Canberra Raiders sign Wigan Warriors half George Williams on three year deal

[yurithe1]

Where would Sezer be going? Because I can't see him agreeing to go to England. It would have to be a three way deal.

Avoiding the UK would perhaps explain his recent good form though.

Or he could be looking to bump up his asking price if he does move to the ESL.

As for Wigan, I don't like Adrian Lam's chances of being there next season. Leeds and Hull KR have sacked David Furner and Tim Sheens respectively.

[edwahu]

I suppose it depends on whether he could get a comparable deal in the NRL somewhere.

[Rickmando]

Whatever. BJ came here under similar circumstances. I'll pass judgement on George based on how he performs for us.

So when he gets tired of playing for us, or gets homesick, or doesn’t agree with something Stick says... you’ll be happy for him to let 3-4 tries in per week for us?? Do that for 7 or 8 games and it’s probably the difference between appearing in finals or not.

I’m with some of the others on this, character traits are important. And they can’t be learnt easily. If the observations about his effort levels are correct, there’s not a lot of class or professionalism on display here and it doesn’t bode well.

As a future employer, you’d have the right to be a little concerned at how someone chooses to leave their previous role.

[Northern Raider]

I suppose it depends on whether he could get a comparable deal in the NRL somewhere.

His current deal is reported at $500k. Thats at the lower end for a half in the NRL. He has his flaws but could still be a valuable contributor if paired with right halves partner. Might even end up back at the Gold coast depending on what happens with Ash Taylor. I think he could work well with Roberts.

[greeneyed]

Where would Sezer be going? Because I can't see him agreeing to go to England. It would have to be a three way deal.

Avoiding the UK would perhaps explain his recent good form though.

Or he could be looking to bump up his asking price if he does move to the ESL.

As for Wigan, I don't like Adrian Lam's chances of being there next season. Leeds and Hull KR have sacked David Furner and Tim Sheens respectively.

Isn’t he only on a one year deal?

EDIT... yes he is: https://www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2018 ... n-to-wigan


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[Timbo]

I feel a bit sorry for Sezer. I do like him, he seems like a decent enough bloke and he's found a good bit of form of late. But the fact is Jack's locked down the six and we aren't signing an English test half for him to play at Mounties.

[CJ42]

So I haven’t followed this but Sam burgess spoke on the Marty johns podcast about how good George Williams will be for us.


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[Sid]

I came on here to write that Sam Burgess also gave David Furner a big wrap for his involvement as assistant coach during Rabbitohs premiership year, orchestrating the attacking plays etc.

[Ronny P]

Whatever. BJ came here under similar circumstances. I'll pass judgement on George based on how he performs for us.

So when he gets tired of playing for us, or gets homesick, or doesn’t agree with something Stick says... you’ll be happy for him to let 3-4 tries in per week for us?? Do that for 7 or 8 games and it’s probably the difference between appearing in finals or not.

I’m with some of the others on this, character traits are important. And they can’t be learnt easily. If the observations about his effort levels are correct, there’s not a lot of class or professionalism on display here and it doesn’t bode well.

As a future employer, you’d have the right to be a little concerned at how someone chooses to leave their previous role.

Well said! 100% correct


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[edwahu]

They have won 3 straight and are a good chance of finishing top 4. I guess he started trying

[julian87]

They have won 3 straight and are a good chance of finishing top 4. I guess he started trying

Against last, second last and 4th last. It’s better than they were going earlier but nothing to write home about.

[BadnMean]

Where would Sezer be going? Because I can't see him agreeing to go to England. It would have to be a three way deal.

Avoiding the UK would perhaps explain his recent good form though.

Yeah if I was Sezer's age (1 big contract potentially left + who knows after that) and a current starting NRL half I'd be staying in the NRL to maximise that last contract. The going rate for even an average half is so much higher. Say 400-600k for Sezer depending on how this season goes. He's in a top 4 team... Someone would bite.

