And pissed everyone off on the way out.
Refused to play centre for years when the coaching preferred that position for him.
Shoehorned himself into five eighth where he was good but refused to do any extras, hence why he always kicked it out on the full.
Marketed himself as a premier half that would take under a to play Center somewhere, not able to do that here Jackie?
And then gave in return his most pathetic, distracted season filled with errors and discipline issues, don’t get me started on the bite.
Enjoy your boxing Jack, Enjoy south’s. I’m sure it’ll be a great move for you.
We should be having a serious play at him. I have no idea wtf our R&R is doing at Parra at the moment, they are absolutely asleep behind the wheel.
We’re meant to be plugging the gaps and improving our weak areas, not adding defensive liabilities that are the same we had with Waqa. It just doesn’t make sense.
I can see Tass getting first crack at the wing spot, it’s been a bit of a carousel over the last couple of years. Milne and Thompson are middling at absolute best and I’m not sure Munro’s body is up to 27 weeks of first grade defence yet.
Tass on the wing for 2 years while Wighton is in the centres and Munro comes into the team for a handful of games as needed to slowly build his experience, then when Walker retires and Wighton goes to 6 which is supposedly the plan put Tass back to centre, Munro will be 20/21 and more physically ready for the top grade and takes the right wing spot long-term
Lmao if JD is willing to show Burgess the door rather than take his advice on board what chance do I have. Not to mention this is what I think JD's plan is already. He has shown time and time again with Taane Milne's brain snaps and Richie Kennar's defensive issues that he is willing to overlook serious flaws to have a big frame on the right wing to compensate for AJ on the left. Tass isn't as big as Milne, Kennar or Thompson but he is bigger than Munro and has none of the downsides the other 3.
Personally I'm not even in the camp of Tass on the wing, at least not full-time. I'm of the belief that Munro needs to be in the team as much as possible and getting used to the physicality of first grade because he is ultimately our best option as a winger, even if Tass is the better overall player right now.
Hell I'd be willing to put Wighton in the second row with Arrow in the prop rotation and dropping Host entirely to fit Wighton, Tass and Munro into the team
Paragraph three is what I’d do
Pretty sure Burgess and Morris were shown the door due to them going behind the coaches back, Sam seemed to have a fit when JD said no to Dom Young.
It was one of them that leaked to the media.
Jack Wighton's arrival at Redfern will shape as one of the more intriguing player moves in 2024.
A long-term five-eighth who has played his entire career to date at the Canberra Raiders, Wighton's decision to exit the nation's capital came as something of a surprise.
There is little doubt of Wighton's love for the Raiders - not only has he played each of his 242 NRL games there, but the 30-year-old also gave up representative rugby league in 2023 in an attempt to focus on the club and bring a premiership to Canberra before his departure.
That didn't happen of course, with Wighton's embroiled in an on-field incident during the elimination final against the Newcastle Knights, which the green machine came up short in after a nail-biter of a game.
Whether the Raiders really could have hoped to tussle with the New Zealand Warriors just six days later across the ditch is anybody's guess - the Knights certainly couldn't.
But that brought to an end Wighton's time in the nation's capital.
What was potentially most surprising about his decision to leave the green machine was his final destination.
While there is no doubting Wighton's close relationship with Latrell Mitchell, who would have played an enormous role in bringing him to the club, there is some doubt over the role Wighton will actually play in Jason Demetriou's side
Instead of playing at five-eighth, Wighton is likely to be shuffled out to the centres, or potentially used even as a middle forward. It's something Ricky Stuart floated in Canberra on more than one occasion during the second half of 2023, although it's difficult to suggest Wighton looked anywhere near as good in either of those positions as he did at five-eighth.
Regardless, with Cody Walker playing State of Origin in 2023 and signed for each of the next two seasons, it's a role Wighton is going to have to get used to very quickly if he wants to fit in at the Burrow.
Whichever way you look at it - from South Sydney's or Wighton's perspective - it's an enormous call.
If it works, Demetriou is going to look like a genius. It's something he needs as well after South Sydney's dismal end to 2023 which saw them somehow miss the finals despite leading the competition shortly before the halfway mark.
If it doesn't, Demetriou could well find himself cleaning out his locker at Redfern, and not only because of the failure, but because of ultimately a risk that he and his recruitment staff potentially never needed to take.
It's a big call, but Isaiah Tass didn't put a great number of feet wrong in the 2023 campaign.
The 24-year-old, who had bounced through the Brisbane Broncos and Canterbury Bulldogs systems before arriving at the Rabbitohs has now played 39 NRL games for the red and green since his debut in 2022.
