LOL so take injuries out of it? Comparing Gordon to Lewis despite Lewis' size and ability to transition to the backrow...something there is no way Gordon will be able to do due to his size..
Ok...well firstly that makes zero sense but I'll play along.
My point was Lewis is the same age. Your argument against Gordon mostly revolved around injuries, age and the fear of losing juniors. If I said we shouldn't resign Lewis because he's going to be 30 next year and we might lose VTK would anyone agree with me? I doubt it. (not suggesting that for a second btw)
Where each of them plays isn't relevant. They're our two best players, we should be looking to hang on Gordon like we would if it was Lewis. Yes even if we do have to pay market rate for him.
It is that unknown you are speaking of that is the reason behind not offering top dollar. Noone knows how he'll return from yet another injury...and noone knows what he'll be worth when he returns from yet another injury. It is called minimizing your risk. And what you are saying is that because he has come back from 2-3 injuries before...that he'll come back from this one...then the next one...then the next one. Eventually they catch up...and that is the time everyone would be bitching and moaning that he is "overpaid"...guaranteed.
There's always risk when resigning a player. Let him go and there's a "risk" he'll kill it for the Sharks for the next three years. Sign someone else for 375k and there's a risk they go garbage or get injured as well. The question is whether the player is worth the risk, and a guy as good as Flash who has a proven ability to come back from injury is someone who I feel is worth it. Not to mention that, given he's apparently happy at the club the Sharks (or whoever) would have to tack a bit on to any offer to make it worthwhile.
And your next point proves my point I've been saying for ages. His style is conducive to injuries. If he was more like Slater and submitted more he'd be a hell of a lot more durable. But it doesn't look as fancy as running the ball back like Martin Lang...but also means your body gets beaten up.
Yeah maybe. There might be a way of mitigating that risk (coaching him on when to run hard and when to submit, strengthening his legs idk) but it is a concern.
As for your last point...so you'd be content with guys like George Jennings and Tony Satini leaving here and having great careers elsewhere because we keep Gordon for 2 years?
Imagine the uproar if we let one of those kids go...and he becomes an origin player...you know what the BS line will be here "Damn our recruitment and retention...can't keep our good juniors...we bring in scrubs rah rah rah, we kept Gordon for $400k a year and should have kept Jennings' brother rah rah rah".
And you KNOW that is EXACTLY how some here will react.
Why can't we do both? Plenty of clubs manage to keep a couple of marquee signings while holding on to the best of their young talent. If these juniors are as good as everyone says they are we won't be able to keep them all anyway.
The uproar will be no less deafening if Flash goes to the Sharks, destroys as fullback and wins the series for NSW there, all of which he's entirely capable of. Or if Coote's groin injury reoccurs (this time last year we were calling Coote injury prone) and we stick David Simmons at fullback.
Besides we shouldn't be retaining players based on how risky it is that management will look bad. We should be deciding based on whether the player will bring performances that are worth what they're being paid. There's every chance Gordon will be able to do that.
And lastly...who cares right now what happens....noone knows what will happen. For all we know Flash will give a home team discount and resign for a reasonable cap number of like $300k a year acknowledging the risk of his injury and acknowledging our wanting to keep him. It is negotiation time...there is always back and forth and his manager is putting it out there that teams are interested when in reality noone has offered him a contract.
All this talk means exactly how many points we've scored in the last 180 minutes.
Don't disagree with any of this. Some sharks fan puts it up as a done deal and we're all running scared :crazy: Could be complete garbage, but it does appear that Coote had the inside running for the Fullback job before Gordon's injury, and I've always believed that we'll lose one of them.
I actually agree that it's a matter of what the Sharks are willing to pay him. It's just that given they have Gardner and several other marquee players I can't see them offering money far and above what he's worth (a la Parra and Sandow). I don't believe we're just going to let him go though.
