Foxsports confirms Anasta signs 2 year deal with Tigers (Merged threads)

[Guest]

he can cop the losses as long as the team look like they want to play and as long as they are giving it their all

I would say that applies to almost everyone on here.

The thing about Anasta is that for the majority of his extremely well paid and well catered for career, he has not given his all. Most of the time, his workrate is poor and his execution poorer.

He's a good bloke, and an even better one when he puts his heart in on the field as well as off it. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen often enough, and he doesn't have enough skill to make these rare occasions worth it.

As for your little rant about whingers, you may well be a troll, in which case I'm wasting my time, but if you aren't, then one thing I've learnt from sticking around here, posting a bit and reading a lot, is that the common theme of all legitimate posters on this site is that they love Easts. Some express it in bizarre and negative ways, but everyone on here does indeed live Red White and Blue.

[chook 56]

It's one thing to support our players. It's another to see one player consistently spit the dummy when he can't get his own way.
Braith thought he owned the number 6. The disruption that he cause early last year, when he clashed with Smith, when he was forced into the pack, was a contributing factor to a crappy year.
His days as a 6 are long gone, if they ever really existed. Braith in 6 is a ROAD BLOCK for the ball getting to our backs.This is part of our problem atm.

Thems the facts peoples.
Call a spade a shovel, if you want.

[kurtsherlock6]

I would say that applies to almost everyone on here.

The thing about Anasta is that for the majority of his extremely well paid and well catered for career, he has not given his all. Most of the time, his workrate is poor and his execution poorer.

He's a good bloke, and an even better one when he puts his heart in on the field as well as off it. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen often enough, and he doesn't have enough skill to make these rare occasions worth it.

As for your little rant about whingers, you may well be a troll, in which case I'm wasting my time, but if you aren't, then one thing I've learnt from sticking around here, posting a bit and reading a lot, is that the common theme of all legitimate posters on this site is that they love Easts. Some express it in bizarre and negative ways, but everyone on here does indeed live Red White and Blue.

They have a very strange way of showing it. I hate to think what they would be like to there enemies.

And why is it when someone comes on here and bags a few of the posters on here & shows 'real' support for there team , they are labelled a troll. I think its more likely that some of the negative whingers on here are actually trolls. But thats just my opinion.

GO EASTS!

[Guest]

Whinging about fans who are whinging.

Hilarious

[kurtsherlock6]

Whinging about fans who are whinging.

Hilarious

[Guest]

charliegirl & Blindfreddy are both right.

Have I ever bagged out a player: Yes but with reason. I also praise players sometimes their the same ones Ive bagged out.
For me I will be sorry to see Anasta go. I actually rate him as a player, his problem is that people (media) have over rated him from a young age, so people & the media have very high expectations of him & he doesn't come up to their mark.

[Guest]

Whinging about fans who are whinging.

Hilarious

Not often i agree with you FweddyBoy but this one i do..

[Guest]

What a dead set bunch of whingers Roosters fans are; if I was Braith and checking this forum I'd run as fast as I could; he probably cant wait to go to the Tigers and who could blame him. He has poured his heart and soul into our team but it never seems to matter; when we get our claws into a player they don't come out till the player has gone and we find another player to whip and start all over again. We have a real young enthusiastic side and will be a while before they can match it with the more experienced teams which was always to be expected but no doubt in another few weeks the screamers will be out loud and louder if we lose a few about getting rid of Smith. At the Coaches Forum at the club before the season started one supporter said he can cop the losses as long as the team look like they want to play and as long as they are giving it their all they really need the support of the fans to keep lifting them. Come on fans; cut the whinging; lets get behind Braith who is our Captain in case anyone has forgot, our team and give them all our support.

Not another Braith fangirl.

[Guest]

lol@TigPies..

Bunji sounds happy about them getting Bwaiff..

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...330-1w3eu.html

Anasta might have halves life with Tigers..

March 31, 2012

Familiar foes … Robbie Farah and Braith Anasta, who will line up alongside each other for the Tigers next year, address reporters before the Foundation Cup match last month. Photo: Brendan Esposito

BRAITH ANASTA'S departure from the Sydney Roosters has cleared up any doubt about the club's bid to sign Sonny Bill Williams next season, but his move to the Wests Tigers has raised as many questions as answers about Tim Sheens's recruitment policy.

