I'd have to say, the buck stops with the Dragon's Board of Management.
This whole affair has been handled very poorly and Mulholland arrived far too late to rescue the situation. Everyone has their take on the situation mainly gleamed from what they have heard or read. I'd say very few of us on here know the full story. Here is my take:
· Our players enjoyed an easy run under Price (xmpt Soward).
· Our players saw Mary, as assistant coach under Price, as one of the coaching team which came up with mad game plans and stupid team selections.
· As assistant coach, I believe Mary rubbed a few players the wrong way; Morris and Merrin being two of them.
· When Mary was appointed head coach, he made the point that things would have to change and made it clear it did not matter who you are, you are in the coaches sights if improvement was not made.
· At end of season player review interviews, Mary went in very hard and for the majority of players it was not a problem - just the usual rant by a coach. But for Morris and Merrin, (both already considering moving on), the conversation focused more on their salary and the difficulty of remaining under the cap. I believe during these discussions, Mary put both Morris and Merrin off side by telling them both there is little room for a pay increase and no room to pay what they are asking. Mary’s invitation for both Morris and Merrin to test the market and let’s see where things land, was reported but denied by the Club.
Well things have landed:
· Morris gets more money (through a good TPA deal) and he also gets to play with his twin brother by signing with the Dogs.
· Merrin gets to feel good about himself because the Panthers, the Broncos, the Warriors and to a lesser extent the Titans and the Sharks all showing interest in him - if you believe the press. This interst from other Clubs confirming the advice of his manager.
Taking the above into consideration:
· The Board should have signed up Josh Morris when his contract was up instead of signing Beale and Farrell. If they did this we would have had a suitable replacement for Cooper and the Morris boys would have been together. Brett could have played at fullback or even at left center if he so desired.
· The Board should have extended Merrin’s contract in late 2013 or early 2014. They had a good knowledge of his potential and an awareness of their salary cap situation at that time. He should have been given a four year extension keeping him under contract until his late 20s. He should have been made to feel valuable to the Club.
· A Morris for Cooper/Gasnier and Merrin to replace Creagh as captain after Creagh’s retirement, should have been the way to go.
Player recruitment and retention has been one of our Club’s biggest problems over the past few years. Yes, Craig Young and Peter Doust performed very poorly in this area however, it was well publicized that the Board had to sign off on all player contracts and these sign-offs seemed to take an awful long time.
The Dragon’s Board of Management has failed Club members in this area (and in many other areas of their responsibility).
Not having a go at you mate, as i enjoy most of your posts. But imo you are wrong on alot of points here.
First... The dragons have made a play at signing J.moz each and everytime his contract was close to ending. And i mean a "Big play". The TPA's in his contract with the dogs are huge. I know this for a fact.
true we have fallen behind with TPA's, but as was the case with Gasnier, they can come back and screw you over.
the signing of beale, that was a fullback signing originally, but when the best fullback in the game become available, WE SIGNED HIM. That shows that we still try get the best team possible.
We tried beale at centre, was a fail, we off loaded him. Again, imo we did what was best.
second point, The players didnt like being told to perform or else? And not to expect to be paid what they are asking?
In B.Moz's case he deserves the money, but without solid TPA's no winger is worth that much off the salary cap.
Merrin, please someone tell me what he did to deserve a major pay rise? He played origin? Oh wow! So did justin poore, does that make him worth $800k?
My point is Merrin is a good player, but not an elite player. When we were getting flogged around in the middle, he didnt stand and deliver, he wasnt alone, but he did nothing to be able to now say he is worth $800k.
the only forwards we had that played with heart were creagh and frizzell in 2014 and weyman in 2013.
I watched the all stars game, and the wcc game, and if anyone deserves the plodder tag, imo its merrin.
Lets see how well he plays, he will be under the microscope now.
