The club should pay......

[ism22]

He is definitley a once in a life time player & has that ability that no one else has. Todd Carney in 2010 was the best I'd seen at the Roosters till Latrell came along, he is sublime in attack. The Roosters can offer Latrell alot of thing not just money so hopefully who ever manages him understands the real big picture not just the big picture.

Agreed. Latrell is just such a complete player. Off head:
- Think about his setup for Keary... pinpoint kicks while in heavy traffic. The awareness too. Which other centres in the comp setup their 5/8 for tries off kicks? Name another one who doesn't just run hard and rely on the 5/8 for kicks.
- His brute force try was ridiculous!!! Who else can brush away 4 NRL grade players like that? And it's all natural strength... he's only gonna get stronger as he carves off a little bit of that puppy fat (not calling him fat, just saying he's only 21 with a lot of development left in him).
- The range of his kicks has to be up there with some of the best in the game. I've seen him go ~60m off drop-outs. IMO this means he can kick further during play. Imagine if he got another ~10m worth of range off drop-outs. Repeat sets would mean NOTHING to our opposition. IMO it's easy to forget how we used to struggle without his dropouts.
- Above all, he's got a good head on him that wraps this all together. IMO he's clearly grown up knowing the consequences of fukking around and doesn't take any of his talent for granted. At 21 the be all this plus also have it all sorted out up top is very impressive.
- Building on the above, why do we pay Cronk $1 million? I'd say pretty much purely because he's a good influence on our players. Imagine Latrell in 3 years time... stronger... smarter... fitter... 10m longer dropouts... AND... he's helping a bunch of gun indigenous players make the transition from being country prodigies to being big city superstars. For this alone he's worth $1 million a year.

Conclusion:
- When Cronk moves on, we MUST give his salary and more to Latrell and lock it into our medium term estimates. If this means we need to use an inexperienced half for a few years then so what? Keary's world class and Latrell can cover as an extra half.
- This isn't like when RTS left because RTS left quicker, without speaking to us and with less of a well rounded game. Latrell's at the table willing to negotiate in good faith and he's letting his form do all the talking rather than playing BS games with us. Latrell deserves respect in return.

[Darkone]

I was watching Latrell tonight from start to finish. He was the only guy who touched the Rooster at the top of the banner running out. He's the guy who thumps the Rooster on his chest when he scores a try. He's also the guy who always celebrates with the fans even when he pops over a goal. It's things like that along with playing with a smile on his face which makes me think he is really content at Easts and has no real desire to go anywhere else. He seemed happy at the end to take photos, sign balls etc for the little kids and the big kids as well.

So it's funny how with all the talk recently that he pulls a 5 star performance like that out of the bag for the tricolours even though I reckon he has been building up to it. Let's hope it's a sign where he is saying come on Easts, make me a good offer and let's put all this to bed and let the good times roll.

I totally agree chika

He ticks all the right boxes for me, he is still young, a work in progress & a proud rooster

I can't believe the nit pickers saying BS like he's too cocky, too lazy, likely to leave any moment, blah blah.....

[RoosterChick]

It’s him or Tedesco I still reckon.

Can’t have both.

Melbourne kept Cronk, Slater and Smith together for many years. Why can’t we do the same with Keary, Teddy and Latrell?

[NorfolkStreetKid]

Agreed. Latrell is just such a complete player. Off head:
- Think about his setup for Keary... pinpoint kicks while in heavy traffic. The awareness too. Which other centres in the comp setup their 5/8 for tries off kicks? Name another one who doesn't just run hard and rely on the 5/8 for kicks.
- His brute force try was ridiculous!!! Who else can brush away 4 NRL grade players like that? And it's all natural strength... he's only gonna get stronger as he carves off a little bit of that puppy fat (not calling him fat, just saying he's only 21 with a lot of development left in him).
- The range of his kicks has to be up there with some of the best in the game. I've seen him go ~60m off drop-outs. IMO this means he can kick further during play. Imagine if he got another ~10m worth of range off drop-outs. Repeat sets would mean NOTHING to our opposition. IMO it's easy to forget how we used to struggle without his dropouts.
- Above all, he's got a good head on him that wraps this all together. IMO he's clearly grown up knowing the consequences of fukking around and doesn't take any of his talent for granted. At 21 the be all this plus also have it all sorted out up top is very impressive.
- Building on the above, why do we pay Cronk $1 million? I'd say pretty much purely because he's a good influence on our players. Imagine Latrell in 3 years time... stronger... smarter... fitter... 10m longer dropouts... AND... he's helping a bunch of gun indigenous players make the transition from being country prodigies to being big city superstars. For this alone he's worth $1 million a year.

Conclusion:
- When Cronk moves on, we MUST give his salary and more to Latrell and lock it into our medium term estimates. If this means we need to use an inexperienced half for a few years then so what? Keary's world class and Latrell can cover as an extra half.
- This isn't like when RTS left because RTS left quicker, without speaking to us and with less of a well rounded game. Latrell's at the table willing to negotiate in good faith and he's letting his form do all the talking rather than playing BS games with us. Latrell deserves respect in return.

Your so called conclusion is ridiculous. You are suggesting we pay OVERS for Latrell and have an inexperienced HALFBACK o 5/8th on a low salary to make up for it. Never mind team disharmony, does everyone else accept UNDERS compared to Latrell.

[RoosterChick]

I reckon we will get him for $1m a season and I think he's worth every cent of it. He is the face of the game and extremely marketable, will easily pick up TPA's to top up his salary.

Not to mention the bums he will put on seats. As they say it’s a business and we need to continue to attract sponsors and more members especially with all the talk in the game about expansion and relocation. Just as a marketing tool Latrell is worth $1million. What he can bring to the club over the next decade can’t be underestimated. He is the best we have had since Freddy. After Cronk retires there should be plenty in the war chest to accomodate Latrell and still keep our other elite players.

