Disappointed, but at the end of the day I think he would have been a much better signing for us than he will be for the Roosters. He would have been icing for us, but the Roosters 2025 squad looks half baked with that much investment in the forwards. Watching them deal with an unbalanced squad will be fun, as will the "gone to get a premiership" memes when they get knocked out of yet another finals series.
Don't buy the whole "it makes us look bad" angle either. We lost out by the skin of our teeth to the league's glamour club renowned for securing elite signings by sweetening deals with their corporate connections. As if that wasn't enough, they also happen to have a setup riddled with personal connections to the guy. Even with that much of the deck stacked against us we were well in the running and genuinely appeared an appealing prospect to one of the games elite players. The clubs who took a rep hit here are the Dragons and the Titans, who were barely afterthoughts in the process.
And if anyone disagrees, feel free to invite them for a viewing of one of the previous 3 grand finals. I'm a 2023 guy myself, but any one will do really.