Renouf To'omaga

[Howard Moon]

To think that Priest was a walk up start over this machine..

 

[dogwhisperer]

A couple of weeks ago I posted a thread that gave my opinion of what our line-up should look like. I stated that Rhyse Martin needed to start on an edge and move Jacko to lock, and one week later that actually happened and it really improved the team in my opinion.

In that post, I also said that Renouf To'omaga needed to be in the first-grade line-up as he has been our best forward in ISP all season, and arguably the form front rower in the entire NSW Cup. Over the past two weeks, he has dominated both teams we've played, starring against Blacktown and then yesterday bagging two tries in 5 minutes against Wenty.

How we played Clay Priest over a young gun like To'omaga who is the front rower we NEED in first-grade is beyond me. To'omaga is a stronger ball-runner, tough, dominates the ruck, a try-scoring threat and is actually IN FORM. Please give him a crack Pay, he is far superior to Elliott AND Priest, plus he has been in the system since Holden Cup.

Don't forget that our ISP team beat the first-grade Panthers in the trials, and although that isn't a great indicator as it is only trials, we clearly have talent in that side if they are able to even compete with a first-grade Panthers side. Plus with our salary cap situation, we have a lot of untapped potential in ISP especially with To'omaga, Cleeland, Lewis and Brown all of which could make positive contributions to our first-grade side THIS YEAR. It's frustrating because around the league we saw Wayne Bennett give an 18-year-old in Payne Haas his debut this year, yet we've got blokes in their 20s who have dominated ISP and still haven't even had a chance.

Again, I'm not claiming that we have the next Andrew Fifita playing ISP for us, and I understand that Haas may be a more transcendent talent, but who's to say that To'omaga doesn't perform as well as Faitala-Mariner has. They both have a similar background coming from NZ, both have that sort of hard-running style that Kiwis are typically known for, and both are under the age of 25 (RFM is 24, To'omaga is 22). Give the kid a crack Dean Pay, he's in better form than Elliott and Priest.

Does anyone think that not playing Toomaga or Lewis could be a little bit of a salary cap strategy.
Does anyone think Dean is trying to balance next years cap by not playing them and exposing their talents in FG where they could potentially get big dollars thrown at them by other clubs to play for them in 2019.
Clearly we can't afford to match rival club's offers for any players off contract at the end of this year. Maybe exposing them in FG next year so that if a rival club comes in with a big offer we can then maybe match them for the 2020 season to stay with us.
This could be a real possiblity you know. The salary cap implications could be forcing us to hide players in ISP so they won't get poached until we are ready to match other offers.
This is a real balancing act. Imagine playing Tolman, Eliiot etc in reggies, there's no way in the world other teams would want to pay half their salaires if they are reserve grade players that we have paid overs for.
I feel for Pay, I really think he's in a "You're damed if you do, and you're damed if you don't" type of scenario.

 

[Malla]

The fucked thing for us is now imagine a team offers Rhys big bucks on the back of his excellent start with us? We wouldn't be able to afford him nor a few other juniors coming through ISP.

Cheers Des

 

[Malla]

Does anyone think that not playing Toomaga or Lewis could be a little bit of a salary cap strategy.
Does anyone think Dean is trying to balance next years cap by not playing them and exposing their talents in FG where they could potentially get big dollars thrown at them by other clubs to play for them in 2019.
Clearly we can't afford to match rival club's offers for any players off contract at the end of this year. Maybe exposing them in FG next year so that if a rival club comes in with a big offer we can then maybe match them for the 2020 season to stay with us.
This could be a real possiblity you know. The salary cap implications could be forcing us to hide players in ISP so they won't get poached until we are ready to match other offers.
This is a real balancing act. Imagine playing Tolman, Eliiot etc in reggies, there's no way in the world other teams would want to pay half their salaires if they are reserve grade players that we have paid overs for.
I feel for Pay, I really think he's in a "You're damed if you do, and you're damed if you don't" type of scenario.

I said it in another thread but this salary cap mess Des got us in will ruin careers. You've got older guys who we can't afford to keep so will be forced to play in England or retire, and young guys who will be held back because we can't afford to play them - they might miss their window to play first grade.