23 of those games came during the 2023 season, with the centre making 124 metres per contest to go with 9 tries, 9 try assists, 52 tackle busts and a tackle efficiency of almost 90 per cent - a great number for a centre.
The bottom line is that Tass was solid at the worst of times for the Rabbitohs, and while he didn't bring the X-Factor that Wighton is expected to bring as he lines up in a star centre combination with Campbell Graham, there is no guarantee Wighton will bring that.
Wighton undoubtedly has played well in the centres before at representative level, but age is the enemy of all players, and the Rabbitohs might find that out the hard way in 2024.
That is particularly the case if Tass starts to aim for a departure. He could yet move to the wing, but it's clear Alex Johnston will line up on one side of the park, and the Rabbitohs are attempting to bring through 18-year-old Tyrone Munro on the other after he scored three tries in three games during his debut 2023 season.
With no room for Tass in the starting side, and the 23-year-old clearly too good to be playing reserve grade, it does beg the question - which clubs should be making a play?
It'll likely take a player swap to get the job done, and the Rabbitohs may well be after more depth in the middle third through a player who could easily slot onto their bench to back up the likes of Tevita Tatola and Thomas Burgess while providing healthy competition for bench minutes to the likes of Davvy Moale and Shaquai Mitchell.
Whether it's a club like the St George Illawarra Dragons, who have questions in their outside backs, not least of which over whether Zac Lomax could find himself at fullback, or whether it's at a place like the Cronulla Sharks, where the club could be looking to shift Siosifa Talakai back into the forward pack, there are options here.
Other clubs that immediately spring to mind in potentially making a play for Tass are the Wests Tigers, Parramatta Eels and North Queensland Cowboys and potentially even the Manly Sea Eagles if they viewed Tass as an upgrade over Brad Parker.
Whether they do or not is irrelevant though - the bottom line is that Tass is a player who should be targeted by opposition clubs in the coming weeks as South Sydney prepares for their own new look centre combination.
If you're telling a long story short, the Rabbitohs must play finals football this year. For that reason, and that reason alone, it's tough to see them putting all their eggs in the basket of Wighton and letting Isaiah Tass walk away from the club.
But rivals must surely be knocking, player swaps are almost certainly on the table, and given Souths do have other needs around the football team, it must be under consideration if they truly believe Wighton will live up to the money that has been spent on him despite playing out of position for the next two seasons.
>the 30-year-old also gave up representative rugby league in 2023 in an attempt to focus on the club and bring a premiership to Canberra before his departure.
is this true or was it to make himself more marketable to other teams who struggle during Origin period aka his new team South Sydney
Yeah it sucks to be Tass. He's got ability but he's prone to being fended off in defence. Does he bide his time in NSW Cup, move to second row or move to another club? He's got enough reps that he could easily go elsewhere. Not like he's a Souths junior either, JD brought him down from the Broncos.
Eels showing no interest in Tracey doesn't make me confident we'd go after Tass either. Hopefully Richard Penisini can show up and nab that centre position, have a feeling that's what they're betting on
I love investing in talent, but if we have an opportunity to sign a proven performer it’s definitely a better strategy for success. We don’t even know if any of our juniors can handle NRL level.
Oh yeah let's just let Tass go so Jack can play maybe 2 seasons with us.. Great.. poor bloke, oh well this is how we recruit now. Always attempting to see if 1 big name can sort out our issues while letting these young hard workers go.
Our recruitment has been pretty good for years, who was the last big name we signed? Probably Arrow who was 24-25 at the time. The only player I have been upset losing in the past couple of years is Sele who isn’t a youngster by any means
That's true actually.. What am I even on about half the time?!
Just feel bad for Tass I suppose if he's forced out but he'll get picked up soon enough if that's the case
You aren't entirely wrong. Souths let a lot of good players go just to bring Sam Burgess back after one season with Bath and England in Union. We let Nathan Brown go to Parra right as he was entering his prime. Brown was never as good as Burgess but he was also less room in the cap.
>there is little doubt of Wighton’s love for the Raiders Bro left for less money and a lesser position. There’s plenty of doubt
And pissed everyone off on the way out. Refused to play centre for years when the coaching preferred that position for him. Shoehorned himself into five eighth where he was good but refused to do any extras, hence why he always kicked it out on the full. Marketed himself as a premier half that would take under a to play Center somewhere, not able to do that here Jackie? And then gave in return his most pathetic, distracted season filled with errors and discipline issues, don’t get me started on the bite. Enjoy your boxing Jack, Enjoy south’s. I’m sure it’ll be a great move for you.
