Karl Oloapu

B-Train said:
You could make that argument about any player being released when still under contract though. Other teams get compensation in the form of young players. If the Dolphins want Oloapu early, then we should demand the same. Otherwise they can wait til he's off contract and Oloapu can play Reserves with us til then.
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You might be right it could be that Gus has made the calls to other clubs and Dolphins seemed to the most willing.

We had something like 8 on development deals before Joash and Seve got moved on bringing it into 6. If a development player plays NRL games they get 3k per game and it comes off the development cap and not every player would be on the min 80k so we need some room on that having 5-6 is the ideal number. Having 5 gives room for an impressive train & trial player to be elevated to Top 30.

We might have been 500-700k under the cap in 2024 we can still only contract a maximum of 30 players to the top 30 and we had more than that including Fox, Semrani, Kautoga and Oloapu.

It may seem frustrating but this is how Gus operates instead of giving player options in contracts he's willing to move them on before the deal is up and pay some freight if he believes he can sign someone else.

We have signed Montoya, Tuala, Tupouniua and Amone and still trying for Pahulu. We have been put into positions to upgrade Morrin, Hayward, Hayes and Todd to Top 30 deals. We can't have more than 30 in the Top 30.

It's not the best idea to have 30 players in the Top 30 at this time of year as it gives room for a club to promote a player or discover in time for round 1 and at this time of year players are only training so a bit less on the salary cap top 30 books the better. Roosters only operate at minimum requirements though this year might hurt them and Storm don't fill up the roster until when they have too.
 
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Mitch Connor said:
Feel like Gus is happy to see him go. Never spoke positively about the recovery from the moment it all happened.

Predicting we get sweet FA in return.

Kid has all the ability in the world so that is shit but can’t do much about it. Hope he goes well - but not well enough for the “HOW DID THE DOGS LET HIM GO” hysteria merchants to go off.

At least say “yep we weren’t comfortable clearing him to play at our club - they thought otherwise. Best of luck to both parties”
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Gus gets plenty in return. He has a roster spot to play with.

I believe it's partly due to Oloapu being home sick and that's a risk when signing players interstate or overseas they will want to go home. Watch the podcast James Graham done with the Penrith Panthers General Manager about the areas for players they target.

We might be under the top 30 salary cap we weren't under or equal to the top 30 contracted requirements.

Our development list had been cooked 80x8 does equal 640 the cap limit it gives no room for those players to play NRL or a lower grade player to play NRL after Round 11 as they get 3k per game on top of the development contract. Morrin would have pocketed more than a minimum top 30 deal due to the games he played and possibly why Gus added him to top 30 as we had salary space there not in the development.

I know Oloapu isn't development. Seve and Joash were development and got moved on swiftly. Someone like Underhill can now be in top 30 before other clubs start knocking or he can make a full scale play for Paluhu.
 
Magic Burton said:
You might be right it could be that Gus has made the calls to other clubs and Dolphins seemed to the most willing.

We had something like 8 on development deals before Joash and Seve got moved on bringing it into 6. If a development player plays NRL games they get 3k per game and it comes off the development cap and not every player would be on the min 80k so we need some room on that having 5-6 is the ideal number. Having 5 gives room for an impressive train & trial player to be elevated to Top 30.

We might have been 500-700k under the cap in 2024 we can still only contract a maximum of 30 players to the top 30 and we had more than that including Fox, Semrani, Kautoga and Oloapu.

It may seem frustrating but this is how Gus operates instead of giving player options in contracts he's willing to move them on before the deal is up and pay some freight if he believes he can sign someone else.

We have signed Montoya, Tuala, Tupouniua and Amone and still trying for Pahulu. We have been put into positions to upgrade Morrin, Hayward, Hayes and Todd to Top 30 deals. We can't have more than 30 in the Top 30.

It's not the best idea to have 30 players in the Top 30 at this time of year as it gives room for a club to promote a player or discover in time for round 1 and at this time of year players are only training so a bit less on the salary cap top 30 books the better. Roosters only operate at minimum requirements though this year might hurt them and Storm don't fill up the roster until when they have too.
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I have no problem with Gus and the club not wanting players who don't want to be here and being willing to let them move on as you don't want disgruntled players hanging around.

But when clubs like the Titans won't release Pahulu early to us, we're likely to let Oloapu join the Dolphins for nothing. It always seems we're losing out when buying a player under contract or letting a player leave when under contract. It'd be nice to get the same compensation that other clubs demand from us for once.
 
B-Train said:
I have no problem with Gus and the club not wanting players who don't want to be here and being willing to let them move on as you don't want disgruntled players hanging around.

