It’s certainly very frustrating that the Raiders have brought in Chevy Stewart, Ethan Strange and Ethan Sanders in the last few years, all very highly touted young kids, and seemed to be the only club in the race for Kaeo Weekes who was totally unwanted when they picked him up, and seems like he’s going to make it as a first grader now. Meanwhile the Knights fixated on Will Pryce, who’s the version of Weekes who couldn’t get a consistent run for an average Super League team. This was very dumb. The Raiders are clearly one of the well run clubs though even though the coach is terrible. They’ve also retained Jamal Fogarty on decent money though - a bang average but reliable first grade halfback, same tier as Hastings ability-wise so the exact sort of player a good club wouldn’t sign allegedly - and they look f**king shithouse when he’s not playing. That’s the thing about young, inexperienced prospects. They make a lot of young player errors and you need a steady hand to guide them. Look at the Broncos when Reyno isn’t playing.
Bet you anything the Bulldogs slide next year (unless they pick up Ben Hunt as rumoured).
As for Mitch Pearce, we’ll never know the truth, but the Chooks say they wanted to keep him and have him learn from Cronk (it’s not unthinkable that Keary could have been the one forced out), and you’re taking the piss to call a 28 year old halfback “past his prime”. He wasn’t. He was right in the middle of it. He started falling off a cliff over 2020-21. I think there’s a determination to never admit the club ever makes a right decision if Wests signing a 28 year old Luai to play halfback, a position he’d played 3 times in first grade, is smart, and Newy signing a 28 year old Origin halfback is dumb. And if Pearce was a bad move, how can you say signing Mitch Moses, who’s turning 31 next year, would be a great move?
As for Clifford - a talented young player whose career had stalled. Oh like Jahrome Hughes? Tom Dearden? Kaeo Weekes? Luke Keary? Damn what kind of dumb club would sign a guy with talent who seems to be struggling to put it together? Always turns out wrong.