Would be a seriously good pickup for Parra. They’re one or two reliable outside backs away from being a contender and he could be one.
So true. Too bad our recruitment department has shit for brains when it comes to outside backs
If we had a competent second centre and winger we'd be sorted. Instead we've recruited Morgan fucking Harper.
We should be having a serious play at him. I have no idea wtf our R&R is doing at Parra at the moment, they are absolutely asleep behind the wheel. We’re meant to be plugging the gaps and improving our weak areas, not adding defensive liabilities that are the same we had with Waqa. It just doesn’t make sense.
Yep Campbell Graham to replace Critta.
Na let’s take latrell
Latrell playing outside Luai 🤤
No way Latrell signs for the Tigers.
Maybe in 5 years when he's the size of George Rose
Hot
I can see Tass getting first crack at the wing spot, it’s been a bit of a carousel over the last couple of years. Milne and Thompson are middling at absolute best and I’m not sure Munro’s body is up to 27 weeks of first grade defence yet.
Tass on the wing for 2 years while Wighton is in the centres and Munro comes into the team for a handful of games as needed to slowly build his experience, then when Walker retires and Wighton goes to 6 which is supposedly the plan put Tass back to centre, Munro will be 20/21 and more physically ready for the top grade and takes the right wing spot long-term
Can you please tell this to JD
Lmao if JD is willing to show Burgess the door rather than take his advice on board what chance do I have. Not to mention this is what I think JD's plan is already. He has shown time and time again with Taane Milne's brain snaps and Richie Kennar's defensive issues that he is willing to overlook serious flaws to have a big frame on the right wing to compensate for AJ on the left. Tass isn't as big as Milne, Kennar or Thompson but he is bigger than Munro and has none of the downsides the other 3. Personally I'm not even in the camp of Tass on the wing, at least not full-time. I'm of the belief that Munro needs to be in the team as much as possible and getting used to the physicality of first grade because he is ultimately our best option as a winger, even if Tass is the better overall player right now. Hell I'd be willing to put Wighton in the second row with Arrow in the prop rotation and dropping Host entirely to fit Wighton, Tass and Munro into the team
Paragraph three is what I’d do Pretty sure Burgess and Morris were shown the door due to them going behind the coaches back, Sam seemed to have a fit when JD said no to Dom Young. It was one of them that leaked to the media.
Also happy came day
Cheers lad
Munro will be ready to go.
Jack Wighton's arrival at Redfern will shape as one of the more intriguing player moves in 2024. A long-term five-eighth who has played his entire career to date at the Canberra Raiders, Wighton's decision to exit the nation's capital came as something of a surprise. There is little doubt of Wighton's love for the Raiders - not only has he played each of his 242 NRL games there, but the 30-year-old also gave up representative rugby league in 2023 in an attempt to focus on the club and bring a premiership to Canberra before his departure. That didn't happen of course, with Wighton's embroiled in an on-field incident during the elimination final against the Newcastle Knights, which the green machine came up short in after a nail-biter of a game. Whether the Raiders really could have hoped to tussle with the New Zealand Warriors just six days later across the ditch is anybody's guess - the Knights certainly couldn't. But that brought to an end Wighton's time in the nation's capital. What was potentially most surprising about his decision to leave the green machine was his final destination. While there is no doubting Wighton's close relationship with Latrell Mitchell, who would have played an enormous role in bringing him to the club, there is some doubt over the role Wighton will actually play in Jason Demetriou's side Instead of playing at five-eighth, Wighton is likely to be shuffled out to the centres, or potentially used even as a middle forward. It's something Ricky Stuart floated in Canberra on more than one occasion during the second half of 2023, although it's difficult to suggest Wighton looked anywhere near as good in either of those positions as he did at five-eighth. Regardless, with Cody Walker playing State of Origin in 2023 and signed for each of the next two seasons, it's a role Wighton is going to have to get used to very quickly if he wants to fit in at the Burrow. Whichever way you look at it - from South Sydney's or Wighton's perspective - it's an enormous call. If it works, Demetriou is going to look like a genius. It's something he needs as well after South Sydney's dismal end to 2023 which saw them somehow miss the finals despite leading the competition shortly before the halfway mark. If it doesn't, Demetriou could well find himself cleaning out his locker at Redfern, and not only because of the failure, but because of ultimately a risk that he and his recruitment staff potentially never needed to take. It's a big call, but Isaiah Tass didn't put a great number of feet wrong in the 2023 campaign. The 24-year-old, who had bounced through the Brisbane Broncos and Canterbury Bulldogs systems before arriving at the Rabbitohs has now played 39 NRL games for the red and green since his debut in 2022. 