Koula ....big year coming!

Ron E. Gibbs said:
Posted in another thread, but here's the bit you're after:

Sport Confidential: Manly move to shut down Rugby poaching raid​

The Sea Eagles face a fight to keep a rising star, as Eddie Jones’ plans to raid rugby league ramp up.

Manly have tabled a two-year extension for Tolutau Koula aimed at warding off approaches from the Australian Rugby Union.
Koula, named in the centres for Manly’s season opener against Canterbury at 4 Pines Park on Saturday, is already under lock and key until the end of 2024.

The Sea Eagles have now moved to lock him up until the end of 2026 as part of a plan to keep the young star out of the clutches of the Australian Rugby Union and Wallabies coach Eddie Jones .

Jones has made no secret of his plans to raid the rugby league ranks for players with rugby union pedigree in the lead-up to the 2027 World Cup – Koula attended Newington College and was selected in the Australian schoolboys squad alongside Sydney Roosters sensation Joseph Suaalii.

Suaalii is another on the ARU’s hit-list – he has an option in his contract for next season at the Roosters and is expected to extend his stay for at least another year.

The ARU is attempting to sign some of rugby league’s brightest stars with a bulging war chest and the lure of the British and Irish Lions tour in 2025, and the World Cup two years later.

Koula has been on a rapid rise since making his first grade debut at the Sea Eagles under Des Hasler. The 20-year-old made his international debut for Tonga last year – he was a key member go the Tongan side at the World Cup – and will start in the centres against the Bulldogs on Saturday.

He is one of the players coach Anthony Seibold plans to build the club around in coming years.
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They need to get it done ........ and without 74 get out clauses.
 
Good to see we are being proactive and are looking to lock him down early.

Get it done
 
Just tell our players, win us a comp first, then by all means go and chase the dollars, and good luck to you. eg Fifita and Koula.
 
Mark from Brisbane said:
Be interesting if the NRL needed to help us to retain him , would they ??
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ricky gervais laughing GIF
 
Just to maybe get things into some helpful perspective and to take into account what Dylan Walker "s contract was from 2017 until 2020 , some 600 k plus apparently a modest 3 rd party at some stage . Fast forward to koula now and would have to at least match his level [ Walker ] at his best , if not better in some areas . Allow for the general cap increase of 25 % plus another 6 years of relative money variation increase and Koula could well be in a 700 k bracket , probably double or slightly double what he is most likely on now . and he is still contracted for 2024 . if he can maintain his present form level and even some further development , probably could allow say 750 K , more then competitive with any Rah Rah poaching offer and that could be part bluff as well . Would become a premier centre value player then but would say around Panthers Crichton "s market price now and of course also that would be open to some conjecture . very important to retain quite a bit of other young talent as well but again based on other comparative centres and into the future after this or next season 750 k , or a bit more for koula , maybe quite a realistic proposition , Providing also the current big 3 pay recipients can constrain themselves a bit on the money contract front . .
 
Shoe1 said:
800k a year? Really? If so I doubt manly would stand in his way, we certainly shouldn’t match it.
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As Manly al says, probably take 700k. And he would want to stay with his mates here at Manly anyway, being a young player. Right now it's all smoke and mirrors, and it's not as if the ARU have got a massive war chest of money to splash around on new players coming into the code.
 
Mark from Brisbane said:
Be interesting if the NRL needed to help us to retain him , would they ??
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This is the problem, especially where the NRL rules currently prevent all the other NRL clubs from entering the battle for the player by making an offer.

The NRL obviously can't stop the ARU from making offers and can't stop French RU clubs from encouraging NRL players to walk out on a NRL club and contract.

It's been this way since the early 2000s with Lote Tuquiri when he was still under contract with the Broncos. The only people who could get to him & make sweet offers were the ARU and the Broncos. The other NRL clubs couldn't make an offer, which may have been big enough to have kept him in league (if money was all it was about).

That means its the ARU vs one NRL club fighting for the player. If you believe these new media stories today, its now Manly vs ARU. Be a different story if it was ARU and 17 NRL clubs vying for the player.

The NRL can't help one club because the other NRL clubs will scream, while the NRL rules doesn't let the other NRL clubs make an offer to the same player.

There's no answer unless the NRL centrally contract & pay overs on all of the competition's top players and all of the top fringe young players.

Given rugby league started as a revolt by footballers against unfair restriction on trade, it would a bit churlish to now argue that the ARU are acting unfairly.

If rugby league in Aust wanted to stop this, it should have somewhere between 1908 and 1995 killed off the ARU and RU in Australia when it was nothing but an amateur sport. Too late now. The only alternative now is make playing NRL a lot more appealing to footballers for not only the cash, but also for other reasons.

