Bailey Signs With Manly!

It's a shame to lose Bailey as he's been playing some good footy for us, but at least that gives Smithy more incentive to pair Dureau in the halves with Mullen now and further develop him. After seeing what both Mullen and Dureau were doing paired up at the start of the season, I knew that these two were going to be our halves of the future. But having Bailey's versatility and having a guy who can play 5/8 in a pinch in FG was a real nice thing to have.

On a side note, Walsh has actually been playing really well in the NSWC from what I've seen. Looks like he's controlling the team around the park and he's showing that attacking flair. I thought he played well for us last season and showed flashes of brilliance at times, but he was just so small and pretty suspect in defence, but I don't think he's such a bad 3rd half to have in the squad in case of injury to either Mullen or Dureau. We've also got Gidley who can easily play in the halves with Naiqama shifting to fulback, so I think we're in pretty good shape even with losing Bailey, though it is pretty crappy losing a player of Bailey's caliber and versatility when he's really hitting form now.
 
Not too manly, what a dirty club ahhhh!!! hopefully he will play good footy until the end of 2008 for us, 3 tries next home game again would be sweet.
 
I realise that money talks louder than loyalty but surely there are some things you just don't do. Manly. Bloody MANLY!!!

If Manly are over the cap, or other teams including the Knights for that matter, why fine them? If they've got enough cash to pay players over the cap then a fine isn't that much of a punishment. Points deductions however............. I know that the NRL, like SuperLeague, can use points deductions as a last resort but it's not much of a deterrent if they're reluctant to do it.
 
I realise that money talks louder than loyalty
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So Damn True.

But to be honest with you, i think we need to actual great ball players and game readers in the halfs for the back line we have, Bailey is basically a Greg Bird who can pass like a magician.

I'd rather two possible kicking options and stuff like that, But he could of always played lock:S
 
He probably will turn out to be a great player. I guess the club has to keep under the cap but it sticks in the craw when a good talent leaves for a rival side.
 
knight-no-7 said:
Hope we dont regret loosing him down the track. There was an aticle today talking about how Quinn is now a millionaire and we let him go:
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,23742785-5006066,00.html
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I'm still very filthy that we lost Anthony Quinn at the end of 2006. Just to let all of you know, the part in that article which states that Brian Smith told Anthony Quinn in 2006 that he couldn't match Melbourne's offer is a load of CRAP! The biggest load of hack journalism, if I've ever seen any. Brian Smith left Parramatta mid-season, and for the remainder of the season, went to England to do some assistant coaching until the end of the year (I think he was at the same club his brother Tony (who's now coach of the England side) was). In other words, he was working in England and had no involvement whatsoever with this situation that occured 16,000 or so kilometers away from where he was. By then, this was well past the then post-June 30 contract window!!!! And also, Michael Hagan was still the coach of the Knights side and was still (like the previous years) one of the main ppl involved with the player retention and recruitment (alongside Mark Sargeant, although Sarge left the Knights midway through 2005 after our disasterous 50-0 flogging to Parramatta).

As James correctly said, Brian Smith had no involvement in player retention proceedings until he came to the club in 2007. Before that, it was all Michael Hagan (and Mark Sargeant, as his assistant). Hagan knew he was leaving at the end of 2006, so he didn't give two hoots as to who was going and leaving the club (unlike majority of other coaches, like Jack Gibson for example. When he left Parramatta, he wanted to make sure that they still had a lot of team cohesion and bond within the side). As a result, we missed out on Anthony Quinn, and I knew before he went to Melbourne that he'd be an extremely underrated buy for them (in a team that has Smith, Slater, Inglis, Folau etc.). He played extremely well in Origin the other night from what I saw and was very unlucky not to get man of the match.

Thank goodness Hagan is gone (won't get started on the Hagan rant again). Its now funny to read all the comments on the Parramatta forum about how crap and how uninspiring of a coach Hagan is. It looks like its going to be deja vu all over again at Parramatta of his tenure at the Knights. A coach with a lot of superstars at Parramatta look to be a very poorly coached and unenthusiastic side, as well as underperforming players constantly getting picked, week in week out (does this sound familiar???). Here is the link, incase youre wondering what I'm referring to:

http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showthread.php?t=197442
 
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I don't buy into all this club loyalty crap personally. If a player signs elsewhere, all of a sudden he's not loyal and he's in the wrong, but if a club flat out releases a player or a club tells a player that he's not needed beyond this season, that's all of a sudden fine? That's crap IMO. There are players that are loyal to their clubs no do doubt about it IMO, like Buderus for example even though he's going to England next season, but people have to understand that this is a business and these guys have to look out for themselves and their families best interests and not take a massive pay cut just to stay "loyal" to the club when the club can turn around the very next season and cut ties with the guy.

