Latrell Mitchell Discussion Megathread

[B-Train]

News Ltd keep pushing the Cowboys story. Who knows what to believe but if the Cowboys end up with Mitchell or Holmes they would have recruited:

Mitchell/Holmes, Robson, Drinkwater and Esan Marsters while we signed DWZ, Stimson, Britt and Katoa.

We're going to miss out on all of the bigger targets and will struggle to sign the better young talents like Robson, Grant, Papenhuyzen etc and pretty much every other club is out recruiting us and has been for years.

If people are worried about wasting cap space on Latrell, I'm worried about them wasting all of the cap space on extending Tolman, Elliott and Sue etc.

 

[Tassie Devil]

Lynne Anderson directly quoted yesterday in saying that we never made a formal offer to Latrell Mitchell and he has never spoken with Andrew Hill or Dean Pay. Joey Manu re-signed with the Roosters for unders for only 2 years. Pretty obvious he didn't receive a longer offer too good to refuse from us

It's fairly f..king obvious to any Dogs fan I would have thought that we need "at minimum" 1 outside back for 2021 to upgrade the position currently filled by Holland/Montoya/Harper yet I'm F..KING AMAZED our board / management never even made a direct offer it seems to 2 of the best young centres in the world - from the Premiership winning team who were both available for 2021. That f..king does it / does them for me. If you think the board have done a good job because they extended DWZ for a few years and Lewis for an extra year then you're too easily f..king pleased sorry. What's left for 2021 now already ? The SCRAPS. They're sitting around sitting on their f..king hands obviously and if they're not thrown out at the election in February then don't complain when we're just scraping into the 8 "maybe" in 5 years time.

Blah blah.

So ... the club should come out and say we've been talking to Mitchell for months even though legally we're not allowed to? Really? What else do you expect them to say? And if negotiations have broken down, which it looks like they may have, will they come out and say it? Or simply just deny everything? The latter would 'save face' a bit, wouldn't it?

Why should he receive an offer from us too good for him to refuse? Why?

I don't understand your fixation, and the other Brads, with the need to pay massive overs to a player. To pretty much give them the key to Belmore and allow them to do anything and everything they want. Why?

Yes, we need a player in his position. Yes, it would be beneficial for us if he signed. Yes it would. He's a very good player. He's young. His best years are most likely in front of him. No one is debating this.

But at the same time why would we have to "give him an offer too good to refuse"? That's underselling us as a club. Now and in the future. It sends a sign that we will pay overs. All those contracts we're currently negotiating with players will have an increase of X amount because of it. Any future players looking to come over will automatically ask for X amount more because of it. I just don't understand why some people ( the Brads) can't see that. It's not as simple a just "giving him an offer he can't refuse" and it's incredibly naive / stupid / whatever if you think it is.

I know what you're going to say. Need to pay overs to get the best players. We're not attractive so we need to pay overs. No one's arguing that and I think the Dogs have offered him a pretty decent amount of money.

But here's another scenario for you ...

What if Mitchell was keen on us but not that keen. We offered X more money which satisfied him. But then other clubs offered more money. He wanted more then from us. We offer more money. He's satisfied. Then the same process. Again. And. Again.

At what point do you say ... he's chasing money and not buying into our club, traditions, history? At what point do you say enough is enough? We all know we need to pay overs. But there needs to be a point when you say we've done everything we can. It's up to you now to show you want to play for us.

 

[Costa84]

Lynne Anderson directly quoted yesterday in saying that we never made a formal offer to Latrell Mitchell and he has never spoken with Andrew Hill or Dean Pay. Joey Manu re-signed with the Roosters for unders for only 2 years. Pretty obvious he didn't receive a longer offer too good to refuse from us

It's fairly f..king obvious to any Dogs fan I would have thought that we need "at minimum" 1 outside back for 2021 to upgrade the position currently filled by Holland/Montoya/Harper yet I'm F..KING AMAZED our board / management never even made a direct offer it seems to 2 of the best young centres in the world - from the Premiership winning team who were both available for 2021. That f..king does it / does them for me. If you think the board have done a good job because they extended DWZ for a few years and Lewis for an extra year then you're too easily f..king pleased sorry. What's left for 2021 now already ? The SCRAPS. They're sitting around sitting on their f..king hands obviously and if they're not thrown out at the election in February then don't complain when we're just scraping into the 8 "maybe" in 5 years time.

