News Bulldogs focus on Wakeham, Foran as prospect of Reynolds return fades

Jackson_1994

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In a sign of what little interest there is at the Bulldogs in a homecoming for Josh Reynolds, Canterbury officials are close to announcing a new deal for fellow playmaker Brandon Wakeham and preliminary talks have begun with Kieran Foran.

There have been plenty of headlines suggesting former favourite son Reynolds could leave Wests Tigers to return to Belmore in time for the season relaunch.
The Tigers are happy for Reynolds to find a club where he will play regular first grade but will tip in only the bare minimum of his whopping $750,000-a-season price tag for next year.

But the Dogs are looking to the future with 21-year-old Wakeham, and Foran is keen to repay the faith shown by the club during an injury-plagued three seasons
Jack Cogger is another off-contract playmaker Canterbury are interested in but their main targets are Wakeham and Foran.
Foran, on $1.2 million this season, is one of the best-paid players in the game but has conceded his next deal will be for much less.

Nobody questions his toughness, class and experience, the problem is keeping him on the park long enough to win games and nurture youngsters like Wakeham.

Wakeham, who started in the Bulldogs' opening two games alongside Lachlan Lewis, is expected to have his new two-year contract announced before the club's first game back against Des Hasler's Manly.
Before he left the club, Hasler paid big dollars to lure Foran to Canterbury. He backed the Kiwi to bounce back to his best when asked on Saturday about the Sea Eagles' premiership winner
"It's great to see Kieran back and at 100 per cent," Hasler said. "They'll need him and he's a really great addition to any side, particularly the Bulldogs. He's a great player and one we'll need to watch carefully.

"There's a lot of footy left in Kieran Foran, and he's just such a competitor. People don't understand how mentally strong he is. He's been through a bit and he's certainly resilient. That will be really advantageous for the Bulldogs.
Canterbury still have two spots to fill and are waiting to find out from the NRL if they need to replace sacked duo Corey Harawira-Naera and Jayden Okunbor.

Meanwhile, Hasler was unsure where Manly would play their first few games but put the red pen through Brookvale Oval.

The Sun-Herald understands the NRL will reveal the full draw next Thursday but only the first seven or eight rounds of venues.

One sticking point is finding sites the NRL can have exclusive access to as part of its biosecurity measures.

Central Coast Stadium could emerge as a regular ground for the Sea Eagles, especially with the New Zealand Warriors being based in the area, Newcastle not having to travel far if momentarily forced out of McDonald Jones Stadium and the fact South Sydney have taken games to the holiday strip up the M1 Motorway.
 

Spudowsky

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Let's see if Foran can get through a game first before we even worry about a deal for next year. The balls in our court there's not going to be many clubs knocking down the door to sign him
 

Spoonman84

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This is much better news moving forward. Getting Reynolds back would be diabolical and I don’t really mind having Foran around next year now when we aren’t playing him over a million a year. Wakeham has a massive opportunity to stamp himself the halfback moving forward this year let’s hope he does it.
 

Cosmo24

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Announce it already! Could be our halfback for the next decade
 

DogsOfWar1704

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Good to hear it’s finally happening! Wakeham is our future and finally playing along side Foran should bring his best out!
 

bowleggedwog

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This is much better news moving forward. Getting Reynolds back would be diabolical and I don’t really mind having Foran around next year now when we aren’t playing him over a million a year. Wakeham has a massive opportunity to stamp himself the halfback moving forward this year let’s hope he does it.
Based on what foran has us for the last 3 years, what would you think would be an adequate contract offered to foz.
 

Kempsey Dog

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Based on what foran has us for the last 3 years, what would you think would be an adequate contract offered to foz.
Any more than 350k he's having a laugh imo... Owes us that 1 year deal with an option for 2 in clubs favour on minimal coin if he's serious about staying and can get through the rest of this season. Personally I see him winning a comp with Des in 2021 just to rub salt in the wound
 

Kelpie03

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In a sign of what little interest there is at the Bulldogs in a homecoming for Josh Reynolds, Canterbury officials are close to announcing a new deal for fellow playmaker Brandon Wakeham and preliminary talks have begun with Kieran Foran.

There have been plenty of headlines suggesting former favourite son Reynolds could leave Wests Tigers to return to Belmore in time for the season relaunch.
The Tigers are happy for Reynolds to find a club where he will play regular first grade but will tip in only the bare minimum of his whopping $750,000-a-season price tag for next year.

But the Dogs are looking to the future with 21-year-old Wakeham, and Foran is keen to repay the faith shown by the club during an injury-plagued three seasons
Jack Cogger is another off-contract playmaker Canterbury are interested in but their main targets are Wakeham and Foran.
Foran, on $1.2 million this season, is one of the best-paid players in the game but has conceded his next deal will be for much less.

Nobody questions his toughness, class and experience, the problem is keeping him on the park long enough to win games and nurture youngsters like Wakeham.

Wakeham, who started in the Bulldogs' opening two games alongside Lachlan Lewis, is expected to have his new two-year contract announced before the club's first game back against Des Hasler's Manly.
Before he left the club, Hasler paid big dollars to lure Foran to Canterbury. He backed the Kiwi to bounce back to his best when asked on Saturday about the Sea Eagles' premiership winner
"It's great to see Kieran back and at 100 per cent," Hasler said. "They'll need him and he's a really great addition to any side, particularly the Bulldogs. He's a great player and one we'll need to watch carefully.

"There's a lot of footy left in Kieran Foran, and he's just such a competitor. People don't understand how mentally strong he is. He's been through a bit and he's certainly resilient. That will be really advantageous for the Bulldogs.
Canterbury still have two spots to fill and are waiting to find out from the NRL if they need to replace sacked duo Corey Harawira-Naera and Jayden Okunbor.

