News Tigers and Storm in player loan swap

Noeasyday

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Tigers and Storm teeing up NRL's first player loan swap
Author
Dan WalshNRL.com Reporter
Timestamp
Wed 29 Jan 2020, 10:26 AM

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Wests Tigers and Melbourne are poised to pull off the NRL's first loan deal with youngsters Paul Momirovski and Harry Grant to swap clubs in 2020 while being paid by their current employers.

Under the historic agreement, Tigers centre Momirovski will arrive at the Storm within the next week to offer another outside back option at the southern powerhouse, with an eye to returning to Concord at the end of the season.

Negotiations around a contract extension – Momirovski comes off contract in 2020 – are ongoing, with the Tigers still keen to have him on their books beyond this season.

In the meantime though they will continue to pay his wage this year, as the Storm will with rising hooker Grant, with both clubs loaning out a player in positions the other needs.

The unique nature of the arrangement is being closely scrutinised by the NRL but both clubs are hopeful of having Momirovski and Grant trading places within the next week.

Neither club has made an official announcement on the prospective moves.


Wests Tigers centre Paul Momirovski.©Gregg Porteous/NRL Photos
Grant remains under contract at Melbourne for the next three seasons, and has been groomed as a potential No.9 successor for club champion Cameron Smith.

A 10-month shift to the Tigers will mean the 21-year-old bolsters Michael Maguire's flagging hooking stocks before returning to the Storm.

Grant played two first-grade games in the last two seasons but starred for feeder side Sunshine Coast Falcons in the Intrust Super Cup, claiming the club's best and fairest award and being named in the competition's team of the year.

Negotiations between the two clubs pre-date the Tigers' interest in Raiders star Joey Leilua, who finalised a three-year deal to move back to Sydney on Monday.

However the uncertainty around Josh Reynolds' playing future due to a domestic violence charge, and Jacob Liddle's recovery from an ACL rupture, have decimated the club's options at dummy-half.

Captain Moses Mbye has been training in the role over the pre-season having played at centre and fullback last year.

Momirovski's move to Melbourne in turn adds to Craig Bellamy's backline candidates, with premiership-winning centres Will Chambers (Japanese rugby) and Curtis Scott (Canberra) both moving on.

A year's rugby league education from Bellamy is seen as a significant attraction for the 23-year-old, who has a good relationship with Maguire having enjoyed a breakout 2019 campaign under the Tigers coach.

Momirovski finished the season representing the Prime Minister's XIII in Fiji after scoring eight tries and 21 goals in 11 games for the Tigers.

He would join the likes of new recruit Brenko Lee, Justin Olam, Marion Seve and Sandor Earl in contention for a starting role out wide.

While players have unofficially swapped clubs previously, such as Matt Moylan and James Maloney trading colours at Penrith and Cronulla three years ago, this is believed to be the first and most formal of what is effectively a loan arrangement between NRL outfits.

The English Super League has a dual-registration system, where top-tier clubs can loan a player to an outfit in a lower league, usually aiming to give young players more game time and experience.


Storm hooker Harry Grant.©NRL Photos
As recently as December, Maguire advocated for a possible loan system "within the NRL" and between Super League and NRL clubs in the UK magazine League Weekly.

The Tigers coach became a fan of the English loan system during his time in charge of Super League powerhouse Wigan.

"I just see the value of kids, be it from here, being loaned to Super League clubs for a period of time," Maguire told League Weekly late last year.

"It helps those teams. Even if you sent them there for two months… you might be able to find a way to send them there and help bolster up what’s going on over there at Super League level.

"You’d probably be able to do that every now and then with NRL teams... it [could] open up a different pathway and an opportunity for people to grow."
 

Noeasyday

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We've got a few players to loan out if any other clubs are interested.
 

Wahesh

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First transfer fees, and now this? We are slowly becoming soccer.
 

Kempsey Dog

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What a stupid move from the Tigers... They have fucked themselves over time and time again by living in the past with Farah and Benji. Cut Benji loose and have a spine / backline of;
1. Thompson
2. Nofaluma
3. Leilua
4. Mormoroski
5. Jennings
6. Talau
7. Brooks
9. Mbye
 

CroydonDog

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I don't mind the idea as long as club's are basically doing it at arms length.
 

Scoooby

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First transfer fees, and now this? We are slowly becoming soccer.
Different sport ideas are creeping into diff codes, how long until all 16 clubs are doing this loan business.. mind you, super league have done it for a while too it would seem.
 

c-b-b

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The storm are scraping the bottom of the barrel, Brenko Lee and Sandor Earl, fmd. Can't really remember them in such a weak position in recent times.
 

KambahOne

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Fraught with danger imo. It'll only take one club trying to fark over another in one of these swaps and the Toddy Bears will put an end to it.
 

NPC83

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Smart idea... could work well. Momirovski is a back so they might also let Addo Carr go a year early if that’s the case..
 
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Wahesh

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Different sport ideas are creeping into diff codes, how long until all 16 clubs are doing this loan business.. mind you, super league have done it for a while too it would seem.
I wouldn't mind a loan system provided it's not abused. For instance, if it gets to the stage where it becomes a ridiculous merry-go-round every season like off-season transfers, then it will become a problem. As long as it's simply to allow one player more time on the field to cover things like injuries in key positions etc... to another player in another team and allows the transferred player to get more FG experience, then I'm all for it. If however it gets to the point where one player injured results in 5 players moving around to other clubs on loans, then it will become a joke.
 

