Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

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

Post by Azza »

Maybe. But I'm concerned about our outside backs without BJ. At the moment we lack a bit of pace compared to 2 or 3 years ago, and without BJ I'm not sure any of our other outside backs have that game breaking / try scoring capability - certainly not to the same extent.

If we lose BJ , we'll need that from one of the rookies fairly quick smart.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by -PJ- »

Azza wrote: October 22, 2019, 3:35 pm Maybe. But I'm concerned about our outside backs without BJ. At the moment we lack a bit of pace compared to 2 or 3 years ago, and without BJ I'm not sure any of our other outside backs have that game breaking / try scoring capability - certainly not to the same extent.

If we lose BJ , we'll need that from one of the rookies fairly quick smart.
We don't have much outright speed do we Azza ?

Crokers runnin in double pluggers and I thought Simmonsen was much quicker but no..

We saw Wighton run down by Gagai in the prelim. And that leaves Cotric, BJ and Rapa.

Oldbeard is probably quicker than all of them I'd call...
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Azza »

Rapa has lost pace, I'm not sure if it's just the injuries or not. Cotric is not a speedster either, nor is Simo. I agree Oldfield is probably the fastest. If BJ leaves next year I can imagine he might become a regular in our starting line up, at least early on.

We need some speed I reckon to take a step up next year.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by GreenMachine »

Azza wrote: October 22, 2019, 4:23 pm Rapa has lost pace, I'm not sure if it's just the injuries or not. Cotric is not a speedster either, nor is Simo. I agree Oldfield is probably the fastest. If BJ leaves next year I can imagine he might become a regular in our starting line up, at least early on.

We need some speed I reckon to take a step up next year.
Agree that speed in our outside backs is lacking.
I do however see Cotric and Simmo as an improvement on Rapana and BJ, albeit not a massive improvement.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Seiffert82 »

GreenMachine wrote: October 22, 2019, 3:27 pm 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.
I suspect the club has identified G Williams as somebody who can add that bit of individual brilliance to our attack, which may hopefully negate the need for a centre like Leilua to break the line off his own bat. If Williams' running game can open up some space for the likes of Cotric, we can all see that Cotric has the power to break tackles in one-on-one encounters, despite not having the footwork of Leilua.

The other thing the club needs to sort out is the Aiden Sezer situation. I suspect there are a few clubs interested in the services of a Grand Final halfback, especially one who is pretty solid in defence. It will be interesting to see how that pans out, and what that means for our cap equation.

Ultimately, I like our lineup with Leilua in it than without him in it. However, I also suspect our attack will evolve a bit, to the point where we are less likely to be impacted by his absence than what we would have been 2-3 years ago.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by BadnMean »

gergreg wrote: October 21, 2019, 7:45 pm
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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Roberts is a reserve grader. Good speed. Great speed. Nothing else going for him in defence, attitude, ball playing, etc etc.

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

Post by BadnMean »

Azza wrote: October 22, 2019, 4:23 pm Rapa has lost pace, I'm not sure if it's just the injuries or not. Cotric is not a speedster either, nor is Simo. I agree Oldfield is probably the fastest. If BJ leaves next year I can imagine he might become a regular in our starting line up, at least early on.

We need some speed I reckon to take a step up next year.
Our outside backs are extremely powerful (tackle breaks, offloads).
Pretty skilful- the number of kick on tries, or skill set ranging from Joeys flicks, Crokers catches, Cotric did it all in his first 2 seasons, 2016-2018 Rapa just inventing ways to score tries etc.
But not quick. Rapa was genuinely quick when on song, but clearly couldn't stretch out this year and looked hampered.
Cotric and Joey- powerful, not quick so far as outside backs go.
Croker- used to be. Seems to have lost a bit of everything with his knee or age?
Simo is pretty quick, all things considered- his top speed in the GPS tracking is up there in the top 10 NRL comfortably iirc.
Oldie- quick and knows how to use it.
CNK- agile and strong, but again, not speedy in a straight line or breakaway, just average over distance. He's a try scoring threat from 10-15m through footwork not speed.

