Meet the Melbourne Rebels' latest Japanese signing

Exactly. Cannot have too many good players. Unless they're all bloody 7s!

He essentially was used as one. For the majority of the season if Thomson was fit, Timani started. When he wasn't available, Jeffries started in place of Thomson.

Neither Hoiles in 2014 or Palu this year were on similar contracts though. If Grey and Sio were happy to stay in. Australia for minimum contracts like Palu, or come into the season training full time and uncontracted waiting for an injury contract, then I think they'd both be here. Rightly they both had greater ambition.

I don't necessary think Gray or Sio would have offered more to squad at the time given, despite that personally I feel the long-term value of developing one of them may well have been worth losing the experience of one of the older guys. And your right it is just my opinion, and I can see your points and certainly see the value in both terms of experience and dollars of the older players, particularly Hoiles and Palu. And given the standard of some of the coaching of the Aussie Super teams I'm not necessarily upset that they don't share my opinion... Anyway, I'll guess we'll just have to agree to disagree and thanks for the exchange, it was fun. Cheers

Palu cost the Tahs all of $50k to have on the roster this year. Any coach would be stupid not to pick him up. Hoiles also presented excellent value. And the suggestion that the other players you mentioned who went unwanted offer just as much to the squad is just your opinion, and it would seem it's an opinion not shared by any super coaches.

With Samu and Ala'alatoa both of them will presumably be eligible for the All Blacks via residency in a couple of years. And I'm not saying that Gray is Wallaby material yet, not even close, but I think he was a lot more likely to play for the Wallabies in the future than Chapman or Hoiles were when was when they were all at the Tahs. I'm not suggesting Australia does or even should have 115 players capable of playing for the Wallabies, and I'm all for bringing back older players if possible. But if I had the choice between two players of similar ability and one of them had 1-2 seasons left in them and the other 5+ I would chose the 5+. As an ex-Rat I'd argue that Fards should been playing Super rugby far earlier than he did. But as it is he debuted for the Brumbies at 27, not 30 and 31 like Chapman and Hoiles were when they came back to the Tahs.

Sorry, but your logic is losing steam, every team has multiple players who are not Wallaby material simply because there are not 115 Wallaby material players kicking around in Australia for 5 teams. Not even the almighty NZ have 115 All Black ready players. You saying old players should not be resurrected? Fardy might disagree...

The crusaders had Nadolo, Volavola, Peter SAMU and Ala'alatoa this year. The first 2 were Fiji capped and last two are Australian.

I know Cheika brought Gray back and that ineligible players like Nadolo and now Ioane play in NZ. However, I can't see a NZ squad having 3 players who were either ineligible (Pots) or weren't going to be a l option for the Wallabies (Chapman and Hoiles and how I wish Mumm was including too). Add to that squad Dennis and Palu who weren't long-term options for either the Tahs or Wallabies and it seems short-sighted. The obvious retort is the Tahs won the title in 2014 and they presumably had a big positive impact on cash flow and junior player sign-ups. I know it's a balancing act and I wouldn't want to be the one making the decision however, with talent depth being a long standing issue for Australia I think he could have been kept over say Chapman.

Nah, NZ ineligible Fijians like Nandolo would never take a spot on a NZ side like Pots did.... The fact that Cheika brought Grey back is something you seem to be forgetting. He obviously wasn't worth keeping. And Hoiles was an excellent squad member for the Tahs.

Yeah I know you can't keep everyone and I don't begrudge them at all for going overseas for a game and to make money. However, I would much prefer to see guys like Grey and Sio stay in Australia and get game time over blokes like Mumm, Mitch Chapman and Steve Hoiles, all of whom Cheika brought back while at the Tahs. On top of that you had Potieger at the Tahs then as well, who was obviously ineligible for the Wallabies. It seems very short-sighted and something I can't imagine happening in New Zealand with a centralised system.

The fact is you are never going to keep them all. Valetini is on an EPS contract. The old system was that each team had up to 5 EPS spots. So straight away, Mafi is not at the expense of him. 2 EPS spots are taken by Rob Leota and Harley Fox though. Both back rower. The Rebels didn't sign Valetini because they wisely did not want to use all of their 5 EPS spots on one third of the starting team potentially. They already have 40% of the EPS allocated to the back row which is disproportionate.

TWAS that's true but we've already seen the Brumbies sign Rob Valetini right from under the Rebels noses... I don't want to lose another Vic too soon because he go stuck behind a Tongan-cum-Japanese marquee signing...

Rob will still be in the U20s next season. I really don't think this stunts his development. By foreign marquee signing limits, Mafi would be signed for 2 years. That leaves Rob still only turning 22 the season after he's gone. If anything it works in well to bring Rob along. Next year he will be involved in Super 20s and Aus U20s. The year after he would likely be in the 23 every week and probably a regular starter by 22.

Generally speaking on the Rebels, it's seems they're following through on their promise to provide Victorian pathways to Super Rugby. Sefanaia Naivalu, although Fijian, was signed from a VRU side via the Rising, Sione Tuipulotu, Rob Leota, and Jordan Uelese all scored spots with the Rebels and Rob Valetini signed with the Brumbies. Kudos to the Rebels for developing them and to the founders of the NRC. Brand new, shiny, freshly minted talent!

It's a bit perplexing... They have Rob Leota who seems like a pretty good 8 and developing nicely- and Victorian as well. I guess they need to cover Thomson's loss

Can't keep everyone. It would seem that Grey was not even worth a spot in the Tahs for anything other than injury cover at best so can't begrudge him for seeking a better offer overseas. Also can't begrudge financially pressured clubs not paying injury cover players more if they can't afford it Look at Albert Anae. He was on the cusp of making the Wallabies (in camp I believe), left for overseas then came back to the brumbies where he wasn't used. Now he's back off overseas again. You cannot keep everyone.

I think Grey initally signed a short-term contract as cover during the World Cup? But I can't understand why either of them were not wanted In Australia and allowed to leave in the first place. I know Hendrik Tui and Adam Thomson have been great additions to the Reds and Rebels and their experience is really vaulable but it's a shame when young guys like that leave Australia as a result.

What club were you at Browny? I know he was a Uni boy for colts.

I used to play against him in U18s down here back in the day... was never an enjoyable experience being the defender he decided to run at.