Roosters circle disgruntled Dragons prop Molo

[Roosterfarian]

They'll use the excuse of May having attitude problems to justify it I guess.

There was a lot more to it than that.

club had no choice.

[Rooster90]

I think the Va boys injuries may have forced our hand in looking for short term fixes

Surely they must be used to seeing the Va'a boys on the injury list by now - they sit out more games than they play

[HunchoRooster]

So let me get this straight;

We let players like May (who we literally re-signed 2-3 months ago) and Sitili go, not to mention JWH, and declare that we are confident with the side we have. Then, after one game we decide actually no, we aren’t confident and now we are forced to get Molo who hasn’t been at his peak for years, and also apparently we are trying to get JWH again, who we literally just parted ways with?

This begs the question: What then was the point in letting these three players go in the first place, if we weren’t confident with our squad without them? If we weren’t confident in the direction we were going in?

Granted, we have a few injuries which are out of our control, but wouldn’t you take that into account when planing for them new year? Especially since in recent history we have had an incredible amount of injuries?

It’s quite laughable, and frankly embarrassing as a supporter. Molo may end up being a cheap stopgap, but it just sort of looks like we haven’t a clue what we are doing.

Perfectly said. The lack of contingency is alarming. Let's not forget we also tried to sign Gagai as our great hope to replace JS (instead of the likes of Lomax or Holmes) and then tried to sign Shaun Johnson. Two guys not exactly at the peak of their powers yet they both said no to us.
Now all of a sudden we had faith in Sandon Smith the whole time and he was always going to be the starting half according to the coach. Where was SJ going to play then?. Dont get me started on Cheese. It's clear as day we went hard for the comp in 2023 / 2024 and failed. Its on the coach.

We had Angus C halfway out the door and told he wasn't needed, got dudded by Fifita and then backflipped with our tail between legs and offered AC big money to stay. Upgraded Spencer after about 5 games of footy for us when nobody was really in for him. Just baffling call after baffling call that all seem to be made on the fly. Where does it leave us, with Chad Townsend at halfback and a forward pack and bench with about 20 games between them.

[Lydon]

Perfectly said. The lack of contingency is alarming. Let's not forget we also tried to sign Gagai as our great hope to replace JS (instead of the likes of Lomax or Holmes) and then tried to sign Shaun Johnson. Two guys not exactly at the peak of their powers yet they both said no to us.

Now all of a sudden we had faith in Sandon Smith the whole time and he was always going to be the starting half according to the coach. Where was SJ going to play then?. Dont get me started on Cheese. It's clear as day we went hard for the comp in 2023 / 2024 and failed. Its on the coach.

100%

[Thirteen]

We certainly did try to sign Lomax. He wanted to come too. We only rejected him cause we wouldn’t allow him to pursue boxing. Parra did.

Hunt was also keen but the club turned their back on him.

[Inflictor]

I hope we sign Molo just so the discussion regarding letting May go and picking up this bloke can go on for another 6 months.

It is a Buzz story and he also thought it would be a good idea if we try and buy out JWH's contract to bring him back. After two days it turned to we are trying to buy out JWH's contract.

I actually think Buzz has more contact with the Roosters than anyone else in the media but that doesn't mean he doesn't make up clickbait.

[Schooner]

I've been watching JWHs games for Hull. He's good but not a standout and the standard there is a lot easier. I think his NRL days are over. If we had him here this year he wouldn't play to his established standards although the rest of them would probably improve in his presence.

[Hawkeye]

Isn't Galvin managed by Issac Moses ? Thought Nick refuses to deal with him !

[SamKerrSimp]

Shaun Johnson didn't want to relocate to Sydney for 1 year with a young family and presumably Dane Gagai also didn't want to do that but somehow this means we have lost star attraction power. Some of you need to get a grip.

[MKCS]

Shaun Johnson didn't want to relocate to Sydney for 1 year with a young family and presumably Dane Gagai also didn't want to do that but somehow this means we have lost star attraction power. Some of you need to get a grip.

Val Holmes, Ben Hunt, Zac Lomax (Apparently), Johnson, Gagai and David Fifita all turned us down. We came away with a mid thirties Chad Townsend and a guy that couldn't crack the top 17 for a Parramatta team that played in the spoon bowl.

[SamKerrSimp]

Val Holmes, Ben Hunt, Zac Lomax (Apparently), Johnson, Gagai and David Fifita all turned us down. We came away with a mid thirties Chad Townsend and a guy that couldn't crack the top 17 for a Parramatta team that played in the spoon bowl.

A lot of these guys are "turning us down" because we aren't offering them a $1m a season package (Holmes, Hunt) or allowing them to get their head caved in during the off season (Lomax)

Did you miss the part where after all of these "rejections" we went and signed the current NSW hooker? No surprise that you left that one out.

[Rooster_6]

Val Holmes, Ben Hunt, Zac Lomax (Apparently), Johnson, Gagai and David Fifita all turned us down. We came away with a mid thirties Chad Townsend and a guy that couldn't crack the top 17 for a Parramatta team that played in the spoon bowl.

