No worries mate, I love hearing differing opinions than mine!
I do agree with you that it's a dickhead move, however I think they may have been caught between a rock and a hard place in this instance. If they told him pre GF it could have negatively affected his game, and then the conversation would be "why didn't they wait until after GF". IMO it comes back to the team vs individual.
I can't think of too many first grade sports in the world that are obsessed with club loyalty like NRL are. Look at NFL - players get drafted as a Rookie almost anywhere in the country, get traded at the drop of a hat, etc. The players drive is for the love of the game as a whole and furthering their careers by helping their team win a championship. Apart from Roosters, I feel that NRL are very behind in this regard. We have this weird tribalism where we demand the best players to stay loyal and the shit players to f**k off before they waste our salary cap.
On the flip side of this, the tribalism is what makes our game great so who knows...definitely not me, I'm purely an armchair critic haha
My learned colleague, it’s nice to consider your points. armchair or bar stool!
Recruitment decisions are unlikely to have been made in the 48 hours after the grand final.
Ivan and co knew weeks or months in advance he was for the gallows!
There is no evidence that he wouldn’t have kept up his 110%. In fact, he’d probably do extras to get noticed by other clubs or be reconsidered over Staines.
We connect with the club because it’s an alignment or focus. More shared experiences, history and skin in the game. Tribalism! I guess some people follow players.
As for the individual argument, as individuals, the panther players now feel disposable. They cant trust what is being said to them. A fresh young thing is ready to replace them, no matter what they do. They have every right to feel unappreciated, lambs to the slaughter. No loyalty, no respect, no caring. Cogs in a machine, de-humanised and devalued.
One of their best friends has been misled and summarily dumped into the garbage bin. A hard worker, a legend, a hero.
The players I’ve met and known, they like security and being well thought of. This is why the tigers players revolutionary army was formed to take on Madge this year. A joke, but it happened.
Ivan and co dogged Mansour good and proper. They can try to justify it, but at the end of the day, it was a miserable, ungracious, inhumane,selfish, stupid callous and needless act. It sucked!
I think that smug is over, killed by the people who created it. Happens a lot in the world!
And the panther people who actually truly support this disgrace without misgivings, in my view, they are not true panther fans. They are mindless facile lemmings. I ask them: what do the panthers stand for these days?!
