Official Siosifa Talakai

[bort]

Was the perfect initial hit out for Talaki. Winning side, won't be wrecked for club game, will be riding high from the win. Did nothing wrong. Can't complain with that.

NSW were holding him until they needed him but managed to break the game open before then so he got a taste without the pressure

 

[Gards]

Got limited minutes as I expected but he didn't do a single thing wrong and every involvement was a good one - he was really switched on paying attention to what he was doing

Good solid little innings

 

[Gumby]

How much is this bloke worth now do we think? Or how much do we reckon we have to offer him to keep him here.

 

[Thresher]

I really have no idea. Wouldn't be surprised if a desperate club offers him 550-600k per year.

Maybe that's an underexaggeration.

 

[Sparkles]

Talakai could anchor a team for a long time... I wouldn't be surprised to see a few good money, longer term contracts get bandied about

 

[HaroldBishop]

Talakai could anchor a team for a long time... I wouldn't be surprised to see a few good money, longer term contracts get bandied about

He could anchor an aircraft carrier.

 

[Gumby]

Do we look at extending him as a centre or a 2nd rower? Options at centre are very slim over the next year or so.

 

[burgess1978]

Do we look at extending him as a centre or a 2nd rower? Options at centre are very slim over the next year or so.

Outside the organisation you mean? We have some good outside backs in the pipeline.

 

[Sparkles]

Do we look at extending him as a centre or a 2nd rower? Options at centre are very slim over the next year or so.

Do players sign into positions these days? I don't think it affects his value or potential paycheck if he signed as either in any case

 

[HaroldBishop]

Do we look at extending him as a centre or a 2nd rower? Options at centre are very slim over the next year or so.

His manager reckons he can play fullback...

 

[burgess1978]

Do players sign into positions these days? I don't think it affects his value or potential paycheck if he signed as either in any case

Yeah - they do. It probably doesn't matter specifically in Talakai's case, since the Sharks know what they are getting and Talakai knows the coach. For players switching clubs they'd want to have some idea of where the coach plans to fit them in, and the coach would have some idea of how he wants to allocate his cap.

 

[bort]

Do players sign into positions these days? I don't think it affects his value or potential paycheck if he signed as either in any case

The ol' Flanno deal aye

I see you as an elite player and will pay you spine money then play you wherever you fit

Outside the organisation you mean? We have some good outside backs in the pipeline.

Be interesting to see if we try lock up Sifa and Ramien, both contracted for next year.
Or if we back Tracey (2024) to be able to do the job if Iro or someone else isn't up for it by then.

Only keeping one of those two seems like a good way to help free up our Rumour: Burton money

 

[HaroldBishop]

The ol' Flanno deal aye

I see you as an elite player and will pay you spine money then play you wherever you fit



Be interesting to see if we try lock up Sifa and Ramien, both contracted for next year.
Or if we back Tracey (2024) to be able to do the job if Iro or someone else isn't up for it by then.

Only keeping one of those two seems like a good way to help free up our Rumour: Burton money

Have to keep Sifa and Jesse.

Free up Burton money by flicking Moylan, we then only need another ~400k. That shouldn't be hard given Fifita and Wade are off contract.

 

[Sparkles]

Yeah - they do. It probably doesn't matter specifically in Talakai's case, since the Sharks know what they are getting and Talakai knows the coach. For players switching clubs they'd want to have some idea of where the coach plans to fit them in, and the coach would have some idea of how he wants to allocate his cap.

You'd think it would be based more on the 'some idea' than expectation you'll actually slot into and keep a specific role these days, surely. Probably a broader conversation around the players strengths, preference, best oppportunity based on the current squad and coaches needs, and salary. I think you see a lot of players and coaches come undone signing guy into specific roles and not being able to keep that promise.

 

[bort]

Have to keep Sifa and Jesse.

Free up Burton money by flicking Moylan, we then only need another ~400k. That shouldn't be hard given Fifita and Wade are off contract.

We must have the roosters cap the amount of problems I see the Wade and Fifita money thrown at, it's not an infinite pool.

Brailey, BHU, Williams and maybe some others all already likely on more in 2024 than they are right now, given recent extensions.
And we already have Oregon Kaufusi coming.

And we also "need" to retain Katoa, Kennedy, Mulitalo, Nikora (debatable), Wilton who are all off contract either now or then too.

Be pretty expensive to retain all our back 5 all off contract same year, which ones are you prepared to lose?

 

[HaroldBishop]

We must have the roosters cap the amount of problems I see the Wade and Fifita money thrown at, it's not an infinite pool.

Brailey, BHU, Williams and maybe some others all already likely on more in 2024 than they are right now, given recent extensions.
And we already have Oregon Kaufusi coming.

And we also "need" to retain Katoa, Kennedy, Mulitalo, Nikora (debatable), Wilton who are all off contract either now or then too.

Be pretty expensive to retain all our back 5 all off contract same year, which ones are you prepared to lose?

I don't think we would have paid a heap for Kaufusi. Letting Tolman go can pay for a bit of his wage.

Let Nikora go. Next year go with edges of Teig and Sifa.

Yes we will need to upgrade Kennedy, Big Sexy and Ron. Not sure how much that will cost but none are elite at this stage.

