In NRL season 2020 we experienced a phenomenon known as player swapping.
Wests Tigers outside back Paul Momirovski was exchanged for Melbourne Storm hooker in waiting Harry Grant. Having been given the Peter V’landys ‘yeah, sure, why not’ seal of approval, the clubs were given permission to allow their own contracted players to play for another club in the same competition.
The Storm had felt they were light on depth in the backs and also would not be able to find a regular spot on the bench for young Grant, who was of course behind 80-minute player and Storm captain Cameron Smith.
For their part the Wests Tigers had been unable to find and were unwilling to develop a new dummy half. Also the Wests Tigers have a strange fetish for sending world-class backs to the Melbourne Storm. Think flying fox Josh Addo-Carr and current Wallaby Marika Koroibete.
While Momirovski may not yet be in that class, he is a quality player. He was head and shoulders above most players for the Tigers in 2019 and should have been the Tigers’ player of the year.
So the big swinging Storm and Tigers swapped sons for a year and it was a win-win scenario. Momirovski would strengthen the Storm backs and have a chance at a winning a premiership.
Harry Grant would earn his first grade stripes and his development would be fast tracked, so that by the time Cameron Smith stepped down, Grant would already have a full season of first grade under his belt. Yep, win-win… for the Storm.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The obvious reality was that in 2021 the Tigers would be in the same boat, except rather than having blooded their own up-and-coming dummy halves, they would instead be a further 12 months behind in their own player development in the vital number nine jersey.
Harry Grant played terrifically well for the Tigers. He was raw but with obvious talent. By the end of the season he had developed so well as a player that he earned representative selection. He came off the bench for Queensland in the deciding State of Origin match of 2020.
As for Momirovski, he scored four tries in six games for the Storm before his season ended cruelly when a torn finger tendon sidelined him for 12 weeks. Although Momirovski was unable to break back into the premiership-bound Storm line-up, he can still lay claim to his second premiership in three seasons. He had also been part of the 2018 Roosters playing roster and scored two tries in his two appearances for the Tricolours.
After season 2020 Momirovski came home, but Momirovski’s Tigers homecoming was short lived. Last week he was again offered as part of a player swap for 2021. He and Panther Daine Laurie have been traded for one another. They had their contracts exchanged. This time it was a slightly less tawdry affair. It was more of an arrangement than a swap. It was not a loan, but a more permanent vacation.
I wish Paul Momirovski all the best for his future. He is wonderfully talented and a whole-hearted player. In NRL season 2021 he gets a chance to win his third premiership with a third different club in a four-season stretch, and is more than a fair chance to do so.
As for Harry Grant, he seems destined for greatness. His performance in the State of Origin decider was dynamic. After coming on in the 25th minute of Game 3, his speed and skill from dummy half made him a constant threat and turned the contest in Queensland’s favour.
He is now a fully fledged representative player with a full season of first grade under his belt. His talent is such that legendary dummy half Cameron Smith has been given the tap on the shoulder and been told it’s time to go, as Melbourne look to the future.
As for Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire, the Melbourne Storm and Queensland have a message for you. Thank you, we are forever in your debt.
Graeme Docker
Roar Rookie
Hi Nat I'm pretty sure I never said that the Tigers developed him, but please correct me if I did. Thank you for conceding that he would not have played origin. That was the subtext of the article,that he shouldn't have been there, hence the final line 'the message to Madge'. I like Harry Grant a lot and I wish him all the success in the world. I was happy to have him in our jersey, he played very well, and of course I wish we could have kept him. The sour grapes are not mine to crush. It should be Freddy Fittler and the Blues lamenting that maybe Grant should have never been there in game 3. Even Cameron Smith should feel a bit dirty about being moved on when he desired one more season, that is no way to treat your greatest clubman. As for the swap, the gains to Harry Grant, Melbourne and Queensland were massive, the gains to the West Tigers were not. That inequity is why I think the player swap was a failure. As for Origin, it's good that Queensland won, a Blues three peat is rarely a good thing for Origin.
matth
Roar Guru
I couldn't disappoint :laughing: :laughing:
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
Really I think this was their hope. If Smith played on who knows, but once I saw how good this kid is iknew there was no way he was leaving Melbourne.
Tony
Roar Guru
I was waiting for that :happy:
matth
Roar Guru
You obviously got interrupted: Churchill, Raper, Langland, Gasnier, Fulton, Beetson, Johns, Lewis, MINTO, Momirovski.
Joe
Roar Rookie
The way Harry had that forward pack humming and scoring tries last year was pretty special. Can't wait to see what he does with the likes of NAS, Bromich, Welch, B.Smith at the Storm this year. Momi was pretty handy though too...special try against the Roosters to take the Storm into the lead in that awesome game at Suncorp.
Nat
Roar Guru
Hi Graeme, Yes, 100%. Without being a smart A, that's the first time you've conceded that it is more about the Tigers than anyone else. It really read like sour grapes that Grant went back to Melbourne but framed as inadequate loan system. Or simple frustration that the Tigers have had so much talent don the jumper then go on to succeed somewhere else. Would Grant have played Origin without going to WT last season is a rhetorical. If he doesn't play with Wests he doesn't play origin - that's a given. It's a long bow to say that the Tigers developed him into an orgin player. In 10yrs it will be a trivia question but at least you can say that he don your jumper at one time.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Not so sure both players had the same impact on their team's results ? But in a swap deal , both Clubs take their chances. I thought the Tigers were specials for the "spoon' last year . Then they got the gift of Grant and blew me out of the water with that prediction !
