2023 Recruitment & Retention Thread

Rupert Murdoch said:
I actually think you have hit the nail dead on the head with him trying to emulate his mentor.

It actually makes sense to me reading that, but he just doesn't seem to have whatever Bellamy has to do that yet.

Best example I know of Is Josh King, goes to Melbourne and Is nailing down the hatches for them there.
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Totally agree. Quote from one AOB...

“It is a hard one for me as well,” O’Brien said in his post-match press conference. “Previous to getting this job here I was involved in four grand finals".
“I have seen all that stuff and I haven’t unlearnt that, but it is going to take some time.”

Just because your were on the coaching staff at highly successful clubs, does certainly not mean you know how to wholeheartedly run a struggling team yourself.
I doubt many sailors would think they can captain a struggling warship even though they'd served on 4 behemoths previously.

Just my opinion.
 
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OnTilt said:
They are also huge competitors, Bsmith was balling his eyes out when they lost last week, can you see any of our guys caring that much?
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Spot On!!
Funny that, loosest units you reckon? probably wouldn’t even have met them or know them on a personal level.
I’d definitely take “Loose units” that play passionately and are immensely talented over any current knights players.
 
With Melbourne it wasn't just Belly. You have to say Billy Slater had a alot of influence there in developing there fullbacks. E.g paps and Munster

How Melbourne works, you have your workers eg Josh King, good forwards, that have a role and do there job. Than you have your stars in "key" positions.

So if Brails didn't go down. And we did have a very good halves paring than the rest would have followed. This is all hear say of course.

Those key positions are crucial. Meany didn't have the greatest game in 6 and they lost paps. Two spine positions. And what happened. They lost.
 
So AOB might not be the problem. But ultimately it's his decisions and those around him (in recruitment and development) that need to nail those key spots. I've said it before I think we have good forwards and outside backs that can do there job. And "one" superstar.
 
R4D5 said:
thanks for your feedback and opinion.

Hopefully they can fast track the development of those guys, focusing on game management as well and we have a couple of good halves there.
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Signing Michael Dobson to replace Garth Brennan is a big factor in developing our halves prospects.
Dobson was a very skillful half in our lower grades who just wasn't physically up to NRL standard.
He learnt his craft as understudy to Terry Campese at Canberra, who was as skillful as any half in the game and would have been one of the greats if not for his terrible run with injuries over his entire career.
For the last 2 years Dobson has coached Wynum Manly colts to back to back minor premierships and is still in the race for back to back grandfinal wins, and I'm told his halves have been the greatest strengths.
In short, Dobson was a great game manager himself at NSW cup and ESL levels, and his skills looked great at NRL level - he just wasn't a good enough athlete to make it at that level. He learnt his craft from some of the best and has proved to be a good coach of juniors.
He seems to be the right guy to mentor young halves like Sutton, Henderson, Jye Linnane etc.
 
I don't like how our club listens to the public outcry and seems to prioritise appeasing the press over winning footy games. Some examples are the public nature they handled the Peace thing, then this Klemmer nonsense, now the queen thing and the way the coaching staff exit and say whatever with impunity. All that shows poor corporate management and weak leadership.
 
frankLauda said:
So AOB might not be the problem. But ultimately it's his decisions and those around him (in recruitment and development) that need to nail those key spots. I've said it before I think we have good forwards and outside backs that can do there job. And "one" superstar.
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AOB has to own the Pearce departure bungle wholly & solely...
Rookie error to let your best attacking organiser & mentor leave on a hope that young unproven halves might be able to do the job. Yes, that still infuriates me.
 
Rough Night said:
AOB has to own the Pearce departure bungle wholly & solely...
Rookie error to let your best attacking organiser & mentor leave on a hope that young unproven halves might be able to do the job. Yes, that still infuriates me.
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Not defending him and I'm not sure it would have be wholly his call to release or keep Pearce either way anyway....but the only thing I'll say in AOBs defence from what I recall, is that there was definitely a very clear message from ALL those that were supposedly 'in the know' around the fact that Brooks was supposedly a definite lock for coming this year.