And say they didn't, THEN he could still get his manager looking at England after that or back himself on a 1 year deal somewhere as a cheap half at 200/300k (still very decent $ by SL standards) and stay in that NRL shop window.

If he goes to England now, even for 1 season then he is out of that shop window and his chance of that 600k 2 or 3 year deal are very slim. He might have to settle for half that amount or less even.

And if he gets through a year or 2 at NRL starting half at another club that still leaves him a realistic chance of a SL contract beyond that- or the way players think- maybe even another NRL year at a better wage.

It'd be a hard sell for Sezer unless a club is willing to give him marquee money over there, which I'm not sure they would or what he would earn. Any of our English posters got an idea?

[Beejay]

I don't know why some on here were so fervent in their support for Aiden Sezer coming from the Titans where he proved absolutely **** all, but aren't delighted by this signing?
The games I've watched he is touching the ball heaps and his defence is solid to strong. I hadn't watched him until this year, and his skill set for Kicking and passing is top notch. He has all the skills you could ask for in a half. Not only that, he's won multiple comps as a dominant half setting up most of the tries, which says just as much if not more.

He finished in the Top10 of the Superleague for try assists 4 years in a row 2015 to 2018. He's currently 10th, but has scored 10 himself which sets him above the others. He finished easily top 5 for assists last year as Wigan went on a run to win a comp they weren't expected to.

The fact he may have been flat in some games is no surprise considering he has been negotiating to move to the NRL since last year, and the Wigan team has been torn apart since winning the grandfinal, including losing their successful coach.

[julian87]

I think with the dearth oh quality halves atm it’s worth the gamble, I do.

But with stats like that you have to consider what the super league is. It’s a 12 team competition that routinely carries 4 or more teams that are absolute also rans. Honestly the difference between the top 4 or so clubs and the bottom 4 is like top 4 NRL teams and state cup teams. So considering that; if you’re a decent player you’d bloody well want to be in the top 10 output stats for your position.

Just on try assists this year. Hastings and Coote have more than double what he has and he has less than Peter Matautia and Rob Lui. It’s all relative. And I’d argue he hasn’t really been the ‘dominant half’ for Wigan in and out over that time period. Their success last year was largely based on Tomkins and that’s a main reason they’ve struggled this season. Before then he partnered Matty Smith who is more of an on ball #7 and the entire period he’s had O’Loughlin at loose forward who gets more touches at first receiver than anyone else in the team.

Once again I think it’s worth the gamble considering the alternatives. The one thing that has me more confident than any stats are the comments from Bennett and Burgess. I don’t think they’d go out of their way to talk him up if they didn’t truly rate the bloke. All that being said though he plays a similar role on the same part of the field as Wighton so it won’t be an easy transition imo.

[Dusty]

I’m led to believe He plays exclusively on the left... as does Jack Wighton. Correct?


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[julian87]

I’m led to believe He plays exclusively on the left... as does Jack Wighton. Correct?


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Pretty much yeah. I don’t think there’s any reason he can’t play the same role on the right though. He’s more suited to the move over than Wighton who is all about attacking that side as his main weapon.

[Beejay]

I’m led to believe He plays exclusively on the left... as does Jack Wighton. Correct?


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Pretty much yeah. I don’t think there’s any reason he can’t play the same role on the right though. He’s more suited to the move over than Wighton who is all about attacking that side as his main weapon.

George is a right foot kicker too is he not? Which suits the right side of the field as the inside pressure is much easier to deal with when kicking from right foot on the right side.

[Beejay]

I think with the dearth oh quality halves atm it’s worth the gamble, I do.

But with stats like that you have to consider what the super league is. It’s a 12 team competition that routinely carries 4 or more teams that are absolute also rans. Honestly the difference between the top 4 or so clubs and the bottom 4 is like top 4 NRL teams and state cup teams. So considering that; if you’re a decent player you’d bloody well want to be in the top 10 output stats for your position.

