Kelma Tuilagi

Yeah, I always felt Harper was a bit better than what most on here thought of him.

And that Talaki game was not one he should have played. That was on Des.

In saying that, it was time Manly moved on from him.
I always thought Harper was Brian Kelly 2.0… decent player with soft hands and defensive ability but struggled with bad defensive reads… both players were great in attack on their day but they lack(ed) consistency…
Both are decent players though and I expect Harper will find his place at another club (whether it be Parra or elsewhere) just as Kelly has at the tits…
 
Kelma Tuilagi has really come on as a second rower. We had him signed on a very modest contract before Seibs sent him packing. There's a few of them who are making our recruitment look silly and I imagine it will only get worse. Like Clint Gutherson bad but multiplied.
I cannot believe it's gotten to the point where Seibold is the reason this guy was crap, and that he's actually good because Moses gave him a good ball. That's outrageous lol.

Like, are you kidding? Look at all the comments on here from 2023. He's been absolutely rubbish defensively for a long time, first at the Tigers, then here, and now at the Eels. That unchanging defensive black hole between Schuster and Tuilagi was probably one of our worst ever.

On Weekes, as I believe that's who you're also inferring, show me the NRL games, or even NSW Cup games for that matter, where Weekes was setting it on fire here. Both Koula and Garrick looked to be remarkably better fullbacks than him, in 2023, and yet they're not even our second choice fullbacks anymore.

In tight cap conditions, like the one we have had for the past few years, it doesn't make sense to sit and wait on some players who aren't showing any improvement whatsoever, whilst sitting in the Top 30. See Tuitivake, Fifita, Fulton, and many others.

Whilst I despise the recruitment of some of these older players, Woods objectively offered more to us, than the two props that ended up at the Dragons. That was arguably our worst signing, and it was still better than the opposite end of the trade.

Schuster and Fletcher Myers went on to be coached by arguably the GOAT coach, what exactly have they achieved?

This argument is ridiculous.
 
I cannot believe it's gotten to the point where Seibold is the reason this guy was crap, and that he's actually good because Moses gave him a good ball. That's outrageous lol.

Like, are you kidding? Look at all the comments on here from 2023. He's been absolutely rubbish defensively for a long time, first at the Tigers, then here, and now at the Eels. That unchanging defensive black hole between Schuster and Tuilagi was probably one of our worst ever.

On Weekes, as I believe that's who you're also inferring, show me the NRL games, or even NSW Cup games for that matter, where Weekes was setting it on fire here. Both Koula and Garrick looked to be remarkably better fullbacks than him, in 2023, and yet they're not even our second choice fullbacks anymore.

In tight cap conditions, like the one we have had for the past few years, it doesn't make sense to sit and wait on some players who aren't showing any improvement whatsoever, whilst sitting in the Top 30. See Tuitivake, Fifita, Fulton, and many others.

Whilst I despise the recruitment of some of these older players, Woods objectively offered more to us, than the two props that ended up at the Dragons. That was arguably our worst signing, and it was still better than the opposite end of the trade.

Schuster and Fletcher Myers went on to be coached by arguably the GOAT coach, what exactly have they achieved?

This argument is ridiculous.
Hi Phobia, I think Kelma Tuilagi is at least three times the player Waddell is. Weekes consistently did what he is doing now in the lower grades. It's why Seibs elevated him to first grade. I think Weekes is a better option than Talau who Seibs brought in. The other players we will definitely miss are the Fainus. You can take that to the bank. Sione and Samuela are already much better options than much of what we have here and we rolled out the red carpet to tiger town as part of the deFultonsation.

The competitive teams hang onto their best young players it's as simple as that.

We shipped ours out and signed Brown, Talau, Brooks, Tevaga and co. That's the facts. While Melbourne find a way to hang onto Pezet and that young FB amongst others, Penrith have Laurie, Cole, Alamotti and friends,we roll out the tired old excuse that there was no path to first grade. I'm over it. Last time I checked it takes a full squad to win a premiership.

I actually think Seibs isn't such a bad coach but he isn't a recruiters butthole.
 
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I cannot believe it's gotten to the point where Seibold is the reason this guy was crap, and that he's actually good because Moses gave him a good ball. That's outrageous lol.

Like, are you kidding? Look at all the comments on here from 2023. He's been absolutely rubbish defensively for a long time, first at the Tigers, then here, and now at the Eels. That unchanging defensive black hole between Schuster and Tuilagi was probably one of our worst ever.

