Jennings officially offered to rival clubs

[Father Ted]

It's interesting to hear people on talk back starting to raise the fact the dragons are too reliant on juniors and need to buy some players. I know I have banged on about this for an eternity but guys it's so bloody true. I would absolutely love to know if price, Doust actually see this. I heard that 13 out of 17 players on sat are juniors. That's brilliant if the players are up to it!
What are people's thoughts on this? I honestly can't understand why we are not bringing a few top players in. Jennings would be perfect start.

I honestly think Price is well aware of whats going on . He has to live or die by his results after all . But clearly his plans have gone a bit haywire . The right centre's haven't been there for one reason or another and the fullback of choice wasn't a fullback .
Theres been injuries to guys like Weyman and Scott etc . So I think Price may be convicted of poor judgement . But not lack of effort . I think I'd give him at least year to find his feet . I know you won't agree but thats forums.
Dousty on the other hand imo drops the ball more than all our players combined . From the crowds response at the ground the other night to his birthday announcement a lot of people agree with me . Just my opinion

 

[coast_dragons]

Its simple really we have a shit house C.E.O who has no clue how to recruit and a coach alot of players won't want to play under.

Yes most people know its obvious the club needs new players its a matter of getting the right player for the right sort of money.

Jennings and what he is on now is ridiculous and it shows how stupid the Panthers board of directors where leaving them in the hole they are in now.

He also doesn't solve the biggest issue and that is in the halves thats the biggest issue the club has right now.

 

[Mr Red]

^ We're not bringing in players because we don't have 'pulling power' anymore with Bennett gone.

Pearce is pissed off at the way Smith treated Anasta and (apparently) wants to leave. It's a three-way race between us, Knights and Sharks. I believe Knights will get him.

It doesn't help we're sitting in the middle of the table.

The club is still talking the G Stewart.

Choc, you say you're a successful businessman. Even primary school students know businesses go through booms and busts. With the salary cap, the NRL is cyclical in nature.

Price and Doust are not sitting on their hands. They thought they signed Moltzen last season, and they went hard after Cronk and Foran.

the salary cap is designed to be cyclical in nature, however a club can reduce the gap between the "highs and the lows" by doing a few little things smartly... such as have a high profile coach, and manage the turnover of players strategically and in a controlled fashion... that way the lows are still finals footy, and the highs are premiership contenders..
like Brisbane and the storm do (yes i know the storm cheated the cap, but look at them, its like they never missed a beat)
what i get dissapointed about is our lows and highs seem to be a lot more dramatic because as a club we dont do the little things right, and by not doing the little things right it can be the difference between a top 8 finish and finishing 11th or 12th in this comp..

 

[Bring back choc]

^ We're not bringing in players because we don't have 'pulling power' anymore with Bennett gone.

Pearce is pissed off at the way Smith treated Anasta and (apparently) wants to leave. It's a three-way race between us, Knights and Sharks. I believe Knights will get him.

It doesn't help we're sitting in the middle of the table.

The club is still talking the G Stewart.

Choc, you say you're a successful businessman. Even primary school students know businesses go through booms and busts. With the salary cap, the NRL is cyclical in nature.

Price and Doust are not sitting on their hands. They thought they signed Moltzen last season, and they went hard after Cronk and Foran.

Mate I understand that but why? Why do we need to go through a few years of missing finals?? Surely we can make smarter decisions. Smarter recruitmenrs to ensure we are always there abouts. I believe we are a club that should be in the elite of the nrl. I feel the blue print Bennett set for us is now being ignored.
The broncos/ storm and manly are proof you don't need to turn to water after success.
For me it's not that complicated. If we have massages tha salary cap so much that it's become incredibly complex then I think that's where we've mucked up. A few experienced players added to our roster next year will be the difference between making finals and missing it.

 

[Mr Red]

Mate I understand that but why? Why do we need to go through a few years of missing finals?? Surely we can make smarter decisions. Smarter recruitmenrs to ensure we are always there abouts. I believe we are a club that should be in the elite of the nrl. I feel the blue print Bennett set for us is now being ignored.
The broncos/ storm and manly are proof you don't need to turn to water after success.
For me it's not that complicated. If we have massages tha salary cap so much that it's become incredibly complex then I think that's where we've mucked up. A few experienced players added to our roster next year will be the difference between making finals and missing it.

well said..
my thoughts exactly in the post above yours...