Just on try assists this year. Hastings and Coote have more than double what he has and he has less than Peter Matautia and Rob Lui. It’s all relative. And I’d argue he hasn’t really been the ‘dominant half’ for Wigan in and out over that time period. Their success last year was largely based on Tomkins and that’s a main reason they’ve struggled this season. Before then he partnered Matty Smith who is more of an on ball #7 and the entire period he’s had O’Loughlin at loose forward who gets more touches at first receiver than anyone else in the team.

Once again I think it’s worth the gamble considering the alternatives. The one thing that has me more confident than any stats are the comments from Bennett and Burgess. I don’t think they’d go out of their way to talk him up if they didn’t truly rate the bloke. All that being said though he plays a similar role on the same part of the field as Wighton so it won’t be an easy transition imo.

In 2017, 2018 (premiership) and this year, he’s had Thomas Leuluai and Sam Powell. Are you sure he wasn’t the dominant half?
He was doing almost all the kicking and quality playmaking. Granted Tomkins is a ball playing fullback, but still.

While there’s other halves in the comp with better assist stats this year, he has consistently been at the top for years, and last year when they won he was at the top and dominant in that area.

Eye test for me says he’s very highly skilled, and can absolutely play all over the field touching the ball multiple times a set, taking control, as I’ve seen him do it.

Regardless if it’s Superleague, winning comps ain’t easy and is a great measure, there’s multi things you need to be at the top of your game on. He’s done it twice recently as a half. I know he was with Marty Smith in 2016, and I’ll have to take your word on that one as a dynamic. But 2018 I believe he was definitely the go to man in the halves. Winning the comp says a lot.

Compare that to Aiden Sezer who in his entire career at the Titans never even led his team to the finals. Yet was celebrated. Achieved Zero.

[Cranky Old Man]

Jeez, blaming Sezer for a perennially poor Titans mob never making the finals during his tenure there is a bit rough.
I am of the opinion that most games this year when he has been fit he has been fair to pretty good for us, about where the bulk of halfbacks lie in the pecking order.

[Botman]

Jeez, blaming Sezer for a perennially poor Titans mob never making the finals during his tenure there is a bit rough.

It's just old, classic rewriting of history, COM.
Ignore it. Sezer was one of few lights in a very dark and gloomy titans tunnel.
He hasnt produced the same level of play here at the Raiders as he did at at the Titans, which is very disappointing given many, and especially myself thought we'd not only get that player, but a better version of it given his age and growth at that stage... it didnt pan out that way and here we are. But his level of play at the Titans justified the club going after him and fans being excited about him being here. He was a key contributor of the 2016 team that was as close to winning a comp as we've been in 20 years so, and with better injury luck that year, who knows?
So whilst he has been disappointing in what he's delivered, it's not been a total waste of time or resources.

Really hope George Williams is the long term answer.

[Northern Raider]

The Titans sucked before Sezer played for them. They sucked while he played for them. They sucked after he left them. They still suck now.

[Sid]

The Titans sucked before Sezer played for them. They sucked while he played for them. They sucked after he left them. They still suck now.

and they won't stop sucking

[MrPosh]

Where would Sezer be going? Because I can't see him agreeing to go to England. It would have to be a three way deal.

Avoiding the UK would perhaps explain his recent good form though.

Yeah if I was Sezer's age (1 big contract potentially left + who knows after that) and a current starting NRL half I'd be staying in the NRL to maximise that last contract. The going rate for even an average half is so much higher. Say 400-600k for Sezer depending on how this season goes. He's in a top 4 team... Someone would bite.

And say they didn't, THEN he could still get his manager looking at England after that or back himself on a 1 year deal somewhere as a cheap half at 200/300k (still very decent $ by SL standards) and stay in that NRL shop window.

If he goes to England now, even for 1 season then he is out of that shop window and his chance of that 600k 2 or 3 year deal are very slim. He might have to settle for half that amount or less even.

And if he gets through a year or 2 at NRL starting half at another club that still leaves him a realistic chance of a SL contract beyond that- or the way players think- maybe even another NRL year at a better wage.