Jack is pretty quick. Quicker than most. But not top line. Gagai is under-rated as a speedster, there is a reason he's a rep winger and it's not his D. Jacks's also stronger than most, more agile than most, bigger than most backs etc which makes him dangerous in the Dugan style as a package.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by Botman »

Our lack of speed in the backs is a genuine concern, but i think when we figure it out, we'll be

*ahem... clears throat*


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

Post by Azza »

Botman wrote: October 22, 2019, 8:26 pm Our lack of speed in the backs is a genuine concern, but i think when we figure it out, we'll be

*ahem... clears throat*


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

Post by Botman »

Savage!
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Savage?

Oh come on...
Ugh... fine...

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

Post by yeh raiders »

Our lack of speed hasn’t cost us and I don’t think it will.

Getting into good field position is the priority and that comes from the work in the middle 3rd... where Joey adds plenty of the value. That’s the biggest concern for me. He offloads, he bends the line, he intimidates and he leaves nothing in the tank.

We’ll be missing that more than anything.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by BadnMean »

Hmmm it would be silly to point to lack of speed as costing a single game or being a single defining factor in a season. It is simply a weaker part of our team make-up, so we either live with, work around it or try to improve it.

The GF final try was a decent example of how it can cost us. Quick break left us for dead, no-one could keep up with their supports. We have not scored quite as many tries this year- a bit of extra toe might allow us to finish a few more breaks. There were A LOT of close games over the last few years. Every little bit can help.

I agree on BJ though- he's a weapon and a damn excellent player. Will be hard to replace if he does go. Ideally I'd want more speed around Joey to capitalise on him. Whether Rapana regains his zip after a break, or Simo comes in, GWilly is likely quicke than Sezer by reports so that could help.
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by cat »

If BJ goes to the dogs then , well his career will go to the dogs.

Ricky manages BJ well, Pay wont be able to. Add to that moving to Sydney he will be on a very different environment.
He will be hanging out with Junior Paulo, his brother etc , take the structure of being with the team and the bad influences from his Samoan boys and well we have Samoan camp take 2. Meaning a very overweight and unfit BJ.

Also the Sydney clubs are very different to the one town teams, they can have very clicky groups in them and spend a lot less time together then the Raiders boys do.

Brenko struggled at the dogs, couldnt crack the group and felt left out and homesick, can see BJ being out of the team and getting into trouble with his brother.

A lot of our boys struggle when they leave the club, Shannon never looks happy now, Brenko's career went down the toilet etc. You go looking for money and it doesnt always work
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Re: Canberra Raiders prepared to let grand final centre Joey Leilua walk

Post by -TW- »

Botman wrote:Our lack of speed in the backs is a genuine concern, but i think when we figure it out, we'll be

*ahem... clears throat*


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

Post by julian87 »

I think the lack of speed thing has been blown way out of proportion.

Simonsson and CNK might not be Addo Carr fast but they're not slow. With Whitehead and Bateman at second row and Williams/Wighton in the halves I don't think it is a concern at all. I mean lets not pretend our outside backs are Clydesdales like Kane Linnett, Jorge Taufua or Will Hopoate.
well, I guess you could say that I'm buy curious.
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by greeneyed »

Joey Leilua declares he's staying with the Canberra Raiders in 2020

Joey Leilua has guaranteed Canberra Raiders fans he'll be wearing lime green in 2020.

"I guarantee I'll be there next year," he said. "I've one more year left so I'll see out my contract there and whatever happens after that is part of work. You've just got to move on or if I stay - I'd love to stay, but sometimes it doesn't work the way you want it to.

Read more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239

VIDEO: Joey Leilua guarantees future with Green Machine despite Jordan Rapana exit: https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/10/31/lei ... pana-exit/
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by The Nickman »

greeneyed wrote: October 31, 2019, 3:24 pm VIDEO: Joey Leilua guarantees future with Green Machine despite Jordan Rapana exit: https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/10/31/lei ... pana-exit/
Pretty sure those two things are fairly well correlated.

