kit66
Bench
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- 3,620
I've been reading a lot of comments recently saying we should splash out and spend big money on a top line prop or two and that will make everything alright. I don't think it's going to be quite that simple. I see three major issues.
1. We currently have 10 Props / Locks of which 7 are off contract this year and one, Merrin, has signed with the Panthers. That leaves us just two prop / locks signed so far for next year - O'Brien and JDB ( who I'd rather not be used at prop anyway ). I don't believe Packer has actually signed yet so I'll leave him out of the equation. Oh....and Hunt...we have him.
That means we need to sign / re-sign not one or two props but 6 or more.
If you look at who is available for 2016 it's fairly slim pickings to the point where any of the better choices will command a fair amount of money and whatever else they can get.
Off - Contract
Ah Mau
Nutira
Creagh
Cooper
Wakeman
Rose
Matthews
2. The ability to attract top line stars. We're one of the World's great Sporting Clubs with a proud history and usually very marketable
brand ( sorry ) but given our recent fortunes I don't think that's enough to attract the best players. It's going to take more, cash and other incentives and lots of both.
3. Salary Cap. Losing BMoz and Mez and a few others should leave us with some money in the bank but we have Duges and Benji on big bucks you'd
think, we have a number of backs to sign / re-sign including Nightie and you would think also Creagh and possibly Ah Mau will be offered renewals. So all that and still needing a brace of props, including at least two of reasonable quality. It'll be a stretch.
I'd like to think otherwise but I think our rebuilding process is going to take a bit longer than some might think. This isn't necessarily a negative thing as long as it's handled properly. I'm a patient man and we;ve seen these cycles with other clubs so you never know.
The silver lining is that a lot of our players, including those 7 characters listed above are going to be playing, not just for a spot in the team but also for their NRL futures - I can see a couple of them sinking into oblivion if they don't perform this year - maybe a few surprises there. We could do well this year off the back of that.
1. We currently have 10 Props / Locks of which 7 are off contract this year and one, Merrin, has signed with the Panthers. That leaves us just two prop / locks signed so far for next year - O'Brien and JDB ( who I'd rather not be used at prop anyway ). I don't believe Packer has actually signed yet so I'll leave him out of the equation. Oh....and Hunt...we have him.
That means we need to sign / re-sign not one or two props but 6 or more.
If you look at who is available for 2016 it's fairly slim pickings to the point where any of the better choices will command a fair amount of money and whatever else they can get.
Off - Contract
Ah Mau
Nutira
Creagh
Cooper
Wakeman
Rose
Matthews
2. The ability to attract top line stars. We're one of the World's great Sporting Clubs with a proud history and usually very marketable
brand ( sorry ) but given our recent fortunes I don't think that's enough to attract the best players. It's going to take more, cash and other incentives and lots of both.
3. Salary Cap. Losing BMoz and Mez and a few others should leave us with some money in the bank but we have Duges and Benji on big bucks you'd
think, we have a number of backs to sign / re-sign including Nightie and you would think also Creagh and possibly Ah Mau will be offered renewals. So all that and still needing a brace of props, including at least two of reasonable quality. It'll be a stretch.
I'd like to think otherwise but I think our rebuilding process is going to take a bit longer than some might think. This isn't necessarily a negative thing as long as it's handled properly. I'm a patient man and we;ve seen these cycles with other clubs so you never know.
The silver lining is that a lot of our players, including those 7 characters listed above are going to be playing, not just for a spot in the team but also for their NRL futures - I can see a couple of them sinking into oblivion if they don't perform this year - maybe a few surprises there. We could do well this year off the back of that.