 

[coast_dragons]

The Knights are worse than we are so why would Pearce go there the Sharks makes more sense with Carney.

That would spell the end for Townsend who is a legit first grader wasting away in the NSW Cup and getting shitter by the day.

 

[Mr Red]

The Knights are worse than we are so why would Pearce go there the Sharks makes more sense with Carney.

That would spell the end for Townsend who is a legit first grader wasting away in the NSW Cup and getting shitter by the day.

the knights have Bennett, and Bennett has plans.. its no coincidence that he signed there for 4 years and the dragons only 3 years, because he knew the knights were in a mess and it would take an extra season to bring success there..

 

[Fire]

Sorry Mr Red that post was for Choc. But to answer your questions I believe the club has been good in the past. We usually only let 2-3 players go at a time.

Choc, I think you're being a bit too pessimistic mate. You say we don't need to go through a few years of missing the finals, but that hasn't happened yet, so we'll worry about that when/if it happens.

I too would like to see the Dragons be a powerhouse in the NRL. We have the facilities to be. Granted the structures Bennett put in place seemed to have left early, but Price has woken up and switched the halves back around on the field.

I too watch the Broncs, Storm and Manly and envy how well they can stay up year in year out.

I've said it before but Moltzen was a major loss. Yeah we all have a laugh on here and put shit on him, but I really think that Price would've turned him into an awesome half-back for us. I think that is where we f**ked up with the salary cap this year. They were massaging the cap well, and the f**k up wasn't our fault.

Look, I'm trying to look at the positives. Such as Manly and Souths uncovering a good half. Maybe we'll do the same (but granted, Price will have to make the tough call).

The Manly and Dogs game will tell us a lot more, just try and ride it out mate, don't stress out too much about it.

 

[64 Dragon]

the knights have Bennett, and Bennett has plans.. its no coincidence that he signed there for 4 years and the dragons only 3 years, because he knew the knights were in a mess and it would take an extra season to bring success there..

Bennett wanted five years at the Dragons. Doust said no, because he said if Bennett wanted out before five was up he would go. Nobody wants a coach who wants to leave. Therefore, three years.

He was offered more years here but Tinkler obviously offered more incentive!

 

[Bring back choc]

Sorry Mr Red that post was for Choc. But to answer your questions I believe the club has been good in the past. We usually only let 2-3 players go at a time.

Choc, I think you're being a bit too pessimistic mate. You say we don't need to go through a few years of missing the finals, but that hasn't happened yet, so we'll worry about that when/if it happens.

I too would like to see the Dragons be a powerhouse in the NRL. We have the facilities to be. Granted the structures Bennett put in place seemed to have left early, but Price has woken up and switched the halves back around on the field.

I too watch the Broncs, Storm and Manly and envy how well they can stay up year in year out.

I've said it before but Moltzen was a major loss. Yeah we all have a laugh on here and put shit on him, but I really think that Price would've turned him into an awesome half-back for us. I think that is where we f**ked up with the salary cap this year. They were massaging the cap well, and the f**k up wasn't our fault.

Look, I'm trying to look at the positives. Such as Manly and Souths uncovering a good half. Maybe we'll do the same (but granted, Price will have to make the tough call).

The Manly and Dogs game will tell us a lot more, just try and ride it out mate, don't stress out too much about it.

That's fine.. But I assure you I'm not looking at as pessismism... Its more a passion for success. If we think it's not possible then we've already lost. I think we can be doing things much better.
I totally agree there can be a tough year here and there. But we need to be giving ourselves the best chance of success and I dont believe that's happening at present.

But The debate is good to have and i enjoy the discussion with tiu guys. And it's nice to not have to worry about slanging matches.

 

[Mr Red]

Bennett wanted five years at the Dragons. Doust said no, because he said if Bennett wanted out before five was up he would go. Nobody wants a coach who wants to leave. Therefore, three years.

He was offered more years here but Tinkler obviously offered more incentive!

yeah agree with that, the point i was making was that if Bennett didnt think he could get the job done as he put it, he wouldnt have signed for three years..
he wouldnt set himself up to fail so he obviously thought a three year plan to success was still achievable...
at the knights he knows it will need 4 years because they are a lot worse off then we were when he came to the club

 

[Father Ted]

Bennett wanted five years at the Dragons. Doust said no, because he said if Bennett wanted out before five was up he would go. Nobody wants a coach who wants to leave. Therefore, three years.

