Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

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simo
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by simo »

julian87 wrote: October 18, 2019, 12:27 pm The thing with Oldfield is he tends to miss a few games here and there. Don’t think you can bank on a whole season of footy from him at 29.
Which lends itself nicely to introducing smith-shields with minimum pressure
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by edwahu »

papabear wrote: October 18, 2019, 12:09 pm If you are paying any of BJs contract for next year it is not worth letting him go and to be honest, I wouldnt let him go anyways.

He had a bad year but he offers so much most other centres dont offer.
They need the money. 500k freed up is most of Bateman and Jack's upgrades.
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Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by The Nickman »

edwahu wrote:
papabear wrote: October 18, 2019, 12:09 pm If you are paying any of BJs contract for next year it is not worth letting him go and to be honest, I wouldnt let him go anyways.

He had a bad year but he offers so much most other centres dont offer.
They need the money. 500k freed up is most of Bateman and Jack's upgrades.
They haven’t freed up 500k, mate. At most it’s about 350, you still need to pay somebody to come into that slot
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by edwahu »

Ah yeah, fair point. Even 250k would help though.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by papabear »

The Rickman wrote: October 18, 2019, 1:51 pm
edwahu wrote:
papabear wrote: October 18, 2019, 12:09 pm If you are paying any of BJs contract for next year it is not worth letting him go and to be honest, I wouldnt let him go anyways.

He had a bad year but he offers so much most other centres dont offer.
They need the money. 500k freed up is most of Bateman and Jack's upgrades.
They haven’t freed up 500k, mate. At most it’s about 350, you still need to pay somebody to come into that slot
this.

say he is on 650k which i think is great value if you get a full good season out of joey.

If the deal is dogs pay him 500k we pay him 150k remainder.
Then we go and buy another half decent centre you are looking atleast 200k
You have only saved 300k and you now have a half decent centre instead of one of the best in the game.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by papabear »

Also im not convinced that we need to release joey to resign bateman or wighton.

Wighton is still on contract for 2020, come 2021 leilua isnt on the books, so whatever we offer him has nothing to do with leilua.

Bateman, I would be very surprised if he eats much extra into our cap next year unless our clubs rolls like a bitch, the more likely outcome is a big upgrade in 2021 for another year in 2022 on that upgraded figure.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by zim »

It does have something to do with Leilua. You can use that money to front load anyone that's open to it once he leaves if it's this year.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Off »

As jack and the team evolves the need for the get the ball to bj trick will dissipate.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Johno »

Rapana plays on the wing in Japan, he'll come back fresh as a daisy, will make less than 10 tackles while he's there.

I think pneaumonia is a bigger risk.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Coastalraider »

Johno wrote: October 18, 2019, 5:05 pm Rapana plays on the wing in Japan, he'll come back fresh as a daisy, will make less than 10 tackles while he's there.

I think pneaumonia is a bigger risk.
And what if they play him at fullback to get his hands on the ball more?

They are not going to spend up big brining in an NRL player to not actually have an impact on the game. He will have to earn his money. He will have to do their pre season, and every training session. His game touches might be lower, but to think he is coming back fresh is optimistic.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by GreenMachine »

Question wrote: October 18, 2019, 4:23 pm As jack and the team evolves the need for the get the ball to bj trick will dissipate.
100%
It will force us to attack better as a team rather than rely on the odd trick play (which is high risk).
I loved our defence this season, but our attack was too heavily influenced by individual brilliance.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Dr Zaius »

Joey missed most of this season.

He's not the reason that we finished third, but he's the sort of player we need to win a GF.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by gangrenous »

To be fair, you might say none of our players got us to third
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Dr Zaius »

gangrenous wrote:To be fair, you might say none of our players got us to third
The ones who actually played most of the season probably had more of a role
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by gangrenous »

I was being a smartarse because we finished 4th
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Dr Zaius »

gangrenous wrote:I was being a smartarse because we finished 4th
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by gangrenous »

To be fair we would have been third if we didn’t pretty well throw the last round resting players.

