The club must think we are all stupid. The timing of this article is so convenient as is the statement "given the disruption, Cleary has done well to get the group, including eight debutants, to within touching distance of September..". Pfft. Bollocks, he has failed miserably. We are nearly bottom of the the NRL for all meaningful stats since he arrived. He took a 3 for 3 run and turned the same team into a rabble. Some players had an argument? Big deal. Cartwright and Brandy had major punch ups over a woman and it didn't stop them making semi finals. You think hard bastards like Geyer, Kelly and Mortimer didn't have the occasional run in with a team mate? If we accept this article as a fair representation of the year then we deserve the mediocrity we find ourselves mired in.
$1m over the cap after releasing Maloney. Does the club think we are that gullible. How is that even possible? If we are over the cap next year $1m plus Maloney's salary, we will be over the cap this year. Who is suddenly going to get a massive increase in wages next year to cause us to be nearly $2m over the cap.
Gould thought Maloney would move on and it turns out he was right. There is a reduction of $1m right there. He probably thought "with the right coach, we should challenge for the premiership in 2020". He didn't count on Dave's mate coming back and deciding to drastically reshape the roster and decide that SOO rep players like RCG are surplus to requirements because they are paid too much. I'm not saying RCG has had a good season, but the club has shown no faith in him and he looks demotivated. His jaw was broken twice doing his job for the club. He needed support, not to be shopped around like a nobody. If Cleary wants to look for players not worth what they are paid, he should look closer to home.
