certainly not the definition of good salary cap management, sorry....

You might not have read a lot of my posts... but I’m certainly not naive about how footy clubs are run. But tell me... would Aidan Sezer and Sam Williams be a first string halves combination at any other club? Now I keep hearing about the Raiders signing a big name half. But when they are linked to one... the club says... too expensive, can’t fit them in the cap. Despite Paulo, Boyd and Austin leaving. Is the club lying to it’s members? Given recent recruitment and the players shed to comply with the cap, I don’t think so. Remember when the Raiders had to release Fensom and Lee just before the season, just to comply with the cap?

Anyway, I do hope there is a little war chest there to sign Shaun Johnson... someone!

One extra point... the Raiders have more than once told us they’re upgrading players early, to reward them for performance. I seem to remember we did that for Blake Austin? How has that worked out?

And lastly, BTW, which team has a premiership in the last few years? And which team doesn’t?

[zim]

In 2018 the Sharks managed to sign Moylan, Dugan and Woods. Meanwhile, we signed Gubb City. Says it all really....

Woods was at a heavy discount too. Something most here weren't interested in at the time.

[zim]

Well I thought someone might like to speculate about whether the Raiders might like to sign Mr Hayne.

Depends how screwed we are.
If he'd come on a 1 year deal worth 400k I'd sign him. Otherwise, you don't want to get in the way of some front loading to pull a better half next year.

I can't see him signing for that price or that term.

[gerg]

Hayne and Moses belong in a team together, and certainly not at the Raiders.

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