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sallymay
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I don’t and won’t believe it...nope nuh won’t happen and if it does I’ll cry
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sallymay
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I hate you Youhero I hate you

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pr ... 4b5922dfa7

The Wests Tigers and Melbourne Storm have hatched a player swap plan which would deliver one of rugby league’s best emerging talents to the Concord-based club for 12 months.

Sunshine Coast Falcons player of the year Harry Grant toured Tigers headquarters last week and is in negotiations for a one-year swap deal with Tigers centre Paul Momirovski.

The unique player swap deal is still awaiting final approval from the NRL as the Tigers and Storm haggle over the fine print of the arrangement.

Grant, 21, has long been touted as the long-term successor to champion hooker Cameron Smith with good judges predicting he will be a future NRL star.

Momirovski joined the Tigers out of the Sydney Roosters system last season and has shown enough to suggest he is a more than capable outside back.

A year under Craig Bellamy has never hurt a player.

Still reeling from an injury to young gun hooker Jacob Liddle and the retirement of Robbie Farah, the Tigers have been scouring the market for No.9 alternatives.

Melbourne Storm have also been busy searching for outside backs after letting Will Chambers and Curtis Scott move and with winger Josh Addo-Carr also restless.

The Storm and Tigers are believed to have coined the idea of the 12-month player swap, which is believed to be a first of its kind in the NRL era.

The Storm enjoy tremendous depth in the hooking position with champion No.9 Smith and Kiwi Test rake Brandon Smith both among the club’s top 30 roster.

The Bulldogs had a major crack at signing Grant last season but were unable to convince him to leave the Storm’s highly-regraded system.

The Storm attempted to put a clause in the swap arrangement about Grant returning to Melbourne if Smith sustained an injury but the Tigers rejected it.

The player swap negotiations could be resolved in the next 24 hours.



Im gonna cry
blazza18
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Nice scoop, YH!

I kinda think it's cool as long as Harry comes back.
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sallymay
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I get it I just hate it
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yourhero
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It's a very innovative approach for both clubs (at least in the NRL). It certainly has risks - a player could love their new environment and not want to leave OR kill it at NRL level and want a pay bump. But there is risk in doing nothing as well - The player could get jack of playing reserve grade and simply seek a release.

At the very least it will be quite interesting to see how it plays out.
ALX22
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So what happens if both hookers get injured in the season? Who is next in line??? Dumb move.
blazza18
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ALX22 wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2020 1:01 pm So what happens if both hookers get injured in the season? Who is next in line??? Dumb move.
I'm sure both clubs would've thought of that and come up with some guidelines.
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ALX22 wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2020 1:01 pm So what happens if both hookers get injured in the season? Who is next in line??? Dumb move.
Disagree. I'd rather have the chance to get Grant back after 12 months than lose him permanently because he's disgruntled with the pecking order or lack of first grade opportunities with us. Besides, Grant could just as easy get injured playing QCup and be unavailable for us in the event that both of the Smiths get injured at the same time.
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Danger D
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Insomniac wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2020 1:24 pm
ALX22 wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2020 1:01 pm So what happens if both hookers get injured in the season? Who is next in line??? Dumb move.
Disagree. I'd rather have the chance to get Grant back after 12 months than lose him permanently because he's disgruntled with the pecking order or lack of first grade opportunities with us. Besides, Grant could just as easy get injured playing QCup and be unavailable for us in the event that both of the Smiths get injured at the same time.
Agreed. Not a bad situation IMO. Am i right in thinking Kenny B has played some hooker at some point? I think Jacks could also do an OK job.

Good for Harry to get some opportunity to develop his game. Madge is a halfway decent coach so Harry should be in good hands regarding his development.
RobbieRoss
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This is so much better than losing Harry permanently. Yes we will be in strife if both the Smiths go down, but

- if it comes off, Harry gets a year of first grade under his belt, so will be ready to go next season
- we get another outside back for this season , which we desperately need .

Momirovski is also a pretty good goalkicker - way better as a backup than Munster .

Well done by the club if they can pull it off.
purplepride
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Plugs a hole for the Tigers while their future hooker recovers from injury.
Gives our bloke time in first grade and fast tracking his development while the goat plays his final season.
Bullucked
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Has Kenny played Hooker or has he moved in to the spot in the past. I don't recall him being named at Nine but we've seen him go to dummy half and I think with quite reasonable success. Dunno what his shape is like now, though I'm sure there wouldn't be too many probing runs!
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STORM MAN
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Don't like it. If you think the Tigers would give Harry up after he stars for them for an entire year then think again. We let enough young talent leave recently. Don't allow our future star to play for another NRL team..lol. Seems stupid to me...sorry if I seem hash...Just Love my Storm
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STORM MAN wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2020 11:46 pm Don't like it. If you think the Tigers would give Harry up after he stars for them for an entire year then think again. We let enough young talent leave recently. Don't allow our future star to play for another NRL team..lol. Seems stupid to me...sorry if I seem hash...Just Love my Storm
If the deal is only for a 1 year swap then there's no way they'd be able to keep him regardless of how well he plays for them - he'd still be contracted to us for 2021.
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yourhero
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Insomniac wrote: Thu Jan 30, 2020 1:33 amIf the deal is only for a 1 year swap then there's no way they'd be able to keep him regardless of how well he plays for them - he'd still be contracted to us for 2021.
Just like JAC? The NRL has proven since it's inception, that contracts aren't worth sh*t. To both players and clubs... If either party wants out of the deal, 99% of the time, it happens (Greg Eastwood a clear example where that didn't occur).

Regardless, there is inherent risk in keeping a player in Q Cup that is capable and wants to play first grade. I like the swap deal, despite the various risks.

We lose our third string hooker for someone pushing for a starting position at centre - a position we all acknowledge has been thin for us. If you look at the make-up of our squad for the 2020 season, surely this is a win for us.
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