This is just my opinion though and others may see it very differently, but as I said, this is a business, not a loyalty competition, but saying that, I have no doubt in my mind that players are loyal to clubs. If Buderus isn't loyal to Newcastle even though he's decided to finish his career off in England, then there's no such thing as loyalty in the NRL. I don't think it's about loyalty though and I will admit that their isn't a whole lot of loyalty as this is a business and the player and their managers have to view it as a business and make a business decision based on what's best for them and their families. It's not a popularity contest or as I said a loyalty competition, but their are a few players who are loyal IMO who may not even end their careers with their respected club. Buderus will always be a Newcastle Knight in my eyes and will always bleed blue and red even though he has decided to collect his last big contract over in England unfortunately.
 
What has this got to do with loyalty? Manly gave a player we've had for 2 and a half years a better offer. In a team where he will have a position. How is loyalty a consideration? Perhaps if we'd made massive strides to keep him, but I get the feeling Smith wouldn't have tried to keep him once all the other clubs started coming.
 
keeney said:
What has this got to do with loyalty? Manly gave a player we've had for 2 and a half years a better offer. In a team where he will have a position. How is loyalty a consideration? Perhaps if we'd made massive strides to keep him, but I get the feeling Smith wouldn't have tried to keep him once all the other clubs started coming.
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If you're referring to my post, I heard someone say something about loyalty, so I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in the mix. I agree this doesn't have to do with loyalty. I'm sure after his hat trick performance against the Tigers that he out priced himself for us anyways, especially considering we still have Dureau who I'm expecting to be paired up with Mullen and be our future halves combination. Bailey's been playing some really good footy for us, but in all honesty, he was always a fringe FG at Newcastle, so why not go where the money and opportunity is, Manly?
 
TippleNickler said:
If you're referring to my post, I heard someone say something about loyalty, so I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in the mix. I agree this doesn't have to do with loyalty. I'm sure after his hat trick performance against the Tigers that he out priced himself for us anyways, especially considering we still have Dureau who I'm expecting to be paired up with Mullen and be our future halves combination. Bailey's been playing some really good footy for us, but in all honesty, he was always a fringe FG at Newcastle, so why not go where the money and opportunity is, Manly?
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I'm just annoyed he went to Manly, of all clubs!

But agree on the Loyalty issue. In this instance it has nothing really to do with loyalty especially when you compare it to the loyalty issue with SBW, who is threatening to walk out.
 
that sucks Bailey is a class player but if it was between him and Dureau i'd go scotty does this mean we can keep Sargent
 
TippleNickler said:
I don't buy into all this club loyalty crap personally. If a player signs elsewhere, all of a sudden he's not loyal and he's in the wrong, but if a club flat out releases a player or a club tells a player that he's not needed beyond this season, that's all of a sudden fine? That's crap IMO. There are players that are loyal to their clubs no do doubt about it IMO, like Buderus for example even though he's going to England next season, but people have to understand that this is a business and these guys have to look out for themselves and their families best interests and not take a massive pay cut just to stay "loyal" to the club when the club can turn around the very next season and cut ties with the guy.