We cant take these reports / quotes as gospel...

It's a poker match... no one is showing their hand

 

[JUNKYARD DOGS]

News Ltd keep pushing the Cowboys story. Who knows what to believe but if the Cowboys end up with Mitchell or Holmes they would have recruited:

Mitchell/Holmes, Robson, Drinkwater and Esan Marsters while we signed DWZ, Stimson, Britt and Katoa.

We're going to miss out on all of the bigger targets and will struggle to sign the better young talent like Robson, Grant, Papenhuyzen etc and pretty much every other club is out recruiting us and has been for years.

I cant see how they can afford both Holmes and Mitchell, but who bloody know I guess haha.

I'd like to see them 3 younger guys (Averillo, Wakeham, Taas) given a run and locked up, they are natural footballers. Along with Topine seems to me to be a great ball runner with genuine strength.

 

[Bulldogs09]

We can legally speak
To anyone under contract.

Can’t register contracts till 1st November.

Rule changed years ago

 

[axeman23]

Lynne Anderson directly quoted yesterday in saying that we never made a formal offer to Latrell Mitchell and he has never spoken with Andrew Hill or Dean Pay. Joey Manu re-signed with the Roosters for unders for only 2 years. Pretty obvious he didn't receive a longer offer too good to refuse from us

It's fairly f..king obvious to any Dogs fan I would have thought that we need "at minimum" 1 outside back for 2021 to upgrade the position currently filled by Holland/Montoya/Harper yet I'm F..KING AMAZED our board / management never even made a direct offer it seems to 2 of the best young centres in the world - from the Premiership winning team who were both available for 2021. That f..king does it / does them for me. If you think the board have done a good job because they extended DWZ for a few years and Lewis for an extra year then you're too easily f..king pleased sorry. What's left for 2021 now already ? The SCRAPS. They're sitting around sitting on their f..king hands obviously and if they're not thrown out at the election in February then don't complain when we're just scraping into the 8 "maybe" in 5 years time.

Joey Manu resigned on October 29, hard to do anything about that since we couldn't legally approach him till November 1, right? He's the guy I really wanted, but he was off the table before we could even put a bid in...

 

[B-Train]

I cant see how they can afford both Holmes and Mitchell, but who bloody know I guess haha.

I'd like to see them 3 younger guys (Averillo, Wakeham, Taas) given a run and locked up, they are natural footballers. Along with Topine seems to me to be a great ball runner with genuine strength.

Nah they could only sign one, but it's funny how they have all of this space after already going on a huge recruitment drive and having Taumalolo and Morgan on a combined $2 million.

I agree, I'd love to see those guys play as well but I know Pay is going to think no improvement is required on all of those 12-6 wins and he'll pick the same 17 pretty much every week which will stifle their development and lead to most of them ending up and maybe flourishing elsewhere.

Pay is coaching for a new contract so he will be even more negative and predictable with his selections and tactics than before.

 

[Tassie Devil]

News Ltd keep pushing the Cowboys story. Who knows what to believe but if the Cowboys end up with Mitchell or Holmes they would have recruited:

Mitchell/Holmes, Robson, Drinkwater and Esan Marsters while we signed DWZ, Stimson, Britt and Katoa.

We're going to miss out on all of the bigger targets and will struggle to sign the better young talent like Robson, Grant, Papenhuyzen etc and pretty much every other club is out recruiting us and has been for years.

Honestly, I do have to agree with you in regard to our incredible search for a hooker. We got absolutely rimmed on that one with the amount of players we seemed to have genuine discussions with only to get told no. Based on that I'd agree.