Meanwhile, Hasler was unsure where Manly would play their first few games but put the red pen through Brookvale Oval.

The Sun-Herald understands the NRL will reveal the full draw next Thursday but only the first seven or eight rounds of venues.

One sticking point is finding sites the NRL can have exclusive access to as part of its biosecurity measures.

Central Coast Stadium could emerge as a regular ground for the Sea Eagles, especially with the New Zealand Warriors being based in the area, Newcastle not having to travel far if momentarily forced out of McDonald Jones Stadium and the fact South Sydney have taken games to the holiday strip up the M1 Motorway.
Thank you Des for talking up Foran like you have, you Fn FN FN ****, If that's what you really think about him wouldn't you be rushing to sign him for the remainder of the year and beyond, I'd be fairly confident that our club would even pay some of the freight for this year, you slimy lying bastard.
 

GrogDog

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Considering no-one will be looking to sign Foran why would we even entertain it let alone now. If they think they must sign him again why would you not wait until the end of the season atleast to see if he gets broken again? That's just poor decision making IMO.

Well done to Wakeham.
 

bradtalo

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Hope it's true the club is already working on extending Wakeham. I was concerned about the reports about Maguire showing interest. Would really suck if we got Reynolds but lost Wakeham to the Tigers. Unless Foran is willing to take 400K or under I can't see why the club would talk to him now about extending. He really needs to prove he can stay on the field for the far majority of games otherwise he's worth basically nothing - zip - zilch. No other club is going to touch him until he proves that also. Definitely no-one would blow us out of the park by offering him overs now or in future. Even if he plays 15 games in a row there will always be that concern about him being a risk. I just hope the club doesn't offer him something stupid like 700K a season thinking that is a bargain compared to 1.2M. He surely knows he owes us for the last couple of years. Happy to take Reynolds IF the Tigers pay at least half his wage otherwise they can get f%$ked. We need a bit extra spark - unpredictability and if we don't get Reynolds I fear we won't be getting "anyone" before the deadline this year. He has to be better than getting no-one. JMK is never going to be our future at hooker.
 

CrittaMagic69

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Considering no-one will be looking to sign Foran why would we even entertain it let alone now. If they think they must sign him again why would you not wait until the end of the season atleast to see if he gets broken again? That's just poor decision making IMO.

Well done to Wakeham.
Clubs will always be interested in him and willing to take a chance with the lack of genuine good halves available...just not a $3m chance like us lol
 

bradyk

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Based on what foran has us for the last 3 years, what would you think would be an adequate contract offered to foz.
I think we're looking at something between 400-500k in regards to re-signing Foran. Imo anything lower is disrespectful. When fit and injury free I think Foran is worth 1m. If Foran plays 1/2 the games I think he's worth 500k, if he plays 1/3 of the games I think he's worth 350k. So for me Foran has to be somewhere between those figures. If people truly believe there will be zero interest from anyone maybe we can get Foran cheaper, I just don't think so myself.
 

bradyk

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There has been talk previously about Wakeham re-signing, before the start of the season (during the off season), and it didn't eventuate. I'd be surprised if Wakeham re-signed before having/taking his chance starting.
 

El Padrino

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happy to give wakeham time to nurture but Foran should not be given any contract renewal, he IS a liability and has offered no return on investment...
 

GrogDog

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I think we're looking at something between 400-500k in regards to re-signing Foran. Imo anything lower is disrespectful. When fit and injury free I think Foran is worth 1m. If Foran plays 1/2 the games I think he's worth 500k, if he plays 1/3 of the games I think he's worth 350k. So for me Foran has to be somewhere between those figures. If people truly believe there will be zero interest from anyone maybe we can get Foran cheaper, I just don't think so myself.
I get your train of thought but think it doesn't work for a team sport. Ok he plays 50% (if lucky) games and gets injured again, the constant lack of cohesion to the team in covering him comes into play. We know this all too well already. Then he comes back, pisses off the young bloke trying to get a understanding happening with the team and takes a confidence hit. Especially if he starts to come good and then Foran comes back, gets dropped and then says, fuk this I'm going where a club isn't dumb. Then there's the financial side of things, 500k is more then enough to secure a young good solid player on the rise who will play 100% of the games. Hell you could get 2 half decent players for 500k while old mate is in rehab again.
 

bradyk

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I get your train of thought but think it doesn't work for a team sport. Ok he plays 50% (if lucky) games and gets injured again, the constant lack of cohesion to the team in covering him comes into play. We know this all too well already. Then he comes back, pisses off the young bloke trying to get a understanding happening with the team and takes a confidence hit. Especially if he starts to come good and then Foran comes back, gets dropped and then says, fuk this I'm going where a club isn't dumb. Then there's the financial side of things, 500k is more then enough to secure a young good solid player on the rise who will play 100% of the games. Hell you could get 2 half decent players for 500k while old mate is in rehab again.
Who do you recommend? That's half the reasoning for me. If there was a clear replacement I'd be less inclined to keep Foran (Milford was one player, but he's not available anymore anyways). I'm not confident with what we have tho (for/ready for next year). There is also a flipside to Foran, what happens if he plays 75% of the games? Are Wakeham, Lewis and Cogger decent halves? We already have players in that mould I think. I just think when you weigh up everything it could be beneficial to keep Foran for one to two more years but it's heavily reliant on the price.
 

Snake

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I rekon whatever we offer Foran, Des will offer 50k more. Question is, will he stay or go.
 
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