Does Canberra have any money?

[Azkatro]

I was looking at their line up today and it's completely devoid of even remotely marquee players. They must be at least a million dollars under the cap. Which is fine of course, but you'd think that would mean they'd be regular front-runners for marquee players that come on to the market. But they haven't bought a big name expensive player in years, in fact I can't even remember the last big name player they brought to the club. Add to that when rumours fly around about guys like O'Meley, Tuqiri etc they are never in the running or showing any interest.

How much are they struggling financially?

 

[Timmah]

Intriguing question - that crossed my mind. They lost up to 5 marquee players after 2006 and bought very little.

That said, they could surprise us all...

 

[Choppies]

I don't think they are.
I think the next couple of years will be a re building phase and as they bring up their youngetsrs. Canberra fans help me out how many Au schoolboys do you have?
They are always pretty strong in lower grades.
I think in a few years they will be a force again.

 

[Lime_Green]

How much are they struggling financially?

Erm not at all.

Raiders management have confirmed they've spent right up to the cap. Between buying Costigan, Bickerstaff, Logan, Best and Dunemann (as well as a number of juniors from other clubs) and topping up the pay of some our more talented juniors all the $$$ are gone.

We've gone for depth and young talent over signing the Mark Gasnier's and Lote Tuquiri's of this world.

The Raiders have never signed marquee players, we develop our juniors.

 

[Panjabi]

They lost up to 5 marquee players after 2006 and bought very little.

The bar for 'marquee players' must be set very low if Simon Woolford, Jason Croker, Jason Smith, Adam Mogg and Clinton Schifoscke are 'all' considered marquee players.

Raiders management focussed on re-signing young up and coming potential 'marquee' players to long term contracts (e.g. Carney, Zillman, Leroyrd-Lahrs, Herbert). Time will tell whether that decision pays off.

 

[legend]

The Raiders know the Gasniers and Tuqiris would never come to Canberra so why should they bother?

The club has something like 11 junior kangaroos/schoolboys so they are building a club based on local talent and we are still yet to see a ball kicked in anger so I think the comments are unfounded based on trial form and managements decision not to entertain the unrealistic thoughts of luring guys away from Sydney who will never leave.

 

[yobbo84]

I don't think they are.
I think the next couple of years will be a re building phase and as they bring up their youngetsrs. Canberra fans help me out how many Au schoolboys do you have?
They are always pretty strong in lower grades.
I think in a few years they will be a force again.

Brad Watts was an Australian Schoolboy. For all the promise your youngsters show, less than half of them will actually turn out to become good first graders. Souths fans know this better than most.

In saying that though I don't think Canberra will be all that bad. They have a huge home ground advantage and some good players. They'll do OK.

 

[International RL]

After the analysis of Canberra's squad I have concluded they have 'some' money to spend for next season under their cap. By my count there should be 4million dollars in their cap, minus the cost of 25 meat pies a week, with sauce included as a win bonus (perhaps not a problem this season)

Of course there is the additional cost that needs to be factored in of the can of coke afforded to inspirational club captain Tonguey...this is afforded on a per game basis with win/loss not affecting payment.

In all seriousness though, I hope Canberra go alright. Last year I argued passionately with a mate of mine who claimed they would get the spoon in 2006. It was of immense joy as I saw them get up week after week..

I hope Canberra are able to build for the future. They do face unique challenges in recruitment in terms of locality, so perhaps have to look to juniors than other clubs. But that in itself allows them to build a tight culture of young guys that come through playing together.

We can't just abandon Canberra as this would effectively be handing over NSW to AFL right up to Wollongong.

Go the Raiders.

 

[fatshark]

I like how Canberra have had an input into the cap scandal saying they arent happy. Errm short memory, didnt THEY win the comp on the back off a cap scandal?

 

[skeepe]

We've got, from memory, 12 Australian schoolboys on the books.

Timmah, you say that we lost 5 marquee players, but are they really marquee players?

Schifcofske, well no question he was our best player. Hard to replace.

Jason Smith... not too disappointed. He was always going to be leaving at the end of last year, that was the plan and the club stuck to it.

Simon Woolford... again, not disappointed. Definately looked to be past his best, and was holding up promising juniors from entering first grade. The club decided not to offer him a contract.

Adam Mogg... was released from his contract a year early. Apart from a stunning second half of last season, really didn't do too much.

Michael Hodgson... in and out of first grade. We've signed better players than him for this season.

Jason Croker... a club legend, but definately past his prime. Was sad to see how badly Toots had declined last year. Definately time to go.