 

[Archie]

Does anyone think that not playing Toomaga or Lewis could be a little bit of a salary cap strategy.
Does anyone think Dean is trying to balance next years cap by not playing them and exposing their talents in FG where they could potentially get big dollars thrown at them by other clubs to play for them in 2019.
Clearly we can't afford to match rival club's offers for any players off contract at the end of this year. Maybe exposing them in FG next year so that if a rival club comes in with a big offer we can then maybe match them for the 2020 season to stay with us.
This could be a real possiblity you know. The salary cap implications could be forcing us to hide players in ISP so they won't get poached until we are ready to match other offers.
This is a real balancing act. Imagine playing Tolman, Eliiot etc in reggies, there's no way in the world other teams would want to pay half their salaires if they are reserve grade players that we have paid overs for.
I feel for Pay, I really think he's in a "You're damed if you do, and you're damed if you don't" type of scenario.

I agree 100%.... as on triple m yesterday we got $800k to spend next year and that ain’t gonna do shit... if toomaga gets exposed and unleashes in first grade he will definitely attract offers.

Smart thinking @dogwhisperer!

 

[dogwhisperer]

The fucked thing for us is now imagine a team offers Rhys big bucks on the back of his excellent start with us? We wouldn't be able to afford him nor a few other juniors coming through ISP.

Cheers Des

100%

 

[dogwhisperer]

I agree 100%.... as on triple m yesterday we got $800k to spend next year and that ain’t gonna do shit... if toomaga gets exposed and unleashes in first grade he will definitely attract offers.

Smart thinking @dogwhisperer!

We are really in a pile of shit at the moment Archie

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Lost me at Cleeland... Apart from that I agree. Cleeland is older than Clay Priest and still yet to debut.

Priest posted massive numbers in his first NSW Cup game (145m in 30 minutes with 0 errors or penalties), compared to To'omaga in the same game who was 185m from 50 minutes.

That said we need to work out our side and fast...

I'd be going with:
1. Mbye
2. BMoz
3. JMoz
4. Olive or Holland
5. Hoppa or Holland
6. Frawley
7. Foran
8. Woods
9. JMK
10. To'omaga
11. Martin
12. RFM
13. Jackson

14. Klemmer
15. Brown
16. Lewis
17. Fualalo

Need to establish if Lewis is an option moving forwards, as he remains un-signed as well. Sure that leaves us a little thin on the bench, but Nu Brown should be able to slide in at lock/Second row.

Cleeland is younger than Priest sir

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Does anyone think that not playing Toomaga or Lewis could be a little bit of a salary cap strategy.
Does anyone think Dean is trying to balance next years cap by not playing them and exposing their talents in FG where they could potentially get big dollars thrown at them by other clubs to play for them in 2019.
Clearly we can't afford to match rival club's offers for any players off contract at the end of this year. Maybe exposing them in FG next year so that if a rival club comes in with a big offer we can then maybe match them for the 2020 season to stay with us.
This could be a real possiblity you know. The salary cap implications could be forcing us to hide players in ISP so they won't get poached until we are ready to match other offers.
This is a real balancing act. Imagine playing Tolman, Eliiot etc in reggies, there's no way in the world other teams would want to pay half their salaires if they are reserve grade players that we have paid overs for.
I feel for Pay, I really think he's in a "You're damed if you do, and you're damed if you don't" type of scenario.

This is absolutely ridiculous, you think other clubs don't look at ISP games and monitor players? Lol.

 

[dogwhisperer]

This is absolutely ridiculous, you think other clubs don't look at ISP games and monitor players? Lol.

Of course they do, but it's a bigger risk buying a player with potential in reggies than it is to actually SEE a player unleash and dominate at NRL level.
Imagine unleashing him this year. What if he actually tears teams apart...his asking price would be $600K - $800K within a blink of an eye.
This year is a write off anyway, why risk it?
They are probably negotiating something with him as we speak.
Gotenks or whatever your name is, just let the club handle it buddy!
If you aren't prepared to give the coach and this new administration time and think you can run the team better, put your balls on the line and submit your resume for a coaching gig.

 

[Oatley Dog]

Does anyone think that not playing Toomaga or Lewis could be a little bit of a salary cap strategy.
Does anyone think Dean is trying to balance next years cap by not playing them and exposing their talents in FG where they could potentially get big dollars thrown at them by other clubs to play for them in 2019.
Clearly we can't afford to match rival club's offers for any players off contract at the end of this year. Maybe exposing them in FG next year so that if a rival club comes in with a big offer we can then maybe match them for the 2020 season to stay with us.
This could be a real possiblity you know. The salary cap implications could be forcing us to hide players in ISP so they won't get poached until we are ready to match other offers.
This is a real balancing act. Imagine playing Tolman, Eliiot etc in reggies, there's no way in the world other teams would want to pay half their salaires if they are reserve grade players that we have paid overs for.
I feel for Pay, I really think he's in a "You're damed if you do, and you're damed if you don't" type of scenario.

