Rumour: Frank Paul The Wrecking Ball To Belmore

[Headless Chook]

The salary cap is there to protect News Limited's returns rather than any real benefit to the game or protection of the clubs. I'm over worrying about who gets paid in real estate, poker machines, brown bags, through overseas companies or tax losses.

I would only be guessing if I tried to do the numbers for you. Our big money signings were Pritchard, Tolman and Hodkinson. Eastwood and Keating are on good money and Millington, Wright and Lett came over on not much more than minimum.

Tolman's situation is well known, Pritchard came to us because of Eastwood and Eastwood has become attached to a faction in our club and wanted to come back.

There's a story behind Millington's move, so I understand we got him for less than you would expect. Keating we got because of the smokescreen around the Dogs bid for young Mortimer, we didn't get into any bidding war for him so got him at a reasonable price. (Parra are so badly managed, it's not funny. Heaven help Stephen Kearney.)

On the other side of the ledger, we lost Hannant, Kimmorley and Patten. Those 3 alone are over $1million. We also released Buddy Gordon, who was on minimum, Jarrod Hickey who is pretty much a straight swap for Eastwood in money terms and Winitana who was also on a little more than minimum.

Josh Morris, by the way, has supposedly knocked back an upgrade and extension on his deal on 2 occasions. So whatever money we had already spent, there was supposed to be more available for Morris. So either we had money left in the cap or as part of the Tolman deal we also picked up the Storm's second filing cabinet.

I will leave it to you to do the sums, if they don't add up then send your figures and thoughts to jbrady@nrl.com.au. He enjoys getting feedback !!

Thats scary to think you guys paid the same amount for Hickey as you will be for Eastwood. Either its a great bit of business in one respect or very poor management in another.

[Guest]

I read somewhere that you guys paid 100k+ for Gordon. I was surprised at the time because I thought he was a bludger on and off the field.

You are correct about Barba Imadog, I hear he is really putting in the hard yards in training.

Not sure of the number, but it was something like that, around $120k. I think it was loaded with incentives though, to get it to that number.

He worked pretty hard whilst he was with us, and became a bit of an underdog favourite amongst some of the supporters. Would have liked to see more, so not sure whether we really squeezed the best out of him.

[Guest]

Thats scary to think you guys paid the same amount for Hickey as you will be for Eastwood. Either its a great bit of business in one respect or very poor management in another.

What's scary, is that he was considered our "main man" for the forwards a few years ago. The Dogs have been "cleaning house" for a couple of seasons now, and that extends right through the grades.

Mudguts was a crowd favourite, we all loved him but he is not quite NRL standard. Maybe a season or two with Bennett or Bellamy might sort him out.

Another guy that has been sent to the park is Brad Morrin. Great bloke (don't stand on his lawn!!) and passionate Dog (some would say "hungry", right Timana?) but once again not quite at standard.

Eastwood's deal will probably get upgraded some time soon, as we had to buy out a portion of his Leeds contract.

[Guest]

What's scary, is that he was considered our "main man" for the forwards a few years ago. The Dogs have been "cleaning house" for a couple of seasons now, and that extends right through the grades.

Mudguts was a crowd favourite, we all loved him but he is not quite NRL standard. Maybe a season or two with Bennett or Bellamy might sort him out.

Another guy that has been sent to the park is Brad Morrin. Great bloke (don't stand on his lawn!!) and passionate Dog (some would say "hungry", right Timana?) but once again not quite at standard.

Eastwood's deal will probably get upgraded some time soon, as we had to buy out a portion of his Leeds contract.

I thought you guys released Morrin to go up north?

[Guest]

Eastwood would have to be the dogs best buy, he,s a great player and will give the dogs more go forward than hannat.[may even be the best buy in the comp in 2011]. inglis will have to work alot harder without smith cronk n slater, we,ll see what hes made of in 2011! I don,t think the storm will lose anything in the centre position, champion will almost definatey play origin this year.[if he avoids injury].

[Guest]

I thought you guys released Morrin to go up north?

The last I heard he's playing with the Bankstown Bulls. That news is about 3 or 4 weeks old.

I'll check, a mate knows him well.