[milanja]

Your so called conclusion is ridiculous. You are suggesting we pay OVERS for Latrell and have an inexperienced HALFBACK o 5/8th on a low salary to make up for it. Never mind team disharmony, does everyone else accept UNDERS compared to Latrell.

Tom Brady has been taking unders for years at the patriots, so the rest of the roster could be strong and guarantee success.

[Kentucky_Fried_Rooster]

Let Parra have him if they are stupid enough to pay the reported $1,000,000+ a season. He can go earn the big money but never win a premiership there.
Plenty of great players would be willing to take a lot less to play for us, we will continue on our way being the benchmark.

You don't win premierships with 1 or 2 stars and the rest being nobodies because you stuffed up your salary cap, you need a team of players who put in week in week out.
Look over the last 15 or so years and only 3 teams have won 2 or more premierships. Those teams didn't break the bank on 1 or 2 players. They might have paid big dollars for some players but not break the bank on them, this allowed them to buy above average players to get the job done.

[NorfolkStreetKid]

Tom Brady has been taking unders for years at the patriots, so the rest of the roster could be strong and guarantee success.

Tom Brady is the equivalent to a half or 5/8th in league and has played 17 seasons earning about $200 million, about 8 years ago I think he was the highest paid player in the NRL on about $14 million a year, he reduced his BASE salary a few years ago to $1 million but had I think a signing bonus of around $14 million. Who knows how much extra he has earned in bonuses and endorsements. He has been paid around $800K PER GAME over his career. It's hard to relate this kind of money to rugby league, but I agree with the sentiment that there is more than money involved in a players decision to stay or leave a club.

[The Skeez]

Nick will make it work. Relax

[milanja]

Tom Brady is the equivalent to a half or 5/8th in league and has played 17 seasons earning about $200 million, about 8 years ago I think he was the highest paid player in the NRL on about $14 million a year, he reduced his BASE salary a few years ago to $1 million but had I think a signing bonus of around $14 million. Who knows how much extra he has earned in bonuses and endorsements. He has been paid around $800K PER GAME over his career. It's hard to relate this kind of money to rugby league, but I agree with the sentiment that there is more than money involved in a players decision to stay or leave a club.

Was a post in jest, he basically said he doesn’t need the money because his wife earns a very good wage, so latrell just needs to partner up with a supermodel, then stay at easts until he is 45.

[dice]

It’s him or Tedesco I still reckon.

Can’t have both.

+1. If Tedesco the preferred fullback and Mitchell doesn't cut it as a 5/8th, then it would be insane to pay Mitchell twice the price of any other centre in the game. We are better off investing that money in replacements for Cronk and Friend.

[TumutChook]

Latrell certainly had a blinder last night, a freakish performance by a freakish talent and I am proud to have him as a Rooster, but seriously the talk of paying him $1.2 or more under the present salary cap is ridiculous. Just can't be done because then Tedesco and Keary would deserve the same money and that's 35% of the salary cap on 3 players. Plus then do we pay Taukeaho the same as Taumalolo ?, How about Toups, Cordner, JWH, Manu, Toupaniua , Friend ? We have the best roster in the comp because we manage the cap better than any other club, and many other clubs have paid overs for certain players and are suffering for it big time. I am sure the club will do everything possible to keep him within reason. Surely there is more than just money involved in a players decision to decide his future. The Club, The coach, The chance to win Grand Finals, the other players, the culture... there is no other club which can offer Latrell what we can. Can you really imagine him going anywhere else ? I think he will stay, for a combination of all those reasons, he has grown up with us for 5 years and can be a Roosters legend. He will stay.

While i do agree on pretty much everything you say Norfolk,the part about no one else being able to offer him success ,culture,mentoring etc is slightly wrong in my eyes.Just look at what Souths are going to do for GI with the indigenous mentoring (perfect role for LM).And as much as i hate Souths,i believe it will be a Roosters/South GF & make no mistake adding LM to that South roster would give them loads of success while weakening ours.Also maybe the success hasnt come at Broncos for years but for some reason every one stays there for less so they must be getting other benefits,media,roles etc.I do think we are the premier team but end of the day LM holds all the cards in this negotiation,if he wants money he will leave,if he wants to be in the Halves he will leave.Lets just hope he loves Robbo,the boys & being an Easts man at a new stadium. I'm not someone that believes in breaking banks or giving in to positional changes at a players demand,so i hope it doesn't come to that.

[Ray Stehr]

If we let him leave, we will be the much poorer and weaker for it. He's the only player we have that can singlehandedly win us a game. We should lock him up for life, give him a 10 year deal.

[easts4eva]

If we let him leave, we will be the much poorer and weaker for it. He's the only player we have that can singlehandedly win us a game. We should lock him up for life, give him a 10 year deal.

I want him to stay but 10yr deals concern me, 5 yes, just out of intrest is there a player in any code that has seen out a 10yr deal?
I agree though we must pull out nearly all stops to keep him, he's a one in 20yrs player.

[zac]

Mitchell said contract negotiations weren't even on his radar for 2019, insisting the stories about his future were just speculation.

"All this talk, I'm contracted until next year, I'm just happy to play out my years, then when it comes to negotiating, then we'll talk," Mitchell said.

"At the moment I just want to keep playing footy and not worry about rumours going around that people are making up.

"I see those things and I think 'I know they're not true'. I'm here to have fun and play footy with the boys and go through the season and build something."

That's the way it should be. You should play sport because you enjoy it - even at the elite level.

Let the contract talks play out as they will.

If we can manage to offer Latrell 1m a season (unders) and he accepts he can still have a comfortable future and help create a dynasty here. Win/win.