2. Dirty laundry made public.
That a big one, the Shaun Johnson stuff was handled woefully and the lessons weren’t learnt as we saw George/Nikorima/Kearney go back and forth in the media week before last
Back to the SJ one, most would agree he isn’t worth the on field money he was probably wanting. On the other side of the coin you had the face of NZ league, who was the main put bums on seats man, who would have boosted merchandise sales and the guy all the little kids want to be in the park.
Surely with those factors all considered, you tread a bit more carefully than alienating the guy publically while he was overseas. It was the worst possible way they could have handled it.
A flow on effect from that is what sort of reputation you create for yourself, and if a big name recruit sees that for the clubs biggest name, it may sound some alarm bells off and play a part in them wanting to look elsewhere, while also creating a bit of unrest within the current squad