Hodges a Rooster

[legend]

Justin Hodges has signed with the Roosters which comes as a shock to me. He will be playing fullback apparently so I don't know where that leaves Luke Phillips. The Roosters have also signed Jason Cayless and Chad Robinson from Parramatta but have lost Dean Widders and Jamie Russo to Parra and Matt Sing to North Qld. Canberra meanwhile, are still twiddling their thumbs and have'nt signed a player, not even a bad one.

Sorry to drift off the subject but when I read Andy Mcfadden had signed with Parra I was happy for him but he was told by Canberra he could not be accomodated due to cap restrictions. If Canberra has spent 3.25 million on that side then i'm going to stick my hand for some easy money. With Vainikolo and McFadden gone and Nagas likely to go i'm assuming they have saved themselves at least 750k and should be well under the cap. The current outside backs are medicore at best and unless something is done then the club will be firm favourites for the wooden spoon.

 

[El Duque]

It seems struggling clubs like Canberra and Wests are failing to get any good signings.
Bad management or does nobody want to go there?

 

[Edwahu]

I am never shocked when the Roosters sign someone. I am pretty shocked the Broncos let him go though.
Macfadden wasnt released because we couldnt fit him under the cap, he was supposedly released because he was asking for more then he was worth in the clubsopinionand wouldnt budge.
They also made it clear to him that he was rated the fourth best half at the club and his future was as a bench player only (Monoghan was rated ahead of him for some reason).
We have room under the cap but we cant compete because we supposedly have a policy of trying to reduce wages, which unfortunately most otherclubs ignore. The rich clubs can afford to pay big wagers because it wont send them broke and as a result we just have to suffer.

 

[legend]

If that's the case Ed, then the future is glum for the Raiders. We will always be perennial strugglers if we can't match teams like Parra, Canterbury, Roosters and the Broncos in player salaries. That does'nt seem to be all the problem because teams like the Sharks, North Qld, Warriors and Penrith have all picked up quality players and will definitely improve next year. Outside backs should not be that expensive anyway. We missed out on players like Robert Miles, Lenny Beckett, Scott Donald and even Stu Kelly. He can't get a spot with the Broncos yet would be a walk up starter every week in Canberra. I'd like to know what sort of money the club is offering to other teams players. My bet is it's way too low and the managers have probably blacklisted the club because they see Canberra as a waste of time because they will never offer enough money.

 

[Edwahu]

You are right, I had forgotten how active the Cowboys and Sharks have been over the last couple of days. I dont know what managements thinking, or if they are thinking at all. Maybe players really dont want to come to the club. I cant imagine many player managers recommending us as a Club to go to.

Having said that we did allright with recruitment last year and no one we bought has been a total dud. I dont know whats happened this year though, we have had 2 years to scout for outside backs and have failed miserably. You never know though there are still a couple of players on the market, andmaybe someone like Gavin Lester could turn out to be another Schifcofske.

The management we need is Canterburys. It is no coincidence that Canberra has virtually swapped places with them this year. They recognised the problems in their squad and bought cheap butquality players to fix them.

 

[legend]

I would love to have a player like Gavin Lester at the club. I think he is a good player and I rate him but for some reason the club never seems to get players like him. They did buy a dud last year in Nathan Barnes. He lasted how many games? COnsidering the way things have worked out I think I would still rather have Costin at the club.

 

[Hass]

I don't know why Schifcofske is being looked at as "the buy of the year". This bloke always had talent. He was always a great fullback. He only left Parra because Brian Snith told him that Hodgson would be playing fullback and if he wanted to further his rep career he'd be best leaving the club so he could play fullback permanently.

Gavin Lester is a mediocre player- Schifcofske has class about him.

Cheers.