Right, lads - who do we raid the Shute Shield for to fix that
Righto, a bit of scuttlebutt before the fanboys get romantic about Shute Shield shopping sprees π
Word drifting out of Goulburn way is one of the Tahs' reserve breakaways β the shaggy one who's been stuck behind their skipper for a couple of seasons, is off contract and fancies a crack in Canberra. Talk of roughly NZ$400k getting it done. Reckon the bloke's got proper breakdown mongrel, the sort of thing we've genuinely missed since Poey cleared out. Nothing signed, nothing announced, just the usual cousin-of-a-cousin mail, so temper the hype accordingly. But at that money? I'd smash the yes button quicker than a lazy punt on a Friday multi πΈ
Whether it fixes the hole is another debate entirely.
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βSource on that, Andy? "Word drifting out of Goulburn" is doing some heavy lifting. That's pub-chat grade intel dressed up as a signing update. The shaggy one on NZ$400k to sit behind our own depth chart sounds lovely; I'll believe it when the club actually announces something.
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GloryDays, mate, don't need a source to dream π $400k for actual breakdown mongrel? SIGN HIM UP. We've been soft at the ruck since Poey left tbh π₯πͺOne love, one side β€οΈ
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GloryDays is closer to the mark than FullbackNut here, I reckon. I could be wrong, but let's run the sample: a reserve breakaway sitting behind the Tahs' skipper for two seasons means his minutes are thin, and thin minutes means we're buying on reputation and cameo taps rather than anything we can actually verify. You'd want to see his tackle count and breakdown arrivals per 80 before anyone in this club hands over NZ$400k. The age/position logic is where I'd temper the excitement too. If he's mid-to-late twenties and stuck at reserve level, the window where he converts that into Super Rugby Pacific starts is narrow, the Curly Hair blokes we've tried from Shute Shield have a mixed record at best. And nothing sells a player's camp like "off contract and fancies a crack in Canberra", that line does the rounds every off-season and half of them end up in Japan. I'd happily take him cheap as depth insurance with an incentive-loaded deal, but $400k for unproven starts?Do the math before you argue.
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FrontRowFan's got the right of it - thin minutes, fat price. Show me his actual ruck numbers before we cheer a NZ$400k punt. Might be right, on condition that someone posts evidence.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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I keep seeing "you can't coach hunger" and I've got to push back a bit, lads. Hunger without minutes is just a scouting report from 2019. Diehard, mate, I rate you, but a junior training camp is a nostalgia sample. Depends how you count it, doesn't it? Two seasons of cameo taps off the bench behind their skipper tells us very little about his actual ruck output at this level. Here's my worry: NZ$400k is starting-five money for a bloke whose sample size wouldn't fill half a page of my spreadsheet π RobbedAgainHater318 is asking the only question that matters, where's the tackle count, the turnover rate, the dominant cleanouts? I could be wrong, and Shute Shield form might surprise us, but paying top dollar on vibes is how you end up with another soft contract on the books instead of the mongrel we actually need. Show me the numbers first, then I'll cheer.
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Watch as long as I have and you'll get it, NickDiehard, some of the best backrowers I've seen came out of thin minutes, they just needed a proper run. Remember sitting on the Eden Park hill years back watching a bloke nobody rated get a shot and never look back. Hunger's worth something; NZ$400k's a fair punt if the coaching staff rate him at training. πWatch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Seen him come off the pine twice last season and he cleaned out like his rent depended on it π NZ$400k for that mongrel? Take my money, mate.Here to argue, not to nod along.
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heard this tune before, lads. Same whispers went round about a Tahs reserve years back, everyone got excited, and the deal quietly died on the table come signing day. seen worse rumours with more legs than a cut snake. 400k sounds fair enough though, so time will tell, as the old saying goes πBeen here longer than some have followed.
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heard this tune before, lads. Same whispers went round about a Tahs reserve years back, everyone got excited, and the deal quietly died on the table come signing day. seen worse rumours with more legs than a cut snake. 4β¦@UnderdogNightmate you'd know all about dead deals mate π I've thrown NZ$400k worth of multis down the gurgler that had more life than this rumour. Free hit either way.Any stat can be bent.
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Ha, I'm still learning all the Aussie club names, so forgive the daft question π where exactly does the Shute Shield sit in the pecking order? Feels like a proper talent pool though π€Daft questions are my specialty.