But you're right, the NRL expecting one unsupported NRL club to hold the fort against the ARU is hardly fair.
 
Once Was Brissie Kid said:
This is the problem, especially where the NRL rules currently prevent all the other NRL clubs from entering the battle for the player by making an offer.

The NRL obviously can't stop the ARU from making offers and can't stop French RU clubs from encouraging NRL players to walk out on a NRL club and contract.

It's been this way since the early 2000s with Lote Tuquiri when he was still under contract with the Broncos. The only people who could get to him & make sweet offers were the ARU and the Broncos. The other NRL clubs couldn't make an offer, which may have been big enough to have kept him in league (if money was all it was about).

That means its the ARU vs one NRL club fighting for the player. If you believe these new media stories today, its now Manly vs ARU. Be a different story if it was ARU and 17 NRL clubs vying for the player.

The NRL can't help one club because the other NRL clubs will scream, while the NRL rules doesn't let the other NRL clubs make an offer to the same player.

There's no answer unless the NRL centrally contract & pay overs on all of the competition's top players and all of the top fringe young players.

Given rugby league started as a revolt by footballers against unfair restriction on trade, it would a bit churlish to now argue that the ARU are acting unfairly.

If rugby league in Aust wanted to stop this, it should have somewhere between 1908 and 1995 killed off the ARU and RU in Australia when it was nothing but an amateur sport. Too late now. The only alternative now is make playing NRL a lot more appealing to footballers for not only the cash, but also for other reasons.

But you're right, the NRL expecting one unsupported NRL club to hold the fort against the ARU is hardly fair.
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I get all that , but if they don’t make a stand with one player it’ll open Pandoras Box and the 17 clubs could well be affected.

Rugby is in a **** situation , they’ve got a few good players and a lot of very average ones.

If they are successful with one raid, it’s likely to be an avalanche.
 
Mark from Brisbane said:
I get all that , but if they don’t make a stand with one player it’ll open Pandoras Box and the 17 clubs could well be affected.

Rugby is in a **** situation , they’ve got a few good players and a lot of very average ones.

If they are successful with one raid, it’s likely to be an avalanche.
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Mate, we're going to have to put some new hinges on Pandora's Box pretty soon. It's been getting a heck of a workout lately. @:D
 
Once Was Brissie Kid said:
This is the problem, especially where the NRL rules currently prevent all the other NRL clubs from entering the battle for the player by making an offer.

The NRL obviously can't stop the ARU from making offers and can't stop French RU clubs from encouraging NRL players to walk out on a NRL club and contract.

It's been this way since the early 2000s with Lote Tuquiri when he was still under contract with the Broncos. The only people who could get to him & make sweet offers were the ARU and the Broncos. The other NRL clubs couldn't make an offer, which may have been big enough to have kept him in league (if money was all it was about).

That means its the ARU vs one NRL club fighting for the player. If you believe these new media stories today, its now Manly vs ARU. Be a different story if it was ARU and 17 NRL clubs vying for the player.

The NRL can't help one club because the other NRL clubs will scream, while the NRL rules doesn't let the other NRL clubs make an offer to the same player.

There's no answer unless the NRL centrally contract & pay overs on all of the competition's top players and all of the top fringe young players.

Given rugby league started as a revolt by footballers against unfair restriction on trade, it would a bit churlish to now argue that the ARU are acting unfairly.

If rugby league in Aust wanted to stop this, it should have somewhere between 1908 and 1995 killed off the ARU and RU in Australia when it was nothing but an amateur sport. Too late now. The only alternative now is make playing NRL a lot more appealing to footballers for not only the cash, but also for other reasons.

But you're right, the NRL expecting one unsupported NRL club to hold the fort against the ARU is hardly fair.
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I mean...not really, if the player is under contract a club has the right to dig in and not release them.

If they are off contract all 17 clubs can compete
 
Doubt he would want to go and stand in the backline in Rugby and get cold.

But money talks.

By the way I love how rugby claims these guys as their own just because they got a scholarship to a GPS school. In most cases they are league guys who are happy to get a free quality education that their families wouldn't be able to afford otherwise.
 
I mean, it's typical cowardly, rubbish journalism and they've taken no time at all to get back into the anti manly swing of things.

The only positive I can find with these 'sports journos' is that it gives hope to parents of crayon eating troglodytes that their offspring can still make a living.

That said, on one hand we read about how players don't want to leave "Brisbane" or whatever town they live in (like a 1 hour flight to Sydney is the same as traveling 10 parsecs) yet on the other, when it suits the 'journos' the lure of world wide travel is such a super duper awesome way of life.

Go Manly!
 
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