That will alienate the players and the coaching staff to the point when contracts are they are like rats deserting a sinking ship. The first thing for anyone to do is get the team under the cap to play for points then worry about the other stuff.
This is a club starved of success for 30 years. We're not the Storm, or Boncos or Manly or the Bulldogs who can point to having won a premiership in each of the last 3 decades (or thereabouts) and been near the top of the tree when they haven't won a title. Up until yesterday there was anticipation that maybe we could challenge this year but now that chance, IMO, is unrealistic given a) we need to find 570K to shave from this years cap before next Friday, b) 5 directors won't stand down and c), winning 12 of 15 games is extraordinarily tough in any era of the NRL, let alone when you don't know when you're captain will be back playing again (and keep in mind to win a premiership this year, even if we manage to play for points from next Friday onwards, will mean winning 16 of the next 19 games if you take Finals in to account!).
Do we risk going back to seeing results and performances we had to endure from 2011-2013 come 2017 and beyond?? Or do we have so much faith in BA that we back him to keep the squad competitive no matter who's on the books next year? I think he's great at what he does and I am glad he is our coach in these trying times, but even the great Wayne Bennett bailed on Newy when he realised that coaching teams without rep quality stars was a tougher gig than he could be bothered handling.
I understand the players and coach want it all to play for this year and I admire that. But I'm thinking longer term. Yes we suffered a massive setback yesterday but it doesn't have to set us back 5-10 years. We can still get our shit together and build on this year's on field performances for the next 3 years if we take a deep breath and take stock of the situation.
