NRL Rumour Mill Thread (Spoilers)

[The Mad Hatter]

Ryan Hoffman will be 31 come kick off next season. Seems a lot of money and too long a contract.

 

[nznrl]

Yeah I get that, but IMO our best signings were Campion (signed at 30), Price (at 31) and Wiki (at 32). The Warriors are spending money on leadership, professionalism and determination. That to me is well worth the investment. You also have to weigh in that unlike the other big clubs in the comp the Warriors average age must be mid 20s at the absolute most

 

[Grumpsta]

Hoffman is a great buy in my opinion. He will go great with Mannering and Bukuya (with Mateo off the bench). It will be sad to see Nathan Friend go but Isaac Luke would be a good buy

 

[hobo]

Benji is now a Dragon !

I officially retract all previous comments about him being a complete waste of money, overated and a has been.

Ross

 

[dragonforever]

Great young player with plenty of potential

 

[nznrl]

Benji is now a Dragon !

I officially retract all previous comments about him being a complete waste of money, overated and a has been.

Ross

I would like to offer my congratulations to all 15 clubs who escaped unscathed on this one

In all seriousness though, I think that Widdop is a good foil for him at least.

 

[Diggaz TC]

He really should have signed the one year in Melbourne and played inside Cooper....be made to look great and then sign an extended contract elsewhere at an inflated price

 

[Brendan_B]

Joel Thompson homesick and looking to return to Canberra. Have any of you dragons fans heard this?

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

Joel Thompson homesick and looking to return to Canberra. Have any of you dragons fans heard this?

yes

 

[Brendan_B]

yes

Any truth to it? I would love to have him back at Canberra

 

[footycardswaps]

Is official that Benji has signed?, remember I'm out here in the Bush and news travels slowly, did he give the Dragons an ultimatum and were senior Sharks players against his signature?.

 

[Diggaz TC]

Benji Marshall signs with St George Illawarra Dragons after turning down an offer from Cronulla Sharks

St George Illawarra has confirmed the signing of former New Zealand captain Benji Marshall after the Cronulla Sharks announced they had pulled out of the race for his signature.

Late on Friday afternoon, the Dragons announced Marshall's arrival at the club on a contract until the end of the 2016 season.

Marshall met the media and expressed his delight at signing with the Dragons.

"It's obviously taken a bit of time to get it sorted," he said.

"I'm just pretty happy to be back in the NRL and pretty stoked to be at a club with a history such as the Dragons."

Marshall says the Dragons are the ideal fit for his return to the NRL following an unsuccessful stint in Super Rugby with the Auckland-based Blues.

"I was thinking about the decision that was going to be best for me," he said.

"There is no denying their back three is one of the best in the competition. Their forwards are solid and up-and-coming and I think, as a whole, the club is on the way up again.

"It's something I really want to be a part of."

Marshall is set to link up with Gareth Widdop in the halves and Dragons coach Steve Price feels there will not be any adjustment needed to accommodate both playmakers.

"The way we play is irrelevant," he said.

"We play both sides with Gareth and I've had a few dealings with Benji over the week, and he is a great man, humble and doing it for the right reasons.

"I'm excited he is in the red and white

Marshall made himself available to NRL clubs after gaining an early release from his Blues contract last month.

He was released by the Blues by mutual agreement after failing to secure a spot in their starting XV.

The Dragons, Sharks and Melbourne had all expressed interest in securing the service of the experienced Marshall, who played 12 seasons with the Tigers before his brief stint in Super Rugby.

Melbourne was the first to drop out of the race for Marshall before the Sharks announced this afternoon they had missed out on securing the former Tigers playmaker.

Sharks chief executive Steve Noyce thought his club had a strong chance of luring Marshall due to a number of former Tigers players now in the Shire, including Beau Ryan, Andrew Fifita and Chris Heighington.

"We have strong values surrounding mateship here at the Sharks and with a collection of his good friends at the club thought that may have swayed him," he said.

"As it turned out that obviously wasn’t the priority for him with his final decision. We can accept that and we wish him well.”

From ABC Grandstand

 

[Dragon_Fire]

 

[footycardswaps]

Thanks Michael, just turned the Wireless on and heard the news, pretty funny the Dragons went cap in hand to the NRL for an advance and where turned down and now they have announced a Million + signing, meanwhile at the Tigers they have announced local Juniors from both sides of the joint venture are Co-Captains tonight, hope to big games from Chris Lawrence and Aaron Woods!.

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

Any truth to it? I would love to have him back at Canberra

apparently Thompson wants to head back to Canberra
and the Dragons have asked for another crack at Proctor

 

[Victor The Viking]

Benji is now a Dragon !

I officially retract all previous comments about him being a complete waste of money, overated and a has been.

Ross

It will be interesting between Canberra and Dragons this year. Dragons never beat Canberra but Benji has only lost one game ever against them. It might end up a draw this year

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

JThompson denied rumour on social media BUT the tip is he may end up back at the Raiders as early as next week.
I doubt this but passing it on...

 

[hobo]

Ricky denied any contact but said he had heard the rumour then when asked if he would take him back rambled on about how he would need to think about and talk to the recruitment team.

Didn't sound like an imminent return but anything could happen.

 

[nznrl]

Hurrell re-signed for 3 years. McFadden for two. CEO Eric Watson has said there is more signings imminent

 

[Brendan_B]

Dragons fought pretty hard for Thompson, I would be surprised if they let him go so easily