It'd be a hard sell for Sezer unless a club is willing to give him marquee money over there, which I'm not sure they would or what he would earn. Any of our English posters got an idea?

Leeds will be throwing big money at whoever might be able to stop them being relegated - but so poor is the post-Brexit exchange rate that this wouldn't compare favourably with an NRL contract.

It'll be a lot of money over here, though.

[Seiffert82]

I'm expecting George Williams to be a version of Blake Austin. From what I've seen, he has good vision and a better passing game than Austin, but it's hard to compare given the added level of intensity in the NRL. At his best he seems to be quick off the mark, has a good step and can fire a pretty decent left side long cutout ball to his outside backs (far better than Austin ever did).

He certainly doesn't play like a traditional halfback, so I'm not sure how that will play out with he and Wighton in the halves. I doubt he'll be as good in defence as Sezer.

I'm not expecting great things from him. He seems to be quite hot and cold, but I hope I'm pleasantly surprised.

[Beejay]

It's just old, classic rewriting of history, COM.
Ignore it. Sezer was one of few lights in a very dark and gloomy titans tunnel.
He hasnt produced the same level of play here at the Raiders as he did at at the Titans, which is very disappointing given many, and especially myself thought we'd not only get that player, but a better version of it given his age and growth at that stage... it didnt pan out that way and here we are. But his level of play at the Titans justified the club going after him and fans being excited about him being here. He was a key contributor of the 2016 team that was as close to winning a comp as we've been in 20 years so, and with better injury luck that year, who knows?
So whilst he has been disappointing in what he's delivered, it's not been a total waste of time or resources.

It's not blame. But he clearly couldn't do anything to change it.
The narrative was that he was really good at the Titans, but how true is that?
Stats below go back to 2014. He was at the Titans in 2014 and 2015 obviously.
Nothing special, and I'm challenging the narrative that he was any good at the Titans, Neil Henry was happy to let him go and openly said he won't try and change his mind after DCE backflipped. Was that because he's such a standup gentleman? or was he sick of Sezer's ****

Year - - T - - TA - - LB - - LBA - - TCK - - TB - MT - OF - ER
2018 - - 2 - - 7 - - 3 -- - 5 - - - - 279 - - 10 - 59 - 3 - 15
2017 - - 4 - - 8 - - 3 -- - 6 - - - - 297 - - 33 - 79 - 13 - 20
2016 - - 5 - - 8 - - 4 -- - 4 - - - - 282 - - 18 - 49 - 13 - 15
2015 - - 3 - - 9 - - 2 -- - 12 - - - 303 - - 13 - 42 - 16 - 20
2014 - - 4 - - 6 - - 0 -- - 5 - - - - 165 - - 13 - 30 - 9 - 12

I absolutely cannot get that table to format right, so your gunna have to figure it out yourself

[Beejay]

Compare that to say Mitchell Moses.

Year -- T -- TA -- LB -- LBA
2018 --4 --10 -- 5 ---- 6
2017 --4 --10 -- 6 ---- 15
2016 --6 --18 -- 15 -- 13
2015 --3 --12 -- 4 --- 12

Or someone else you **** all over Sezer's stats when he was at the titans- Chad Townsend
Year -- T -- TA -- LB -- LBA
2018 -- 4 -- 12 -- 3 -- 9
2017 -- 5 -- 7 - -- 5 -- 3
2016 -- 6 -- 12 -- 5 -- 11
2015 -- 2 -- 9 --- 7 -- 8
2014 -- 3 -- 10 -- 5 -- 10

[Botman]

Neil Henry said he wouldnt attempt the change Sezer's mind specifically because he and the Titans club as a whole were in the media every day complaining (rightly) about how it's ridiculous that the rules allowed DCE to sign a contract and use it as leverage to negotiate with another club.
They specifically said they werent interested in doing to us what Manly had done to them (also i think Sezer had made it clear he wasnt going to backflip anyways, because he was eager to move closer to home)

As for the stats, it's very hard to shine as a play maker, statistically when your team, and specifically the outside backs were as disgusting as most of those titans team. The titans were a poorly coached, poorly run and talent deficient line up. There is about 5 players in recent history capable of dragging that bunch to success and they're guys like Hayne, Thurston, Jones

[-TW-]

The Titans sucked before Sezer played for them. They sucked while he played for them. They sucked after he left them. They still suck now.

and they won't stop sucking

Not while they throw big $$ at blokes like Shannon Boyd

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[FROG]

So what your saying is that Sezers stats were average at the titans because of his team mates. That could be true. However, it could also be because he is an average player.

