On th the flip side. Also heard a number of ex WF players and those who know the ex captain won’t come here because..........
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What's the thinking on Fullback for 2022? Kearney has been the first choice when fit this year (but will he be here next year?), and recently Strachan seems to be preferred over McGregor.
Thinking about it, those ex Force players are almost certainly from other SR sides. Couldn't imagine there would be any reason to keep movements quiet if not.
What are thoughts about getting Isi Naisarani?
X, I think the agreement was more around the aggressive raiding of other teams. We picked up Kuridrani and Robertson because they wanted out. I don't think players approaching us is a problem, nor is reclaiming our guys.
You'd think there wouldn't be much complaint about us picking up Isaak F-L with him playing third string and development options in the wider squad.
Reality is, if he doesn't come back to the Force, he'll wind up in Japan. A lot will, so you'd hope the Australian teams have a good idea who they'd like to keep and they get them locked in early. There isn't the money around to be trying to outbid overseas clubs.
The Force should be able to actively contact any player not on contract for next year.
Now the more I think about it, the more likely I think we will be looking at picking up a few guys from the MLR.
Luke Burton, Angus Cottrell, Billy Meakes, Corey Thomas. All ex-Force players who are probably just treading water in that competition with the Giltinis.
I believe there was no actual agreement, it was more that Hodgo/Twiggy didn't want to get strong by weakening Aussie rugby I believe that the Force needed to recruit overseas talent because they had no lead time and they didn't have their pick of players because contracts were still (kinda) active.
With the finances as they are ATM they could have swept through all other teams and bought whoever they want based upon the fact that Force were able to guarantee full freight while the others were technically in breach of contract. but they didn't.
I think the problem will be eased this year, with another year to plan who to approach and knowing who is coming off contract and it will be easier next year for the same reason. If they want Michael Hooper they'll have to wait until 2048 or whenever his current contract is up, but I'm not too worried about that, Locking Hooper into the Tahs only serves to protect every other team from him anyway.
Expect to see more Aussies into the team next year, but I would think not exclusively, simply because, again, they need to wait for some contracts to end before they can get every Aussie player they want. I would also not be surprised if there was a contract offered to an international player to fill a gap while they're waiting for the guys they want.
It'll likely be a three or four year thing, even more until we see a massive upswing in the WA lads (how long did it take the first time around)
A lot naturally depends on who else we can get - and retain. Say we get Jake Ball back and either of Tizzano or Hardwicke; we are pretty well covered for back row stocks. Would we want a 31yo Cottrell, good as he is? Or Corey Thomas who left for opportunity but never managed to progress?
Luke Burton is a yes, given how hard 10's are to come by, even if we also get Deegan when he's off-contract. Meeks is a maybe. If we retain TK and Teafu he's a no, with Burton able to play 12. Nice jig-saw for Hodgo to work on.
Isn't there an expectation that we conform to the salary cap for 2022 (and onwards) though? We can't play fantasy rugby with an unlimited cheque book.