Psycho Doggie

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Worth watching this closely, it could have a big impact on how squads are assembled.

At the moment clubs place emphasis on redundancy, making sure every role in the team is covered in case of injury. If player loan deals come into regular use, squad redundancy becomes less of an issue.

I'd anticipate that most player loans will involve second tier players or promising young players, similar to what happens in EPL most of the time.

Another thing to consider if player loans become a thing; shifting to a two division competition structure becomes more viable.
 

Heckler

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Agree, and I hate it. What's the NRLs view on this. Ridiculous to loan someone out. In other words, if he ends up being a gun, we'll take him back off you. Stupid.
First transfer fees, and now this? We are slowly becoming soccer.
 

B-Train

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This just widens the divide between the big clubs and also rans even more. It's just a farm system to prevent those clubs from being able to sign the young player they get on loan.

Without an option to buy, all it does is give Grant a full year of first grade experience before Cam retires. Which benefits Melbourne far more than it does the Tigers.
 

Psycho Doggie

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This just widens the divide between the big clubs and also rans even more. It's just a farm system to prevent those clubs from being able to sign the young player they get on loan.

Without an option to buy, all it does is give Grant a full year of first grade experience before Cam retires. Which benefits Melbourne far more than it does the Tigers.
This is entirely possible, quite likely in fact, it is certainly true to a large degree in the EPL.

But, is it also possible that if RL doesn't start adapting in some way, it will lose relevance in the professional sports market?

The main issue the NRL could possibly have with player loans is down to the ideal of a level competition. This ideal is the driver of the salary cap system. Therefore the NRL may nip this in the bud for reasons such as those you point out.

On the other hand, maybe the ideals should adapt, maybe the effort to keep teams on a level playing field is too big a strain and detriment. No club is realistically level, the cap is part of an elaborate structure that attempts to both create an artificial equality and to give the appearance of equality. Maybe we should start calling clubs for what they really are instead of carrying on with the charade. Bronks and Storm are 1 city glamour clubs, Tigers, Saints, Knights, Panthers etc are suburban or working class clubs, Bulldogs are in a class of their own and Chooks and Souffs are now and have always been turds.
 

B-Train

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This is entirely possible, quite likely in fact, it is certainly true to a large degree in the EPL.

But, is it also possible that if RL doesn't start adapting in some way, it will lose relevance in the professional sports market?

The main issue the NRL could possibly have with player loans is down to the ideal of a level competition. This ideal is the driver of the salary cap system. Therefore the NRL may nip this in the bud for reasons such as those you point out.

On the other hand, maybe the ideals should adapt, maybe the effort to keep teams on a level playing field is too big a strain and detriment. No club is realistically level, the cap is part of an elaborate structure that attempts to both create an artificial equality and to give the appearance of equality. Maybe we should start calling clubs for what they really are instead of carrying on with the charade. Bronks and Storm are 1 city glamour clubs, Tigers, Saints, Knights, Panthers etc are suburban or working class clubs, Bulldogs are in a class of their own and Chooks and Souffs are now and have always been turds.
There will always be a pecking order. But historically that pecking order changes quickly. At the moment certain clubs are making the top four year after year and have done for over a decade. That isn't healthy for the sport.

Until the NRL publishes the figures of players salaries and properly enforces the cap, gets rid of TPA's entirely and makes all negotiations for future seasons forbidden until after the current season, then you'll continue to have a corrupt and flawed league where the same teams contend each year.
 

BELMORE

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I wonder how salary comes into this.. e.g. can you loan out someone worth 300k and receive someone on 600k effectively putting you over the cap?
 

Howard Moon

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It will be the final straw for me with this game if our club decides to pull these kinds of shenanigans
 

Psycho Doggie

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There will always be a pecking order. But historically that pecking order changes quickly. At the moment certain clubs are making the top four year after year and have done for over a decade. That isn't healthy for the sport.

Until the NRL publishes the figures of players salaries and properly enforces the cap, gets rid of TPA's entirely and makes all negotiations for future seasons forbidden until after the current season, then you'll continue to have a corrupt and flawed league where the same teams contend each year.
It's interesting that whatever our individual feeling on which direction things should go, very few of us are content with the current system. That can be a sign that the system is trying to please too many people, or embrace too many conflicting ideals.

Regarding TPAs, what do you do when a company wants to sponsor a player to help sell their product/service? If you ban that you will lose good players to other sports. If you allow it how do you stop cheating?
 

B-Train

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It's interesting that whatever our individual feeling on which direction things should go, very few of us are content with the current system. That can be a sign that the system is trying to please too many people, or embrace too many conflicting ideals.

Regarding TPAs, what do you do when a company wants to sponsor a player to help sell their product/service? If you ban that you will lose good players to other sports. If you allow it how do you stop cheating?
Players should be able to do all of the endorsements they want as long as there are no conflicting interests. But right now with TPA's, sponsors are essentially paying players a portion of their salary. Which is absurd.

You'll never be able to police everything. Cheating will always occur. But the current system is designed to enable and hide systemic cheating which is advantageous to the powerful clubs in big markets with strong business ties.
 
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