AFB

[Terry Zarsoff]

Our club is wrong if they think AFB is not suited to rugby league in any guise.

Injury free he is one of the best props in the game and is mobile enough to remain that for years to come.

Paseka/keppie etc don’t offer nearly what AFB does and I don’t think ever will.

There is no overstating this loss in my opinion

I am not suggesting he isn’t a loss. Of course he is. But if he really wants out, better to let him go rather than create potential unrest.

As others have suggested, our on field problems lie elsewhere.

I put my trust in the head coach and the team around him to make the right call.

 

[joeboy]

Classic Silvertails speculation and doom-saying in evidence in this thread!

The club statement says it is for his and his young family to be out of Sydney, they are allowing discussion on compassionate grounds.

But no, no, no, everyone knows its a conspiracy and a lie! it's his manager! It's a big money offer! he hates the club! The forwards hate the backs. The polynesians are all in gangs!
OMG I'm actually impressed with some of your imaginative scenarios!

There is more circumstantial evidence pointing to some of the potential reasons listed than there is him leaving because of a pandemic as you speculated

 

[Woodsie]

I blame Barrett ... this won't happen with a good coach .

 

[Rynostradamus]

this is bull**** not happy

 

[Shoe1]

Red & White

& Blue

Yes the eastern suburbs is "out of Sydney", the Sydney local government area that is.

 

[Peter C]

My gut is telling me the Dragons. No inside scoops. Just my hunch. Ex Player, loads of salary cap space to spare, Wollongong meets the out of Sydney aspect, just got Saab off them, I'd have my cash there.

Don't know if the Dragons have room for him in their forwards without affecting their salary cap, Saab is a swap for Garrick, we would want someone more substantial than Saab to facilitate this for the "Goons", Penrith may be a consideration seeing that Tamou is going

 

[Scorpio]

We should absolutely NOT replace AFB with another prop like Vaughan or Klemmer, who are already on big money.

We probably had $2m/year invested in our starting props and lock alone. We need to invest the money elsewhere as our squad is very unbalanced as several people here have said.

He will be a big loss, but if he doesn't want to be here, then it might be a blessing in disguise - and lets us put the money where it is needed.

 

[The better Robbo]

I had to resurface when I saw this...I am genuinely glad he is going. We don't need two props on so much money when we have DCE, Tom and Jake on so much money...the squad is unbalanced. Props don't win premierships on their own. If they did, we'd be sitting in the 8 this year.
Having two gun props is not worth it. Better to have 1 and an honest first grader along side.

The other issue is the game is speeding up and AFB is overweight. Further, he vilifies disabled people and carries on like a gansta on instagram...he is not good for our culture.

Also, I have no idea but reading between the lines of "get Out of Sydney" and "compassionate grounds" tells me that this is not money driven...maybe he is in the same predicament as Junior Paulo was.

I started a thread a couple weeks ago "do we let Taupau go" for this very reason, the squad was extremely unbalanced and prop heavy. I'm not too disappointed as we now have a bit of cash to strengthen our weaknesses

 

[KNUCKLES]

You could do a huge player swap like the NHL like the following:

• Saab for Garrick
• Vaughan for AFB
• McInnes for Fainu's contract rights (dragons having moved him from Hooker already)

01. Tom Trbojevic
02. Albert Hopoate
03. Dylan Walker
04. Morgan Harper
05. Jason Saab
06. Josh Schuster
07. Daly Cherry-Evans
08. Paul Vaughan
09. Cameron McInnes
10. Marty Taupau
11. Moses Suli
12. Curtis Sironen
13. Jake Trbojevic

14. Cade Cust
15. Taniela Paseka
16. Sean Keppie
17. Huamole Olakau'atu

Team would be big, fast, mobile and strong. Just spit balling of course. We'd also be getting cap space back, surely.

