Warriors place restrictions on AFB's transfer.

[SpaceMonkey]

Apparently the Dragons are throwing 4.4mil his way

Yeah but he’d have to play for the Dragons

 

[Beavers Headgear]

Flanagan says they have had a few discussions over the past week and he expects a decision this side of Xmas

 

[Beavers Headgear]

Signed a 4 year deal with the Sharks

 

[Benek]

So did we get anyone in return?

 

[Thatwasnthighref]

So did we get anyone in return?

Not according to latest reports. Probably some cash comp but no player swap.

 

[Meth]

So did we get anyone in return?

nope. Apparently we negotiated hard but got nobody. Seems weird seeing as we were in such a strong position.

 

[Beavers Headgear]

Will be interesting to watch his attitude if the Warriors don’t have a good first couple of months

 

[Izz]

The Sharks, yuck

 

[Benek]

The Sharks, yuck

Yeah but, good decision by Addin. Way better than Dragons.

 

[Izz]

yeah, true

 

[Wheeled Warrior]

So did we get anyone in return?

I thought we were only going to get a player swap if AFB had split completely before 2024 season. Since he's staying I figured we had no pull to demand a player swap considering we got a year to sort that out. The contracted player that plays the compassionate ground card is always gonna win it out unfortunately. I can see why we let him go.

Who should we get to replace AFB? I could list all my wants out of the available players but it will just feel flat in comparison to what we are losing.

 

[JJ]

I thought we were only going to get a player swap if AFB had split completely before 2024 season. Since he's staying I figured we had no pull to demand a player swap considering we got a year to sort that out. The contracted player that plays the compassionate ground card is always gonna win it out unfortunately. I can see why we let him go.

Who should we get to replace AFB? I could list all my wants out of the available players but it will just feel flat in comparison to what we are losing.

there are only a few that really are like for like, and we won't get any of them - but we could get two lesser types? The whole contracts situation is perplexing, to say the least

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

Our coach is such a classy guy

 

[Thatwasnthighref]

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

Our coach is such a classy guy

Yep, lots to like about Webby.

Been wondering recently though... what do you guys reckon is the key difference between him and Ciraldo?

Both came out of the Penrith set up, both took on struggling clubs but both obviously had very different first up seasons.

Everything written about Ciraldo’s people mgmt skills has been glowing yet there was all kinds of player unrest reported at the Dogs. Contrast that with Webby who was unspoken of before getting the gig with us but has proven himself (so far) a brilliant people person, on all fronts.

Did Webby benefit from good recruitment decisions made prior to him joining? i.e. CNK, Barnett, Niukora? If so, Cameron George and Cappy deserve massive credit.

 

[Izz]

Yep, lots to like about Webby.

Been wondering recently though... what do you guys reckon is the key difference between him and Ciraldo?

Both came out of the Penrith set up, both took on struggling clubs but both obviously had very different first up seasons.

Everything written about Ciraldo’s people mgmt skills has been glowing yet there was all kinds of player unrest reported at the Dogs. Contrast that with Webby who was unspoken of before getting the gig with us but has proven himself (so far) a brilliant people person, on all fronts.

Did Webby benefit from good recruitment decisions made prior to him joining? i.e. CNK, Barnett, Niukora? If so, Cameron George and Cappy deserve massive credit.

Now, I don't rate Ciraldo as a coach at all - I think he's been overhyped, though that's not really his fault, more folks like Gould blowing smoke about him at every opportunity, which is Gould's typical MO when wanting to sign someone, player or coach.

That being said, imo Ciraldo inherited a much worse situation at the Dogs than Webby did here, both in terms of roster and culture. He may bounce back this season, now that most of the players who had issues with his methods are gone, though I don't really think Gould has done a great job of recruiting to fill the gaps. Feels to me like they'll be running out a team with 10+ players who can play lots of different positions but none of them at an elite level. Add to that, (imo) Burton is a centre, not a five-eighth, and Kikau is pretty useless unless he's in a dominating pack, and I reckon they'll struggle. Maybe 2025 might be when we really see what Ciraldo is like as a coach.

I've heard a lot about Ciraldo's man management skills, too, but I haven't really seen any evidence of that yet.

Webby definitely benefited from some of the recruitment that happened before he arrived, but the fact he managed to unlock basically every player in the squad (apart from Vailea, and maybe Bunty, though he might already be at his ceiling) is pretty huge. And apart from Vailea, and AFB now, nobody jumped ship. I've been seriously expecting Volkman to move on, but he hasn't yet, which I'm pretty happy about.

But maybe Webby will have a poor second year, ala Todd Payten. That's definitely a big possibility.

But anyway, what do I think is the key difference between Webby and Ciraldo? Both appear to set high standards in terms of fitness, etc, but I think it's Webby's overall focus. He seems intent on instilling confidence in his players, and wants them to enjoy their footy and each other. To me, it feels like Ciraldo is very military in his approach, and is more about the stick than the carrot, and especially how hard to hit with the stick. Of course, I'm just a fan with absolutely no inside knowledge and maybe the reality is very different.

What I find really interesting is that it seems like Webby's core values around culture, etc, are very similar to what Kearney's were. Yet, while Kearney never appeared to lose the dressing room (just Johnson), his results were just poor.

 

[JJ]

Yep, lots to like about Webby.

Been wondering recently though... what do you guys reckon is the key difference between him and Ciraldo?

Both came out of the Penrith set up, both took on struggling clubs but both obviously had very different first up seasons.

Everything written about Ciraldo’s people mgmt skills has been glowing yet there was all kinds of player unrest reported at the Dogs. Contrast that with Webby who was unspoken of before getting the gig with us but has proven himself (so far) a brilliant people person, on all fronts.

Did Webby benefit from good recruitment decisions made prior to him joining? i.e. CNK, Barnett, Niukora? If so, Cameron George and Cappy deserve massive credit.

Maybe just that Webby has more experience in other (than Penrith) environments, including terrible ones?Ciraldo and earlier Brennan came from the best system in the game, with, I think,little other context as coaches into problematic environments?

 

[Izz]

Maybe just that Webb has more experience in other (than Penrith) environments, including terrible ones?Ciraldo and earlier Brennan came from the best system in the game, with, I think,little other context as coaches into problematic environments?

Great point!

 

[Thatwasnthighref]

Great point!

Yes it’s a very good point. He had some tough times in his first stint as assistant with us, and then with the Tigers. Sports people often talk about learning more from their losses than wins and he had plenty of losses during that 6yr stretch.

Do you guys also get the sense he genuinely wants to be here? i.e. it wasn’t just a job offer that fortuitously came up, but that he wanted to come back?

When he signed in Jul ’22, Ciraldo hadn’t yet signed with the Dogs but it was only a matter of time before he accepted one of the offers in front of him. As the next senior assistant, Webby could’ve just settled in behind Ivan biding his time to eventually take over a really well oiled system. He took a helluva risk taking our club’s gig.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

we’re probably in a good position to look at getting Hamlyn-Uele for 2025, but as he’s under contract next year we wouldn’t be able to negotiate that one yet.

 

[Izz]

Do you guys also get the sense he genuinely wants to be here? i.e. it wasn’t just a job offer that fortuitously came up, but that he wanted to come back?

Yeah, definitely. Also think Cappy really wanted to be back here, too. Genuine enthusiasm can't help but be contagious, right?