Rumours and Stuff

[Eelementary]

so why are you disappointed if they didn't do anything wrong?

I've always been a Nrown fan .... I think he has been great for us ..... plus he won me $300 on first try scorer once, so he gets legend status for ever more

The thing is, as Soren said, we have no idea how any of it went down .... most of these "getting an extension" things are often driven by the player manager trying to nail down a future. Its often a case of the club being couteous to allow a player to leave erly if thats in the player's best interests - obviously there can be advantages for the club too

I guess I'm more disappointed that we re-signed him, and 12 months later, we told him we wo t stand in his way if he wants to leave.

I think my disappointment mostly stems from how may players we've haemorrhaged - Mahoney, Papali'i, Kaufusi, Niukore, possibly Matterson, now Brown...

I don't know.

It's been a tough year.

I thought Mahoney would be a future Eels captain - instead, he is heading to the Dogs...

 

[Twizzle]

I reckon Ray may have had his mate Fitzy in his ear, not like he doesn't like stirring the pot.

Brown may have been dropped as a way of telling him he is no longer required, and need his money to pick up another edge player

who knows ? but that would be my guess

 

[Eelementary]

And now he’s been dropped, but two and two don’t = 4 apparently……..

As poor as he’s been you’d still have him in the side ahead of Maka or Kaufusi.

Absolutely.

Especially ahead of Kaufusi - Kaufusi is lazy.

Makatoa I don't rate - but he gives 100%.

Nathan Brown embodies this "chase the collision" philosophy of BA's, which is why I find it weird.

He's getting older, I guess.

 

[Eelementary]

I think its a case of expecting higher standards from one of our more highly paid senior players. And that we can afford to drop him if we play Matterson more minutes.

But surely you would drop RCG, or Paulo, ahead of Brown?

They are bigger contracts, performing worse, and playing longer minutes.

Brown hasn't played big minutes in ages, and dropping him for his form seems a tad strange to me.

 

[Soren Lorenson]

But surely you would drop RCG, or Paulo, ahead of Brown?

They are bigger contracts, performing worse, and playing longer minutes.

Brown hasn't played big minutes in ages, and dropping him for his form seems a tad strange to me.

I don't think they are the same type of player. I put Brown more in the Radley/ Jurbo category. Brown’s job is playing deep into the line and passing or hitting back over the ad line on an angle. He's not doing either effectively atm. He's not an out and out prop. Him and Matterson are job sharing and it's not necessary. Maybe he's kicking rocks at training and BA wants to put a rocket up him like he did with Fergo last year. Maybe he's lost focus due to his business interests. Dropping him only seems strange cause we don't have all the info. I would be stunned if he's not back in the team soon.

 

[Eelementary]

I don't think they are the same type of player. I put Brown more in the Radley/ Jurbo category. Brown’s job is playing deep into the line and passing or hitting back over the ad line on an angle. He's not doing either effectively atm. He's not an out and out prop. Him and Matterson are job sharing and it's not necessary. Maybe he's kicking rocks at training and BA wants to put a rocket up him like he did with Fergo last year. Maybe he's lost focus due to his business interests. Dropping him only seems strange cause we don't have all the info. I would be stunned if he's not back in the team soon.

Fair points.

His dropping seems to have come out of nowhere.

Let's see what happens.

 

[TheRam]

I mean, to tell a bloke with a year, and a bit, left to run on his deal, that if he finds a new deal elsewhere, he can leave...that's rough.

There are no free lunches in sport or at least there shouldn't be. His form has dropped of considerably. The club is not a charity. If he maintained his form we wouldn't have told him that he is not wanted past his current deal and if he found a better deal somewhere else now we wouldn't stand in his way. That to me is very professional and the right way to approach these kinds of things.

Remember players want pay rises during their current deals if there form improves and they feel they are worth more and mostly clubs yield and upgrade them to keep the player and his manager happy. So why can't the club tap the player who isn't performing to the value of his current contract(for whatever reason) on the shoulder and tell him to look elsewhere while he still has some value because his current club won't be renewing his contract.

