Talagi was not the right fit for a rebuilding Parramatta, despite his obvious talent.
We didn't need to invest further time in a player who - although extremely talented -, is a liability in defence.
We made the right call letting him go, and as I said previously, he could not have gone to a better club than Penrith to unlock his potential.
It was win-win.
But I dare say that had Yeo not been in Penrith's plans, that Hopgood would have stayed, and I dare say that Cleary would have been happy to keep him.
Unfortunately for Penrith (to a degree), and fortunately for us, Hopgood was stuck behind Isaiah Yeo, and was not guaranteed game time because of that; we were able to table an offer with regular game time, and the rest is history.
I do agree that we, as fans, often criticise the coach, because he's the figurehead of the club, and the only person in authority at the club that we see regularly.
But I don't think anyone will be complaining about letting go of Talagi too much - he wasn't the right fit for what we needed heading into 2025.