Young Raiders star signed by Manly

[mikail-eagle]

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ders-star-for-three-years-20120502-1xzjn.html

Sea Eagles swoop on young Raiders star for three years

Emerging Canberra Raiders star Michael Chee Kam says he would have been crazy to turn down the security of a three-year deal with the Manly Sea Eagles.
The Raiders offered the 20-year-old second-rower/centre a deal until the end of 2014, but he rejected it in favour of greater first-grade opportunities and an extra 12 months at Sydney's northern beaches.


Raiders chief executive Don Furner questioned how the Sea Eagles could afford Chee Kam given they are facing an uphill battle to retain their premiership-winning squad.
''We put in two very good offers for Mike, Manly put a better one in,'' Furner said.
''The figures blew me away a bit. I did actually speak to the NRL about that, because I'm amazed at how Manly could pinch him and they're struggling to keep first-graders in their cap.'':roll:


Gigg said Chee Kam wouldn't be included as part of Manly's top 25 highest-paid players next year and as such, his addition wouldn't have any impact on his club's ability to re-sign their stars.
''Michael does not come into that category and his signing is completely irrelevant to any existing retention issues that we have,'' Gigg said. ''I can understand their frustrations because it [losing junior players] happens to every club. Unfortunately it's a facet of modern football life.''

 

[zombie jesus]

Good shit, look forward to seeing him play in the maroon and white.

 

[Achillies]

Not sure what Canberra have to complain about here. Their offer cant be as good as they claim if a 3 year offer at Manly on a second tier contract was a better deal.
The guy is a gun. I would expect him to play plenty of NRL footy for you guys next year.

 

[zombie jesus]

It will be a challenge making first grade next year if we retain Williams, three internationals + Buhrer, then there's a handful of guys he'd have to leap frog after that to make the bench.
Good timing though, keep an eye on him on Sunday.

 

[Noa]

Raiders cant really whinge, they where very, very lucky to get him from the Storm who developed him.

Came to SG Ball the same year as Tohu Harris and wasnt much between them

 

[CC_Eagle]

Nice to see a potential star come for once, rather than go.

 

[overandout]

Plenty of butterflies at Manly to catch.

 

[Raider_69]

He's a really talented kid
apparently the manly offer was substancially bigger than ours so it was a no brainer for him

Wish him all the best and hope to see him have a successful FG career, you've got a good one in him
as noa said, hard to complain about losing a kid we poached from somewhere else. With a bit of luck he can continue to play strong footy and finish off with TC premiership with the raiders

 

[MSIH]

He's a really talented kid
apparently the manly offer was substancially bigger than ours so it was a no brainer for him

Wish him all the best and hope to see him have a successful FG career, you've got a good one in him
as noa said, hard to complain about losing a kid we poached from somewhere else. With a bit of luck he can continue to play strong footy and finish off with TC premiership with the raiders

Or so they say to cover their arse.

Either way, well said 69. Lack of bitterness which you'd expect from a Parramatta fan for example.

 

[Raider_69]

At the end of the day, you cant begrudge a kid for doing what he thinks is best for his career. Bitterness gets you no where and its better to say "Thanks for you efforts, good luck in the future" than it is to say "f**k off you money grubbing prick!"

yea the media talk and the talk from Furner is that the manly offer was much more than we were willing to pay, it is what it is.
paper/media talk is not worth much these days, but i do believe he was talented enough that canberra would have tabled a good offer too, we got outbidded by a team who covets his talents more than us.
Nature of the beast in professional sport, you cant fault the kid, he got a good deal and feels he's in a spot to get to his FG dream quicker. You cant fault manly for going after a player they rate. You cant blame the raiders for not wanting to pay more than they think he's worth. And given we have big Edrick Lee and Jack Wighton, i can see why the club maybe felt he was expendable.

Such is life. We got Joel Thompson from the Storm in the same circumstances. You win some, you lose some. I think Manly got a good win on this kid.

 

[VictorTheViking]

Agreed, from what ive seen of him he will make the grade at some point, good signing

 

[CliffyIsGod]

Raider 69 is such a good poster on LU -- something skeepe should try and follow.

 

[Disco]

It will be a challenge making first grade next year if we retain Williams, three internationals + Buhrer, then there's a handful of guys he'd have to leap frog after that to make the bench.
Good timing though, keep an eye on him on Sunday.

Not really

I mean sure he may not be a fixture in the top 17.

But if he can leapfrog guys like Harrison then he will get plenty of time

 

[mean_maori_mean]

Raiders cant really whinge, they where very, very lucky to get him from the Storm who developed him.

Came to SG Ball the same year as Tohu Harris and wasnt much between them

ok..fair point storm had him .. then ripped up his contract along with Uiti Baker for minor misdemeanor.
but canberra invested plenty of him and he could of hung around.
But Canberra have really strong backrow stocks.

I would ask Mt Wellington & Auckland Rugby League respectively who developed him though

He was a junior rep for years including a NZ 16s before melbourne "developed" him lol

 

[zombie jesus]

Not really

I mean sure he may not be a fixture in the top 17.

But if he can leapfrog guys like Harrison then he will get plenty of time

Throw in Mauro, Skinner, Robinson and Annear. Assuming Joe retires too. If he shows good form there will be plenty of opportunities, lots of competition though.