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2020 season

Messages
3,903
Ah those were the days, Mark sparkles McGaw, Ben roarty, Faoso Afoa, John cross, you’re making me feel all nostalgic, let’s make Royce our recruitment guru and we can go back to those days:grin:

A few more. Gordon Falcon, Ashley Gordon, Butch Fatnowra, Marty Moore, Justin Holbrook and who remembers Pieter Muller?
 

franklin2323

Immortal
Messages
33,546
Not specifically Matterson. You just get a feeling we aren't the draw we used to be with Gus here.

It's Dave Mate's club now.

You have Latrell going to the highest bidder. After saying he wants out by the age of 30. Matterson 12 months in decides underpaid walks out... No guarantee won't happen again. Not the sort of guys we need here
 

betcats

Referee
Messages
23,471
Not specifically Matterson. You just get a feeling we aren't the draw we used to be with Gus here.

It's Dave Mate's club now.

Gus definitely provided a lot of draw, we lost some with him for sure, you can’t replace standing in the game. At the same time(and I’m hesitant to believe all the figures) it seems like he was a bit carefree with the figures he handed out, it’s seems like we were destined to be well over the cap next year even with Jimmy leaving, so maybe some of the draw was just him paying a bit more.
 

franklin2323

Immortal
Messages
33,546
Gus definitely provided a lot of draw, we lost some with him for sure, you can’t replace standing in the game. At the same time(and I’m hesitant to believe all the figures) it seems like he was a bit carefree with the figures he handed out, it’s seems like we were destined to be well over the cap next year even with Jimmy leaving, so maybe some of the draw was just him paying a bit more.

If Gus had real pull. Peachey, CHN and Merrin would of been replaced by decent players. They weren't so you have to think some guys are on overs... Whether it is as bad as reported is the question
 

betcats

Referee
Messages
23,471
If Gus had real pull. Peachey, CHN and Merrin would of been replaced by decent players. They weren't so you have to think some guys are on overs... Whether it is as bad as reported is the question

Maybe you are right, overall I thought he did pretty well with the players he brought in while we were here, it’s hard to comment on the salaries which of course is a huge factor on how good he actually did. Just the ability to sign guys like Merrin, Tamou and Maloney is better then we could do pre Gus. Also young guys with decent reputations already like Seggy(at the time) and tmm who was a hot prospect also was an improvement.
 

Dave's mate

Juniors
Messages
1,783
If Gus had real pull. Peachey, CHN and Merrin would of been replaced by decent players. They weren't so you have to think some guys are on overs... Whether it is as bad as reported is the question
CHN was replaced. Peachey was also meant to be replaced by May to be fair
 

franklin2323

Immortal
Messages
33,546
Maybe you are right, overall I thought he did pretty well with the players he brought in while we were here, it’s hard to comment on the salaries which of course is a huge factor on how good he actually did. Just the ability to sign guys like Merrin, Tamou and Maloney is better then we could do pre Gus. Also young guys with decent reputations already like Seggy(at the time) and tmm who was a hot prospect also was an improvement.

The brand new shiny academy would of had a part of that. I started having doubts on cap space when Bryce went replaced with no one.
 

OldPanther

Coach
Messages
13,404
Well a club like ours has to pay overs. Most players want to go to a successful club. Look at the Roosters. They can promise finals football, inner city lifestyle with beaches and cafes, good chance of rep games. Our dollar isn't worth as much as some.
 

mxlegend99

Referee
Messages
23,005
If Gus had real pull. Peachey, CHN and Merrin would of been replaced by decent players. They weren't so you have to think some guys are on overs... Whether it is as bad as reported is the question
Or you question whether he was allowed to sign anyone. From the moment Hook was sacked he was doing the boards bidding and had seemingly very little power anymore.

How could he do any off-season recruitment if he couldnt even re-sign a player without the coach and board losing their shit at him?

He had managed to convince Wayne Bennett to join us... the board knocked him back for Ivan. I would say he had pretty good pull right up to the end and that decision will be one of the worst in the clubs history.
 

betcats

Referee
Messages
23,471
Or you question whether he was allowed to sign anyone. From the moment Hook was sacked he was doing the boards bidding and had seemingly very little power anymore.

How could he do any off-season recruitment if he couldnt even re-sign a player without the coach and board losing their shit at him?

He had managed to convince Wayne Bennett to join us... the board knocked him back for Ivan. I would say he had pretty good pull right up to the end and that decision will be one of the worst in the clubs history.

Well that’s the other thing, was Gus even making any decisions this past off season? It sounds like the power shift so to speak was already happening at that point.
 

Abacus

Juniors
Messages
2,093
A fair bit of cap went into Nathan's upgrade. Kikau & JFH would also have needed upgrading. Unfortunately the bargains for developed players only last until they have a good year or 2 and then need re-signing.
 

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