Wade, Fifita and Moylan is ~2m, that's a lot of cap space to play with. If we can't manage to manufacture what we want with that much coin we need to hire new people to manage the cap.

 

[bort]

I don't think we would have paid a heap for Kaufusi. Letting Tolman go can pay for a bit of his wage.

Let Nikora go. Next year go with edges of Teig and Sifa.

Yes we will need to upgrade Kennedy, Big Sexy and Ron. Not sure how much that will cost but none are elite at this stage.

Wade, Fifita and Moylan is ~2m, that's a lot of cap space to play with. If we can't manage to manufacture what we want with that much coin we need to hire new people to manage the cap.

It is a big chunk of money but when you're talking about spending 850k of it on Burton the pool gets a lot smaller very quick.
I think if we were paying Burton $850k to come to us then upgrading Hynes to $850k is the right thing to do (and the smart thing to do too)*

So that's around 1.1/2 spent which leaves approx 900 to retain Ramien (hopefully on no more), Talakai (Origin and selected for Tonga), Mulitalo (NZ), Katoa (Samoa) and will Kennedy who has a good couple of years now as a very dangerous spine player, and Teig who is a good up and coming edge player. Throw in more money for Brailey, BHU and Williams too though and you can probably see why I think it is a stretch.

Your concession for Nikora to leave (oh no, anyway...) and use Talakai on edge definitely helps.
Tracey/Iro/Ferris then become your centres probably (based off current players in system).
Personally I would suspect we probably lose at least one more of Sione, Ronnie or Will too, replace with Tracey/Iro/Ferris/Dykes**/Miller/Lualua/Stonestree/Samrani/whoever the **** because we are talking 2024


*Nicho chose us in the first place Burton only would be coming because the weak club he chose stayed weak. Nicho also would be (hopefully) worth extending and retaining at that stage and a nice early upgrade probably helps get that done smoothly.
**another spot where some money may be spent to retain, however could be a cheap Kennedy replacement (with Taukamo for depth).

 

[HaroldBishop]

It is a big chunk of money but when you're talking about spending 850k of it on Burton the pool gets a lot smaller very quick.
I think if we were paying Burton $850k to come to us then upgrading Hynes to $850k is the right thing to do (and the smart thing to do too) - he is the one who chose us in the first place. Burton would just be coming because the **** side he chose stayed ****. Worth the spend to keep them both happy IMO

So that's around 1.1/2 spent which leaves approx 900 to retain Ramien (hopefully on no more), Talakai (Origin and selected for Tonga), Mulitalo (NZ), Katoa (Samoa) and will Kennedy who has a good couple of years now as a very dangerous spine player, and Teig who is a good up and coming edge player. Throw in more money for Brailey, BHU and Williams too though and you can probably see why I think it is a stretch.

Your concession for Nikora to leave (oh no, anyway...) and use Talakai on edge definitely helps.
Tracey/Iro/Ferris then become your centres probably (based off current players in system).
Personally I would suspect we probably lose at least one more of Sione, Ronnie or Will too, replace with Tracey/Iro/Ferris/Dykes*/Miller/Lualua/Stonestree/Samrani/whoever the **** because we are talking 2024

*another spot where some money may be spent to retain, however could be a cheap Kennedy replacement (with Taukamo for depth).

I know there's been speculation in the past about Ronnie wanting to return to QLD one day, no idea if that's still a thing.

Best case would be for Dykes to step up and take the 5/8 role but we're not going to know if that's realistic for a while yet.

In regards to Burton, I look at him costing $450k if we were to flick Moylan. If we extend Moylan for two years then I think that just about sinks much hope of getting Burton in 2024.

It's definitely a tough job, not one I'd like to do.

 

[bort]

I know there's been speculation in the past about Ronnie wanting to return to QLD one day, no idea if that's still a thing.

Best case would be for Dykes to step up and take the 5/8 role but we're not going to know if that's realistic for a while yet.

In regards to Burton, I look at him costing $450k if we were to flick Moylan. If we extend Moylan for two years then I think that just about sinks much hope of getting Burton in 2024.

It's definitely a tough job, not one I'd like to do.

You can't call Fifita+Wade+Moylan 2 million but then only count Burton as 450k though haha

I agree if we were realistically after Burton then no way we can have Moylan on books for that year.
2 years of Moylan buys time for Dykes to come through (realistically could be two years) or at least for us to identify we need to look externally.

I think if Ronnie left us it would be to a Qld club. I would guess that on an even offer Ronnie stays, but it wouldn't take a much bigger bid for a Qld club to get him.

Could be an interesting job but probably a bit more stressful than just chatting about it on a forum!

 

[Sparkles]

I know there's been speculation in the past about Ronnie wanting to return to QLD one day, no idea if that's still a thing.

Best case would be for Dykes to step up and take the 5/8 role but we're not going to know if that's realistic for a while yet.

In regards to Burton, I look at him costing $450k if we were to flick Moylan. If we extend Moylan for two years then I think that just about sinks much hope of getting Burton in 2024.

It's definitely a tough job, not one I'd like to do.

Yeah mate, I think if our recruitment people get Burton for $450k they deserve the job for life! And that'd have to only be the first year, he surely steps up as he plays more rep footy and improves in a decent team.

I don't like the sounds of Bort's scenario though... could you ask him to stop saying we'll lose good players please.