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

[Neeeegz]

Brendan O’Hagan and Toby Westcott? But they’re not from Queensland.

Cooper Bambling was... but left last year.

I was thinking Westcott, not sure why I thought he was from QLD?!?

Either one of those two would be decent depth


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Westcott comes from Orange originally.

How tall is he ? His old man was a short ass when I worked with him

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[Neeeegz]

I'm very pleased to hear the club wants to keep Sam Williams. He's the best back up half in the business and can do a job in firsts in the event of injuries. I know he'd prefer to play firsts full time... but he's a very valuable member of the squad as one of the top three halves.

Spot on, I'd say he would be on around 200 ish and that's right for a backup half, bring back Croker or get Nichols for 200 and offload sezer for 600k and Luke Bateman for 250, saves 450k is on the cap for tpj. If he dogs it here, the boys will let him know about it .

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[Neeeegz]

I think Luke took a "dud" deal this year in the hopes of re-signing for more. Whether dud means close to min wage.... I don't see him leaving as freeing up much.

I remember the 200k figure being thrown around at the time of his extension, so it'll save us around 100k in the cap if we give a low wage player say 105k to replace him in the 30

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[Neeeegz]

So looks like tapatalk doesn't having bolding.
I was making fun of the phrase "suck down under".

Bjs aren't English halves but

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[greeneyed]

Darren Nicholls has been around forever and is great... at NSW Cup level. No more.

[Coastalraider]

Darren Nicholls has been around forever and is great... at NSW Cup level. No more.

Sounds like Sammy....

[Botman]

I think Luke took a "dud" deal this year in the hopes of re-signing for more. Whether dud means close to min wage.... I don't see him leaving as freeing up much.

I remember the 200k figure being thrown around at the time of his extension, so it'll save us around 100k in the cap if we give a low wage player say 105k to replace him in the 30

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Even if your figures are spot on, unless we've got an extra 300k+ sitting around, we arent getting a cup of coffee with TPJ's manager for 450k

[Ronny P]

Brendan O’Hagan and Toby Westcott? But they’re not from Queensland.

Cooper Bambling was... but left last year.

I was thinking Westcott, not sure why I thought he was from QLD?!?

Either one of those two would be decent depth


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Westcott comes from Orange originally.

How tall is he ? His old man was a short ass when I worked with him

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Ive watched the 20’s about 5 or 6 times and he’s as tall or if not taller than Sam or Sezer. Would not take much for him to fill out i wouldn’t think. Ohagan is the same size but has had a pre season to put a few kgs on but from posts on here cant tackle. Westcott not a Queenslander. Someone posted the other day hes from Orange and the same club as Wighton


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[greeneyed]

George Williams joins UK squeeze in nation's capital

Josh Hodgson has first-hand what two-time Super League champion and Raiders new recruit, George Williams can produce as part of the national side.

"I think the game over here will really suit him, he's very quick and got a great kicking game especially his short kicking game," Hodgson said.

Read more: https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/07/09/wil ... s-capital/

[-TW-]

I am pretty sure transfer fees don't get charged to either cap (absolutely certain it doesn't count to the salary cap)... but it is a real cost to the football club.

Dear Wigan,

Your washing is done

Kind regards,
Chilli Moore

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[dubby]

I wonder how many more Poms we can sign?

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[afgtnk]

Welcome George and good luck next year. May you hopefully be the missing piece of the puzzle.

Plenty of fans will remain sceptical until he gets here and has a few runs, which is totally fair I think. The adjustment for English halves as opposed to forwards is far greater because of the change in playing conditions that directly affect their game. IMO this is mainly a significant reduction in thinking time, the flatness of the attacking line, and the evolution of NRL defensive structures relative to the SL.

Should now mean Sezer is finally on his way out given his salary. Not too fussed as to who of Williams or Hingano stays as a back up (if we have to choose one), but would rather Sam based on his experience.

[-TW-]

I wonder how many more Poms we can sign?

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1. CNK
2. Simonsson
3.
4. Cotric
5.
6. Wighton
7. G Williams
8. Papalli
9. Hodgson
10.
11. Tapine
12. Whitehead
13. Bateman

14.
15. Horsburgh
16.
17. Sutton

The rest are position vacant if a better pom is available

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[Neeeegz]

I think Luke took a "dud" deal this year in the hopes of re-signing for more. Whether dud means close to min wage.... I don't see him leaving as freeing up much.

I remember the 200k figure being thrown around at the time of his extension, so it'll save us around 100k in the cap if we give a low wage player say 105k to replace him in the 30

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Even if your figures are spot on, unless we've got an extra 300k+ sitting around, we arent getting a cup of coffee with TPJ's manager for 450k

Towards it.. I wouldn't go above 650k for tpj on current form, he's not consistent enough yet

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[The Nickman]

Welcome George and good luck next year. May you hopefully be the missing piece of the puzzle.

