NRL NRL 2025 - Round 7

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https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/pickem/picks/2025-official-bigfooty-nrl-tipping.183/?week_id=430

Thursday 17th April
Manly-Warringah vs St.George-Illawarra (4 Pines Park - 19:50)

Friday 18th April
Canterbury-Bankstown vs South Sydney (Accor Stadium - 16:05)
Dolphins vs Melbourne (Suncorp Stadium - 20:00)

Saturday 19th April
New Zealand vs Brisbane (Go Media Stadium - 17:30)
Sydney Roosters vs Penrith (Allianz Stadium - 19:35)

Sunday 20th April
Gold Coast vs Canberra (Cbus Super Stadium - 14:00)
Newcastle vs Cronulla-Sutherland (McDonald Jones Stadium - 16:05)

Monday 21st April
Parramatta vs Wests Tigers (CommBank Stadium - 16:00)

Bye: North Queensland

 

[PhatBoy]

Did galvin say that? I never saw anything like that being reported.

Clubs, coaches and senior players need to be bigger than this sort of gossip.

Not in as many words. But it seems to be pretty indicative of what is coming from his camp when he and his father both talking about development of his game and needing to do it at a different club. Would suggest to me they don’t think he can thrive there.

 

[phantom13]

Not in as many words. But it seems to be pretty indicative of what is coming from his camp when he and his father both talking about development of his game and needing to do it at a different club. Would suggest to me they don’t think he can thrive there.

To me that’s not even remotely close to saying he doesn’t rate them, it’s also something the club needs to just not engage and get petty over imo.

Whilst I thought the statement on Monday the tigers made was unneccesary it was at least mature, backflipping on it the next day is even worse.

Anyway, seems we’ll agree to disagree.

 

[Jatz]

Put it this way, can anyone see Penrith/Melbourne etc going through this the same way?

 

[PhatBoy]

Put it this way, can anyone see Penrith/Melbourne etc going through this the same way?

Well the Storm were allegedly furious with Brandon Smith after he signed with the Roosters and spoke positively of their culture on a podcast and demanded an immediate meeting with him and considered letting him go there and then. Does that count?

 

[phantom13]

Well the Storm were allegedly furious with Brandon Smith after he signed with the Roosters and spoke positively of their culture on a podcast and demanded an immediate meeting with him and considered letting him go there and then. Does that count?

Allegedly is sort of the key.

Stuff like this stays in house and the player moves on quietly from big successful clubs.

That’s sort of the whole point.

 

[Jatz]

Well the Storm were allegedly furious with Brandon Smith after he signed with the Roosters and spoke positively of their culture on a podcast and demanded an immediate meeting with him and considered letting him go there and then. Does that count?

Being the key word there?

Nothing that's happened this week from the Tigers end has been allegedly. Munster come out and start cryptically posting instagram stories? Grant? Coates?

I think we both know those clubs would've handled this very differently.

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

Due Galvin come out and say that?

Supposedly it got says behind closed doors but how did it get out (genuine question cause I don’t know)

My thought is as above. Agent is pushing the narrative around, wanting a early release so he can take a better contract elsewhere

 

[PhatBoy]

Being the key word there?

Nothing that's happened this week from the Tigers end has been allegedly. Munster come out and start cryptically posting instagram stories? Grant? Coates?

I think we both know those clubs would've handled this very differently.

Who cares? One of those clubs has missed the finals once in a quarter of a century, the other has pulled off an achievement not done in 60 years such in their success.

The Tigers have been walked over like no other club in the competition for two decades. No one has wanted to go there, when they do they invariably fail and want to leave, and the good players that they’ve fostered have all left and gone elsewhere.

Sorry but I’m not going to bag them for saying enough is enough to an agent that has ****ed them over previously and taking a bit of a stand, and for some of their playing group actually showing some spine.

Had some of their teams shown similar backbone on the field over the years they might not have been such a joke.

 

[Jatz]

Who cares? One of those clubs has missed the finals once in a quarter of a century, the other has pulled off an achievement not done in 60 years such in their success.

The Tigers have been walked over like no other club in the competition for two decades. No one has wanted to go there, when they do they invariably fail and want to leave, and the good players that they’ve fostered have all left and gone elsewhere.

Sorry but I’m not going to bag them for saying enough is enough to an agent that has ****ed them over previously and taking a bit of a stand, and for some of their playing group actually showing some spine.

Had some of their teams shown similar backbone on the field over the years they might not have been such a joke.

Those that are suggesting the Tigers should've handled this better?