I dont think I'd want to watch Vaughan Gerning off his face on the sidelines in manly colours

 

[Kevinward777]

There is more circumstantial evidence pointing to some of the potential reasons listed than there is him leaving because of a pandemic as you speculated

Do you ever stop?

 

[Nordburg]

They will be playing out of Redcliffe next year. It’s already been sorted. My source is pretty good. As he officially entered the race for the Broncos head coach position . I tried to talk him into leaving the GC, and being Des’ assistant. But he’s had a few assistant gigs, and wants the top job.

Yes you’re right,I forgot I was told the same re Warriors to Redcliffe

 

[Budgie]

If anyone's surprised you really haven't been watching our team.
He's looked extremely disinterested since the outburst then suspension for the retard crack.
He's done just enough but not like he used to.
And Eagle of London, I've even thought of a DCE thing for you - he dared make a quip about sneaking up and jabbing him if he had to have a flu shot and refused! Aha!!!!
Yes he'll be a loss at his best but we haven't seen it for a while and yes, I've always been uncomfortable with him:
Pleading guilty to kicking his partner
The retard explosion
His gang signs on social media.
It's part of being a supporter that you have to cheer for those you don't really care for but I'm quite relieved that I will no longer have to do so.
Also - he's a huge bloke with injuries mounting.

 

[wombatgc]

I had to resurface when I saw this...I am genuinely glad he is going. We don't need two props on so much money when we have DCE, Tom and Jake on so much money...the squad is unbalanced. Props don't win premierships on their own. If they did, we'd be sitting in the 8 this year.
Having two gun props is not worth it. Better to have 1 and an honest first grader along side.

The other issue is the game is speeding up and AFB is overweight. Further, he vilifies disabled people and carries on like a gansta on instagram...he is not good for our culture.

Also, I have no idea but reading between the lines of "get Out of Sydney" and "compassionate grounds" tells me that this is not money driven...maybe he is in the same predicament as Junior Paulo was.

Good to see you back @Snake. Hopefully you’re back full time.

 

[Waz13]

I'm no NRL academic but what I see is when AFB and Marty go off we drop a level. Blocker seems to say the same every time he calls. Huge loss.

Any team in the comp would drop a level when their two international star props go off mate.

 

[Snake]

I agree with the first part of this and have no comment on the rest.

But if this is purely cap rebalancing thing for manly, surely it had to be taupau who made way.

AFB is coming into his prime years while stupa is entering his twilight. But I do agree we had too much money tied up in three forwards ( including jake)

We will never be privy to all the happenings in this, but AFB was definitely in the keepers pile of our squad.

The fact that it's not Taupau going is another finger pointing in the direction of something more than a cap balancing act...

 

[Snake]

I know junior paulos sister and his best friends from cabra.. it was most defiantly about the money lol his sister even said so. He still hangs around the same circles

.I'm just speculating re Afb. I have no idea why he is leaving but for Manly to come out and say compassionate grounds and "get out of Sydney"...if it was a money hungry manager or a money hungry player, you can bet Manly would not be making such statements.

 

[joeboy]

Do you ever stop?

isnt this a discussion board. i'm going through agreeing with points on all sides and commenting and voicing my opinion also. i thought that was the function of this board?

just because i analyse things differently and without defaulting to coach knows best and other discussion halting platitudes, i cant see how im offending anyone?

the pandemic reason is no more or less valid than the other potential reasons noted here, but that also means you cant speculate a reason of your own and laugh at people doing the same thing in the same breath.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

I had better ease up on the platitudes.

 

[joeboy]

The fact that it's not Taupau going is another finger pointing in the direction of something more than a cap balancing act...

yeah i guess thats a good way to look at it. im just dissapointed. As a player only, he was in the nucleus of players who would've returned us to success.

 

[Waz13]

Thing is fonua blake was a bargain.. replacing a player of his value will more than likely cost more. Making the imbalance in our squad even worse... fml

More evidence you can’t carry two props of afb and Taupau in the list. I’ve quietly wondered this for a while.