Plenty of fans will remain sceptical until he gets here and has a few runs, which is totally fair I think. The adjustment for English halves as opposed to forwards is far greater because of the change in playing conditions that directly affect their game. IMO this is mainly a significant reduction in thinking time, the flatness of the attacking line, and the evolution of NRL defensive structures relative to the SL.

Should now mean Sezer is finally on his way out given his salary. Not too fussed as to who of Williams or Hingano stays as a back up (if we have to choose one), but would rather Sam based on his experience.

And please, George, whatever you do, PLEASE... don't run over afgfggtkktllnk's cat!!

[thedevilingreen]

Welcome George and good luck next year. May you hopefully be the missing piece of the puzzle.

Plenty of fans will remain sceptical until he gets here and has a few runs, which is totally fair I think. The adjustment for English halves as opposed to forwards is far greater because of the change in playing conditions that directly affect their game. IMO this is mainly a significant reduction in thinking time, the flatness of the attacking line, and the evolution of NRL defensive structures relative to the SL.

Should now mean Sezer is finally on his way out given his salary. Not too fussed as to who of Williams or Hingano stays as a back up (if we have to choose one), but would rather Sam based on his experience.

And please, George, whatever you do, PLEASE... don't run over afgfggtkktllnk's cat!!

Or owe him money

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[-PJ-]

We can push for a premiership if GWilliams fires..

Is he the missing piece ?

Is this our time ?

[The Nickman]

We can push for a premiership if GWilliams fires..

Is he the missing piece ?

Is this our time ?

I still think we're a good shot this year, so we have to be a great chance for next!

[dubby]

We can push for a premiership if GWilliams fires..

Is he the missing piece ?

Is this our time ?

No.

Hope this helps.

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[-PJ-]

We can push for a premiership if GWilliams fires..

Is he the missing piece ?

Is this our time ?

No.

Hope this helps.

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Why ?

Who do we need dubby ?

I haven't heard much about him to be fair. But he's a serious upgrade on what we have right ?
I mean, come on..he's a test player. So we get him here in Nov for one of our"toughest pre seasons ever" and see how it goes..

With Croker, Wighton, Cotric, Leilua, Rapana, Bateman, Whitehead, Hodgson, Papalii and co we have a serious roster assembled.

I wish Georgie all the best, and I hope he steps up and leads us well...

[dubby]

We can push for a premiership if GWilliams fires..

Is he the missing piece ?

Is this our time ?

No.

Hope this helps.

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Why ?

Who do we need dubby ?

I haven't heard much about him to be fair. But he's a serious upgrade on what we have right ?
I mean, come on..he's a test player. So we get him here in Nov for one of our"toughest pre seasons ever" and see how it goes..

With Croker, Wighton, Cotric, Leilua, Rapana, Bateman, Whitehead, Hodgson, Papalii and co we have a serious roster assembled.

I wish Georgie all the best, and I hope he steps up and leads us well...

Peej, we just aren't there yet.

I'll admit I don't know enough about Georgie Porgie. I'll be surprised if he's in the class of Cronk, JT, even Pearce, DCE and Morgan. My guess is he's probably on par with Sezer. Hope I'm wrong.

Mate.

We're just not a club with a winning culture. We just aren't. That takes time. And complete chance. The storm were kicked in the bum when they got Smith, Cronk, Slater and GI.

That'll never happen again.

And they cheated to keep them.

Until we get a freak, we'll always amount to "could have been ".

Sorry dude, but our spine sucks. It's crap. Hodgo is good, Jack is McCrone mark 2, samari pizza cat is solid but no more, #7 has sucked since the coach played.

Rapana is almost 30, BJ is busted, and we've relied on individual brilliance a lot since 2016.

That's not enough.

We'll have our moments.

We'll have hope.

But it's all meaningless.



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[FuiFui BradBrad]

Just saw the Insta announcement of Georgie boy. Like the look of him. Have had a nose like that in the side since Loz


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[Raiders_Pat]

Peej, we just aren't there yet.

I'll admit I don't know enough about Georgie Porgie. I'll be surprised if he's in the class of Cronk, JT, even Pearce, DCE and Morgan. My guess is he's probably on par with Sezer. Hope I'm wrong.

Mate.

We're just not a club with a winning culture. We just aren't. That takes time. And complete chance. The storm were kicked in the bum when they got Smith, Cronk, Slater and GI.

That'll never happen again.

And they cheated to keep them.

Until we get a freak, we'll always amount to "could have been ".

