LEICESTER TIGERS 2019/20 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD PART 3

[TigerMac3]

No. The Sarries saga has shown that you can’t have 27 of them...

[Tiglon]

You know we can't sign every good player, right?

We're kind of forced to "let" rivals sign most of them....

[ay2oh]

At the game yesterday I heard from a reliable source that Nadolo signing will be confirmed tomorrow.

That would make sense with the fans forum taking place on Tuesday evening.

[kk20gb30]

At the game yesterday I heard from a reliable source that Nadolo signing will be confirmed tomorrow.

That would make sense with the fans forum taking place on Tuesday evening.

Purely coincidental

[sam16111986]

“Potentially letting both Iseikwe and Mills sign for rivals

What a ridiculous statement.“

Okay. Slightly poorly worded. But not ‘ridiculous’. These two, for me, are the kind of signings that for a club like ours should be priority. English qualified. Stand out performers week after week in the GP. On the edges of international recognition. Would add a huge amount of quality to what is an extremely flat, underperforming squad. We should be going all out for this type of addition, in my opinion.

Whilst not ‘letting both sign for rivals’ I sincerely hope that we’ve at least spoken with said players reps to sound out what it would take to bring them to WR

Isikwe won't be cheap and will have offers from most of the league. Quins who are desperate for a good lock and Glaws leading the chase. We might get better value elsewhere.

I'm a fan of Mills but all of Reid, Eastmond, Hardwick, Worth, Taute and Manu are under contract for next season. Unsure on Viljoen and Thomas but even then I doubt their combined salaries are going to cover Mills or Lozowski. We need to be sensible with cap spend.

[Leicestertinytiger]

Orie is a great lineout operator and also a strong defender at close quarters. Massive work rate is clearing out rucks etc. Maybe lacks some weight in the ball carrying department but we’ve got other carriers in the pack.

[westwinds31]

https://youtu.be/6D2CSxpi7WU

Orie highlight reel

[FrontRowUnionMember]

Can’t profess to know that much about Orie, but for him to be in and around the Springbok squad given the sheer power they have at lock, he must have something about him.
Will be be demanding Springbok wages though??
I do wonder if it’s a case of Orie or Alemanno, can’t see us adding two locks with only Spencer leaving, unless the club see Wells as a Liebenberg’esque grafter at 6.
Otherwise that’s a lot of cap tied up in Alemanno, Orie, Lavanini, Green and Wells, with Jordan and Martin promising development options also.

Ideally I see us needing the following (based on possible departures)
TPN/Youngs - replace with a genuine starter hooker, and place faith in Kerr as matchday. Maybe add a project to backfill Kerr, or hold onto Clare/Stevens.
Cortes - replace if Whitcombe, Dimen and Lines are in need of more time yet.
Spencer - replace with a genuine starter lock.
Coghlan/Thompson/Kalamafoni - place faith in Lewis, Lavin, Gough & Smith, the perhaps add one starter calibre back row.
Thomas/Viljoen - not sure if both will leave, but bring in one centre (hard running 13), we don’t seem as blessed with academy prospects for the last two years (not sure what this years intake will be). Then allow Hardwick & Worth to fill the other gap if both go.
May/Thompstone - add one starter level option, sounds like maybe Nadolo, then either a project option or pace faith in Steward, Browning, Gilliland etc.

Main thing, let’s make use of the academy promotions from academy championship winning sides where they are ready. We need to sort out the coaching, then get back to the conveyor belt of club trained academy lads, supplemented with astute external additions, that’s what Exeter do well, and Sarries (ignoring the salary issue). They follow the Tigers blueprint of old, make them inhouse and then handpick the right additions to complement, avoid the churn of average players. Look at Exeter’s O/S signings, not always big names, but players that buy into the culture and add to it.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

The JPP was odd, if we had used him at 13, it might of been better, what got my anger with that one was we signed an very genuine bloke at the wrong end of his career, at the same time Scarlets signed Johnny McNicol...

[Leicestertinytiger]

Would love for us to bring in both Orie and Alemanno. Bit thin on the backrow so Wells can cover more 6.

[kpj tiger]

Should be a few helpings of everybody's favourite cinema snack tomorrow

[ABClub]

There's a lot of cap to be re-distributed with TPN, OTY, Spencer and Kalamafoni all out of contract. I sound like a broken record I know but how much Tigers are currently spending at hooker compared to what we are getting from the position is staggering.

Polota-Nau ---> Number 8
Youngs ---> Hooker
Spencer ---> Alemanno
Kalamafoni ---> Orie

If someone like Moriarty signs at 8 then I'd guess he'd be marquee ahead of Taufua or Lavanini one of whom are presumably Tigers 2nd marquee this season. Polota-Nau's wage would save a big chunk of the cap either of those would take up if we sign a new 2nd marquee player at number 8.

[LE18]

There's a lot of cap to be re-distributed with TPN, OTY, Spencer and Kalamafoni all out of contract. I sound like a broken record I know but how much Tigers are currently spending at hooker compared to what we are getting from the position is staggering.

Polota-Nau ---> Number 8
Youngs ---> Hooker
Spencer ---> Alemanno
Kalamafoni ---> Orie

If someone like Moriarty signs at 8 then I'd guess he'd be marquee ahead of Taufua or Lavanini one of whom are presumably Tigers 2nd marquee this season. Polota-Nau's wage would save a big chunk of the cap either of those would take up if we sign a new 2nd marquee player at number 8.

I think Moriarty is well past his best and would not improve our back row.

[sam16111986]

There's a lot of cap to be re-distributed with TPN, OTY, Spencer and Kalamafoni all out of contract. I sound like a broken record I know but how much Tigers are currently spending at hooker compared to what we are getting from the position is staggering.

Polota-Nau ---> Number 8
Youngs ---> Hooker
Spencer ---> Alemanno
Kalamafoni ---> Orie

If someone like Moriarty signs at 8 then I'd guess he'd be marquee ahead of Taufua or Lavanini one of whom are presumably Tigers 2nd marquee this season. Polota-Nau's wage would save a big chunk of the cap either of those would take up if we sign a new 2nd marquee player at number 8.

I think Moriarty is well past his best and would not improve our back row.

He's 25. I'm not sure the move to Dragons has helped his development any. Not sure he's worth the rumoured amounts in terms of wages. Quality player who will have a few clubs after his signature. Very aggressive and physical.

[JP14]

Hopefully you are right KPJ!