It had been widely assumed Anasta was being signed as a replacement for homeward-bound England second-rower Gareth Ellis, but the 30-year-old's manager Greg Willett told the Herald his client would play alongside Benji Marshall in the halves.
If so, that would mean Marshall being shifted to halfback - a position where he would be unlikely to have as much time and space as he enjoys at five-eighth.

The Herald was told Marshall had not been advised of any such plans by Sheens, but sources said it made sense as a way to ensure the Tigers got full value out of Anasta for the two years of his contract.

Asked where he expected Anasta to slot in, Marshall said: ''Who knows, I don't sign them. If he plays at six, he's going to have to wear the No.7. I can't say if that will happen. Until that happens, I don't need to say anything about it.''Given that the deal expires just before Anasta's 33rd birthday, the theory is that the added toll on his body of playing in the back row could limit Anasta's effectiveness - particularly in the 2014 season.

However, Sheens said he had not yet decided what position Anasta would play. ''He ticks a lot of boxes,'' Sheens said. ''He can play five-eighth, lock and second row, and with Gareth leaving I was keen to get some more experience in.

''I like to have experience in the spine. He also has authority, he has a good kicking game and he gives us another ball player.

''With Braith we will have him, Robbie and Benji that can play that role whereas at the moment, when we have got Robbie out we are really down to one.

''I also want to maintain a good culture within the club, and Braith will be very good in that regard.''

With the Tigers struggling on the field after winning just one of their opening four matches, Robbie Farah this week became embroiled in a public slanging match with Matt Johns after the Fox Sports commentator accused his side of being ''soft'' and raised the age-old rumour about the skipper's relationship with Marshall.

The Tigers' two biggest stars have repeatedly denied there is any ill feeling between them and insist they are good mates.

But the signing of Anasta is seen as a way of alleviating some of the pressure that is continually thrust upon Marshall and Farah whenever the Tigers aren't performing well.

However, it remains to be seen how three players, all of whom like to have ball-playing roles will combine in the team.

The signing will also bring together three players who are accustomed to having the (c) next to their names in the program - Anasta is captain of the Roosters, Marshall is the captain of New Zealand and Farah is the club captain.

''Braith is a very experienced campaigner who continues to perform at the highest level,'' Tigers chief executive Stephen Humphreys said. ''His leadership, professionalism and knowledge of the game will be invaluable to our club.''

Marshall said: ''He's a great bloke off the field, which is important in terms of culture. He'll fit right in at our club. It's exciting for the club.''

Like Farah and Marshall, Anasta has constantly been the subject of speculation that he is unhappy playing lock or second row for the Roosters but club sources say that is a bigger issue for others than the former NSW Origin five-eighth.

Yet Willett indicated Anasta's preference was to play five-eighth. ''Braith will be playing in the halves with Benji,'' Willett told the Herald.

With the Roosters having signed Warriors five-eighth James Maloney, who will play opposite him tonight at Allianz Stadium, Anasta's future at the club he is credited with turning around after a season filled with off-field incidents in 2009 was in the back row.

However, with the impending arrival of Sonny Bill Williams next season that might not have been an option as the All Blacks and former Bulldogs star is expected to play lock.

To accommodate Williams, the Roosters would also need to free salary cap space and that might have meant the club telling Anasta there was no room for him next year.

By signing with Wests Tigers, Anasta has saved them the worry.

He said he was excited to be joining the Tigers but wanted to finish his seventh season with the Roosters on a high. ''While I look forward to the challenges ahead, my immediate priority remains focused on this season,'' Anasta said.

with Adrian Proszenko

The signing: Five key questions
1. Is this a good signing for the Tigers? What will Anasta bring to the club?
Anasta is held in very high regard for his leadership at the Roosters - both on and off the field. After the horror 2009 season in which the club was constantly in the headlines for the wrong reasons, he took it upon himself to restore the reputation of the Roosters by setting standards for player behaviour.

2. If the Tigers need a back-rower to replace Ellis, is Anasta the best man for the job?Anasta is a great ball playing backrower but he turns 33 in 2014 so there are questions about how he would perform playing in the forwards at the end of his career. A player such as Darcy Lussick or Jared Waerea-Hargreaves may have been a better option if replacing Ellis was the Tigers' only consideration.