Apparently, the only ones that weren't in the know that it was a done deal were the Tigers :oops:
 
Rough Night said:
AOB has to own the Pearce departure bungle wholly & solely...
Rookie error to let your best attacking organiser & mentor leave on a hope that young unproven halves might be able to do the job. Yes, that still infuriates me.
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See i don't think this is right at all Pearce wanted out and said himself his body wasn't up to another season of NRL .
Plus with the crap Pearce caused and the way he was playing don't forget 9 out of 10 people were saying he was playing like crap and whinged about him constantly and wanted him gone especially on here...
We also had Brooks all but signed to replace him when, that fell thru what were they supposed to do. Seems to me that a lot of people especially on here have very short memories ...
 
Rough Night said:
AOB has to own the Pearce departure bungle wholly & solely...
Rookie error to let your best attacking organiser & mentor leave on a hope that young unproven halves might be able to do the job. Yes, that still infuriates me.
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No he shouldn’t. Pearce should for cheating on his girlfriend.
 
Still_Nutty said:
Not defending him and I'm not sure it would have be wholly his call to release or keep Pearce either way anyway....but the only thing I'll say in AOBs defence from what I recall, is that there was definitely a very clear message from ALL those that were supposedly 'in the know' around the fact that Brooks was supposedly a definite lock for coming this year.

Apparently, the only ones that weren't in the know that it was a done deal were the Tigers :oops:
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In my business, we don't offload a worker till we have a replacement signed; no maybes or almosts. Basic business knowledge really, something that PG should understand I'm sure.
The interview that AOB recently gave on this matter was that the MP release was on him & he possibly made a mistake. You think?!
He explained the main reason he did so was because MP had given so much to the NRL and he primarily thought of him. Whilst I applaud his fatherly-brotherly instincts, I'm not sure Bennett or Bellyache would put players before the team.
 
Rough Night said:
In my business, we don't offload a worker till we have a replacement signed; no maybes or almosts. Basic business knowledge really, something that PG should understand I'm sure.
The interview that AOB recently gave on this matter was that the MP release was on him & he possibly made a mistake. You think?!
He explained the main reason he did so was because MP had given so much to the NRL and he primarily thought of him. Whilst I applaud his fatherly-brotherly instincts, I'm not sure Bennett or Bellyache would put players before the team.
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In your business can a person quit because Pearce pretty much did .
Since when do we want to keep a player that doesn't want to be here , that doesn't think he is fit enough to do his job properly that has stuffed up at home and his place of employment and probably all over the place mentally and isn't doing the job he is being paid big money to do.
I can still hear the whinging about his game and he was playing rubbish and not earning his cash.

That's what we would have had if AOB didn't let him go , imo AOB did the right thing.

Didn't bellyache do that sort of thing for Cameron Smith when he kept giving him more and more time to decide if he wanted to play on or not , that can affect a team badly if the player decides to leave .
People keep saying it was a stuff up because we let him go and didn't get anyone else but they did try we apparently had Brooks all but signed and if he had signed we wouldn't even be talking about this ... When it didn't happen there was no one else for the club to sign that was a big name .
 
At the time I said to release Pearce, because why would we want a player here that does not want to be here?

And say we kept Pearce, can we say this season would have been markedly better? Is Pearce alone going to take us from 2nd last to 8th?

And if we landed at 8th again, bundled out of the finals in the first week are we rating that a pass again are we? With Pearce heading out of the door at the end of that year anyway.

I just don't see the point in having kept Pearce for this outcome.

Unfortunately we were not able to attract a replacement and this was a poor year, likely would have been a poor year anyway even with Pearce.
 
Ethan said:
In your business can a person quit because Pearce pretty much did .
Since when do we want to keep a player that doesn't want to be here , that doesn't think he is fit enough to do his job properly that has stuffed up at home and his place of employment and probably all over the place mentally and isn't doing the job he is being paid big money to do.
I can still hear the whinging about his game and he was playing rubbish and not earning his cash.

That's what we would have had if AOB didn't let him go , imo AOB did the right thing.

Didn't bellyache do that sort of thing for Cameron Smith when he kept giving him more and more time to decide if he wanted to play on or not , that can affect a team badly if the player decides to leave .
People keep saying it was a stuff up because we let him go and didn't get anyone else but they did try we apparently had Brooks all but signed and if he had signed we wouldn't even be talking about this ... When it didn't happen there was no one else for the club to sign that was a big name .
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Fair critique, I'll cop that.
As others have previously said, he didn't wake up & announce "I'm off to france". This had been coming for >1year. In that time, several other better than average halves were scouting their options. That's what I mean, why get his 700k salary back & do nought with it.
We seem to lack planning...
 
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