Reece Robson Leaving

[Como Connection]

Maybe Jai is looked after by the bikies. Enjoying the view while it lasts before he moves to another location...maybe!
You should of got into his ear and got some real goss!
But you are right CC impressive...as is the Scarborough pub bit further north.

Headlands wins for sure for me.
The apartments look like they may have over capitalised with that part of the redevelopment.
Who put the money in, I know what you are going to say, the bikes!
CC

 

[Carlton]

I see this from a different angle as well. I don't think signing them long term is the issue, being willing to drop them when they aren't performing is.

My view is primarily based around opportunity. Yes, there are cap restrictions, but I don't think financially that players like Aitken and Lafai put a lot of pressure on the cap. Irrespective of financial commitments, if you were Lomax, and you saw Aitken and to a lesser degree Lafai getting selected week after week despite poor form or at the very least inconsistent performances, would you be happy to sit in reggies for an extra 100k a year knowing that your chances are limited? I personally don't think money is the issue - once again, it's opportunities. If another team came along and committed him to a starting spot, then he's more likely to jump at the chance even if said club offered him the same money. I would imagine this is what happened with Garrick.

Reece is in the same boat, however McInness is a much more competitive player in his position. It's much harder to drop McInness from the team and replace him with Robson (despite what some may think). Reece's issue comes with securing a spot on the bench and the coaches bizarre bench selection.

We don't always agree but this is spot on, we can argue about individual players but at the end of the day its about juggling a jelly.

Sometimes gut instinct works and other times it is a disaster. Unfortunately, this is the way of recruitment, do you gamble or do you go with the proven.

PS This is not What Mary seems to do, he sticks with his choices no matter what.

 

[Dragons22]

Signing Corey Norman will lose us Field soon unfortunately. (I hope I am wrong though)
I still don't understand why this club signed that plague.
Playing Widdop at fullback is useless! He is simply not a fullback. He is the best 5/8 the club currently has, yet his extraordinary talent is being wasted. After 2020, boy I'd love Field to play 5/8, Hunt halfback, McInnes hooker, Dufty fullback, and Robson on the bench.

 

[Dragonsamy]

Ok I’m normally a spectator here, but I have to ask the question is Robson staying or going.. sorry so much bitching in this thread I gave up trying to find an answer. Some of you boys sound like a bunch of girls

Maybe Matty Cooper can come out of retirement

At this stage no.
But is only under contract till the end of the year.
Parra are after him and a few others. Hopefully we can keep him.
Time will tell

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

Dragons are caught between a rock and a hard place, the club wants to develop juniors and is one of the main clubs that actively pursue this , they spend heaps of money, they have all these pathways, promises made BUT the biggest speed hump in this development is Mary, there is literally no point in developing the juniors when one person is going the opposite way to everyone else, the process falls apart, only a matter of time before we start losing all the good one's, Millward won't be able to keep them because they're not getting a chance...

 

[rednwhites]

Cook couldn't get a run ahead of Rein, leaves and becomes an international and one of the most dangerous players in the league. Rein has a couple solid years before plateauing.

Something tells me history is about to repeat itself.

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

Anyone know what those 3 have in common

same manager?

 

[Como Connection]

same manager?

They don't like or trust Mary.
CC

 

[possm]

I would agree with you mate.
There are others we could let go, but it doesnt always work that way. The 3 you mention will attract attention, the ones we need to unload wont.

I agree, so the question to ask is, shouldn't our illustrious Pathways/Recruitment people have locked up Lomax, Robson and Field last season before signing backfill players and before other clubs became interested?

As it turns out, I would have rather signed the three mentioned than sign Norman, Maranta, Runciman. At least these 3 have the potential to be better than average first grade players.

 

[possm]

Signing Corey Norman will lose us Field soon unfortunately. (I hope I am wrong though)
I still don't understand why this club signed that plague.
Playing Widdop at fullback is useless! He is simply not a fullback. He is the best 5/8 the club currently has, yet his extraordinary talent is being wasted. After 2020, boy I'd love Field to play 5/8, Hunt halfback, McInnes hooker, Dufty fullback, and Robson on the bench.

Fullback was Duftys position to lose. Yes if Dufty was brought through properly or if the fullback position was shared between Field and Dufty last year, we might not be in this position. It is very clear that the Club was not happy with Dufty's defence and lack of confidence under the high ball.

I think if Field and Dufty were good defenders, there would be no Norman and Widdop at the Dragons in 2019. Widdop would have been granted a release to ESL in December 2018. And for goodness sakes, we would have had funds to buy two good first grade wingers, a centre and maybe another forward in addition to what we have now.

 

[BennyV]

2 of the 3 would be great.
I just think, as much as I respect @possm ' s passion, its unrealistic to expect to manage all 3.

No, its not. Roosters would do it. Melbourne would do it. Panthers would do it. These clubs find a spot for their best youngsters and hold onto them.

The fact that we set our bar for success lower than other clubs does not make it ok to lose good players.

 

[TruSaint]

No, its not. Roosters would do it. Melbourne would do it. Panthers would do it. These clubs find a spot for their best youngsters and hold onto them.

