As a Parramatta, I will say that the only problem with Gutho is that the team can come to rely on him too much. I think this is the the reason that Ryles let him go. Whenever Gutho was off the field (which rarely happens) you would see the team immediately go to sleep. Like kids who have decided to slack off because Dad isn't there yelling in their ear. It was to the point that if Gutho went off, or wasn't playing, you could see the loss coming. Even if we were winning. Gutho goes off for a HIA, we immediately concede a lead in a game we were dominating before he went off. I think if the fans like me could see this, Ryles recognised it too. And it's not something you can easily fix. It's a case of, even though he is probably the biggest effort team player on the field, you need to let him go to reset the team mentality back to the individuals taking responsibility for themselves. Another example of this is Jake Trbojevic for Manly. When Jake is not playing, Manly are a completely different side. Because they don't have their chief motivator pushing them when they get their heads down. If Dragons can not become too reliant on Gutho for their motivation and positivity, he will be massive for them. He is all effort. No BS. And his positivity and competitive nature is unmatched
One other thing worth mentioning, is that leading up to origin in the 2023 season, when everyone was calling for Dylan Edwards to be the NSW full back, Gutho was the number 1 full back on paper at the time. His stats were better for everything, other than tackle breaks and run metres (which were Dylan Edwards, but only just). He had better stats for everything else. Better than all other fullbacks. But he has not even considered for origin. Because he is not overly flashy, and all his work is team based, it is often easily overlooked and underrated
He is the perfect example of the saying "Hard work beats talent"