If your hypothesis was true youd expect that his stats would have improved when playing in a better outfit. Given that his stats have been consistently average I think it'd be difficult to make that case

[sprintman]

The Titans sucked before Sezer played for them. They sucked while he played for them. They sucked after he left them. They still suck now.

and they won't stop sucking

Not while they throw big $$ at blokes like Shannon Boyd

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Who hasn’t been a success and is not impressing their fans

[Roger Kenworthy]

The Titans sucked before Sezer played for them. They sucked while he played for them. They sucked after he left them. They still suck now.

and they won't stop sucking

Not while they throw big $$ at blokes like Shannon Boyd

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We're the club that moved on Vaughan and retained Boyd. Something about glass houses there.

[Neeeegz]

Jeez, blaming Sezer for a perennially poor Titans mob never making the finals during his tenure there is a bit rough.
I am of the opinion that most games this year when he has been fit he has been fair to pretty good for us, about where the bulk of halfbacks lie in the pecking order.

What has he done since coming back into first grade, good, solid, but yeah, he was also behind a forward pack for the last 2 years, that gave him no room, so yeah, we have the right mix to give our halves quick ball and some time, so sezer looks better, also he has been playing for a contract apparently

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[Beejay]

Neil Henry said he wouldnt attempt the change Sezer's mind specifically because he and the Titans club as a whole were in the media every day complaining (rightly) about how it's ridiculous that the rules allowed DCE to sign a contract and use it as leverage to negotiate with another club.
They specifically said they werent interested in doing to us what Manly had done to them (also i think Sezer had made it clear he wasnt going to backflip anyways, because he was eager to move closer to home)

As for the stats, it's very hard to shine as a play maker, statistically when your team, and specifically the outside backs were as disgusting as most of those titans team. The titans were a poorly coached, poorly run and talent deficient line up. There is about 5 players in recent history capable of dragging that bunch to success and they're guys like Hayne, Thurston, Jones

If you seriously believe that the Titans didn't try and get him to stay out of pure kindness, and to not upset one the clubs they literally compete with.. well then, I have a halfback who's best years are in front of him to sell you.

Plus Ashley Taylor went on to double Sezer's output the following year - at the same club, in an arguably worse team.

[Neeeegz]

The Titans sucked before Sezer played for them. They sucked while he played for them. They sucked after he left them. They still suck now.

and they won't stop sucking

EDIT to the titans ?

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[julian87]

Compare that to say Mitchell Moses.

Year -- T -- TA -- LB -- LBA
2018 --4 --10 -- 5 ---- 6
2017 --4 --10 -- 6 ---- 15
2016 --6 --18 -- 15 -- 13
2015 --3 --12 -- 4 --- 12

Or someone else you **** all over Sezer's stats when he was at the titans- Chad Townsend
Year -- T -- TA -- LB -- LBA
2018 -- 4 -- 12 -- 3 -- 9
2017 -- 5 -- 7 - -- 5 -- 3
2016 -- 6 -- 12 -- 5 -- 11
2015 -- 2 -- 9 --- 7 -- 8
2014 -- 3 -- 10 -- 5 -- 10

Can we just touch for a second on how pointless Mitch Moses past stats are until we have numbers on phoning it in, lack of effort and optional tackling. **** Christ.

Also, just ftr. Those Sezer ‘15 stats look very similar to the Townsend ‘16 ones. Surely having near identical stats to the premiership winning team’s halfback when your team is busted indicates you’re playing pretty well?