Sorry dude, but our spine sucks. It's crap. Hodgo is good, Jack is McCrone mark 2, samari pizza cat is solid but no more, #7 has sucked since the coach played.

Rapana is almost 30, BJ is busted, and we've relied on individual brilliance a lot since 2016.

That's not enough.

We'll have our moments.

We'll have hope.

But it's all meaningless.



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Labelling Wighton as McCrone mark 2 is a wildly inaccurate comparison imo. Their levels of talent and athleticism are completely incomparable.

But moving on, I don't think that a premiership relies on having a "freak" in the team... I would suggest that you need a number of players who are in say the top 3 players in their position, which we do have currently. You also need guys in the halves who can take control and make good decisions in those close ones... doesn't need to be a Cronk or Thurston level half.

Although our roster doesn't measure up to a team like the Roosters (though no team in the comp comes close really) we've got arguably the best backrow in the league, a very solid backline and now we've got some good depth... our halves situation was the only area we were lacking in and if George turns out to be on par with the average NRL half then it is a definite upgrade.

Provided we don't have any major losses in personnel between now and the beginning of next season I think we're in a great position. Not saying we're favourites to win the comp or anything like that... but I think your view is overly pessimistic.

[-PJ-]

We can push for a premiership if GWilliams fires..

Is he the missing piece ?

Is this our time ?

No.

Hope this helps.

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Why ?

Who do we need dubby ?

I haven't heard much about him to be fair. But he's a serious upgrade on what we have right ?
I mean, come on..he's a test player. So we get him here in Nov for one of our"toughest pre seasons ever" and see how it goes..

With Croker, Wighton, Cotric, Leilua, Rapana, Bateman, Whitehead, Hodgson, Papalii and co we have a serious roster assembled.

I wish Georgie all the best, and I hope he steps up and leads us well...

Peej, we just aren't there yet.

I'll admit I don't know enough about Georgie Porgie. I'll be surprised if he's in the class of Cronk, JT, even Pearce, DCE and Morgan. My guess is he's probably on par with Sezer. Hope I'm wrong.

Mate.

We're just not a club with a winning culture. We just aren't. That takes time. And complete chance. The storm were kicked in the bum when they got Smith, Cronk, Slater and GI.

That'll never happen again.

And they cheated to keep them.

Until we get a freak, we'll always amount to "could have been ".

Sorry dude, but our spine sucks. It's crap. Hodgo is good, Jack is McCrone mark 2, samari pizza cat is solid but no more, #7 has sucked since the coach played.

Rapana is almost 30, BJ is busted, and we've relied on individual brilliance a lot since 2016.

That's not enough.

We'll have our moments.

We'll have hope.

But it's all meaningless.



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Sooner or later Raiders fans will enjoy a purple patch of form dubs. A solid period of success where making finals EVERY YEAR is the norm. You're right about the individual brilliance though. Our attack is good..not great and the defence has improved out of sight.

We are heading in the right direction now. We're pro active in recruitment and filling positions with suitable bodies. What we need is a fit squad for longer periods of time. Tapine and more recently Rapana and Hodgson have spent far too long on the pine. We need more minutes in their legs. BJ..when fit is pure gold imo. I've always been a fan of BJL.

We've hit pay dirt with CNK, Jack is a footy player. You could play him in the front row and he'd dig in. So here we are. Way better off now than 17/18 .

I long for more success, we all do.

[dubby]

Peej I desire success more than I let on. But 25 years of disappointment has left me guarded


We're not a bona fide contender mate. But I see your point re purple patch. But honestly? That's any team.

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[dubby]

Peej, we just aren't there yet.

I'll admit I don't know enough about Georgie Porgie. I'll be surprised if he's in the class of Cronk, JT, even Pearce, DCE and Morgan. My guess is he's probably on par with Sezer. Hope I'm wrong.

Mate.

We're just not a club with a winning culture. We just aren't. That takes time. And complete chance. The storm were kicked in the bum when they got Smith, Cronk, Slater and GI.

That'll never happen again.

And they cheated to keep them.

Until we get a freak, we'll always amount to "could have been ".

Sorry dude, but our spine sucks. It's crap. Hodgo is good, Jack is McCrone mark 2, samari pizza cat is solid but no more, #7 has sucked since the coach played.

Rapana is almost 30, BJ is busted, and we've relied on individual brilliance a lot since 2016.

That's not enough.

We'll have our moments.

We'll have hope.

But it's all meaningless.



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Labelling Wighton as McCrone mark 2 is a wildly inaccurate comparison imo. Their levels of talent and athleticism are completely incomparable.