I wonder what happened in that other universe where Raiders played Roosters in round 1 of the finals
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by woppadingo »

Im sorry but Im really struggling to accept that BJ could be leaving. He is just about my favourite player. Every time he gets the ball the excitement level ramps up. He terrorises the opposition defence. You just dont know what is going to happen. I feel like he is a genuine X factor player.
I thought this year he would be picked for origin for sure... and then disaster struck. I couldnt believe it.
If he goes Ill miss him and yet I just think if he leaves the Raiders then his best football will be behind him.

:nooo

Realy sad about that.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Billy Walker »

woppadingo wrote: October 18, 2019, 8:24 pm Im sorry but Im really struggling to accept that BJ could be leaving. He is just about my favourite player. Every time he gets the ball the excitement level ramps up. He terrorises the opposition defence. You just dont know what is going to happen. I feel like he is a genuine X factor player.
I thought this year he would be picked for origin for sure... and then disaster struck. I couldnt believe it.
If he goes Ill miss him and yet I just think if he leaves the Raiders then his best football will be behind him.

:nooo

Realy sad about that.
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Last edited by greeneyed on October 19, 2019, 7:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by LastRaider »

The Rickman wrote:
Seiffert82 wrote: October 17, 2019, 3:20 pm I hope we're not picking up more than $100k of his salary...but I guess it all comes down to what the ultimate cost and opportunities are with other players.

I hope he plays on to a high level, but that whole ruptured vertibra issue was a concern.
I think it's 150k, Seiff. Pretty sure his current deal is 650k and the dogs are talking about 500k.

Honestly, Joey Leilua at 500k is an absolute steal!
Yeah it is


https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.nin ... 4fde1c83a2

Apparently Raiders will need to pay $200k in freight
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Raiders666 »

Obviously the Raiders want him gone... Why would he leave for the same money?
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Seiffert82 »

GreenMachine wrote: October 18, 2019, 6:40 pm
Question wrote: October 18, 2019, 4:23 pm As jack and the team evolves the need for the get the ball to bj trick will dissipate.
100%
It will force us to attack better as a team rather than rely on the odd trick play (which is high risk).
I loved our defence this season, but our attack was too heavily influenced by individual brilliance.
It has for a number of seasons.

I think the club is banking on G Williams bringing that variation to our attack, along with the continued development of Wighton and CNK at the back. With Hodgo, that can be a pretty damaging spine.

If that combination fires, Croker and Cotric are a pretty decent centre pairing, with different attacking skillset. Lomax may be part of that mix.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Pete Cash »

According to NRL.com he out performed all our forwards bar papalii as far as metres gained goes in the gf. That's a decent achievement from centre

Next year if we move him on and a team has us trapped in our 20m we are really going to miss Joey

I'd be fine with it if it was going towards another guy who can do hard runs but it weakens the side just to cut him with no replacement.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by BadnMean »

We will miss Joey. He's a great player.

You just have to identify whether he is an "essential" player.

Can Cotric + Oldy + Simo make up for that by making more yards?
Can we shift back to forwards making one extra tough run per set- Hors + Bateman would be my prime candidates who will either be fitter next year or just love work.
Tapine is another capable of a blockbusting run who really needs to be a leader by this stage of his career.

We would lose a bit by losing Joey. There would also be upsides in continuity and discipline.

Jack
Bateman
Joey
Rapana
Sezer (actively offload)

is how I would be prioritising the sign/keep list that might affect BJ.

I also agree with those who love watching him play- he's one of my favourites. Awesome to watch. Our best centre since Mal and Wiki. But we don't have a sombrero and can't pay him what he's worth if he really wants to chase it.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Raiders666 »

He isn't chasing more money though is he? I thought no one was willing to pay him what we are. Pretty sure this is the club pushing him out by his reaction
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by LimeGreenMachine »

Raiders666 wrote: October 21, 2019, 2:53 pm He isn't chasing more money though is he? I thought no one was willing to pay him what we are. Pretty sure this is the club pushing him out by his reaction
I thought he was looking for an extension and we cant afford to give him one so we have given him the option to secure another long term contract elsewhere. He is contracted for 2020
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Seiffert82 »

It's a shame, but the club is right to be hesitant to extend a centre on $650k+ per season when there was every chance he was gone for this year after a bulging disk in his neck. Not sure if that's an injury which just goes away.