I know it doesn't suit the story but just quietly we have also signed Mark Nawaqanitawase & Reece Robson.

If we listed the players the media linked us to every year you could write the exact same argument time and time again for decades.

[MKCS]

A lot of these guys are "turning us down" because we aren't offering them a $1m a season package (Holmes, Hunt) or allowing them to get their head caved in during the off season (Lomax)

Did you miss the part where after all of these "rejections" we went and signed the current NSW hooker? No surprise that you left that one out.

Why are you getting aggressive? I was clearly talking about our 2025 signings.

Holmes signed for the Dragons on 800k a season, Ben Hunt went to the Broncos for 550k, safe to say that Ben was probably looking for 750k - 800k a season from us but decided he'd rather go to the Broncos. As for Holmes, the money isn't right for him, I believe 800k is too much for what he's offering but Lomax was available for 650k, who cares if he wants to box in the off season?

As Rooster_6 pointed out, I did forget about Mark N but he also isn't a star rugby league player, is he? We haven't really signed a superstar of the game in a very long time, Cooper Cronk may have been the last if memory serves correct. Robson is a current Origin player and probably our biggest signing since Cronk though, I will acknowledge that.

[SamKerrSimp]

Why are you getting aggressive? I was clearly talking about our 2025 signings.

Holmes signed for the Dragons on 800k a season, Ben Hunt went to the Broncos for 550k, safe to say that Ben was probably looking for 750k - 800k a season from us but decided he'd rather go to the Broncos. As for Holmes, the money isn't right for him, I believe 800k is too much for what he's offering but Lomax was available for 650k, who cares if he wants to box in the off season?

As Rooster_6 pointed out, I did forget about Mark N but he also isn't a star rugby league player, is he? We haven't really signed a superstar of the game in a very long time, Cooper Cronk may have been the last if memory serves correct. Robson is a current Origin player and probably our biggest signing since Cronk though, I will acknowledge that.

If that's what you call aggressive you need to step outside of the protection blanket jeez. So Holmes signed for roughly $850k and you believe that's too much so what's the complaining about? Holmes' management reached out to the Roosters we weren't the ones chasing him and it took a desperate club like the Dragons to get him. Who wants to allow a a $650k a year player to go get bashed in the off season? That's a dumb move, let's pay you $650k and then you go and get a couple of concussions in boxing. He wants to play centre which he isn't good at either and we have a young up and comer in Toia and Billy Smith waiting to come back. We only offered Hunt the opportunity to play hooker because paying him a huge fee to play halfback when we have Sam Walker on $1m a year to play halfback is another dumb move.

If Holmes, Hunt and Lomax are star players then what are Young, Smith and Leniu? You're complaining about nothing here.

[MKCS]

If that's what you call aggressive you need to step outside of the protection blanket jeez. So Holmes signed for roughly $850k and you believe that's too much so what's the complaining about? Holmes' management reached out to the Roosters we weren't the ones chasing him and it took a desperate club like the Dragons to get him. Who wants to allow a a $650k a year player to go get bashed in the off season? That's a dumb move, let's pay you $650k and then you go and get a couple of concussions in boxing. He wants to play centre which he isn't good at either and we have a young up and comer in Toia and Billy Smith waiting to come back. We only offered Hunt the opportunity to play hooker because paying him a huge fee to play halfback when we have Sam Walker on $1m a year to play halfback is another dumb move.

If Holmes, Hunt and Lomax are star players then what are Young, Smith and Leniu? You're complaining about nothing here.

So instead of Zac Lomax the Australian international and Origin star who would easily be coached to be better at centre after his best year to date you'd prefer us to rely on Billy Smith who has averaged 6 games a year from 2020 to 2024 and has never successfully completed a season injury free? Suddenly in 2025 Billy Smith and his injuries will be a thing of the past? Personally I hope you're right and that he never gets injured again but it has happened for the last 6 years in a row and will unfortunately likely happen again.

Ben Hunt would've played a fine role at 5/8 for us this year just like he's doing at the Broncos, he could've been exactly what the club wanted Chad Townsend to be just fifty times better. Great mentorship for Sam to play with someone with hundreds of games, Australian caps, QLD caps etc.

I don't think that Leniu, Smith and Hunt are really comparable to Holmes and Hunt to be honest, maybe more comparable to Zac Lomax who is just starting his work towards being a star player but Holmes and Hunt have been part of the Australia/QLD set up for almost a decade now, they've won Origins, World Cups and Holmes has even won a grand final, both guys did these in key positions. In comparison Dom Young has never really won anything and represents England which is a bit of an easier team to make when compared to Australia/Origin. Leniu was a great impact bench player but is similar to Lomax in that he's just starting at that next level and Brandon Smith has quite a few achievements but he was at his best as part of the Melbourne Storm where he was a bench utility.

Also, I was referencing the true superstars of the game, why isn't Luai here? When is the last time we signed a genuine gamechanging superstar? Someone on the level of Ponga, Cleary, Walsh, Munster, Hughes, Trbojevic, Haas, DCE or players like that who would come in and instantly make us contenders? The last time was Cronk. Brandon Smith and Spencer Leniu definitely aren't that.