Were Stimson and Britt signed as big named 1st grade players? I don't know if I'm honest. By all accounts both are handy players who could develop into consistent 1st teamers. Read a lot of people talk up Stimson especially but I can't comment as I haven't followed his progress.

I'd reserve judgement on our recruitment for a little while yet. Getting those players such as DWZ and Lewis to extend their contracts is good business, and hopefully more follow. We all want to see Mitchell. I truly believe that. The question is not whether he'd improve the team. The question is the amount we'd be paying him and his motivation behind continually pushing for more money. If he's honestly now looking at NQ then the club really should walk away. Clearly we've been talking to him for some time and if we haven't convinced him yet then ....

But ... that does bring up your point about our recruitment and that it hasn't been good for years. What are we lacking that players want?

 

[Tassie Devil]

We can legally speak
To anyone under contract.

Can’t register contracts till 1st November.

Rule changed years ago

Oh really. Didn't know that. Thanks!

 

[B-Train]

Honestly, I do have to agree with you in regard to our incredible search for a hooker. We got absolutely rimmed on that one with the amount of players we seemed to have genuine discussions with only to get told no. Based on that I'd agree.

Were Stimson and Britt signed as big named 1st grade players? I don't know if I'm honest. By all accounts both are handy players who could develop into consistent 1st teamers. Read a lot of people talk up Stimson especially but I can't comment as I haven't followed his progress.

I'd reserve judgement on our recruitment for a little while yet. Getting those players such as DWZ and Lewis to extend their contracts is good business, and hopefully more follow. We all want to see Mitchell. I truly believe that. The question is not whether he'd improve the team. The question is the amount we'd be paying him and his motivation behind continually pushing for more money. If he's honestly now looking at NQ then the club really should walk away. Clearly we've been talking to him for some time and if we haven't convinced him yet then ....

But ... that does bring up your point about our recruitment and that it hasn't been good for years. What are we lacking that players want?

Rimmed or reamed? Getting rimmed would be lovely! Haha.

Stimson is a good player and will be a solid signing. Britt isn't bad either. But both were signed in positions that aren't a huge concern where we have solid depth short and long term and more glaring positions like hooker and outside backs still haven't been addressed.

I don't know exactly why players keep looking at our club as almost a last resort but in order for that to change, we have to sign a few exciting players to convince others that this is a club going places and that has ambition. Players are sheep and follow one another. As solid as Britt, Katoa and Stimson might be, they aren't going to make other players want to play for us.

 

[Natboy]

We can legally speak
To anyone under contract.

Can’t register contracts till 1st November.

Rule changed years ago

You can express interest but can’t entice someone to break a contract hence why clubs had to wait until November 1 this year for players not off contract until 2020 such as Manu

 

[Tassie Devil]

Rimmed or reamed? Getting rimmed would be lovely! Haha.

Stimson is a good player and will be a solid signing. Britt isn't bad either. But both were signed in positions that aren't a huge concern where we have solid depth short and long term and more glaring positions like hooker and outside backs still haven't been addressed.

I don't know exactly why players keep looking at our club as almost a last resort but in order for that to change, we have to sign a few exciting players to convince others that this is a club going places and that has ambition. Players are sheep and follow one another. As solid as Britt, Katoa and Stimson might be, they aren't going to make other players want to play for us.

Haha yes ... Reamed

Completely agree with you about our signings so far. Decent. Not specatular and not what we need. I see them as more opportunistic in that they became available and we saw them as handy pick ups.

These players may not make other players want to play for us this year. But maybe they're a better fit for the team, and the team will make players want to play for us. If the team begins to play better. Get better results. Become more solid then I'd say that'd be more attractive than having a team of big named players in a losing team.

Maybe, just maybe, we're looking to sign players that fit a team rather than signing players to create a team around?

 

[JUNKYARD DOGS]

Who hasn't he been linked to, probably end up at Melbourne.

