Current article on the Panthers stating they have an 11 (yes 11) person retention and recruitment team. And the focus is on retention. Only bought in about 5 players during their 5 GF run. All retention/recruitment /development personnel are on the same page.
Meanwhile back at the ranch ......... Fxck we are a uselessly managed club. We need to be a club that every fibre of our being is set on "success" and every decision is about that success. Only employ the best available for EVERY job. Move all the anchors on and bring in the people who get shit done. It is so fxcking frustrating watching the Storm, Roosters, Panthers of this world and watching how professional they are and how successful they are. I've been watching old games from the Bath era and later the Bennett era and noticing how so much has changed. The crowds were unbelievable, we seemed invincible on the field, our management had a real desire for success. What the fxck happened. Did I fall asleep for 15 years and while in my slumber, these management fxckers ruined our club with shit decision after shit decision, cronyism, nepotism and down right WRONG appointments. WHEN IS HARAN BEING REMOVED??
The club got sold to the wrong people in the first place, and having Bennett there was a fluke and we F$#ked up that appointment as well. A ground up rebuild along with the COE is the best we can hope for now and pray like never before we get the right people managing the lot.
Unfortunately under McGregor and Griffin we became a club that valued aging and many frankly "past it" players under the BS guise of "experience" instead of blooding and trusting our young players coming through, many of whom are now flourishing at other clubs. We're now paying the penalty for years of woefully bad decisions.
Then you look at the Panthers, where Ivan Cleary rarely hesitates in bringing in a young gun because he knows the systems they've spent time setting up in the past are now churning out players who for the most part are "ready to go".
I do trust that Flanno is working on this but he has started well and truly behind the 8 ball and it will be slow work until it starts to bear fruit. But remember when we were all mocking Gould and his famous "5 year plan"? Might have taken more than 5 years but it has certainly set their club up to be a powerhouse. Our junior base is second only to the Panthers and with proper management there's no reason why we can't harness our junior base in the same way. Key words in that are "proper management" - a concept the Dragons have shown they are rarely capable of.
I agree with you three and would like to say -
I know that there are others but the two clubs that stand out for me in the past two decades are the Storm and Panthers.
The Panthers under Gould realised the depth and strength of their juniors and have put a massive amount of time and money in creating the best that the Panthers can provide for the proper development of these juniors and to this day, they have been able to have so much success. As Maestro1 has mentioned, they have 11 staff involved in recruitment and retention so that whoever in the juniors show potential and promise they would set aside and fully develop them and ensure they have the pathways to play NRL one day.
The Storm I would like to put my emphasis of their success on the 2024 Coach of the Year - Craig "Bellyache" Bellamy. He has said these things -
"If you want something you have to work hard for it and if you don't work hard for it, it is not worth doing". He says that he has to make sure he does his job the best he can and then hopefully people will follow from that. He has created a culture that is envied and admired by all codes and fans. It is a system which helped the talents of Cronk, Slater, Smith and now Hughes and many others. It is his drive and ability to re-invent, adapt, lead and overcome adversity in the pursuit of success.
His motto is "the harder you work, the luckier you get". "work hard and - always - be respectful and humble".
The Storm's culture is built on the values of family, accountability, hard work, respect and passion.
For the Dragons to become more successful in the future, they should adopt a lot of the stuff that the Panthers have shown to work and the Storm for their never ending years of success and dedication to
hard work.