No its not a fail, having Latrell has meant that our attack and backline is the most potent it has ever been. Signing Latrell has been an epic pass, because that attack, especially the left side, when fully healthy and all present, is almost unstoppable.
It is our forward pack that does not match up to the 2014 pack, or the Melbourne pack - this, the decline of Cook, the MIA Sua, the non-existent Cartwright, the disappointment and unavailability of Knight, the exit of a declined George Burgess, the loss of a true ball-playing forward in Sutton, the irreplaceability of Sam Burgess especially - this is where the differences lay, and where our chances lay.
I can see a strategy in place - we don't have the pack that can dominate the best packs, so the answer is to have the best backline, ability to score more points than anyone else, and use the new rule changes to our advantage by making the pack more mobile, but the consequence is less physically dominant. Whether it works.....we will see.
Not signing Latrell and keeping the others doesn't extend our potential premiership window because it doesn't address the issue of our forward pack being able to match up with Melbourne's pack. I believe this is the key factor - matchup.
The last statement - well this is up to the front office to make those decisions, and accept the consequences either way