[Cockadoodledoo]

On the other side of the ledger, we lost Hannant, Kimmorley and Patten. Those 3 alone are over $1million. We also released Buddy Gordon, who was on minimum, Jarrod Hickey who is pretty much a straight swap for Eastwood in money terms and Winitana who was also on a little more than minimum.

Josh Morris, by the way, has supposedly knocked back an upgrade and extension on his deal on 2 occasions. So whatever money we had already spent, there was supposed to be more available for Morris. So either we had money left in the cap or as part of the Tolman deal we also picked up the Storm's second filing cabinet.

I will leave it to you to do the sums, if they don't add up then send your figures and thoughts to jbrady@nrl.com.au. He enjoys getting feedback !!

Hannant was on $350K according to Graeme Hughes who should have a fair idea... Kimmorley from what I had heard from someone very reliable was only on $275K and there is no way Patten was on more than $250K. That is well short of $1m.. If Eastwood is getting the same as Hickey then I have a harbour bridge to sell you. There is no reason for the Dogs to have been paying Hickey much as there is no way they were ever in some sort of bidding war for him.. He is and always was ordinary. Maybe he was on $150K but Eastwood would be easily $250K +.. Sorry but a common theme from the bulldogs is how little they sign players for but the moment those players leave, somehow their departures frees up a massive amount of money..

[Guest]

Hannant was on $350K according to Graeme Hughes who should have a fair idea... Kimmorley from what I had heard from someone very reliable was only on $275K and there is no way Patten was on more than $250K. That is well short of $1m.. If Eastwood is getting the same as Hickey then I have a harbour bridge to sell you. There is no reason for the Dogs to have been paying Hickey much as there is no way they were ever in some sort of bidding war for him.. He is and always was ordinary. Maybe he was on $150K but Eastwood would be easily $250K +.. Sorry but a common theme from the bulldogs is how little they sign players for but the moment those players leave, somehow their departures frees up a massive amount of money..

I says, he says .... those numbers for Patten and Kimmorley are wrong. Sorry.

We originally signed Eastwood from the park, after his deal with Leeds failed the first time. He has come back on improved terms but no where near what you are suggesting. Hickey was signed under the previous regime, who didn't have a good track record for managing players. (Corey Hughes was on $200k, Graeme never mentions that!! ) Patten and Ryan were re-signed on significantly upgraded terms just prior to the AGM in 2008 to gain favour with the members.

I would suggest you speak to Malcolm Noad and Keith Onslow about that bridge.

[Guest]

Imadog, would you say that no other team wanted Eastwood so that there was no bidding war and you got him for cheap?

[Guest]

Imadog, would you say that no other team wanted Eastwood so that there was no bidding war and you got him for cheap?

As far as I'm aware Parra spoke to him, via Stephen Kearney, but don't know what if anything came of it. If they put in a bid, or not. My guess is that the transfer fee to Leeds would have put them off.

I haven't suggested that we got him cheap, but I don't think we paid $300k for him either.

[Guest]

Beau for Origin? He is dreaming

Eastwood would have to be the dogs best buy, he,s a great player and will give the dogs more go forward than hannat.[may even be the best buy in the comp in 2011]. inglis will have to work alot harder without smith cronk n slater, we,ll see what hes made of in 2011! I don,t think the storm will lose anything in the centre position, champion will almost definatey play origin this year.[if he avoids injury].

Sorry, Champion is a just an average 1st grader, will only scrape a game and play origin if there is an injury plague amongst NSW's modest centre options. Had to laugh when Inglis was quoted that cousin Beau was not squeezed out to his joining Soufs - PALEEASE. Then again, GI does hang around Choc Mundine, so he should be good for a few laughable quotes.

Hope we can keep FPN, but there is so much forward depth that something has to give. Conn is great value for money, but would obviously be on the exit radar. Myles could be looking for good coin next time round and a long term deal to see him out (which he may not get at Easts). Ryles may play beyond 2011 (seems to be the coach's pet). Manly want JWH back. Guys like Cherrington, Symonds, Masoe, Cordner won't run week in week out around for Newtown without feeling interest. I got a feeling Boyd's future is being questioned on account of being too injury prone at such an early age. Add to that there's a 5/8th playing lock. Braith's next move is going to be our big story for 2011, and will rank only behind W Bennett's future as the story of 2011. wahts the answer? Nice problem to have. Move the oldies on. - that means in Conn and Ryles, possibly Myles, Braith, and lose a young gun along the way (Boyd ?). Its the way it is espacially for the Sydney based teams.