The fact that we set our bar for success lower than other clubs does not make it ok to lose good players.

I didnt set the bar low mate. I said in this instance, where we have 3 players fighting for a spot in the 1st grade squad, that securing all 3 is difficult. All the clubs you mentioned above have lost players of late. Salary cap. FWIW, i think Lomax is a must keep.

 

[possm]

The test is; are Runciman and Maranta better buys than Lomax and Field? Is Norman a better buy than Robson and another first grade forward?

With the 2m approx. that Widdop and Norman take up, we could have also signed two top grade wingers and kept the new wingers in ISP until they forced their way into first grade on form.

It's a mess, a Millward Mess.

 

[True_Believer]

The test is; are Runciman and Maranta better buys than Lomax and Field? Is Norman a better buy than Robson and another first grade forward?

With the 2m approx. that Widdop and Norman take up, we could have also signed two top grade wingers and kept the new wingers in ISP until they forced their way into first grade on form.

It's a mess, a Millward Mess.

Lol! I've said it before and I'll say it again. Thank Christ you have nothing to do with the running of the club.

 

[BennyV]

I didnt set the bar low mate. I said in this instance, where we have 3 players fighting for a spot in the 1st grade squad, that securing all 3 is difficult. All the clubs you mentioned above have lost players of late. Salary cap. FWIW, i think Lomax is a must keep.

Of course they’ve lost guys. But they’ve kept the right ones. Sure, Roosters lost SKD and Guerra and Pearce. But they held onto Mitchell, Radley, Manu and so on. Storm lost Cronk and now Slater, but they held onto B.Smith, Croft, Munster.

We are choosing to hold onto McInnes, Aitken and Norman.

It’s not that hard for them to be in first grade. Is Robson a better utility option than Dufty? The answer is yes, so he should be there. Is Lomax a better right centre option than Aitken? In many opinions yes, so he should be there. Field I could give or take, but if we hadn’t panic-bought Norman we could have our spine of Dufty, Widdop, Hunt and McInnes, Robson on the bench and Field filling in when injuries and origin come around to see if he can take up the mantle in 2020.

So no, securing all 3 is not difficult.

 

[True_Believer]

Of course they’ve lost guys. But they’ve kept the right ones. Sure, Roosters lost SKD and Guerra and Pearce. But they held onto Mitchell, Radley, Manu and so on. Storm lost Cronk and now Slater, but they held onto B.Smith, Croft, Munster.

We are choosing to hold onto McInnes, Aitken and Norman.

It’s not that hard for them to be in first grade. Is Robson a better utility option than Dufty? The answer is yes, so he should be there. Is Lomax a better right centre option than Aitken? In many opinions yes, so he should be there. Field I could give or take, but if we hadn’t panic-bought Norman we could have our spine of Dufty, Widdop, Hunt and McInnes, Robson on the bench and Field filling in when injuries and origin come around to see if he can take up the mantle in 2020.

So no, securing all 3 is not difficult.

Just in the Field case, IF we did the above, and found that he wasn't the player we wanted, who is coming off contract at the end of 2019 that we could replace him with?

 

[BennyV]

Just in the Field case, IF we did the above, and found that he wasn't the player we wanted, who is coming off contract at the end of 2019 that we could replace him with?

Not sure. But I’m pretty confident Norman wasn’t off contract this year, so I’m not quite sure it matters.

 

[BLM01]

The test is; are Runciman and Maranta better buys than Lomax and Field? Is Norman a better buy than Robson and another first grade forward?

With the 2m approx. that Widdop and Norman take up, we could have also signed two top grade wingers and kept the new wingers in ISP until they forced their way into first grade on form.

It's a mess, a Millward Mess.

Possm...This is one of your funniest ones yet I had a laugh anyway.

 

[Carlton]

The test is; are Runciman and Maranta better buys than Lomax and Field? Is Norman a better buy than Robson and another first grade forward?

With the 2m approx. that Widdop and Norman take up, we could have also signed two top grade wingers and kept the new wingers in ISP until they forced their way into first grade on form.

It's a mess, a Millward Mess.

I dont know how much you think Norman is costing us but it has been reported as $500K this year and $700K next year. Given there must have been concerns still about Widdops shoulder at the time Norman was signed, he is good value. If Widdop had wanted to leave this year he should have been allowed to go Maranta and Runciman not signed and a fullback and centre signed.

 

[Old Timer]

I dont know how much you think Norman is costing us but it has been reported as $500K this year and $700K next year. Given there must have been concerns still about Widdops shoulder at the time Norman was signed, he is good value. If Widdop had wanted to leave this year he should have been allowed to go Maranta and Runciman not signed and a fullback and centre signed.

Norman is only good value if he plays well consistently.
Almost everything said about him is offering excuses as to why he hasn't fulfilled his potential and trying to get us to believe he will do that at our club under our coach.
I have little confidence in that becoming a fact.
Norman will be mercurial and do some good things of that I have no doubt but does he have the willpower and stamina to do it week in week out season in season out I have nothing to indicate that he can do that and I have no doubt our coach lacks the necessary skills to see that it does.