On Weekes, as I believe that's who you're also inferring, show me the NRL games, or even NSW Cup games for that matter, where Weekes was setting it on fire here. Both Koula and Garrick looked to be remarkably better fullbacks than him, in 2023, and yet they're not even our second choice fullbacks anymore.

In tight cap conditions, like the one we have had for the past few years, it doesn't make sense to sit and wait on some players who aren't showing any improvement whatsoever, whilst sitting in the Top 30. See Tuitivake, Fifita, Fulton, and many others.

Whilst I despise the recruitment of some of these older players, Woods objectively offered more to us, than the two props that ended up at the Dragons. That was arguably our worst signing, and it was still better than the opposite end of the trade.

Schuster and Fletcher Myers went on to be coached by arguably the GOAT coach, what exactly have they achieved?

This argument is ridiculous.
I would have given Weekes a full season on the bench or play him in one or at 2 positions at most.
We gave him a few games in a few different positions to impress and all the while unfairly scapegoating him for the losses. He has somewhat of a similar trajectory to Thurston who wasn't able to show what he could do. Except at the Dogs, they were coming off as Premiers so understandably it gave Sherwin an upper hand in negotiations as the starting half back of a winning team. Whereas here we were a team coming off a semi final appearance in 21 then we got rid of Des then decide to sign Brooks, Cooper and Arthur to take turns at 5/8 and now we are heading into wooden spoon territory.
 
Kelma has continued to be a plodder all this time, however is enjoying a purple patch of form of late, and good luck it may even continue.

But let's not add Kelma to the old recruitment problems of manly. If he had stayed and mirrored his performances, he would have been smashed the last few years on here.
 
Hi Phobia, I think Kelma Tuilagi is at least three times the player Waddell is. Weekes consistently did what he is doing now in the lower grades. It's why Seibs elevated him to first grade. I think Weekes is a better option than Talau who Seibs brought in.
Why are you trying to compare Talau to Weekes? They play exclusively in different positions. It’s pretty simple - Weekes better fullback. Talau better winger/centre. 1 thing we have is plenty of fullback cover
 
Why are you trying to compare Talau to Weekes? They play exclusively in different positions. It’s pretty simple - Weekes better fullback. Talau better winger/centre. 1 thing we have is plenty of fullback cover
Sound of my brain imploding.

I'm comparing talent plain and simple.
 
If you are comparing talent then it should be simple to see why Weekes was let go. Turbo has him covered in every aspect bar speed
He was cheap, we should have kept him. Melbourne, Penrith, Canterbury and the like certainly would have. It's just my opinion man. Nothing will change it. I'm all good with you disagreeing, I just don't understand why double poops had to call me Bozo.
 
Hi Phobia, I think Kelma Tuilagi is at least three times the player Waddell is. Weekes consistently did what he is doing now in the lower grades. It's why Seibs elevated him to first grade. I think Weekes is a better option than Talau who Seibs brought in. The other players we will definitely miss are the Fainus. You can take that to the bank. Sione and Samuela are already much better options than much of what we have here and we rolled out the red carpet to tiger town as part of the deFultnosation.

The competitive teams hang onto their best young players it's as simple as that.

We shipped ours out and signed Brown, Talau, Brooks, Tevaga and co. That's the facts. While Melbourne find a way to hang onto Pezet and that young FB amongst others, Penrith have Laurie, Cole, Alamotti and friends,we roll out the tired old excuse that there was no path to first grade. I'm over it. Last time I checked it takes a full squad to win a premiership.

I actually think Seibs isn't such a bad coach but he isn't a recruiters butthole.
iirc the Kelma vs Waddell argument is quite fruitless, because Scott Fulton decided that Kelma was worth ~$600k... Undoubtedly Waddell is on quite a bit less.

That said, I would say Waddell is a better defender, purely because he puts in marginally more effort. Though this is like prefering to have a quick death over a slow death. Ideally you're not dying at all.

Fainus also on $1 million for the pair of them. No way is Latu better than Brooks, I don't understand the hype. Also apparently some character defects there.

Worth noting that both Daine Laurie and Alamoti were not at the Panthers two years ago.

I don't think the problem is that there's no path to first grade. The issue is these players don't show anything that suggests they are first graders. Weekes is a very clear exception, but he's said himself that he was poor at Manly.

The exception of Weekes doesn't mean the bulk of players we let go are all of that quality.
 

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