But when clubs like the Titans won't release Pahulu early to us, we're likely to let Oloapu join the Dolphins for nothing. It always seems we're losing out when buying a player under contract or letting a player leave when under contract. It'd be nice to get the same compensation that other clubs demand from us for once.
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Titans still hold the power of the contract for Pahulu. He's not the Dolphins business.

Gus holds the power of the contract for Oloapu. We don't know if Gus made the first calls to Dolphins or if Oloapu made the request to us. All we know is that is where Oloapu is from.

Pahulu tried to play this game by the media quickly reported on by Gus contacts in the media and the Broncos puppets at the Courier Mail. It seems Oloapu, Gus and whoever at Dolphins have played this one much more respectfully.

We might be under the top 30 cap the problem is that our top 30 and development balance wasn't in place.
 
Think about it from a business point of view.. you have an employee, who happens to be an apprentice that you think has plenty of potential, but they have been on long term sick leave /workers compensation, so haven't worked for over a year.. you don't believe they'll ever be able to work again, at least to their potential. You still have them contracted for two more years, but they want out.. at no cost to you.... you have plenty of other workers who can do their job, and other workers you want to hire but can't because you're still paying the apprentice on sick leave.. would you really be asking their next employer to compensate you, or would you just be counting your lucky stars that you're off the hook.
 
A sad story for Oloapu. But if what reading is true re genetic problem and high risk of re injury then this probably for the best. The club did their best by the kid and have allowed him to go back home quietly. Good quiet business. Gus is good at quiet low drama work.
 
Will wait to see if he does end up training this week with them but..

- He could be home sick, people said that the day he signed up with us.
- Club doesn't want to take the chance with his injury just yet while it looks like he's willing to take the chance?
- IF he is a bulldog he would be willing to stick it out no matter what.
 
This is such a bizarre one honestly. To pay half a mill just to get him to belmore. Then promote him into the team and gave him a crack. Then going through the whole medical process to fix his neck issue. Surely there must be more to this and they know he'll never be the same again OR we must have another player coming ASAP.
 
Doggone1975 said:
And a top 30 spot for pahulu?
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If we do sign him on an early release for '25 a top 30 spot would be wishful.
However if he remains at the GC and continues to blossom under Super Coach Des
he would definitely be in the 30 for '26
Gus has stated that he will not rush young players with potential and possibly not
being able to step up.
This year with our roster a top four position is very likely. 2026 Who knows?
 
CBDog said:
If we do sign him on an early release for '25 a top 30 spot would be wishful.
However if he remains at the GC and continues to blossom under Super Coach Des
he would definitely be in the 30 for '26
Gus has stated that he will not rush young players with potential and possibly not
being able to step up.
This year with our roster a top four position is very likely. 2026 Who knows?
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Our roster has not improved, and we will no longer surprise clubs. We will drop to 6-10
 
500k is chump change for our club. We took a risk and it didn’t pay off.
The kid went through a traumatic experience and probably wants to be around family. Hats off to Gus for not stopping him. And I’d rather see him succeed at the Phins than any other club bar us. Opens up a spot and even more cash to keep players or bring in new ones. Gus is cooking
 
Im amazed he will play again after such an injury. Has to be some risk there. Good luck to him
 
dekepefc said:
Think about it from a business point of view.. you have an employee, who happens to be an apprentice that you think has plenty of potential, but they have been on long term sick leave /workers compensation, so haven't worked for over a year.. you don't believe they'll ever be able to work again, at least to their potential. You still have them contracted for two more years, but they want out.. at no cost to you.... you have plenty of other workers who can do their job, and other workers you want to hire but can't because you're still paying the apprentice on sick leave.. would you really be asking their next employer to compensate you, or would you just be counting your lucky stars that you're off the hook.
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I agree with that for the most part. I'm not worried about losing Oloapu and know we'll be fine. I wish Oloapu well. But when the other 16 clubs will demand compensation from us in a similar situation, or make that player honour their contract when we want to sign them (like with Pahulu), then it seems like we're always drawing the short straw in these scenarios.
 
If we are getting nothing we have been cucked here
If another club wants him despite his injury then as B Train says we should be compensated.
We've been cucked in this field all the way back to selling Ben Hannant for tickets to Suncorp.
 
Take his injury into account.. I'm also assuming he doesn't want to be around.

If he doesn't want to be around, its clear the club doesn't want these players around anymore and the issue is we could relegate him to cup but then we risk further injury playing him early which will cost us regardless. If we choose not to play him due to recommendations, the chances are he'd kick up a further stick and that's not good for the players to be around.

Either way we lose here and I'm sure Gus has picked the option we lose less.
 
InGusWeTrust said:
So much hope and excitement gone. Not just with KO coming and going with barely playing, but the Seve brothers, Papali’i and others. Several players that I was looking forward to watching over the next few years, now gone. It sucks.
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Yet we kept the best ones....
 
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