Kris Kahler... a forward with the effectiveness of a wet lettuce leaf. Good riddance. Released from his contract early.

Terry Martin... was never going to be considered for first grade. An honest toiler but not much more. Released from the final year of his contract I believe.

So to summarise, we've lost Schifcofske, who was definately a loss no bones about it, while the club has released - not lost - Smith, Woolford, Croker, Mogg, Hodgson, Kahler and Martin.

As replacements, we've signed Colin Best, Neville Costigan, Matt Bickerstaff, Glen Turner, Scott Logan, Andrew Dunemann, Brett Kelly and Steve Irwin. Aside from Kelly and Irwin, all are seasoned first graders who, whilst not being marquee players, are probably better for the club than what we've lost (Schifcofske aside), particularly in the forwards.

You need to add to that the fact that, whether we like it or not, Canberra is not regarded as an attractive place for a young man to come and live. To compensate for that, we have to probably pay a little bit over what other clubs would. So yes, we are definately using our salary cap.

Now, the other consideration is that the club has not actually been actively chasing these marquee players. They prefer to focus on youth, as the following excerpt from the Canberra Times demonstrates:

Under the headline "Why David Gallop fears for the Raiders", he said the Raiders had failed in all attempts to recruit representative players in recent years.

Gallop's views perplexed Raiders general manager Don Furner yesterday.

Furner said the Raiders had steered clear of attempting to sign marquee recruits, preferring to concentrate on developing their juniors.

"I don't know who he's talking about," Furner said.

"I'm not sure which player he is talking about. We didn't try to go after Sonny Bill Williams.

"I'm not saying we wouldn't love to have him but we're not going to go after someone that we can't afford or wouldn't live here."

Furner also defended the club's retention policy despite losing Clinton Schifcofske, Jason Smith, Adam Mogg, Jason Croker and Simon Woolford at the end of last season.

He said it was tough to lose so many established players at once, but the club's youth-first priority meant it was inevitable.

"The fact is all of those guys are over 30. It can happen like that, they all got to that age at the same time. We are a development club.

"We don't go and buy big superstars so we have to develop them.

"Croker and Simon Woolford were developed through our programs and now we have to develop the next ones. If you go through our 25 years we've never ever gone and bought superstars in."

http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/de... league&story_id=564944&category=Rugby League

So basically, it's not a lack of money that keeps them from chasing the marquee signings, they just prefer to focus on the young players at the club, which is arguably the most talented crop of youngsters in the league.

 

[mongoose]

Mal Meninga is the only superstar we've ever bought. You could add belcher and walters but nobody knew about them in the NSWRL.

Gallop is a f**king idiot by the way, why would he say that?

 

[joel caine number 1 fan]

raiders are doing what a lot of other team are doing now u dont need too sign marquee too win a championship, tigers (Prince and Hodgson dont really count considering the form they were in at the time) didnt i dont think penrith did either

 

[skeepe]

That raises a good point... how many teams DO actively go out and sign up marquee players?

Some of the more successful teams of the last 10 years seem to rely on players they have signed young and developed, complemented with a mix of seasoned first graders (but by no means superstars) that they've signed from other clubs.

Last year's premiers, the Broncos, are one example. Of their premiership-winning team, only Hodges could be regarded as a "bought" star, and even then he was a Broncos junior. Last year's runners up are more or less the same. Who had heard of Billy Slater, Matt King, Greg Inglis, Cooper Cronk or Cameron Smith before they were with the Storm?

In 2005, the Tigers had a bunch of no-names and journeyman and they won the grand final. When's the last time the Tigers signed a marquee player, or were even in the running for one? Yet nobody questions their viability.

The Bulldogs won in 2004. They, too, had not signed any marquee players. The ones they did have, they developed into marquee players. The same can be said for the Panthers of 2003.

The only teams that have, in recent years, gone all out to recruit marquee players from other clubs are the Roosters, Eels and Sea Eagles. The Roosters and Eels had awful seasons last year, and appear to have a renewed focus on youth in their ranks for this year.

The real point is that there is nobody on the books at the Raiders who would be considered a marquee player TODAY (although I personally would debate that point). The thing that gives us real hope is that there are plenty of marquee players of the future here.

 

[Lime_Green]

Gould comes out with a lot of rubbish, but I did agree with one thing he said recently and that was that depth was critical to a team's success in the NRL.

It only takes injuries to players like Joey Johns or Mark Gasnier to potentially ruin the seasons of some teams.

So I think the Raiders policy of signing up a bunch of medium tier and up and comers has something to it.