[Cockadoodledoo]

Sorry, Champion is a just an average 1st grader, will only scrape a game and play origin if there is an injury plague amongst NSW's modest centre options. Had to laugh when Inglis was quoted that cousin Beau was not squeezed out to his joining Soufs - PALEEASE. Then again, GI does hang around Choc Mundine, so he should be good for a few laughable quotes.

Hope we can keep FPN, but there is so much forward depth that something has to give. Conn is great value for money, but would obviously be on the exit radar.Myles could be looking for good coin next time round and a long term deal to see him out (which he may not get at Easts). Ryles may play beyond 2011 (seems to be the coach's pet). Manly want JWH back. Guys like Cherrington, Symonds, Masoe, Cordner won't run week in week out around for Newtown without feeling interest. I got a feeling Boyd's future is being questioned on account of being too injury prone at such an early age. Add to that there's a 5/8th playing lock. Braith's next move is going to be our big story for 2011, and will rank only behind W Bennett's future as the story of 2011. wahts the answer? Nice problem to have. Move the oldies on. - that means in Conn and Ryles, possibly Myles, Braith, and lose a young gun along the way (Boyd ?). Its the way it is espacially for the Sydney based teams.

Myles has been on very good coin from the moment he joined us and is moving towards his peak and is very much seen now as a forward leader. I cannot see him leaving..

[Guest]

Sorry, Champion is a just an average 1st grader, will only scrape a game and play origin if there is an injury plague amongst NSW's modest centre options. Had to laugh when Inglis was quoted that cousin Beau was not squeezed out to his joining Soufs - PALEEASE. Then again, GI does hang around Choc Mundine, so he should be good for a few laughable quotes.

Hope we can keep FPN, but there is so much forward depth that something has to give. Conn is great value for money, but would obviously be on the exit radar. Myles could be looking for good coin next time round and a long term deal to see him out (which he may not get at Easts). Ryles may play beyond 2011 (seems to be the coach's pet). Manly want JWH back. Guys like Cherrington, Symonds, Masoe, Cordner won't run week in week out around for Newtown without feeling interest. I got a feeling Boyd's future is being questioned on account of being too injury prone at such an early age. Add to that there's a 5/8th playing lock. Braith's next move is going to be our big story for 2011, and will rank only behind W Bennett's future as the story of 2011. wahts the answer? Nice problem to have. Move the oldies on. - that means in Conn and Ryles, possibly Myles, Braith, and lose a young gun along the way (Boyd ?). Its the way it is espacially for the Sydney based teams.

Champion only just missed out on last year origin,He will be better again under Bellamy.who does nsw have to choose over Champion? not that im a fan.

[Headless Chook]

Sorry, Champion is a just an average 1st grader, will only scrape a game and play origin if there is an injury plague amongst NSW's modest centre options. Had to laugh when Inglis was quoted that cousin Beau was not squeezed out to his joining Soufs - PALEEASE. Then again, GI does hang around Choc Mundine, so he should be good for a few laughable quotes.

Hope we can keep FPN, but there is so much forward depth that something has to give. Conn is great value for money, but would obviously be on the exit radar. Myles could be looking for good coin next time round and a long term deal to see him out (which he may not get at Easts). Ryles may play beyond 2011 (seems to be the coach's pet). Manly want JWH back. Guys like Cherrington, Symonds, Masoe, Cordner won't run week in week out around for Newtown without feeling interest. I got a feeling Boyd's future is being questioned on account of being too injury prone at such an early age. Add to that there's a 5/8th playing lock. Braith's next move is going to be our big story for 2011, and will rank only behind W Bennett's future as the story of 2011. wahts the answer? Nice problem to have. Move the oldies on. - that means in Conn and Ryles, possibly Myles, Braith, and lose a young gun along the way (Boyd ?). Its the way it is espacially for the Sydney based teams.

Only if somebody comes in with a big offer for him. He strikes me as the sort of player who would be happy to keep playing for the $100-150k mark as long as he has the security of a 2yr deal.

[morley101]

Conn reminds me of Chad Robinson you notice him more when he is not there.. a good honest toiler.