Jack Bird

[LeaguesFan]

Have heard there are quite a fair few clubs chasing Bird, will be tough task keeping him..I think one thing that does hold us back a bit is the amount of guys from our 20's that don't get a look in. Most clubs have at least one 20's player make their debut I cant remember the last time we had one.

 

[verfive]

Runciman

 

[jenninga]

Ah Mau and Hunt are already signed for next year Harrison looks like he may head to the ESL.

Tells us how stupid Doust is.

 

[BennyV]

Have heard there are quite a fair few clubs chasing Bird, will be tough task keeping him..I think one thing that does hold us back a bit is the amount of guys from our 20's that don't get a look in. Most clubs have at least one 20's player make their debut I cant remember the last time we had one.

Both Runciman and Garvey debuted last year...so, y'know, there goes that theory...

Regardless, it shouldn't be looked upon poorly that our juniors arent brought in early. Bird still has 1 more year in NYC, has been training all off season with first grade and TBH, is still too small to be thrown in as an edge forward, which is his best position. Maybe next year, but will need a big preseason.

 

[nrlnrl]

Both Runciman and Garvey debuted last year...so, y'know, there goes that theory...

Regardless, it shouldn't be looked upon poorly that our juniors arent brought in early. Bird still has 1 more year in NYC, has been training all off season with first grade and TBH, is still too small to be thrown in as an edge forward, which is his best position. Maybe next year, but will need a big preseason.

ours seem to make a brief appearance & then have their NRL career put on hold.

 

[LeaguesFan]

Yes i forgot about Runciman and Garvey but as mentioned above a couple of games for those two and seen very little again. Obviously Garvey situation is a bit different but still very low count compared to other clubs

 

[Slippery Morris]

Any of the juniors would be silly to look elsewhere until a coach is announced for 2015.

 

[Father Ted]

Any of the juniors would be silly to look elsewhere until a coach is announced for 2015.

I think any junior would be silly not to weigh up a better money offer or a similar offer from a stronger club loyalty is dead in league. The other point why does Doust let these things linger? Do we have that many better young guns coming through now?

 

[Dr Fruitbasket Returns]

Any of the juniors would be silly to look elsewhere until a coach is announced for 2015.

I don't know about that Slippery. I think if you're young and thinking about your career and someone makes you an offer you'd be all like "well, I know who the coach is there and they obviously want me". You'd look at Saints and it'd be, "it's either going to be this bloke who looks a bit crap or no one with much of a cv and anyway, they can't give that much of a shit about keeping me or they'd be at least matching dollar for dollar and giving me assurances that I've got some hope of getting into one of the worst two or three packs in the comp".

 

[GT0007]

The Sydney Roosters are set to turn to one of the club's most famous names to try to alleviate their hooking crisis in the lead-up to the NRL finals.
With first-choice No.9 Jake Friend sidelined with a hamstring injury and his back-up Heath L'Estrange out for the season with a knee issue, boom rookie Jackson Hastings - the son of Roosters great Kevin Hastings - is set to make his NRL debut against the Warriors in Auckland on Sunday.
Mitchell Aubusson has been named at hooker by coach Trent Robinson but, given the 26-year-old has played little more than 80 minutes in the role over his eight-year NRL career totalling almost 150 games - Hastings is set to be thrust into a playmaking role off the bench for the vital round-24 clash.


http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8893185

 

[rainman44]

Why is there an assumption that we 'letting them go' whenever a player is rumoured to be, or ends up, leaving? Surely they leave for a better offer. We can't match every offer for one of our juniors because we have so many. It's a financial impossibility.

We cant keep them all but you dont let go of the best ball playing lock that this club has, he is the next Jason Smith and thats why every club is after him. Sign him up Doust you f**ker and make it long term.

 

[bottle]

We cant keep them all but you dont let go of the best ball playing lock that this club has, he is the next Jason Smith and thats why every club is after him. Sign him up Doust you f**ker and make it long term.

Mate I appreciate what you are saying, but predicting which young players will make it at the senior level and which won't has more pitfalls and traps associated with it than a Matthew Reilly novel. If we start getting into bidding wars and paying overs based on unfulfilled potential it could be disastrous. For every Luke Keary there is a Beau Henry/Josh Lewis story out there running around, or not, as the case may be.

Sadly we lack the brown paper bag advantages some clubs seem to have when it comes to warehousing talented youth. I would love to see the kid retained as much as the next man, but at what cost, and damage to squad balance, is the question?

In any event if players move on it's not always because they are 'let go'. Often times we strive to keep them yet still fail. There's a plethora of reasons for that, but no doubt hitting a financial ceiling plays its part.

 

[Rex Terp]

If Jack Bird moves on I would question the purpose of our whole junior development model and investment in young players.

