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2022 Squad: Gains, Losses & Re-signings.

Mjab

Juniors
Messages
967
Gus may do a good job there who knows
Didn’t seem to do much for the Warriors
he did turn panthers around but ended up turning poisonous in the end
he is arrogant and up himself

2 things that really annoy me about Gus is his Saints review ie an utter joke of a review
I know 2 people who are good mates of Gus and well known , they tell me he thought Mary was an utter joke of a coach yet he said opposite publicly and helped him keep his job for another year
 

Trifili13

Juniors
Messages
780
I know we have bought players like WFS, O'Connor who was a Wallaby but untried at league although he turned out to be an excellent player, Widdop was solid. But when was the last time the Dragon's actually bought a big name player that everyone was chasing and made a statement to the rest of the teams that we are serious? I am talking guys like Lazarus who the Bronco's and Storm bought and they won comps, Tedesco at the Rooster's. We paid heaps for Hunt but the guy although he tries hard, just does not seem to be someone that players from other team's we are trying to attract say " yes I want to go to the Dragon's to play with Hunt".
 

Inisai Toga

Juniors
Messages
1,427
I know we have bought players like WFS, O'Connor who was a Wallaby but untried at league although he turned out to be an excellent player, Widdop was solid. But when was the last time the Dragon's actually bought a big name player that everyone was chasing and made a statement to the rest of the teams that we are serious? I am talking guys like Lazarus who the Bronco's and Storm bought and they won comps, Tedesco at the Rooster's. We paid heaps for Hunt but the guy although he tries hard, just does not seem to be someone that players from other team's we are trying to attract say " yes I want to go to the Dragon's to play with Hunt".
Prior to Hunt probably as you say only Michael O’Connor from Rugby Union and he spent a lot of time in Reserve Grade behind John’s, Beattie and Johnstone. …Ahhh! what happened????? .
Tried hard for Mark Ella, maybe Boyd, but he simply followed Bennett. Saints have long relied on the developmental pathway and never really been a club that’s gone hard to market like Manly or Easts since Phil Hawthorn, Tony Branson and Dick Huddart days. That’s why the connection with Illawarra is so important to develop further and materialise into greater success. The lack of success has been frustrating due to one factor or another.
 
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Trifili13

Juniors
Messages
780
Prior to Hunt probably as you say only Michael O’Connor from Rugby Union and he spent a lot of time in Reserve Grade behind John’s, Beattie and Johnstone. …Ahhh! what happened????? .
Tried hard for Mark Ella, maybe Boyd, but he simply followed Bennett. Saints have long relied on the developmental pathway and never really been a club that’s gone hard to market like Manly or Easts since Phil Hawthorn, Tony Branson and Dick Huddart days. That’s why the connection with Illawarra is so important to develop further and materialise into greater success. The lack of success has been frustrating due to one factor or another.
Agree with you. I know the Illawarra region has produced numerous champion players and the merger/JV or whatever you want to call it should be a powerhouse, but the disappointing thing to me is that I can't recall the last top notch player that has come out of the Illawarra in the last 10 years.
 

Inisai Toga

Juniors
Messages
1,427
Fair call, struggling myself. I suppose some may argue that previous management stifled that progression. I’m not sure, but it seems we have been playing the song of “a lot coming through” for a long time now. So tragic that this current Covid situation prevents footballers from experiencing the week to week grind needed to develop attributes to compete in the NRL. That’s why i feel we have to riide the storm with some of our current younger backs. They’ll be better in the long run from the exposure.
 

Trifili13

Juniors
Messages
780
I agree that previous admin/coaches might have stifled player progression at the grade level, but I would have thought if you are a good 16 or 17 year old, you would have progressed or been picked up by another club. Even other clubs don't seem to be cherry picking players from the Illawarra which traditionally has been a huge nursery and bringing them into their pathway systems.
 

BLM01

First Grade
Messages
8,939
Fair call, struggling myself. I suppose some may argue that previous management stifled that progression. I’m not sure, but it seems we have been playing the song of “a lot coming through” for a long time now. So tragic that this current Covid situation prevents footballers from experiencing the week to week grind needed to develop attributes to compete in the NRL. That’s why i feel we have to riide the storm with some of our current younger backs. They’ll be better in the long run from the exposure.
Another chapter in the NRL not putting money and energies into lower tier football and why the comp is where we are
 

thebigredv

First Grade
Messages
5,209
I find it really humbling and saddening that to pull on the Storm jersey means so much more to the average player than to pull on the red v. How did it actually come to this?

80 years more history and yet look how dragged through the mire this once famous and prestigious emblem has been. In this year of all years!!!

It screams of a cultural review to me, with the board to be amongst the most scrutinised. Place is rotten.
 

getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
33,485
I find it really humbling and saddening that to pull on the Storm jersey means so much more to the average player than to pull on the red v. How did it actually come to this?

80 years more history and yet look how dragged through the mire this once famous and prestigious emblem has been. In this year of all years!!!

It screams of a cultural review to me, with the board to be amongst the most scrutinised. Place is rotten.