This is just my opinion though and others may see it very differently, but as I said, this is a business, not a loyalty competition, but saying that, I have no doubt in my mind that players are loyal to clubs. If Buderus isn't loyal to Newcastle even though he's decided to finish his career off in England, then there's no such thing as loyalty in the NRL. I don't think it's about loyalty though and I will admit that their isn't a whole lot of loyalty as this is a business and the player and their managers have to view it as a business and make a business decision based on what's best for them and their families. It's not a popularity contest or as I said a loyalty competition, but their are a few players who are loyal IMO who may not even end their careers with their respected club. Buderus will always be a Newcastle Knight in my eyes and will always bleed blue and red even though he has decided to collect his last big contract over in England unfortunately.
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100% spot on. The whole concept of 'player loyalty' went out the back door a long time ago. Players do need to not only give 100% in your performances for the club during their time there, but more importantly, need to do what is best for themselves. If a player isn't happy playing at a club (eg Sonny Bill), they need to do what is best for themselves and also the club doesn't need to put up with someone who's heart isn't really there. If someone offered me double the amount of what I was earning if I was a player, I will honestly admit I'd find it very hard to refuse that offer. Because, you've gotta remember: Rugby League is a very short career. You're not going to be playing the game forever, you're only earning those big bucks for a limited period of time, only the very best players in the game will be able to permanently retire full-time once they leave Rugby League (like the Andrew Johns, Darren Lockyers, Allan Langers, all of those who were the highest paid in the game), and more importantly, if you're not a marquee player (ie youre just an average player or one of the majority that doesn't get all the accolades in the media) and if you have a young family, you're obviously going to do it from a long-term financial situation. I believe I read an article a fair while back, in regards to sporting careers. The average career length of a player who makes it to top grade level (ie in Australia, the NRL) is only 5 seasons. 5 SEASONS!!!! And, that are those that make it to top grade are a very small multitude, out of all the ppl who play league, whether it is at Reserve Grade, Jim Beam Cup, Park Footy, Bush Footy, you name it. Out of the very few who make it to the top, the average tenure is only 5 seasons. Very few players get to 10 seasons, and even fewer players (aka like stars that light years away in the galaxy) make it to 15 (the only three going around that are at this stage are Ruben Wiki, Steven Menzies and Steve Price).

Its funny about the coaches as well. How can they expect players to be loyal to the club, when they themselves aren't loyal? Just take a look at Neil Henry at Canberra. One minute, he's saying, "Oh, there's nothing wrong. I'll still be coaching the club next year and honor the last year of my contract that I signed", and then a week later, "It has been announced that Neil Henry has obtained an early release to coach Nth QLD" and I'm like thinking to myself, "What the heck is this all about? We've already seen one Judas (Clint Newton aka last year) in action, and here we go now seeing the coaches in action"
 
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Once the $ sign came into League, we were going to be just like all those other American sports and EPL (although, they are grosssssly overpaid, not even worth a fraction of what they get). As much as I don't like this, this is the way that professional sport is in the 21st century. Back 15+ yrs ago, when the game was semi-professional to amateur level, 99% of players all had fulltime jobs whilst they were playing Rugby League, wages weren't as high back then, so obviously, there wasn't the situation which we have today, where a whole smorgasbord of players go from one club to another like fleas.

However, if you have signed a contract, thats a different story. A contract is a LEGAL document, that gives both parties protection and legal rights from any shoddy possibilities from either party. In the Sonny Bill situation, I think he should just leave the NRL. He's caused enough raccas over the way he has acted in the last 12-18 months. I hear all this crap from the Footy Show last night over paying players their worth etc. If you wanna go somewhere else and think you'll be the next Michael Jordan, then GO! But, the problem is that he signed a contract ($2 million over 5 years). YOU SIGN A CONTRACT, YOU HONOUR IT! That's where I do get beefed. In other words, if you put your signature on paper, you are agreeing to all the conditions and terms which are listend on it, just like it is with any other contract, whether it is a rental agreement, insurance policy agreement or whatever.

But, on his issue with money: RUGBY LEAGUE players get paid VERY WELL for what they do. Sure enough, the only other ppl who get overpaid are the American Sports and Soccer ppl in Europe, but $400,000/year (in Sonny Bill's case) is 9x more than what the average Australian earns in a year. They take getting this big money for granted. Well, here's a suggestion: Why don't you start working in a real job on an average wage, 5 days a week, 40-45 hrs/week, with only 4 weeks annual leave/year?? Then, it'll make you think very differently about the $400,000/year and you'll realise how lucky you were to earn that money just by tackling and running a ball (which is what most forwards do). This sentiments I'm expressing are also shared by former legendary coach Jack Gibson. Now, I know Gibson coached the game when it wasn't fully professional, but when he wrote his last book a few years ago, he also said the same thing. The players at Parra had jobs, and also, it reflected in their strong work ethic and gratefulness towards playing League. But, when ppl start getting to a point where they can just urinate in public (aka Willie Mason), get drunk and are involved in shootings at Kings Cross at 4:30am, are involved in sexual assault cases etc etc., then there needs to be a question mark as to whether they are taking their privileges for granted.
 
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It's unfortunate that we let Bailey go, but I'm sure Smith knows what he is doing and I trust him.

Anyone want to email Smith?

BTW, can't Hilder play in the halves too?
 
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