Good news though! We're going to give 2020 a real red hot crack with that squad.
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by Seiffert82 »

Yeah, that is good news. Obviously couldn't get another club to stump up enough cash for 2020 for us to release him.
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by The Nickman »

Seiffert82 wrote: October 31, 2019, 3:31 pm Yeah, that is good news. Obviously couldn't get another club to stump up enough cash for 2020 for us to release him.
I don't think we need to anymore with both Sezer and Rapana's cash suddenly becoming available.
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by Seiffert82 »

The Rickman wrote: October 31, 2019, 3:31 pm
Seiffert82 wrote: October 31, 2019, 3:31 pm Yeah, that is good news. Obviously couldn't get another club to stump up enough cash for 2020 for us to release him.
I don't think we need to anymore with both Sezer and Rapana's cash suddenly becoming available.
Yes, that is true. But the club did give his manager permission to negotiate with other clubs, on the back of him looking for an extension.

It sounds like we're still not in a position to extend his contract, but he has had no takers at his 2020 contract value for someone to take him off our hands.
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by zim »

I've heard the dogs pulled the deal at the last minute and will be signing Latrell instead.
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by gerg »

Should sign him up for a 5 year deal. We can medically retire him when we please, apparently. But coincidentally those floodgates will be slammed shut when we attempt it. Woe is us.

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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by yeh raiders »

Well thank **** for that!

2020 premiership, still on track
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by RichmondRaider »

I like the idea of Joey playing for a contract next season
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by Botman »

Yeah, a financially motivated Joey could be quite a weapon if his neck isnt a long term issue.

Looks like we'll be running it back with CNK, Cotric, Croker, Beej and Simo... with probably Havilii our regular #14.
Asssuming the Jack and JB deals get sorted and Williams is an upgrade on Sezer, there is no reason to think 2020 will be a let down year.
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by The Nickman »

Botman wrote:Yeah, a financially motivated Joey could be quite a weapon if his neck isnt a long term issue.

Looks like we'll be running it back with CNK, Cotric, Croker, Beej and Simo... with probably Havilii our regular #14.
Asssuming the Jack and JB deals get sorted and Williams is an upgrade on Sezer, there is no reason to think 2020 will be a let down year.
Sounds to me like the boys all better start working on their off-season beards!!
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by Botman »

The Rickman wrote: October 31, 2019, 9:11 pm
Botman wrote:Yeah, a financially motivated Joey could be quite a weapon if his neck isnt a long term issue.

Looks like we'll be running it back with CNK, Cotric, Croker, Beej and Simo... with probably Havilii our regular #14.
Asssuming the Jack and JB deals get sorted and Williams is an upgrade on Sezer, there is no reason to think 2020 will be a let down year.
Sounds to me like the boys all better start working on their off-season beards!!
I feel like you've made this joke in my sphere about 30 times this week and its made me laugh EVERY **** TIME!
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by greeneyed »

:doubt:
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by Botman »

greeneyed wrote: October 31, 2019, 9:16 pm:doubt:
Lets do it, Fergus.
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by The Nickman »

Botman wrote:
The Rickman wrote: October 31, 2019, 9:11 pm
Botman wrote:Yeah, a financially motivated Joey could be quite a weapon if his neck isnt a long term issue.

Looks like we'll be running it back with CNK, Cotric, Croker, Beej and Simo... with probably Havilii our regular #14.
Asssuming the Jack and JB deals get sorted and Williams is an upgrade on Sezer, there is no reason to think 2020 will be a let down year.
Sounds to me like the boys all better start working on their off-season beards!!
I feel like you've made this joke in my sphere about 30 times this week and its made me laugh EVERY **** TIME!
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Well I’m glad you can joke about it, ****. I’m still furious, **** furious.
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by greeneyed »

This doesn't sound like it will end well.
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by Lui_Bon »

Seiffert82 wrote: October 31, 2019, 4:12 pm
The Rickman wrote: October 31, 2019, 3:31 pm
Seiffert82 wrote: October 31, 2019, 3:31 pm Yeah, that is good news. Obviously couldn't get another club to stump up enough cash for 2020 for us to release him.
I don't think we need to anymore with both Sezer and Rapana's cash suddenly becoming available.
Yes, that is true. But the club did give his manager permission to negotiate with other clubs, on the back of him looking for an extension.

It sounds like we're still not in a position to extend his contract, but he has had no takers at his 2020 contract value for someone to take him off our hands.
Sounds about right to me!
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by EJ »

I will go into 2020 much more relaxed if Joey is there.
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

Post by -PJ- »

Good news with Joey..
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Re: Joey Leilua guarantees he'll be with Raiders in 2020

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I'm not angry anymore
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