 

[Spoonman84]

My point is that for a talent like him it is close to his value in an inflated market where Ben Hunt, Ash Taylor and Anthony Milford all earn more than that and I dont blame his agent for asking for that much considering the above.

Whether he's actually worth that much is a different argument but it's like the property prices in Sydney. Even places you wouldn't want to live in cost three times as much as they should because someone else will pay that price and worse places have sold for more.

I wouldn’t say three contracts have over inflated the market. If those clubs had their time over I highly doubt they would do those deals again. If anything that should be a tale of caution for anyone paying Latrell that kind of money. At least those three players had been playing in the spine for their whole career as well.

If you are buying a house and you know it’s worth you have to know when to stop bidding. If someone else is dumb enough to pay more good luck to them.

 

[B-Train]

Haha yes ... Reamed

Completely agree with you about our signings so far. Decent. Not specatular and not what we need. I see them as more opportunistic in that they became available and we saw them as handy pick ups.

These players may not want other players want to play for us this year. But maybe they're a better fit for the team, and the team will make players want to play for us. If the team begins to play better. Get better results. Become more solid then I'd say that'd be more attractive than having a team of big named players in a losing team.

Maybe, just maybe, we're looking to sign players that fit a team rather than signing players to create a team around?

I honestly don't have too much faith in their recruitment and retention decisions right now and the reason so many people are getting anxious is because this cap space is the only hope we've had through three years of missing the finals in a comp where half of the teams make it.

The club hasn't done anything to massively bolster the squad from last season and they worry me that they're going to waste this cap space with panic signings and re-signings that will leave another massive mess for the next regime to inherit and we'll be set back another three years.

I hope they prove me wrong and we make some great signings. But I'm very, very nervous based on their track record thus far.

 

[JUNKYARD DOGS]

If you have the money to buy a Bugatti Veyron, and your life revolves around car racing do you buy 3 average cars that might do the job or the Veyron?

 

[Wahesh]

I'd offer him $850,000 - no more.

 

[JackDog]

... The question is the amount we'd be paying him and his motivation behind continually pushing for more money...

Do we really know that he knocked back the Rorters $800k offer just over money? I know its been reported ad nauseum, and thats the line the media keeps pushing, but has Latrell himself actually said that?

I wouldn't be surprised if he was a bit pissed off when they offered the lowball $650k pa (assuming that reported amount is true), and then they allowed him to stew on it for months, letting that angst fester, then when it comes to Nov 1, they finally agree to increase the offer, but only by $150k pa.

Maybe if they offered $800kpa months ago, they could've avoided all this shit. Maybe not, too.

If he's seriously considering NQ, I wouldn't walk away but just have a conversation with him about just how hard moving your family that far away from their roots really can be, hard enough that the extra $100k pa or so may not seem worth it.

I really hope the club isn't solely going down the "solid first graders" path, that sounds like a recipe for mediocrity.

 

[Tassie Devil]

I honestly don't have too much faith in their recruitment and retention decisions right now and the reason so many people are getting anxious is because this cap space is the only hope we've had through three years of missing the finals in a comp where half of the teams make it.

The club hasn't done anything to massively bolster the squad from last season and they worry me that they're going to waste this cap space with panic signings and re-signings that will leave another massive mess for the next regime to inherit and we'll be set back another three years.

I hope they prove me wrong and we make some great signings. But I'm very, very nervous based on their track record thus far.

I also hope that you're wrong, and at the same time share your fear with potential signings. I really do. It's a really important time for us now in that we seem to be playing better and getting stronger as a team. But we need to sign a few more top players to really bolster the ranks to take us back to the top.

 

[Wahesh]

If you have the money to buy a Bugatti Veyron, and your life revolves around car racing do you buy 3 average cars that might do the job or the Veyron?

Well I love cars but wouldn't spend my money on one of them (Veyron, that is). I'd much rather buy 3 very good cars. They probably won't be as fast as the Veyron, but they'll get the job done. It's not like I'll be able to thrash a Veyron here in Sydney anyway lol.