Just another thought on this while I'm at it. Fitz was almost as annoying as DSaf for mine in that his hot run of form really kicked off once he'd already been tapped on the shoulder and shopped around. We were all pretty happy to see the back of him, and then suddenly he was playing the house down. If Guys like DSaf and Fitz offered their best to us week in, week out for good portions of their careers - then we wouldn't be having half of the conversations we have about our team.
Too many of our players get comfy and don't produce the best footy at the Knights. There's blokes like Josh King, Nick Meaney, Connor Watson, Beau Fermor and others out there having NRL careers too. None of them would have kicked on at the Knights. We're just not that good an environment.
Josh King and Nick Meaney may well be valued contributors to a premiership winning team this year.
I get what you say, but I also think maybe we are overlooking a key issue - with the exception of Fermor (who would have played exactly the same here, the talent was always there) the guys who leave and "kick on" go to clubs with good halves.
Coincidently, the clubs with "good cultures" have.... good halves.
It is all about the spine, and its no coincidence that the 4 clubs that have dominated the NRL era (Storm, Roosters, Panthers, Sea Eagles) have always had the best spines.
The blokes that have left and gone to Canberra haven't become world beaters (bar Tapine, who again was always going to be great).
Barney isn't really playing any better for the Warriors than he did for the majority of his time here, we just remember his last year here where he was really fat, and he was always dumb enough to wipe out chunks of seasons. He has calmed down as he got older - not got better.
So is it down to "we suck" or is it more.... playing with a good spine makes you look good.
