I thought it'd be a Cronulla player.

Don't think Kirmond or Batchelor will play a full season. Also not sure how long it'll take Arona to get back up to speed. Then again, Arundel has been playing more second row and obviously there's the rumour Atkins has been signed to cover there as well.

Really don’t see the point in this, if true. We are crying out for a hooker and another prop. Get those sorted, the lads who were carrying injuries last year all fit and we have a very competitive squad!

The LE article says he played 25 times for Cronulla last year and was touted for a potential Queensland call up

Obviously CC etc know better than me but tend to agree, backrow for me is where we are strongest; it's also why I'm not bothered about signing Pitts as well.

Putting that to one side he's an absolute quality player and if we can get him and still get the other players we need, awesome - he played 25 games, made 503 tackles, ran 2319 meters,average gain 8.91 meters 48 tackle breaks and only 8 penalties and 13 errors all season. The blokes just 26 and played a full season of NRL, so he's no journeyman.

A glowing report in this article , salary Cap issues is the reason he's not staying at the Sharks

[urlhttps://www.nrl.com/news/2019/08/21/utility-value-for-money-sharks-concede-theyre-set-to-lose-capewell/[/url

I don't think we are that strong in the SR.
He says Westerman is his 13 so he can play Arona at prop.
SR we gave Ashurst coming back from injury and Kelepi. Kirmond isn't going to play many games and Batch isn't quite ready for full season.
If Pitts comes then great but if he signs someone else with quality it can't hurt.

Clearly a quality player, but I wonder whether he's talking to us to up a salary demand somewhere like NZ Warriors. Being without a club puts him in a weak negotiating position, but not if there is interest elsewhere.

Matt Prior talks about finishing his career overseas though....

Chester said getting Westerman will allow him to play arona and kelepi as props didn’t he?

So aiming for a more mobile pack in 2020?

Arona and Kelepi surely too lightweight to play long minutes in the middle, and harder to spell players with the reduced interchanges.

I thought after Pauli Pauli and trying him as that destructive SR, he was happy to have Tanginoa running at the wide men causing havoc.

https://www.facebook.com/wakefieldtrini ... 652278282/

https://www.facebook.com/wakefieldtrini ... 652278282/

Wasn't disputing that he said it but it seems to be a bit counter productive why he wanted to bring Tanginoa in the first place and what he's said since about him, as we've all seen he's devastating out wide.

Personally I just don't think we'd get the best out of Tanginoa in-particular using him as a battering ram down the middle.

I agree about Kelepi. I hope it was just a throw away comment by CC

No problem at all with Kelepi playing prop as he’s got exactly what you want from a front rower...go forward, strength and power to win the collision and get on the front foot for a quick play the ball...that was our issue for long periods of last season relying solely on Big Dave....

Can’t see how anyone can question his size as from the figures I’m looking at he’s an inch shorter and 5lbs lighter than the best prop in the comp at present...certainly couldn’t see him getting pushed around!

Would love to see us sign another top quality 2nd rower because as said, between them Kirmond and unfortunately Batchelor just don’t seem to be able to put together a sustained run in the team...

capewell would be a great signing for us if we could pull it off.

I agree, more to the point is there any such thing these days as a second row. Players like Arona and Taangonia can play prop/SR or Loose ditto Batchelor, Westerman and Crowther can play multiple positions, IMO only Fifita and Koppy are pure specialists.

This gives us huge resilience and depth in the pack meaning that all but the most horrific injury crisis will see us through.

Yes hooker is a priority still but this is a classy signing of true.

Although having seen this it was said on here last week that there was nobody of interest at the moment from overseas.

Although hes a second row, and I feel we already have plenty, Bachelor seems a bit injury prone at the moment, and I dont feel his body is ready to play week in, week out. Also we don't know how well Ashurst will come back after his back injury, which was pretty serious.

He does look a good player and will boost the pack.

I mostly agree but I do think SR is the more specialised.
Defending in the middle is physically harder but technically easier. If you put someone at SR who doesn't normally play there you have a real problem in defense. Kirmond coming back showed this to me.
Angles of running are different too.
8, 10 and 13 are interchangeable.
SR to prop is OK if they are big enough like Kelepi, but it isn't so easy the other way around.

I'm also guessing and it's a guess that CC and his team have poured over the match tapes and decided this is where we were weak?? Also he can't be sure that Ashurst and Arona will fully recover or that Kirmond will offer much so if you take them out then suddenly we do look a bit threadbare.

I don't think people give CC the benefits, he has some flaws but his team-building has always been outstanding, very few duffers and that includes Randall

He may not always know how to get the best from his teams all the time but few do but he signs great players IMHO.

He mentioned lack of penetration from the SR a while back, that's why he tried Pauli there and then got Tanginoa, who gives the defensive line a real bend when he runs at it.

Perhaps he's also had a season to look at the new interchange rule and has gone for utility and mobility over size.

No doubt a year on after the interchange rule was changed he'll have leaned more and may tweak things, but then again we have signed Green.

Yeah, you still need some size but I'm guessing he has as you say tweaked his strategy.

I don't think there's a problem wherever Kelepi plays. He'll be destructive wherever. We get hung up on size of players. A few good runs with big metres followed by slow PTB and zero energy (Where have I seen this before). Obviously if you get a unit with everything then bingo! Kelepi out wide will be great and a handful. Kelepi's energy down the middle will be great too. You may not see this as clear as out wide but it's huge for the team.
Wherever he plays I'm just glad he's on our side!

Moley as said regsrding capewell on Twitter irs a no go and to be fair he normley spot on.

He is on the outer from Cronulla, it was speculated that he would be joining the knights - As you say Moley is usually spot on.