Right, lads, time we pinch a proper No. 8 before the Crusaders raid
Word from a mate down at the clubrooms is a certain loose forward's off contract and could be had for under NZ$150k, fill in the blank yourself, but Auckland fans will be spitting if we get there first. Just saying, before the Crusaders vacuum up the NPC cupboard again like they usually do. Get in early, lads 😏
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✓A mate down at the clubrooms, eh. That's the same source that had us signing Dan Carter out of retirement three seasons back, I suppose? Show me the numbers. Name, contract status, anything traceable. "Fill in the blank yourself" is doing a lot of work in that post, anyone can hint at a mystery loose forward off contract for under NZ$150k and let the hype do the rest. Every NPC squad has a dozen blokes coming off contract, so the odds of being right by pure accident are decent, which is exactly why these whispers keep circulating. Look, they might be onto something — on condition that the name actually surfaces before the Crusaders get anywhere near him. Until then I'll file it with the rest of the clubrooms fiction.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Mate even if it's half true, under NZ$150k for a big bashing No. 8 who can carry all arvo... that's a steal and we all know it 🔥 Our back row's been crying out for a proper ball carrier all season, imagine him off the base with our loosies around him 💪 Get in before someone else snaps him up tbhYou don't abandon your own.
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Look, the price tag is the part that makes me pause. A genuine NPC-calibre No. 8 off contract under NZ$150k usually means one of three things: he's coming back from a long injury, he's stuck behind someone provincial sides won't move, or the "interest" simply isn't there. Clubs don't give away ball carriers who've been averaging decent carry metres all season. Someone in the market would've already tabled real money. And there's a nuance with age as well: if he's 22-23, a bargain fee makes sense because he's raw. If he's pushing 29-30 and still on NPC wages, that tells you the professional scouts have looked at the tape and passed. Small sample though. I've only seen him in a handful of full matches, so I'd want to check his tackle count and work rate over a full campaign before calling it a steal. Name and contract status first, then we'll talk. RobbedAgainHater318 is asking the right questions. 📊
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FixIsInPTSD has a point about the price tag but I've seen plenty of lads go cheap cos they were stuck behind an All Black in the pecking order 🤷♂️ carry all arvo and hungry as, that's worth the gamble at under NZ$150k... worst case he adds depth, best case we've pinchd a proper No. 8 before the Crusaders even wake up 🔥Heart with the team, head on pause.
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Funny how every off-contract forward becomes a future All Black the moment someone whispers "under NZ$150k", eh. I've got my own spreadsheet going back years, and the cheap No. 8 basket has produced maybe one keeper in five, that's if you count depth guys as keepers, which depends how you count it. RobBeliever's mate at the clubrooms is doing more recruiting than our actual recruitment team at this point. That said, the stuck-behind-an-All-Black logic is the only version I'd touch. If he's genuinely carrying all arvo and just blocked in the pecking order, then yes, pay the man his NZ$150k and thank Auckland later. But until someone can name him, I'm treating this the same way I treat a punter tipping a multi off one weekend of form. Small sample though, so prove me wrong, lads.Numbers > vibes.
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BadBeatKing, your spreadsheet might be right on the averages, but spreadsheets never sat in the old terraces on a wet Saturday, eh. Back in my day half the good loosies going around were fellas nobody wanted to pay proper money for, stuck behind a bigger name, club happy to let them walk for peanuts. One keeper in five? You only need the one, mate. And honestly, at under NZ$150k the downside is a bloke carrying the ball for a season and moving on. That's less than what some clubs spend on travel alone. Seen worse gambles, far worse. If the whisper's even half true, I'd rather we have a look before Auckland wake up and realise what wandered out the door. Patience is a virtue, but so is getting to the sale first 😉Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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Cheap gamble at under NZ$150k and worst case he warms the bench - that's better odds than anything I get on the TAB these days 😏😏Here to argue, not to nod along.
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BadBeatKing's one-in-five hit rate is the only sober post in this thread, and I'd still take the punt at under NZ$150k, that's less than we paid for some bench warmer whose name I've repressed. My caveat: depth only counts if the bloke actually wants to be here, so whoever it is better front up at the clubrooms before signing anything. Source on the contract figure, Rob, or is your mate the same bloke who tipped the Bledisloe result last year?
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Been down this road before, lads, remember the big whisper about the loosie from up north a few seasons back? Clubrooms had him in red and black by Monday, and he ended up in Japan by June without a single NPC game for us. Every second winter some rumour like this pops up and evaporates, though at under NZ$150k I'd still rather take the punt than not. Ah well, we'll see 😉Seen it all, lads.