He was offered more years here but Tinkler obviously offered more incentive!

I've seen or heard no real evidence that Bennett was going to walk before the five years .

 

[Father Ted]

Lets make a serious post . I copied some facts from a League article , but I believe the points I make are worth discussing .

Brisbane play friday nights which gives them a seven day turn around .
Brisbane turns over 30 million a year and spends 24 million on their footy programs .
The Brisbane elite player developement programs are the best in the rugby league world.
Melbourne's are probably the second best.
Melbourne will get 6 million a year from news ltd for the next 5 years.
They have big one city access to sponsors and third party sponsorship.
I still suspect ( without proof ) players that are signed to super league clubs with news ltd money are probably discreetly pointed to other superleague clubs when they want to leave . ( Yes Inglias was an exception ) .

Against that we do have a couple of powerful weapons of our own.
The best supporter base and one of the most marketable teams in the league world imo.
The Illawarra and St.George areas produce quality footballers consistantly.
We have history and tradition the like of which Melbourne and Brisbane can only dream.

What we have to do is copy some of what they do on a smaller scale and do it slightly better .
I.E the spine concept .
We need to tie up our juniors more effectively than I think we currently do . And our junior identification is poor i.e wanting to sign Brett Stewart but telling him we did'nt want Glen because he wasn't good enough. We lose both, very poor, as is not locking in our three SOO junior players this year.
And we need to copy the Melbourne Talent scout system . From what I've heard they show up everywhere a good junior is playing at least once.

There's other stuff but lets get the ball rolling .. Thoughts everyone???

 

[_Johnsy]

If we seriously want to compete with Melb & Brisb, the honest truth is we need to be doing it better. It's no use just copying their systems, we need to replicate & improve them, make them work for us.

It does make it hard though when you don't have News ltd bankrolling you or a group of businessmen (Thoroughbreds) who are multimillionaires who make illegal payments to club players & officials.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/talbot-often-gave-money-20090706-d9vs.html

 

[Minh]

You are right, too many CROOKS ^^^^

 

[Mr Red]

all good facts..
i do think we are perhaps the last club in the competition to not understand the spine concept and how to build your team, and thus invest in your salary cap to build this structure..
Bennett understands this and thus tried to build this at the dragons starting with Soward at 6 and Boyd at 1. he bought Priddis and Fein to help mentor the likes of Rein and King with the idea of them being the 9 long term... the missing piece of the puzzle has always been the 7 and i have no doubt Bennett would have addressed this by now in preparation for hornby retiring..

hell even the eels understand the concept (buying sandow) they just arent capable enough at the moment to pull it off..

 

[Willow]

Jennings officially offered to rival clubs

Can you tell me, where has this been published as being official?

Still looking for the 'official' confirmation.

All I've found is a couple of articles with the one liner: Amid reports the out-of-favour centre has been offered to rival NRL clubs.

 

[redvforlife]

didn't we try to work with that concept when we bought Moltzen? wasn't the whole point of the butthurt there that we'd wanted to build a team around him in our spine?

and yeah he's a crap player and whatever, but I think they get that we need to build a spine, we just got screwed.

 

[TheRev]

Its simple really we have a shit house C.E.O who has no clue how to recruit and a coach alot of players won't want to play under.

Yes most people know its obvious the club needs new players its a matter of getting the right player for the right sort of money.

Jennings and what he is on now is ridiculous and it shows how stupid the Panthers board of directors where leaving them in the hole they are in now.

He also doesn't solve the biggest issue and that is in the halves thats the biggest issue the club has right now.

Agree completely.. Jennings is not the sort of player I want in the Red V, yes he has talent, but he doesnt have heart, its a short-term buy, and I think it will come back to bite us.

We have Beale coming, we need to keep money free for a halfback, however is there is absolutely nothing on the market, we might need to take a punt on an unknown. As for the Under 16 Halfback, thats really not going to do us any good.. thats what 3 years away?

 

[Father Ted]

DTD reckons the manly reserve half may be a good purchase. Here's a link.

http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/riccardis-star-on-rise/