But moving on, I don't think that a premiership relies on having a "freak" in the team... I would suggest that you need a number of players who are in say the top 3 players in their position, which we do have currently. You also need guys in the halves who can take control and make good decisions in those close ones... doesn't need to be a Cronk or Thurston level half.

Although our roster doesn't measure up to a team like the Roosters (though no team in the comp comes close really) we've got arguably the best backrow in the league, a very solid backline and now we've got some good depth... our halves situation was the only area we were lacking in and if George turns out to be on par with the average NRL half then it is a definite upgrade.

Provided we don't have any major losses in personnel between now and the beginning of next season I think we're in a great position. Not saying we're favourites to win the comp or anything like that... but I think your view is overly pessimistic.

So you agree with me.

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[dubby]

Jack is the biggest rocks and diamonds player since McCrone. Extreme highs, devastating lows. Yes, Jack has a much higher quality than McCrone.... but the lows are just as bad.

You cannot rely on this sort of player

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[WiganRaider]

I've watched George play since he was a young lad as he played a few years below me at our amateur club and I've loved seeing him do so well for Wigan, I really hope he goes well in the NRL. Our forwards on the whole have gone really well but none of our backs have adapted well so I hope George can be the change.

He has a really good short kicking game, not so much a long kicking one. He is a strong runner with the ball however one big thing he does have to improve for me is his decision making, it seems there has been quite a few instances were a pass has been on and he just doesn't throw it, not sure if he feels he can or not.

He has also bulked up over the last few years, probably had to due to his height and I'm not sure he is as quick as he was.

He knows how to win the big games though, you don't play over 150 games for Wigan unless your a very good player!

Hopefully he can sign off with another grand final win for the cherry and white.

[dubby]

Thanks WiganRaider.

I hope George goes really well. I really do.

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[Botman]

Peej, we just aren't there yet.

I'll admit I don't know enough about Georgie Porgie. I'll be surprised if he's in the class of Cronk, JT, even Pearce, DCE and Morgan. My guess is he's probably on par with Sezer. Hope I'm wrong.

Mate.

We're just not a club with a winning culture. We just aren't. That takes time. And complete chance. The storm were kicked in the bum when they got Smith, Cronk, Slater and GI.

That'll never happen again.

And they cheated to keep them.

Until we get a freak, we'll always amount to "could have been ".

Sorry dude, but our spine sucks. It's crap. Hodgo is good, Jack is McCrone mark 2, samari pizza cat is solid but no more, #7 has sucked since the coach played.

Rapana is almost 30, BJ is busted, and we've relied on individual brilliance a lot since 2016.

That's not enough.

We'll have our moments.

We'll have hope.

But it's all meaningless.



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Labelling Wighton as McCrone mark 2 is a wildly inaccurate comparison imo. Their levels of talent and athleticism are completely incomparable.

I literally stopped reading at that point. I dont even like the guy but that comp is absolute embarrassing. Matt's Matchup wouldnt even dame to pull some Bull like that.

[Billy Walker]

WiganRaider - is there an increased interest in Raiders games in Pommyland now we have so many internationals running out? Should Donny be looking to the UK for a shorts sponsor?

[dubby]

Dame

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[The Nickman]

Peej, we just aren't there yet.

I'll admit I don't know enough about Georgie Porgie. I'll be surprised if he's in the class of Cronk, JT, even Pearce, DCE and Morgan. My guess is he's probably on par with Sezer. Hope I'm wrong.

Mate.

We're just not a club with a winning culture. We just aren't. That takes time. And complete chance. The storm were kicked in the bum when they got Smith, Cronk, Slater and GI.

That'll never happen again.

And they cheated to keep them.

Until we get a freak, we'll always amount to "could have been ".

Sorry dude, but our spine sucks. It's crap. Hodgo is good, Jack is McCrone mark 2, samari pizza cat is solid but no more, #7 has sucked since the coach played.

Rapana is almost 30, BJ is busted, and we've relied on individual brilliance a lot since 2016.

That's not enough.

We'll have our moments.

We'll have hope.

But it's all meaningless.



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Labelling Wighton as McCrone mark 2 is a wildly inaccurate comparison imo. Their levels of talent and athleticism are completely incomparable.

I literally stopped reading at that point. I dont even like the guy but that comp is absolute embarrassing. Matt's Matchup wouldnt even dame to pull some Bull like that.

I stopped reading when he said the Storm got lucky with their players and didn’t even give any credit to the wonderful job Craig Bellamy has done creating a ruthless culture down there.

Just proves time and time again he has absolutely no idea about rugby league, that bloke

[-TW-]

Jesus that's a **** take on many counts

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[Coastalraider]

If i were Donny I would have a marketing team member coming up with 'British Member' packs right the hell now.