3. Would the Tigers have been better off keeping Andrew Fifta and Bryce Gibbs?The Tigers have some of the best young props in the game in Aaron Woods, Matt Groat and Ben Murdoch-Masila but they lack experience in the absence of injured Test front-rower Keith Galloway. Star recruit Adam Blair can also play front row and filled the role for Melbourne on numerous occasions but Tim Sheens has so far resisted the urge to move him from the second row.

4. If the Tigers need a halfback or five-eighth, is Anasta the best available?
With Melbourne's Cooper Cronk, Manly's Daly Cherry-Evans and Brisbane's Peter Wallace having recently re-signed, there are few top halves on the transfer market. Kieran Foran would be the best option but the Tigers could not accommodate him in the salary cap.

5. What does it mean for the Roosters?
James Maloney will play five-eighth next season and Sonny Bill Williams will be lock unless negotiations with the All Blacks star hit a hurdle. Basically, it means they have signed SBW.

[chook 56]

LOL
Could be a coupla dummy spitters facing off at 10 paces..........patooooeey!

[Guest]

They have a very strange way of showing it. I hate to think what they would be like to there enemies.

And why is it when someone comes on here and bags a few of the posters on here & shows 'real' support for there team , they are labelled a troll. I think its more likely that some of the negative whingers on here are actually trolls. But thats just my opinion.

GO EASTS!

Because a stupid amount of people on here have several accounts.

You want positivity, but consider this: from 2005 onwards, have been a legitimate title threat once, in 2010. So not including this year, that is six years of mediocrity.

Braith is one of the few common denominators who has played in every one of those seasons. The only season where he got shafted to the backrow, we made the Grand Final.

If you want to live in a world full of rainbows and kleenex labradors then I'll tell you that Braith tried his hardest, was a great leader, was a victim of the media and a very good Rooster.

That is all bullshit.

He is a far better bloke than he is a footballer, and is no Willie Mason. However, he has taken us to mediocre finishes the majority of the time that he has been at the club, he has chewed up money from the salary cap far disproportionate to his on field input, and has been more of a hindrance than a benefit.

If you gave everyone on this site the opportunity to go back to 2004 and decide whether or not we sign Braith under the same salary conditions we've paid him over the years, I'd hazard a guess that not a single person would take him on board.

Anyone who is hurting Easts rather than helping us, even if it is unintentional, is deserving of criticism and should be sent on his way.

[Guest]

Not sure if anyone has seen this other Andrew Webster article, the most interesting part of it was in regard to the coach rumours, we look as if Smitty is here until his contract is complete, end of 2013.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226314941596

You can also knock the growing rumours about Craig Bellamy joining the Roosters on the head right now.

It is true some that some elements in the club would like to see him there. Some would have Ricky Stuart back.

But, for now, there is no way they will punt Smith before the end of his deal next season.

The days of the Roosters paying out coach contracts are over.

[chook 56]

If you gave everyone on this site the opportunity to go back to 2004 and decide whether or not we sign Braith under the same salary conditions we've paid him over the years, I'd hazard a guess that not a single person would take him on board.

I didn't want him even back then.
Was sick of hearing the media at the time Sonny Bill, Braith yada yada yada. That's all we seemed to hear.

[The Axe]

I thank Braith for his off field efforts.

Braith is a brand and an attraction to fans. He attacts fans to the game and the media recognises this and loves him. He is also a good bloke and from what I'm told, a good leader. He is not that good a footballer in the style of other marquee players that win matches by themselves.

In fact I've felt he has not brought balance to the team and we play better when he is not around. I've felt this since 2010 and even in 2009 with Anasta, we had to move Carney to FB to fit him in.

So I'm glad he's going but also wishing him the best. I do not feel he will add much to the Tigers. He would have added more value to Souffs. But then again, who'd want to damage their brand by playing there!

Easts being a glamour club always find room for 2-3 brand players. The game is now closer to the analysis and thinking as shown in the movie, "Money Ball". We need players who can promote the ball and defend in their zone... and a couple of Brands. Bring on SBW et al.

[redwhiteblue]

I watched this episode of Seinfeld this morning and I like Jerry's take on sports fans:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WSD6Y2YWj4

I'm going to take his advice and just cheer for the jersey, not the man in it.