Silly Season Transfer Rumours 16/17

First topic message reminder :

Gordon Reid is off to Irish.

Certainly worth a punt, as he wouldn't be costing much on an academy contract. Put together a handy 7s highlight reel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PPOKbRRsHc

Yeah he won't cost much.

Hopefully be as good as Watson or better...

Tigers officially announce Kalamafoni, Joe Ford and Jonah Holmes.

Hopefully there is a signing or two that hasn't been known for 3 months coming as well...

Pretty underwhelming signings from Tigers.

It depends which squad holes they are filling really.

If a big signing at 12 comes so that Toomua can realistically cover 10 then Joe Ford is an unspectacular third choice 10 but not really a step down on Oli Bryant/Tommy Bell/Sam Harrison as our 3rd choice 10s in recent seasons.

Similarly Kalamafoni isn't an overwhelming signing after being injured this season at Gloucs but adds a carrier to the back row which we desperately need. With the cap going up, Ayerza retiring and players now being cut to free up cap most will be hoping he isn't the only 8 who's been signed though.

Holmes seems like a talented winger so is a solid addition to a position of relative strength. You'll likely know more of his all round game than I do after recent weeks though to be fair SB?

Tigers are still working on getting a few others players in so i don't expect this to be it.

Ford - He is what he is a 3rd choice 10 and a good placemarker for Hardwick to try and target.
Kalamafoni - Signed a bit ago, but MOC has worked with him before so works out well, Was Glous player of the season the season before last.
Holmes - IMO could have a lot of upside and makes alot more sense than the brady signing prob one of the best finishers in the champ and Bassett who was similar has done well for Wasps. (Also think he has more potential than Bassett.

These signings where made way before ayerza went and Betham was "released" so we should have a bit of cap to play with. (Maybe more by the end of month).

Yes, Holmes is a very good player and would have been a decent acquisition for a lot of sides, but I just don't see him featuring that much for Tigers. I could of course be wrong. I really don't rate Ford Jr though. His defence is very weak, so it depends on whether he has been signed as a 2nd or 3rd choice player.

George ford is never going to be a 2nd or 3rd choice player surely?

king carlos are you seriously happy with Tigers wing options?

In terms of try count, Leicester wingers were pretty low this year in the AP.

beshocked wrote:king carlos are you seriously happy with Tigers wing options?

In terms of try count, Leicester wingers were pretty low this year in the AP.

this is why i'm excited to see Holmes come in from potential POV he has a huge try scoring record (Granted in the champ but i have hopes).

No 7&1/2 wrote:George ford is never going to be a 2nd or 3rd choice player surely?

Sorry - meant Ford Sr.

No 7&1/2 wrote:George ford is never going to be a 2nd or 3rd choice player surely?

His oder brother Joe has also signed.

Good start but we'll need a couple more. Hopefully they'll be another announcement today that'll catch us by surprise as these guys have been known for a while.

Wing options at Tigers are far from perfect Beshocked, but in a salary capped world sometimes you need to accept solid yet unspectacular. Thompstone is unlikely to feature in any Youtube compilation videos but is also just as unlikely to have a nightmare. Same for JPP who has had to adapt his game due to his fairly substantial loss of pace.

I'd like better but Manu, Toomua and Ford are all £450k+ players, and Ben was supposedly on around £350k before his last renewal. I'd rather have average wingers getting great ball than a George North quality winger dealing with Poopie. Unfortunately the centres have been cursed since Anthony Allen was forced to retire so the wingers haven't been getting anything usable.

Ah I missed you signing joe. A solid enough back up for internationals I suppose.

Tigers sign Dominc Ryan from Leinster.

 Very happy with that.

Been behind some very good Leinster players, Tigers need more nouse at the breakdown IMO.

Yes - that is a good signing.

Very good signing, finally something to get the Tigers fans excited!

Yeh we need more aggressive back rowers and he will bring it.

Ahhhhh....I was thinking of Donnacha Ryan! Dominic Ryan is a handy player and younger of course.

Welly wrote: Yeh we need more aggressive back rowers and he will bring it.

Good signing. We have quite a few backrow options now. Maybe another will follow Betham out the door.