It's especially the case when you have someone like Cotric, literally waiting in the wings, to fill his natural role at right centre.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by FROG »

BadnMean wrote: October 21, 2019, 1:20 pm We will miss Joey. He's a great player.

You just have to identify whether he is an "essential" player.

Can Cotric + Oldy + Simo make up for that by making more yards?
Can we shift back to forwards making one extra tough run per set- Hors + Bateman would be my prime candidates who will either be fitter next year or just love work.
Tapine is another capable of a blockbusting run who really needs to be a leader by this stage of his career.

We would lose a bit by losing Joey. There would also be upsides in continuity and discipline.

Jack
Bateman
Joey
Rapana
Sezer (actively offload)

is how I would be prioritising the sign/keep list that might affect BJ.

I also agree with those who love watching him play- he's one of my favourites. Awesome to watch. Our best centre since Mal and Wiki. But we don't have a sombrero and can't pay him what he's worth if he really wants to chase it.
Assuming the salary is the same across those mentioned i think id agree with the only exception being to switch bateman and wighton, but the reality is that there their expected salaries will be vastly different. For the record, as if i havent made this point enough already, id prefer to pay bj 600k then wighton 900k.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by julian87 »

He’s a polarizing player isn’t he. I like to think I’m pretty objective in rating Canberra players them, watching them so closely. I reckon he’s absolutely top tier as an NRL centre considering what he brings to a team. I’m a bit gobsmacked there isn’t a team willing to really, really roll the dice on him already.
well, I guess you could say that I'm buy curious.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by gerg »

julian87 wrote:He’s a polarizing player isn’t he. I like to think I’m pretty objective in rating Canberra players them, watching them so closely. I reckon he’s absolutely top tier as an NRL centre considering what he brings to a team. I’m a bit gobsmacked there isn’t a team willing to really, really roll the dice on him already.
Me too. I think us and any other half interested side is just concerned about that injury, which is a little odd given the NRL's pretty easy going policy on medical retirements.
I guess if you are put into a position to medically retire somebody there is nobody on the market to replace them with.
Roberts fell into Souths lap (for GI) but Roberts is one of the most overrated players in the comp.

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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Pete Cash »

He has a reputation for not being especially disciplined. His weight is an issue and clubs wouldn't be blind to the fact that even under Stuart who has managed him better than anyone ever he has struggled in that area.

Throw the injury on top of it and it might make clubs reluctant to fork out 650k.

I think outside of the disaster that was that Samoa 2017 world cup campaign where (not just Joey) they all somehow got fatter during an international tournament he's been relatively disciplined for us but it's hard to escape a reputation
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Botman »

The other part of it is no club is going to take him off our hands and not have us paying some freight.
Even if they want Beej and think he's worth 650k, he's already got that deal, so they can get the player for under that value on their cap, and we'll chip in because they're doing us a a "favour" by taking him and most of his salary off our books... freight is the cost of doing business.

The bulldogs would be mad to accept a deal where they get BJ and take on his entire salary when for at least one year, they'll be able to get the player anyways and pay less for his services and he wont lose a dime out of it
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by papabear »

Freight is only a cost of business if you have to move the goods.

I am uncertain as to why we are moving these goods in the first place. BJ again is a gun and imo not overpaid for his last year and no one we need is off contract right now.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Botman »

papabear wrote: October 22, 2019, 12:23 pm Freight is only a cost of business if you have to move the goods.

I am uncertain as to why we are moving these goods in the first place. BJ again is a gun and imo not overpaid for his last year and no one we need is off contract right now.
We have a reigning CCM and key half whose just opted out to get a new deal and we have the best backrower in the world wanting to be paid more inline with his standing in the game.
Now we COULD just sit on our hands on this and say "stiff ****"... but we've seen now that big time players hold the leverage in 2019 and if we want to keep those players, then we need to play the game... and that means we have goods that have to be moved
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by GreenMachine »

Frankly, I think our management (rightfully) have identified that BJ at his current rate, given his history of injury, suspension and fitness problems is expendable. I agree with them.

If this means we keep Wighton and Bateman happy longerterm, I'm not concerned.

If we jag a young star like Lomax - even better.

I see more upside in losing BJ and adopting a style of attack that is more consistent, rather than relying on individual brilliance to create point scoring opportunities.
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