None of what's happened is showing backbone on the field. Tell you what though, after they've carried on like **** over a 19 year old doing what he's entitled to do, Luai and Turuva would want to play bloody well.

 

[PhatBoy]

Those that are suggesting the Tigers should've handled this better?

None of what's happened is showing backbone on the field. Tell you what though, after they've carried on like **** over a 19 year old doing what he's entitled to do, Luai and Turuva would want to play bloody well.

You’re comparing the two most successful clubs along with the roosters to the whipping boys of the league for the last 25 years aside from one brief peak and expecting them to handle this situation the same way those clubs would.

In my experience teams have gotten themselves out of the doldrums by completely changing the way they run things - doing 180 degree turns.

The roosters were a joke for 15 years from the moment they lost the Steve Gearin grand final. Signing hasbeen players, becoming the ‘transit lounge’ for blokes looking for a superannuation package before retirement, and garbage footballers not worthy of a first grade spot.

So they went and ripped Phil Gould and Brad Fittler out of Penrith along with Matt Sing, Scott Gourley and David Barnhill out of St George, Ivan Cleary out of North Sydney, lined them up with players like Ricketson, Lam, Fletcher etc and said enough is enough we are going to change how we do things here and make a conscious decision to be ruthless and while a lot of people hate us - and I get why - it’s a standard we’ve stuck to and you can’t deny that it changed things forever. We’ve missed the finals 6 times in 29 seasons since and been top 4 in 12 of them. We are a c**t of a club. We’ve cut blokes loose, we’ve signed blokes we shouldn’t, we have signed some absolute flogs, and we have poached blokes from under the noses of other teams. Took Crichton from our arch rivals, Sualii likewise, saw Keary having a dust up with them and told him to come join us etc.


I guess it’s harder with Melbourne because they’ve never been unsuccessful but Penrith had a long lull, so Gus saw the entire western zone of NSW as a free swing and decided to plant an academy out here and managed to pull Isaiah Yeo out of it, Liam Martin, Liam Henry, Matt Burton so other clubs couldn’t get their hands on them first. Shafted Anthony Griffin when he was doing a good job, shafted the Tigers by getting Ivan Cleary when he was still on contract there from memory, despite Griffin getting the Panthers into 3 straight finals series.

If nothing else I’d say the successful clubs - the ones who’ve gone from being weak to being strong - do show that at some stage you change how you operate and get ruthless or you risk going nowhere.

 

[phantom13]

You’re comparing the two most successful clubs along with the roosters to the whipping boys of the league for the last 25 years aside from one brief peak and expecting them to handle this situation the same way those clubs would.

In my experience teams have gotten themselves out of the doldrums by completely changing the way they run things - doing 180 degree turns.

The roosters were a joke for 15 years from the moment they lost the Steve Gearin grand final. Signing hasbeen players, becoming the ‘transit lounge’ for blokes looking for a superannuation package before retirement, and garbage footballers not worthy of a first grade spot.

So they went and ripped Phil Gould and Brad Fittler out of Penrith along with Matt Sing, Scott Gourley and David Barnhill out of St George, Ivan Cleary out of North Sydney, lined them up with players like Ricketson, Lam, Fletcher etc and said enough is enough we are going to change how we do things here and make a conscious decision to be ruthless and while a lot of people hate us - and I get why - it’s a standard we’ve stuck to and you can’t deny that it changed things forever. We’ve missed the finals 6 times in 29 seasons since and been top 4 in 12 of them. We are a c**t of a club. We’ve cut blokes loose, we’ve signed blokes we shouldn’t, we have signed some absolute flogs, and we have poached blokes from under the noses of other teams. Took Crichton from our arch rivals, Sualii likewise, saw Keary having a dust up with them and told him to come join us etc.


I guess it’s harder with Melbourne because they’ve never been unsuccessful but Penrith had a long lull, so Gus saw the entire western zone of NSW as a free swing and decided to plant an academy out here and managed to pull Isaiah Yeo out of it, Liam Martin, Liam Henry, Matt Burton so other clubs couldn’t get their hands on them first. Shafted Anthony Griffin when he was doing a good job, shafted the Tigers by getting Ivan Cleary when he was still on contract there from memory, despite Griffin getting the Panthers into 3 straight finals series.

If nothing else I’d say the successful clubs - the ones who’ve gone from being weak to being strong - do show that at some stage you change how you operate and get ruthless or you risk going nowhere.

And you keep saying they are trying to emulate them.

If they are they’re failing.

The Tigers would have been bettered served to either just not reply and let Galvin play out the year.

Respond saying Lachlan will seek a release at the end of the season and the club will assess all options at an appropriate time.

Or

Release him immediately and thank him for his service.