 

blacksafake

First Grade
Messages
8,988
I know we have bought players like WFS, O'Connor who was a Wallaby but untried at league although he turned out to be an excellent player, Widdop was solid. But when was the last time the Dragon's actually bought a big name player that everyone was chasing and made a statement to the rest of the teams that we are serious? I am talking guys like Lazarus who the Bronco's and Storm bought and they won comps, Tedesco at the Rooster's. We paid heaps for Hunt but the guy although he tries hard, just does not seem to be someone that players from other team's we are trying to attract say " yes I want to go to the Dragon's to play with Hunt".
Because the club has always had the attitude that the player needs to want to play for the club first & foremost instead of just trying to sign the best available.
I know of a player who was talking to the club when Albert was in recruitment & him his father & manager all say Albert was impossible to deal with. Just maybe there’s still a bit of that there in the club.
 

Gourley's Socks

Juniors
Messages
396
Haha maybe so but I also think ppl want to be around winners and they just keep developing incredible talent.
It should be no surprise that people are willing to take a minor cut on an otherwise eye-watering salary for a better than even chance of winning.

IMO they're still riding the wave of not having been properly punished for salary cap cheating. I know that may sound like a long bow but their only real punishment at the time was losing a centre (albeit a pretty handy one). They showed no contrition in the moment and years later, they still commemorate the stripped premierships as though nothing happened.

Instead they managed to keep the core of that team together for many more years and claim a number of further premierships in that time.

And so people continue to go there or stay there for unders. It's a simplification and hardly the only factor but it's definitely not unrelated either.
 

thebigredv

First Grade
Messages
5,209
It should be no surprise that people are willing to take a minor cut on an otherwise eye-watering salary for a better than even chance of winning.

IMO they're still riding the wave of not having been properly punished for salary cap cheating. I know that may sound like a long bow but their only real punishment at the time was losing a centre (albeit a pretty handy one). They showed no contrition in the moment and years later, they still commemorate the stripped premierships as though nothing happened.

Instead they managed to keep the core of that team together for many more years and claim a number of further premierships in that time.

And so people continue to go there or stay there for unders. It's a simplification and hardly the only factor but it's definitely not unrelated either.

Don't disagree in regards to cheating and the lacklustre penalty. Despite their dominance they don't win my admiration (somehow I don't think they are too bothered). Once a cheat, always a cheat. And people wanted our points stripped for the BBQ...and still take pleasure in seeing our demise so it gives them something to sound relevant about.

Still, the Storm do certainly know how to make players better and have been doing so consistently for a while now. You can say what you want about them but the amount of success, the thirst of players to be part of it are aspects I wish we had, even half as much. Instead we currently still look like the place where players go to run through the motions. What can turn the tide?
 

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
7,378
Foxsports news stating that Vaughan has signed a one year deal with the Bulldogs. No details of $$ and how he will serve his suspension.
 

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
7,378
The NRL has/will fold and he will have served his suspension during the 8 weeks he was "unemployed" at the end of this season. Ready to start game 1 2022.
That would workout fine for the Bulldogs. We just save money because we sacked him and he doesn't see a penny until the Bulldogs pay him whatever he has signed on for.
 

Mjab

Juniors
Messages
967
with the storms track record of cheating you wouldnt know what goes on there TBH
They may all have very generous TPPs or just brown paper bags dropped off who knows

Yes most players would be prefer a winning culture and a chance at a premiership
Sadly not something we can offer for a long time IMO

The whole salary cap is a joke , there is no distribution players evenly across clubs and until that happens there will be a top 6 and the rest of the rabble unable attract players
some clubs clearly keeping players that shouldnt fit under their caps , paying big TPPs etc

I dont follow AFL but if they can use a draft system how is it that for NRL this is a restriction of trade , this sounds like a joke

they should have a scoring system independant of how much money and each team cannot hold more than there allocation of points
each club has an assessor who joins a panel to allocate points based on the quality of player , recent rep selection etc
Juniors you brought thru are heavily discounted as are long term players eg >10 yrs service

you have to release players to stay under your score simple as that .
 

Gourley's Socks

Juniors
Messages
396
with the storms track record of cheating you wouldnt know what goes on there TBH
They may all have very generous TPPs or just brown paper bags dropped off who knows

Yes most players would be prefer a winning culture and a chance at a premiership
Sadly not something we can offer for a long time IMO

The whole salary cap is a joke , there is no distribution players evenly across clubs and until that happens there will be a top 6 and the rest of the rabble unable attract players
some clubs clearly keeping players that shouldnt fit under their caps , paying big TPPs etc

I dont follow AFL but if they can use a draft system how is it that for NRL this is a restriction of trade , this sounds like a joke

they should have a scoring system independant of how much money and each team cannot hold more than there allocation of points
each club has an assessor who joins a panel to allocate points based on the quality of player , recent rep selection etc
Juniors you brought thru are heavily discounted as are long term players eg >10 yrs service

you have to release players to stay under your score simple as that .
Like the idea of a points system in conjunction with a salary cap. Then if teams want to pay overs they can (without bankrupting themselves) and certain other teams can't keep gaming the system just because they're "well run".
 
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