because unlike canberra, saints are situated in a place that is geographically easier to attract talent
if you lose a guy you can go out and find someone to replace him very easily.
Canberra have home grown talent, talent good enough to be the very tops of their game like Dugan, but we cant attract these players from outside our area but no young 20 something year old with fame, fortune and a profile wants to waste it in a small country town like canberra, when they can earn the same money (or even slightly less) to be where the action is in Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne, near the beaches, nightlife and big city atmosphere... Hell even Townsville is a hot spot for back packers who dont mind getting amongst it... canberra weather accurate or not has an image of a boring dull town, choc full of public servants, with no night life, or beach or anything that appeals to the 18-30 year old high income demographic
thats why, clubs like canberra NEED junior retention, as we are simply at a geographical disadvantage to most of the competition. We need players like Dugan to stick with our club to give us a chance... and to be honest we need more help from the NRL to be strong. This competition needs the Canberra Raiders, we are providing a path way for a HUGE base of junior RL players through the riverina/group 9 area.
They need Canberra and they need canberra to be a place kids want to play, if that means we get cap concessions or if that means we structure the cap to allow clubs like Canberra to gain benifits for their development, then thats what the NRL needs to do.
AFL, Union, pending A-league team... they are all coming into this area or are already here trying to kill our game off, and our code sits on their hands not lifting a finger to help us fight off other codes. Helping us retain a star like Dugan is the easiest way to keep Canberra a RL town.