The tantrum and then dropping is the most juvenile response possible.

 

[PhatBoy]

And you keep saying they are trying to emulate them.

If they are they’re failing.

The Tigers would have been bettered served to either just not reply and let Galvin play out the year.

Respond saying Lachlan will seek a release at the end of the season and the club will assess all options at an appropriate time.

Or

Release him immediately and thank him for his service.

The tantrum and then dropping is the most juvenile response possible.

They don’t have to ‘emulate’ them.

I’m saying they need to change what they are doing.

The two examples I gave aren’t one and the same, are they. The roosters and panthers didn’t do things the same way as one another. But both of them changed how they operated and got tougher, changed how they worked, set different standards than they previously had. The tigers don’t need to necessarily copy either of those clubs, or Melbourne. But they do have to change how they have been doing things for 20 years.

If that means telling a bloke that if he doesn’t like the way the coach coaches then he can go back to reserve grade no matter how good a player he is, then good on them. If it means letting the senior players have a voice on how they feel about it, then so be it.

I’d rather see that from them than just ‘ok well you’re a 19 year old who hasn’t proven anything telling a club legend that he can’t coach even though he hasn’t had time to even show whether he can or not, and you’re leaving after we gave you a shot and tried to build a team for you, so here you go, that same coach now has to treat the situation like nothing has changed.’

 

[phantom13]

They don’t have to ‘emulate’ them.

I’m saying they need to change what they are doing.

The two examples I gave aren’t one and the same, are they. The roosters and panthers didn’t do things the same way as one another. But both of them changed how they operated and got tougher, changed how they worked, set different standards than they previously had. The tigers don’t need to necessarily copy either of those clubs, or Melbourne. But they do have to change how they have been doing things for 20 years.

If that means telling a bloke that if he doesn’t like the way the coach coaches then he can go back to reserve grade no matter how good a player he is, then good on them. If it means letting the senior players have a voice on how they feel about it, then so be it.

I’d rather see that from them than just ‘ok well you’re a 19 year old who hasn’t proven anything telling a club legend that he can’t coach even though he hasn’t had time to even show whether he can or not, and you’re leaving after we gave you a shot and tried to build a team for you, so here you go, that same coach now has to treat the situation like nothing has changed.’

Except that he didn’t say that, at best his manager said it and none of it should have been for public consumption.

If you really think he’s not in the future plans and you’re better off without him then release him. Offering him a million a year THEN saying you wanna win as many games as possible with him until he goes THEN backflipping and dropping him because a bloke who has been at the club for 6 months says you should doesn’t look like standard setting, it looks immature.

It also damages your brand for player attraction and retention. If you’re a young star and the tigers make you an offer aren’t you gonna consider what they did to Lachy Galvin?

It’s very very short sighted and could have been much better handled a bunch of ways.

 

[phantom13]

Jatz different angle of “NRL will get involved” but pick your poison stuff.

I agree the tigers will release him anyway but if they didn’t, NRL will do something to make it happen.

 

[moto748]

What I don't get is, why would anyone be desperate to rush off to Parramatta?

 

[Jatz]

View attachment 2285252
Jatz different angle of “NRL will get involved” but pick your poison stuff.

I agree the tigers will release him anyway but if they didn’t, NRL will do something to make it happen.

That's not at all what that's implying. They're looking at it from a workplace 'bullying' situation, not lack of earnings.

 

[Jatz]

You’re comparing the two most successful clubs along with the roosters to the whipping boys of the league for the last 25 years aside from one brief peak and expecting them to handle this situation the same way those clubs would.

In my experience teams have gotten themselves out of the doldrums by completely changing the way they run things - doing 180 degree turns.

The roosters were a joke for 15 years from the moment they lost the Steve Gearin grand final. Signing hasbeen players, becoming the ‘transit lounge’ for blokes looking for a superannuation package before retirement, and garbage footballers not worthy of a first grade spot.

So they went and ripped Phil Gould and Brad Fittler out of Penrith along with Matt Sing, Scott Gourley and David Barnhill out of St George, Ivan Cleary out of North Sydney, lined them up with players like Ricketson, Lam, Fletcher etc and said enough is enough we are going to change how we do things here and make a conscious decision to be ruthless and while a lot of people hate us - and I get why - it’s a standard we’ve stuck to and you can’t deny that it changed things forever. We’ve missed the finals 6 times in 29 seasons since and been top 4 in 12 of them. We are a c**t of a club. We’ve cut blokes loose, we’ve signed blokes we shouldn’t, we have signed some absolute flogs, and we have poached blokes from under the noses of other teams. Took Crichton from our arch rivals, Sualii likewise, saw Keary having a dust up with them and told him to come join us etc.