As cold and brutal as it may seem, we are actually doing him a massive favour by giving him an honest heads up. It gives him plenty of time to try and improve his form if he is capable to make himself desirable to another club that may give him a longer contract. Even if he can't improve by much, his form to most outsiders has only just started to slip and many would feel or think that he maybe just be a little stale or carrying a niggling injury, which is probably true too, and that they could give him a new lease of life. But if he stayed this way for the next 18 months then most suitors would see him as cooked and offer him a minimum contract at best. At present some may take a punt that they can turn him around.

This is not a shit decision by our clubs management, this is one of their better ones. We should always be this 'ruthless', this is what professional clubs do. Badly managed clubs would say nothing and keep him on the books for the total duration of his contract and stuff themselves up by continuing to pay full freight for an underperforming player and then tell him at the end of it when his body and form are probably even worse that he is done at the club and good luck finding yourself another club. Bye bye.

 

[TheRam]

Should we have lied to him? He asked. f**k imagine how much whinging there would be on here if the opposite happened and we extended him for another year.

Hyperbole much? We aren't run that badly. Some of you merkins will say anything to make your point even if you sound like ridiculous in the process.

 

[Noise]

Fair points.

His dropping seems to have come out of nowhere.

Let's see what happens.

I don’t think it has come out of nowhere. His form has been down and he’s already been dropped to the bench. His form hasn’t improved as he hasn’t added any impact from the bench. His minutes have also been way down the last month. Dropping him was the next step.

 

[TheRam]

What's the reason they couldn't simply have said, "We won't renew you past 2023?"

Instead, he tells him that he's free to leave if he finds a deal, and then drops him from First Grade altogether.

That's pretty disgusting, imo, of a player that has given us 100% every game he has ever played for us.

He is giving him the chance to improve his game. He needs to work on it. That is a normal thing to do when a player losses form. The coach should do more of it. He should put more of these merkins on notice ffs!

 

[chiefy1]

I don’t think it has come out of nowhere. His form has been down and he’s been dropped to the bench. His form hasn’t improved as he hasn’t added any impact from the bench. His minutes have also been way down the last month. Dropping him was the next step.

Well it obviously wasn't the next step because Arthur told him to look elsewhere

 

[TheRam]

It just seems weird to me to re-sign the player, and then tell him, "If you find a long deal elsewhere, you can leave now."

And to also drop him from First Grade seems strange.

Sh*t sometimes happens and players go from being real good to being inept and ordinary real fast. The main thing is how a club can move these types of players on with the least amount of damage for both parties.

 

[Noise]

Well it obviously wasn't the next step because Arthur told him to look elsewhere

Well I guess we don’t know what came first? The team list on Tuesday is not reliable.

 

[Gazzamatta]

I think we made it pretty clear we wernt interested in extending Matto either. Form changes everything. A huge opportunity for Nrown now. He shows some form no doubt we will make an offer. Its what we do.

 

[Eelementary]

I'm still reeling from all the players we've lost, so letting Brown go find a deal elsewhere came as a bit of a shock.

Keen to see who we sign for next year - Jirah Moimoseah is a great talent, imo.

 

[TheRam]

I reckon Ray may have had his mate Fitzy in his ear, not like he doesn't like stirring the pot.

Brown may have been dropped as a way of telling him he is no longer required, and need his money to pick up another edge player

who knows ? but that would be my guess

Yes, playing reserve grade can be a great motivator to find a deal elsewhere quick and move on even if you have to take a slight pay cut.

 

[King-Gutho94]

I'm still reeling from all the players we've lost, so letting Brown go find a deal elsewhere came as a bit of a shock.

Keen to see who we sign for next year - Jirah Moimoseah is a great talent, imo.

You seen Jirah play.

 

[Twizzle]

Fair points.

His dropping seems to have come out of nowhere.

Let's see what happens.

maybe we need his money to fit someone else under the cap, this is why we can't keep them all

 

[Eelementary]

You seen Jirah play.

A bit.

Strong runner, mobile mover.

 

[TheRam]

maybe we need his money to fit someone else under the cap, this is why we can't keep them all

It's not about keeping them all. It's about keeping the right ones and having quality pushing up from below or outside coming through and replacing them.

So far, we have only seen average signings and a broken 3 time ACL injured player replace our loses and not to sue any of the lower grade players are an upgrade or of equal quality.

The development club is struggling to develop or hold onto what it develops. That is the issue. Not just that we are losing players.