Graeme Docker
Roar Rookie
Hi again Nat, the article is not about a dislike for melbourne, you'll have to wait a couple of days for that one. It's actually not even about player swapping. It's about poor decision making and forward planning by the West Tigers. It's about the fascinating trajectory of Harry Grants career, and that Queensland and Melbourne are the beneficiaries his meteoric rise. Can you concede that? Harry Grant was destined to succeed and play rep footy, that's for sure. But can you tell me when you think he would have debuted for Queensland if he didn't play for the Tigers last year?
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Don’t know if its relevant but Tigers won just 33% of games with Harry in, whilst the Storm won 83% with Momirovski starting.
Morshead
Roar Rookie
I do not believe clubs swapping players has anything to do with morality. In Wests Tigers case it seemed more the result of ordinary squad management / availability. I don’t see this happening too often due to squad size and available talent. Inside a squad size of 30, each week – 17 play, 3- 5 are injured, 3-4 a club wants to keep/develop but they aren’t really ready to play just yet, so that leave about 4 – 7 players each week that a club has surplus. And those players aren’t the same each week. So realistically the only players a club ‘should/might’ swap are the 3-4 up and comers. Problem is, unless you are the Storm / Roosters with Origin ready players unable to get a game, most clubs do not have players to swap that other clubs would likely want, and/or that the loaning club perceives is ready for a season of first grade. Which brings us back to the Tigers loaning a seasoned player – read first paragraph. That said, under the circumstances the Tigers did really well out of it (maybe squad management improving under Madge). Realistically each season is mutually exclusive from the others so why not have a best possible team each and every year. (Unless you’re clearing house to redevelop but that is another article).
danwain
Roar Rookie
But I think that’s where you come unstuck, the tigers and the storm are not rivals. The storm are winning premierships while the tigers are making up the numbers. It’s the same deal in the EPL, teams don’t loan a player to a team competing against them, they loan them to a lesser team where they can gain some experience, while it may benefit the team that has the loaned player by avoiding relegation or gaining promotion. We obviously don’t have those tiers in rugby league so it really only benefited the storm and of course Harry Grant. It just highlights that there are have and have nots in league these days, and that disparity is only getting wider each season.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Early on in the piece, before the Storm okayed the swap, I’m pretty sure Grant asked for an immediate release from his contract so he could sign with the Storm... it’s not unreasonable for the Tigers to think that they were a chance of nabbing him for the future
Albo
Roar Rookie
100% mushi ! And unfortunately it seems the Tigers, ever since the forced merger, have only every taken the short term view. Their management of team rosters is probably the worst in the NRL, and I suspect this may be Graeme's real beef . The Tigers are notorious for the poor management of their roster. They have either not recognised the talent they have had in their hands, or have been unable to retain this talent ( eg Teddy, Moses, Woods, Addo-Carr, Papenhuyzen), whilst handing out big cash on lots of mediocre cattle ( Brooks, Packer, Mbye, Reynolds, BJ, Roberts ) over the recent years? The real hurtful thing for Graeme and other Tiger fans, is that Harry Grant demonstrated to them all just what a valuable spine player looks like and how rare these types are, and if you do spot one, a smart Club needs to tie them down for the future ( eg Nathan Cleary) . Having a loan of one for a season just makes the heart grow fonder and losing one depresses you . In terms of last season's swap of Momirovski for Grant, I say if both Clubs and both players agree to it , you take your chances and no one should whinge about it. Morality has nothing to do with it . Grant might have done an ACL in his first match and be done for the Tigers for 2020. Momirovski may have avoided injury and played all season to win a GF ring ? You take your chances. If you don't like the risk of one Club getting a better advantage, don't do the swap deal !
Nat
Roar Guru
Even with COVID, I don't think player swaps are a bad thing. You get the feeling that if Grant goes back to the Bulldogs, this artcle isn't written.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Walter, are you from Melbourne or are you a member of a loser club with Melbourne as your second team?
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
:laughing:
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
I’ve replied to this twice but the mooder8ter program has found something in each that needs to be looked at by a human. I couldn’t see anything untoward. It should appear in a few hours.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Yes, after losing to StG-Illawarra 34-10 in the first finals game they scraped through against Canterbury and Parramatta with two point wins. Also on the NRL's mind was that the AFL grand final the day before was a dud, over in the first quarter. They hoped for a close game to show Victorians League was exciting. It looked like being another walkover at half-time and Billy probably got the message that the NRL is in competition with the AFL and what better to show them RL grand finals are exciting.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Yes, after being thrashed by StG-Illawarra 34-10 in the first finals game they scraped through against Canterbury and Parramatta with two point wins. Also on the NRL's mind was that the AFL grand final the day before was a dud, over in the first quarter. They hoped for a close game to show Victorians League was exciting. It looked like being another walkover at half-time and Billy probably got the message that the NRL is in competition with the AFL and what better to show them RL grand finals are exciting.