I guess it’s harder with Melbourne because they’ve never been unsuccessful but Penrith had a long lull, so Gus saw the entire western zone of NSW as a free swing and decided to plant an academy out here and managed to pull Isaiah Yeo out of it, Liam Martin, Liam Henry, Matt Burton so other clubs couldn’t get their hands on them first. Shafted Anthony Griffin when he was doing a good job, shafted the Tigers by getting Ivan Cleary when he was still on contract there from memory, despite Griffin getting the Panthers into 3 straight finals series.

If nothing else I’d say the successful clubs - the ones who’ve gone from being weak to being strong - do show that at some stage you change how you operate and get ruthless or you risk going nowhere.

Slightly off topic but the love Gus gets for the Panthers fortune is hilarious. I know people who are working very closely in the inner sanctum. Gus did certain things right but this recent success had far less to do with him that you'd think.

He's just a name and a mouthpiece. The astute work is done behind the scenes.

 

[phantom13]

That's not at all what that's implying. They're looking at it from a workplace 'bullying' situation, not lack of earnings.

Yeh… hence “pick your poison”.

They’ve got a few different angles they can use here. I just pointed out one to note the NRL can absolutely get involved.

 

[Jatz]

Yeh… hence “pick your poison”.

They’ve got a few different angles they can use here. I just pointed out one to note the NRL can absolutely get involved.

That's not the NRL though. The RLPA is a separate entity to the governing body.

 

[phantom13]

That's not the NRL though. The RLPA is a separate entity to the governing body.

… okay

 

[Jatz]

I'm confused as to what point you're trying to make here? What you've just suggested doesn't actually line up with your original point at all.

 

[phantom13]

I'm confused as to what point you're trying to make here? What you've just suggested doesn't actually line up with your original point at all.

It actually does you’re just ignoring the clarification I made on the restriction of earnings.

That angle is one (can argue it’s not a good one but that’s subjective).

My point was that if come October the tigers refuse to release Galvin and continue to play him in reserve grade and say they will for 2026 (which we both agree is extremely unlikely to happen) then the NRL will get involved, through the players association or directly to ensure the tigers reconsider.

There are a myriad of ways to do that both formally and informally.

 

[Jatz]

It actually does you’re just ignoring the clarification I made on the restriction of earnings.

That angle is one (can argue it’s not a good one but that’s subjective).

My point was that if come October the tigers refuse to release Galvin and continue to play him in reserve grade and say they will for 2026 (which we both agree is extremely unlikely to happen) then the NRL will get involved, through the players association or directly to ensure the tigers reconsider.

There are a myriad of ways to do that both formally and informally.

They quite literally cannot do this. The NRL is a completely separate entity to the RLPA. If the NRL tried leaning on the RLPA they'd be told to piss off. Who do you think the NRL has to agree with during a CBA renewal? If they were that way aligned, there'd be no negotiations.

I understand what you're trying to say, I just disagree with it entirely. There are no restriction on earnings for next season due to his current contract running through to then. Until that contract is voided by the Tigers, he'll be left there to do with as they please. As you and I both agree, it's unlikely he'll be there next season but that'll come from the Tigers releasing him, not some invisible hand of the NRL.

 

[Jatz]

I am curious, where do you think the NRL has intervened like this before?

If they were going to intervene, they'd have done it in situations like DCE backflipping on the Titans etc.

If they genuinely cared about loss of earnings for players (they don't, why on earth would they?), they'd change the rules with how far out players could be signed.

 

[phantom13]

They quite literally cannot do this. The NRL is a completely separate entity to the RLPA. If the NRL tried leaning on the RLPA they'd be told to piss off. Who do you think the NRL has to agree with during a CBA renewal? If they were that way aligned, there'd be no negotiations.

I understand what you're trying to say, I just disagree with it entirely. There are no restriction on earnings for next season due to his current contract running through to then. Until that contract is voided by the Tigers, he'll be left there to do with as they please. As you and I both agree, it's unlikely he'll be there next season but that'll come from the Tigers releasing him, not some invisible hand of the NRL.

I’m gonna ignore the first part cause it’s naive to the extreme to think the NRL and the NRLPA wouldn’t cooperate on a matter they both agree is detrimental to the player and the comp (you’ve also assumed they’d be at odds).

As for the second part try this, forget about potential earnings, forget I ever said it.

If in October the tigers refuse to release or play Galvin and the NRLPA gets nowhere with this bullying claim you think Galvin will just be forced to play park footy for all of 2026?