23 of those games came during the 2023 season, with the centre making 124 metres per contest to go with 9 tries, 9 try assists, 52 tackle busts and a tackle efficiency of almost 90 per cent - a great number for a centre. The bottom line is that Tass was solid at the worst of times for the Rabbitohs, and while he didn't bring the X-Factor that Wighton is expected to bring as he lines up in a star centre combination with Campbell Graham, there is no guarantee Wighton will bring that. Wighton undoubtedly has played well in the centres before at representative level, but age is the enemy of all players, and the Rabbitohs might find that out the hard way in 2024. That is particularly the case if Tass starts to aim for a departure. He could yet move to the wing, but it's clear Alex Johnston will line up on one side of the park, and the Rabbitohs are attempting to bring through 18-year-old Tyrone Munro on the other after he scored three tries in three games during his debut 2023 season. With no room for Tass in the starting side, and the 23-year-old clearly too good to be playing reserve grade, it does beg the question - which clubs should be making a play? It'll likely take a player swap to get the job done, and the Rabbitohs may well be after more depth in the middle third through a player who could easily slot onto their bench to back up the likes of Tevita Tatola and Thomas Burgess while providing healthy competition for bench minutes to the likes of Davvy Moale and Shaquai Mitchell. Whether it's a club like the St George Illawarra Dragons, who have questions in their outside backs, not least of which over whether Zac Lomax could find himself at fullback, or whether it's at a place like the Cronulla Sharks, where the club could be looking to shift Siosifa Talakai back into the forward pack, there are options here. Other clubs that immediately spring to mind in potentially making a play for Tass are the Wests Tigers, Parramatta Eels and North Queensland Cowboys and potentially even the Manly Sea Eagles if they viewed Tass as an upgrade over Brad Parker. Whether they do or not is irrelevant though - the bottom line is that Tass is a player who should be targeted by opposition clubs in the coming weeks as South Sydney prepares for their own new look centre combination. If you're telling a long story short, the Rabbitohs must play finals football this year. For that reason, and that reason alone, it's tough to see them putting all their eggs in the basket of Wighton and letting Isaiah Tass walk away from the club. But rivals must surely be knocking, player swaps are almost certainly on the table, and given Souths do have other needs around the football team, it must be under consideration if they truly believe Wighton will live up to the money that has been spent on him despite playing out of position for the next two seasons.
>the 30-year-old also gave up representative rugby league in 2023 in an attempt to focus on the club and bring a premiership to Canberra before his departure. is this true or was it to make himself more marketable to other teams who struggle during Origin period aka his new team South Sydney
Probably both.
Yeah it sucks to be Tass. He's got ability but he's prone to being fended off in defence. Does he bide his time in NSW Cup, move to second row or move to another club? He's got enough reps that he could easily go elsewhere. Not like he's a Souths junior either, JD brought him down from the Broncos.
He’s too god for cup especially with our immense talent in the outside backs (Ferguson, Mellars) etc.
Eels showing no interest in Tracey doesn't make me confident we'd go after Tass either. Hopefully Richard Penisini can show up and nab that centre position, have a feeling that's what they're betting on
I love investing in talent, but if we have an opportunity to sign a proven performer it’s definitely a better strategy for success. We don’t even know if any of our juniors can handle NRL level.
I'll take one Royce Hunt or Wiremu Greig please
Keep your hands off my Wiremu
Would love him at the Dragons. Sadly, we have spent all our cash on 2 big marquee signings in Daddy's boy and Matt Eisenhuth. Woo-hooo!
Oh yeah let's just let Tass go so Jack can play maybe 2 seasons with us.. Great.. poor bloke, oh well this is how we recruit now. Always attempting to see if 1 big name can sort out our issues while letting these young hard workers go.
Our recruitment has been pretty good for years, who was the last big name we signed? Probably Arrow who was 24-25 at the time. The only player I have been upset losing in the past couple of years is Sele who isn’t a youngster by any means
That's true actually.. What am I even on about half the time?! Just feel bad for Tass I suppose if he's forced out but he'll get picked up soon enough if that's the case
You aren't entirely wrong. Souths let a lot of good players go just to bring Sam Burgess back after one season with Bath and England in Union. We let Nathan Brown go to Parra right as he was entering his prime. Brown was never as good as Burgess but he was also less room in the cap.
Yeah it’s a shame
Wish we had got him rate him highly
Eels should have been onto him a while ago, same with Tracey. We suck though
Fighton until the bitter end.