Still pleased with an aggressive player like this joining. We've certainly missed a bit of dog at times this season.

Fuzzy Dunlop wrote:Wing options at Tigers are far from perfect Beshocked, but in a salary capped world sometimes you need to accept solid yet unspectacular. Thompstone is unlikely to feature in any Youtube compilation videos but is also just as unlikely to have a nightmare. Same for JPP who has had to adapt his game due to his fairly substantial loss of pace.

I'd like better but Manu, Toomua and Ford are all £450k+ players, and Ben was supposedly on around £350k before his last renewal. I'd rather have average wingers getting great ball than a George North quality winger dealing with Poopie.  Unfortunately the centres have been cursed since Anthony Allen was forced to retire so the wingers haven't been getting anything usable.

Look it sounds like I am being negative, in some areas, Leicester have done well. I think Genge has been a very canny signing.

Good enough squad for 4th but needs improvement to win the AP again IMO.

I just think in some positions you could spend the cap a bit more wisely. Like losing certain players but holding onto others.

Haven't properly replaced Geordan Murphy.

I think Thompstone would struggle to get into most AP sides, I rate him even lower than Yarde.

I've said it many times. I think Leicester need to someone like Gorgodze and play him at 8. Would be a real statement of intent to get him on board.

Irish provinces baffle me sometimes

Ulster are so desperate for back row players, while Leinster have/had SOB, Van Der Flier, Conan, Ruddock, Leavy, Heaslip, Ryan and I'm probably missing others

Then when one actually moves, he comes over to England rather than filling a gap at Ulster

What's the point of the provinces all being overseen by the IRFU if they won't move players around like that? Or am I underestimating the historic strength of the Leinster/Munster vs Ulster dislike

No way is thompstone lower than Yarde.

Thompstone has a big work rate nothing special but unlike Yarde he won't cost you points.

Veainu is our X factor back 3 player.

Need another wing and maybe 2 midfielders depending on who is going.

Yarde is better than Thompstone Welly, different level for me.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Yarde is better than Thompstone Welly, different level for me.

Different level of crap maybe.

Yarde is THE most overrated winger in the prem.

BamBam wrote:Irish provinces baffle me sometimes

Ulster are so desperate for back row players, while Leinster have/had SOB, Van Der Flier, Conan, Ruddock, Leavy, Heaslip, Ryan and I'm probably missing others

Then when one actually moves, he comes over to England rather than filling a gap at Ulster

What's the point of the provinces all being overseen by the IRFU if they won't move players around like that? Or am I underestimating the historic strength of the Leinster/Munster vs Ulster dislike

Jack Conan is off to Exeter apparently too.


Edit, that rumour was BS, he's re-signed at Leinster

Welly wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Yarde is better than Thompstone Welly, different level for me.

Different level of crap maybe.

Yarde is THE most overrated winger in the prem.

Haha...dont mince around Welly! I really like Yarde, he's fantastic on his day.

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:

BamBam wrote:Irish provinces baffle me sometimes

Ulster are so desperate for back row players, while Leinster have/had SOB, Van Der Flier, Conan, Ruddock, Leavy, Heaslip, Ryan and I'm probably missing others

Then when one actually moves, he comes over to England rather than filling a gap at Ulster

What's the point of the provinces all being overseen by the IRFU if they won't move players around like that? Or am I underestimating the historic strength of the Leinster/Munster vs Ulster dislike

Jack Conan is off to Exeter apparently too.


Edit, that rumour was BS, he's re-signed at Leinster

Re-signed a bit ago didn't he.

Welly wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Yarde is better than Thompstone Welly, different level for me.

Different level of crap maybe.

Yarde is THE most overrated winger in the prem.

Welly to be fair on reflection you are probably right. Maybe Thompstone is indeed better than Yarde.

Agree that Yarde is indeed the most overrated winger in the AP.


It's why canny signings can be important. Quins have done better out of signing Visser.

Personally think Harlequins should play walker more than Yarde.

Irish announced Gordon Reid and Lasha Lomidze.

I tend to think Yarde is somewhat underated, on here at least, very few actually rate him.