 

[Azkatro]

Interesting thoughts. Maybe I'm underestimating the amount Canberra have spent on retaining the young guys, who I have no doubt have the potential to go onto bigger and better things and I hope they do.

There's no question that they'd benefit a bit more from a few experienced campaigners though ..

 

[Philby]

The Raiders have spent wisely
They have locked up their promising young juniors to long term contracts and have brought in some experienced footballers with short term contracts to help get their young guys through.
The Raiders know that this year is a rebuilding year but in saying that im sure they will turn a few heads and make a few knowitall journos eat their words

 

[Dutchy]

Canberra have 14 Dollars left in their account

 

[dubby]

The Raiders are far better off than most realise. With the support of 7 leagues clubs and sponshership all over the jerseys and shorts, we are in a much better position than most clubs. Our crowd support is mediocre, but improves with winning games.

This club never has gone out to sign "marquee" players. It is very hard to sign a player from Sydney. The guy could likely sign with another Sydney team without leaving his family/wifes job/kids school/friends/beach whatever to come to Canberra.

If you played for Wests, and were offered identical contracts between Canberra and say Penrith....you'd go to Penrith. You dont have to move house etc. Its easier to stay in Sydney.

So in the past we have looked to NZ and Qld. The players there know they usually have to move (although this is getting harder with 3 QLD teams and 1 NZ). We have had success with local juniors as well (Mullins/Daley/Woolford/Furner).

So we have to offer higher $$, to younger guys looking to get a game. These contracts are often laced with incentives.

Unfortunately ACT is known as cold, boring and uneventful. To those who love the hustle of Sydney, that may be. To a country lad who loves the laid back lifestyle, that is not true.

The hype of the Sydney media is ignorant and ill informed. This club can shut them up by winning football games.

BTW, if we had kept all those 30 year old players, we would be most likely be touted as too old and relying on old men to win us games.

We cant win favour anyway...

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

The Raiders have never signed marquee players, we develop our juniors.

I think they should change this. Hark back to their glory days of the late 80's/early 90's - they were a glamour club with imported talent to burn.

Meninga, Belcher, Lazarus, Todd, The Walters Bros, Ferguson, Wiki, Lomax, Nadruku, Nagas to name a few. While some of these only became "star" players after joining Canberra, it just shows how well they spotted talent.

As for producing great juniors, indeed Canberra has manufactured many successful NRL stars. I remember when Erindale College in the ACT was one of Australia's finest backyards for Junior football. Players developed include Todd Payten, Brent Kite, Brett Finch, & Michael Monaghan - but none are currently at the Raiders. And a string of talented players (juniors or otherwise) have left the Raiders club in the last two years. Its a big concern. Why is this happening??

We've all heard about Bush footy struggling for money, Canberra's junior clubs are no exception here. On a recent visit to Wagga, I was saddened to hear that all the talk was Union & AFL, League doesn't seem to have much presence on the radar.

I don't like to be a doomsdayer like some, but all of the factors above don't exactly add up to a bright future for the club. As far as the Raiders are concerned, I believe that merely concentrating on junior development to provide their roster is not the formula for success - on the paddock & financially.

3-4 big name, reputable players in key positions should be a minimum purchase. Big name players will also bring bigger crowds. Other talent spotting should also produce some good junior purchases. I won't comment on the coaching staff - will wait to see how Neil Henry fares, but this area is also paramount.

While I follow a different side, in no way do I enjoy another teams demise like this. I hope it all turns around. I'd love to see them return to the glory days as a League Powerhouse (as long as they let the Dragons sneak in a comp or two).

 

[Raider_69]

12 former or current australian school boy reps on the books, backed by a string of successful leagues clubs, corperate sponsorship is at an all time high according to the marketing man at our club, our team sponsors are all signed for the next few years and the good part of our squad is secure till 2010. As for the players we lost, the only one we actually wanted to keep was schif, Mogg, Smith, Kahler, Woolford, Croker and who ever else left, we're all pretty much pushed to make way for our youth policy this season (croker excluded, he retired), we also have one of the best production lines for talent. A talent pool that spans right across the rural NSW areas.

He have never been a club who signes marquee players, we have always relyed on juniors and this will continue to be the case. And we have forged a fairly successful 25 years off that formula.

Money? we have plenty of it, we are easily in the top half of the comp when it comes to finances and how secure we are. Contray to what sections of the sydeny media would have you believe, we are in a fine position. Try as they (portions of the media) might, they can not back their claims with any thing, it smells of a pathetic PR campaign to have us ditched or relocated for the CC. Bad news for those people, we are not going anywhere. We are the Canberra Raiders, have been for 25 years and will be for at least the next 25