Again we see our forum go quickly OT the way that only this forum can - with a good tip on Dykes quickly becoming a discussion about a tackle on Bird.
Now that we've moved back onto Dykes, the question must be asked again - what is going on at this club?
Dykes is unwanted, benched, about to be dumped then punted to England? That's fine, whatever, but wasn't he the first choice at halfback for next season?
I admit I havent been following too closely lately, been very busy at work, but didnt we tell Kimmorley to take a walk because Dykes got in?
If so:
1. Did no one at the club have the foresight to see how Dykes would be surplus to requirements just two months down the track, before offering him a deal to stay at the club in 2008 and possibly beyond?
2. If not, why not - and who is running the show?
3. If Dykes is that bad, what does it say for the second choice, Kimmorley, who was only signed at a cut-price because Dykes walked? And more importantly, the people who teed up that last ditch effort, rather than looking outside to recruit?
I ask these questions in the context of all the deluded self-praise going around the joint following the Dykes/Kimmorley saga that Ricky Stuart and his new staff had brought in a new "don't mess with the Sharks" attitude to bargaining and contract negotiations.
How I perceive things as having happened is the following:
1. Stuart thought Dykes was the right option and wanted him to stay
2. Club cuts offer to Kimmorley, creating a mechanism for him to walk and join another club, because he is not seen as the right option.
3. Club publicly crows about its new tough-guy attitude including the extremely unprofessional scene of leaking details to the Daily Tele about how Kimmorley is told he is no longer wanted at the agreed price, offer withdrawn - right down to the gory details of WHERE this is happening, with the obligatory back page photo. Regardless of your stance on Noddy, it was wrong he was publicly humiliated and hung out to dry.
4. Then, simultaneously:
-Dykes backs out due to lucrative UK offer, AND
-Market baulks at Kimmorley, leaving him stranded.
5. Option 1 Dykes hotfoots it overseas, Sharks forced to backflip on tough-guy stance and sign second-chance Kimmorley to a similar deal to the very offer they withdrew - either $250K or $300K depending on what you read, with another $50K top-up - coming close to the $700K Kimmorley originally wanted.
So in the end the Sharks have lost their first choice option who it turns out wasnt the best option after all and are left with Brett Kimmorley.
Noddy got the cash he wanted, and it's his last contract so good luck to him. But after being leaked on, told he was not at the top of the list and the Sharks putting out the public perception that he was forced to take a big pay cut, you've gotta wonder where his motivation levels are at.
The guy cops a bucketing for being rusted on to Chris Anderson but he's probably thinking "at least Opes doesnt f**k me over."
And that's without even relating this drama back to Hannay and Seymour.
Possibly we did try to recruit new 6s and 7s. But with the way we've been treating our own, who would want to play for us?