Welly wrote:Tigers sign Dominc Ryan from Leinster.

 Very happy with that.

Been behind some very good Leinster players, Tigers need more nouse at the breakdown IMO.

Agreed. He's a good player and the sort we need in our back row, won't break the bank either. Shrewd signing.

If MOC is still targeting another 8 then I can only assume that McCaffery and/or Croft will be on the chopping block as well though. There are a lot of bodies signed up in the back row for next season.

Breaking the marmite mould on Thompstone and Yarde, I actually rate both.

Yarde might not have fulfilled the huge potential he showed at LI and U20s but he's still a good winger with a lot of pace and power.

Thompstone has consistently been one of Tigers best players for 3-4 seasons now. He isn't a game breaker but he's a good finisher, solid as any under the high ball and a rock in defence. Value for money wise I wouldn't trade him for many. Especially within the financial restraints of the salary cap and having to balance books without a sugar daddy, he is one of the most valuable members of the Tigers squad IMO.

Ben Meehan (Rebels 9) also to Irish.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:

Welly wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Yarde is better than Thompstone Welly, different level for me.

Different level of crap maybe.

Yarde is THE most overrated winger in the prem.

Haha...dont mince around Welly! I really like Yarde, he's fantastic on his day.

Thompstone was our player's player of the season and I think our top try scorer (again?). He rarely has a bad game and is normally the most committed player in the starting line up. I can think of few better squad player signings in the last five years. He's been excellent and has developed very well under Murphy.

Did you let Goneva go due to being a high earner?

Because if it was on age etc you let him go a bit early.

Newcastle offered more.

Goneva is on more than JPP.

He's playing better than JPP to be fair.

Yeh just saying Goneva is on a lot of money.

And on this season worth every penny....been a huge player for us.

I just hope all these big name backs are having a positive effect on our academy lads aswell.

I'm still waiting for Kibirige to come through but that just keeps fading further and further away.

Has JPP been any good? Been very underwhelmed everytime I've seen him, but maybe missed his better games? Big fan of Thompstone though, really strong, solid defender, not slow. Just not flashy and out and out try machine so see why people don't realize jos contribution. There's always drama when he gets spoken about on here but Banahan has been similar for us for past 18 months. Really solid club player and his effort brings the best out from others

For me, JPP has been consistently poor. This is primarily due to his complete loss of pace, most clearly shown in our last home game where on making an interception he immediately kicked the ball rather than back himself. He has tried to compensation, which mainly means coming in field and running into contact. His defensive positioning has been poor too.

While no worldbeater Thompstone has been far superior, and shown you can do well without out and out pace.

Now I admit I am biased. I did not feel that signing JPP was good business, and have looked for things to support that view. Maybe fans of him have seen a different side.

LondonTiger wrote:For me, JPP has been consistently poor. This is primarily due to his complete loss  of pace, most clearly shown in our last home game where on making an interception he immediately kicked the ball rather than back himself. He has tried to compensation, which mainly means coming in field and running into contact. His defensive positioning has been poor too.

While  no worldbeater Thompstone has been far superior, and shown you can do well without out and out pace.

Now I admit I am biased. I did not feel that signing JPP was good business, and have looked for things to support that view. Maybe fans of him have seen a different side.

I quite like JPP coming off his wing and carrying hard. It gets us Iver the gain line and gives us some momentum. What I really wanted to see from him was the aggression he used to play with in SA, he was very confrontational for a winger. We've not seen any of that this year.

I would like to see JPP covering 13 more like Betham did.

He is one of our more intelligent players, and has been involved in many of our tries. Certainly has the best awareness.

I'm hoping after a proper pre-season and a season in the Prem already under his belt he will be even better.

Napolioni Nalaga and Petrus Du Plessis to Irish.

And Luke McLean. Not really sure he was require, but guess they no what they are doing.

Saia Fainga’a as well. Busy morning for the social media guy at LI

Loved Nalaga at Clermont. Lethal finisher and a real power runner.

At 31 he is getting on a bit but Nalaga is still a lethal finisher. Looking forward to seeing him in the AP. McLean is a bit meh.