2022 ANZP Confirmed signings

Well good on Meels if she is after more $$. She is the Ferns captain a world champion, deserves the bigger rewards.
I don’t think she has ever been paid very well at her time at the Pulse.

Where’s Nesian when you need them to confirm a few details ?

I’m just full of rumours @WeWood….

Anyways, as far as I’ve heard Dunn was signed first. It then became a case of who to pair with her.

The person that handles the Pulse contracts is known to be difficult to deal with according to the agents I’ve spoken to. I would say that she is business before all else. This is mostly a business decision I would think.

A lot of the players weren’t happy with this season so the call went out to get a new coach and the players were told after the last game that they were in discussions with a new high profile coach and that they were very close to signing. The Friday before the finals that turned into “we hope we have this new coach signed but if we don’t I’m sure you are going to love our back up plan”. We all know who the back up plan was now. I do know some players signed on the premise of who the coach was going to be and not who it ended up being, but I think in the end they would be happy either way.

I too think Meels hasn’t been paid well while she has been at the Pulse and I know because of that it’s not the first time she has looked elsewhere. This time she has actually pulled the trigger though.

As far as I know in all the Franchises apart from the Steel, a shooter and captain take up the Tier 1 spots.

You have a player in Tiana who wanted to come back home and would be cheaper than Meels to retain so business wise it made sense to sign her. It could have been Dunn and Meels for another couple of years or it could possibly be Dunn and Tiana for the next ten.

I did wonder when they were going to release details. I thought it might have been a three-way PR release between all 3 franchises which might have eased things.

I do feel like Meels has been hard done by though. A lovely lady and a great servant for the Pulse. They should have done better.

It was obvious for a few years that Ekenasio had to be hard done by in terms of salary simply because of who else the Pulse had signed. The fact that her family was based there and she was in and out of seasons with her pregnancy and form probably meant she wasn’t game to move for money sooner, but I’m glad she’s gone after a new opportunity.

I also think it’s probably a smart decision for the Pulse, especially longer term. Ekenasio may be the best GA in NZL but Metuarau isn’t that far behind, and she probably allows Pulse to recruit more expensive defenders. Dunn gets a lot of hate but she’s still very much a dominant shooter at club level.

Interesting that Kersten and TPSR are Tier I players. I’m especially surprised by TPSR, I assumed Burger moved over because she got a Tier I spot at the Tactix. The Pulse must have made her a pretty poor offer, unless it really was just about playing GD in front of Watson. Poi would have been knocking on the door as well.

The gap will be smaller after Metuarau gains experience in the Ferns environment and Ekenasio comes back months after giving birth. It’s like Bueta and Dwan at the Firebirds. Bueta is better and got nearly all the court time, but the Firebirds probably wouldn’t have done any worse if they only had Dwan. Metuarau allows Pulse to rebuild their defence end, they simply can’t afford to have stars all over the court.

That’s a really sad predicament and outcome for Meels, Nesian.
Another clubs enormous gain.