At some point the salary cap will come into play as the reggies players would have clauses that are triggered if they play FG and result in them getting pay bonuses - all of which would be included in our cap. If we don't have any space we can't play them....

 

[Wayne Rooney]

The titans could really do with Foran and Mbye

Even the Cowboys could make use of Mbye

 

[Freakzilla]

Lost me at Cleeland... Apart from that I agree. Cleeland is older than Clay Priest and still yet to debut.

Priest posted massive numbers in his first NSW Cup game (145m in 30 minutes with 0 errors or penalties), compared to To'omaga in the same game who was 185m from 50 minutes.

That said we need to work out our side and fast...

I'd be going with:
1. Mbye
2. BMoz
3. JMoz
4. Olive or Holland
5. Hoppa or Holland
6. Frawley
7. Foran
8. Woods
9. JMK
10. To'omaga
11. Martin
12. RFM
13. Jackson

14. Klemmer
15. Brown
16. Lewis
17. Fualalo

Need to establish if Lewis is an option moving forwards, as he remains un-signed as well. Sure that leaves us a little thin on the bench, but Nu Brown should be able to slide in at lock/Second row.

Cleeland is 26 and Priest is 29...........

 

[dogwhisperer]

At some point the salary cap will come into play as the reggies players would have clauses that are triggered if they play FG and result in them getting pay bonuses - all of which would be included in our cap. If we don't have any space we can't play them....

I agree. People on the kennel think they know everything. Obviously there are reasons for Pay’s player selections. We are not behind the four walls at the club, we don’t know all the ins and outs. There are professionals there that are trying to do their job, but a facing an uphill battle because of our salary cap situation. If some on here ran our club we probably won’t have a club to follow.

 

[Oatley Dog]

I agree. People on the kennel think they know everything. Obviously there are reasons for Pay’s player selections. We are not behind the four walls at the club, we don’t know all the ins and outs. There are professionals there that are trying to do their job, but a facing an uphill battle because of our salary cap situation. If some on here ran our club we probably won’t have a club to follow.

Or if they did they would pretty quickly fold up their tent and head to Centrelink. I was very disappointed when I got the confirmation on how big a problem our SC is. Still it was tempered by the confidence that we have quite a number of very good young blokes working through the system that will turn things around in the next year or so. Think about the Tigers and how many juniors they have brought through and their quality. That is what we are talking about.

 

[CaptainJackson]

Or if they did they would pretty quickly fold up their tent and head to Centrelink. I was very disappointed when I got the confirmation on how big a problem our SC is. Still it was tempered by the confidence that we have quite a number of very good young blokes working through the system that will turn things around in the next year or so. Think about the Tigers and how many juniors they have brought through and their quality. That is what we are talking about.

Can you name a handful of promising juniors coming through?

 

[BELMORE]

Can you name a handful of promising juniors coming through?

Well... SG ball just lost a grand final. There’s a few threads around with people posting the names of the promising juniors

 

[CaptainJackson]

Well... SG ball just lost a grand final. There’s a few threads around with people posting the names of the promising juniors

So no one in the next year or 2?

What they're doing is right, there should be at the very minimum two players through the ranks ready to step up into first grade, and this will keep pressure down on the salary cap.

It's why we're in the mess we are in now. Des and Cleal screwed us.

I'm afraid though this won't be an effective strategy that will actually impact us until at least 2020/21.

 

[BELMORE]

So no one in the next year or 2?

What they're doing is right, there should be at the very minimum two players through the ranks ready to step up into first grade, and this will keep pressure down on the salary cap.

It's why we're in the mess we are in now. Des and Cleal screwed us.

I'm afraid though this won't be an effective strategy that will actually impact us until at least 2020/21.

Well toomaga and Ogden are going well in the forwards, and olive is decent in the backs. I think those 3 would be able to step up this weekend if you threw them in.

 

[Oatley Dog]

Can you name a handful of promising juniors coming through?

Personally, no. I don't follow the juniors but the person I got the info off is up to their eyeballs in the progress of every player in the club....Their view is that we have at least 5 or 6 coming through who have the potential to be top flight FG players not just making up the numbers players. They were also of the view that the reggies will see more of their players come into FG this year and next.

That's one of the things that intrigues me about all the so-called sources here and the specific names that get thrown around. If that were fair dinkum the 'source' would be out of job the next day as the club would know who was leaking info and bone them. I for one would never release sufficient info that would ID where I got it from.