Easts signed Kyle Flanagan 4 months before his father signed as an assistant with St George. It was an attempt to get his father into the club imo. Now that it didn't happen and Kyle has failed to win the Dally M, he is surplus to requirements.
Luke Keary has a Clive Churchill medal and two rings to escape being scapegoated for an Easts team that fell two weeks short of a threepeat. It'd be an overreaction.
Your first point - yes I agree, I thinks that's exactly how it's played out.
Your second point - nah, Keary deserves to be looked at under the microscope.
1. He IS NOT the best 5/8 in the NRL. Actually he's quite soft, he keeps getting knocked out.
2. He needs to carry their can, since they can't blame Latrell anymore.
3. He deserves and needs to be scapegoated, since they've built him up so much.
I remember two weeks ago, Yvonne Samson on FOX, doing a special on Luke Keary before their first semi, saying "Luke took on the Gladiator and won."
What an absolute load of BS!
Keary took on The Gladiator, AND GOT BOOTED FROM THE TEAM, because he's got a big mouth, and he was trying to use it on Rusty, about Sam Burgess being 're-signed with Souths from rugby - and was destabilising the whole team. WE don't need self-important wankers like him in our team.
What they, the Roosters, and some sections of the media, don't wanna talk about, and will never admit it, is Latrell Mitchell was a MASSIVE reason they won 2 championships. I could see this, and that's why I wanted Latrell to join Souths, where he belonged, and would get the respect he deserved.
Whether Latrell can reach those heights of form with Souths remains to be seen, but it doesn't erase what he's achieved, and contributed to their team's achievements.