He and Hastings are absolutely the stand-outs of their generation. You can't lose both. What do we stand for as a club if players like that go, where's the pathway for younger players that we are developing?

Sure some young players don't succeed but Gasnier, Cooper, Morris, Nightingale, Hornby, Creagh, Young, Bailey, Ryles etc etc etc all did, and that's what we should be about.

No reasonable person expects the club to win the comp every year so if we lose the juniors progressing into first grade aspect, I start to struggle to identify who we've become.

 

[giboz71]

If Jack Bird moves on I would question the purpose of our whole junior development model and investment in young players.

He and Hastings are absolutely the stand-outs of their generation. You can't lose both. What do we stand for as a club if players like that go, where's the pathway for younger players that we are developing?

Sure some young players don't succeed but Gasnier, Cooper, Morris, Nightingale, Hornby, Creagh, Young, Bailey, Ryles etc etc etc all did, and that's what we should be about.

No reasonable person expects the club to win the comp every year so if we lose the juniors progressing into first grade aspect, I start to struggle to identify who we've become.

I've been saying this for a while now. The Dragons in the past have prided themselves on developing young talent over the years. People argue that the 2010 premiership was due to the efforts of the recruits....Soward, Weyman, Boyd, Smith et al. But don't underestimate the core group of juniors who formed the nucleus of that side.... Hornsby, Young, Gasnier, Cooper, Creagh, Nighty and Bmoz. These guys bled red and white and contributed the hard nosed culture we used to have.

We have completely transformed our thinking and rather than think long term, we persist with coaches who insist on short term quick fixes instead of building from within. It takes time to build a premiership team and we should have recognised that we needed to completely retool after Bennett left. Price never understood this which led to his downfall.

It remains to be seen if McGregor understands how to build the side into a contender. The ingredients are there, he just needs to get the mix right and promoting our juniors needs to be a part of his plan.

 

[Godz Illa]

Well said Rex. Agree completely

 

[watatank]

Well said, Rex.

This used to produce a constant stream of quality players. Now we're talking about recruiting constantly and hyping up some average locals like Rein and Quinlan.

 

[GT0007]

Mate I appreciate what you are saying, but predicting which young players will make it at the senior level and which won't has more pitfalls and traps associated with it than a Matthew Reilly novel. If we start getting into bidding wars and paying overs based on unfulfilled potential it could be disastrous. For every Luke Keary there is a Beau Henry/Josh Lewis story out there running around, or not, as the case may be.

Sadly we lack the brown paper bag advantages some clubs seem to have when it comes to warehousing talented youth. I would love to see the kid retained as much as the next man, but at what cost, and damage to squad balance, is the question?

In any event if players move on it's not always because they are 'let go'. Often times we strive to keep them yet still fail. There's a plethora of reasons for that, but no doubt hitting a financial ceiling plays its part.

Definately shouldnt be paying overs to juniors as you pointed out you just can't be sure how they will progress and if they can make the jump or if they will become injury prone (Kyle) in the seniors. The other thing to consider is if they do attract some interest there's nothing to say they'll re-sign when that contract runs out and they'd want overs to stay again. It's a fine balance between keeping a player and over committing. There are exceptions and I think Dufty is one of those. Maybe Hasting's was as well but he was always going to the Rorters with his family connection.

I doubt if Bird will sign with another club without negotiating with us as well

 

[Get2dachopper!]

Dean whare is the player that we really miss, especially considering we were struggling a bit with our centres earlier in the year. Makes my blood boil every time I see him play for panfers and NZ.

 

[TonyTrugett]

Dean whare is the player that we really miss, especially considering we were struggling a bit with our centres earlier in the year. Makes my blood boil every time I see him play for panfers and NZ.

Dean Whare left at the end of 09 when gasnier and cooper where at the height of their powers. Can any one name a junior (not established 1st grader ala josh morris) we should have kept over an established 1st grader, who left our club and career has kicked on.

 

[bottle]

If Jack Bird moves on I would question the purpose of our whole junior development model and investment in young players.

He and Hastings are absolutely the stand-outs of their generation. You can't lose both. What do we stand for as a club if players like that go, where's the pathway for younger players that we are developing?

Sure some young players don't succeed but Gasnier, Cooper, Morris, Nightingale, Hornby, Creagh, Young, Bailey, Ryles etc etc etc all did, and that's what we should be about.

No reasonable person expects the club to win the comp every year so if we lose the juniors progressing into first grade aspect, I start to struggle to identify who we've become.

This is the risk for clubs like ours with strong nurseries. How much time and effort goes in to developing and fostering our youth only to have sides with strong cheque books come along and cherry pick? I don't know how we address it effectively. People talk of cap concessions for juniors, but you still have to have the funds to finance it.

It comes down to dollars and cents in the end. I honestly don't know how we compete with that at present. We certainly don't appear to be winning that battle on the face of it.