Some interesting thoughts in these past few pages
For me, I look back at teams who have won the premiership over the last 5 years, cheating or not, and look at the sorts of players they have signed. With perhaps an absolute quality signing sprinkled in here and there, mostly, teams have either developed from within, or gone looking for undervalued talent. I think we are doing both as well. We needed an absolute quality half, and I believe we got the best available. We also went and chased quality in other positions of need such as a backrower (blair, Harrison, etc) and a centre (hoppa). They didnt come off and so be it. Doesnt mean we need to go and pay 300k for Beau Champion, or sign an Andrew Fifita for big $$ when prop isnt an area we need to strengthen in.
In saying all of that, these same teams have been coached by Bennett Belamy and Hasler, the 3 best coaches in the game currently IMO, so whilst we are perhaps following the right plan, theres obviously no guarantee it will work.
In contrast, lets look at a team who has gone out and spent the big bucks, more then once recently, the bulldogs, and look at how great they are going.
I truly believe that under the current salary cap system, if we are playing fairly, you cant just go out and buy a premiership, it does take patience and development under the right structure
