NRL General Recruitment and Retention

Owey said:
Spencer Leniu becomes the latest high profile failure under Trent Robinson's tenure.
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I am so glad that you raised this in regards Robinson’s tenure at the Roosters.

I firmly believe that he is the most over-rated coach in the NRL. Take away the 2 premierships with Cronk as “Captain-Coach”, this leaves Robinson only winning 1 premiership in around 14 seasons. He coaches at a club that has unlimited resources off the field and being the glamour club with such high profile board members like Politis and Bouris, their ability to recruit is at a distinct advantage through TPA’s and careers in the media post career (Keary and JWH recent examples).

The players he has burned include Kyle Flanagan, Brandon Smith, Dominic Young and now Leniu, and you could most probably add Mitchell Pearce to this list. There are others that I have overlooked that you will be able to add to this list. I believe the recruitment of DCE, which meant the release of a young Sandon Smith, was a desperate move for instant success to take pressure off himself.

The very good coaches improve individual performances and that is a pre-requisite of being an NRL coach, not throwing the player under the bus before his contract expires if he doesn’t bring immediate success to the club.
 
PTB said:
I am so glad that you raised this in regards Robinson’s tenure at the Roosters.

I firmly believe that he is the most over-rated coach in the NRL. Take away the 2 premierships with Cronk as “Captain-Coach”, this leaves Robinson only winning 1 premiership in around 14 seasons. He coaches at a club that has unlimited resources off the field and being the glamour club with such high profile board members like Politis and Bouris, their ability to recruit is at a distinct advantage through TPA’s and careers in the media post career (Keary and JWH recent examples).

The players he has burned include Kyle Flanagan, Brandon Smith, Dominic Young and now Leniu, and you could most probably add Mitchell Pearce to this list. There are others that I have overlooked that you will be able to add to this list. I believe the recruitment of DCE, which meant the release of a young Sandon Smith, was a desperate move for instant success to take pressure off himself.

The very good coaches improve individual performances and that is a pre-requisite of being an NRL coach, not throwing the player under the bus before his contract expires if he doesn’t bring immediate success to the club.
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It is just so staggering to see some inner city club lists and ask yourself how is this happening?
I include the Roosters and particularly the South Sydney Rabbits team now, and going to next season? It just seems improbable, if not impossible, particularly now we are hearing rumours of Wilison from the Broncos possibly joining Souths in 2028.
After all, history has shown old Wayne is only a good coach of very good players. and an also ran with average players.
 
Interesting that Tommy Dearden is desperate to move to Sydney to be with his wife and new child. He's on an insane deal at the Cows, but there are a bunch of Sydney clubs he'd make a huge impact on, including the Dragons and the Tigers... of course, don't be surprised if he somehow ends up at the Roosters or the Dogs on an amazingly good deal (for the club).
 
Seano said:
Interesting that Tommy Dearden is desperate to move to Sydney to be with his wife and new child. He's on an insane deal at the Cows, but there are a bunch of Sydney clubs he'd make a huge impact on, including the Dragons and the Tigers... of course, don't be surprised if he somehow ends up at the Roosters or the Dogs on an amazingly good deal (for the club).
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I was just thinking Souths could well be interested in a decent half.
Haas almost immediately makes them a contender, but an improvement on Walker/Ward would be a huge step - not sure how much cap space they’d have.
Unless they are going all in on Sullivan.

Also, While I was looking at their 2027 roster, I came across the Soufs fan page and there were quite a few posts from a user called “Shauno”. Anything you wanna tell us @Seano ? Haha.
 
No, no alternate postings under the English version of my name *spits*. lol.

Agree, Souths would love Dearden, and he could be the player that gels them into contenders...but would they have the cash?

It's interesting too, with all this talk of indicative value started by Canberra in their fight over keeping Hudson Young from going to the Chiefs... what's Tommy's indicative value, given he's on 12% of the cap in FNQ but would likely be willing to take a cut to get to Sydney?

PS. I think Sullivan is a good player, and Souths will likely keep him as a backup/14, but IDK that he's a premiership starting 7...especially with Cody unsigned next year and Humphreys nearly signing with Perth. I'd guess they re-sign Cody and play him and Ward in the halves, with Bud Sullivan as backup/14 and Humphreys repurposed and competing to play hooker.

I think their spine looks a mess tbh.
 
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Macca89 said:
Sam Healey has been given permission to explore his options and has been told he’s not in the clubs plans. Find that surprising
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He seems to have issues with his defence. And his ball game, while sometimes brilliant, is also sometimes pretty poor. He's getting to the age where you'd want to see those types of error a lot more infrequently than what was seen this season. Webster is s freak coach, too, so not a great sign.
 
Macca89 said:
Sam Healey has been given permission to explore his options and has been told he’s not in the clubs plans. Find that surprising
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Wahs have a another young hooker who debuted this year in Makaia Tafua. Also have a few young guys waiting in the wings that played some NSW Cup this year. That will be why Healey is given permission to look elsewhere.
 
"The NRL has made a big decision that could change contract negotiations dramatically."

"The governing body will allow players and clubs to contest the market value given to the game’s biggest stars following the Hudson Young affair."

"The NSW forward was pursued by the PNG Chiefs in their bid to bulk up their pack ahead of their inaugural season in 2028."

"He toured the club facilities in Port Moresby and the club, who give tax-free contracts, wanted to offer him a $900,000 a year deal."

"But the deal couldn’t come to fruition because Young’s current club, the Canberra Raiders, offered the 28-year-old $1.1 million a season."

"It meant the Chiefs would have had to offer Young the same, which they weren’t prepared to do."

So because the Chiefs don't want to offer more or the same as what someone else does the NRL change the rules to allow them to offer less, just ridiculous the amount of leg ups they are getting.
 
R_A said:
So because the Chiefs don't want to offer more or the same as what someone else does the NRL change the rules to allow them to offer less, just ridiculous the amount of leg ups they are getting.
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I don't agree with the tax free money and 3rd party assistance PNG are allowed to offer recruits. However, I do agree a players market value should be able to be contested in some form of appeals process to make sure the amount lands at an acceptable figure.

The Hudson Young case is the perfect example of why it is necessary. There is NO way he should be valued as a $1.1 million a season player. Just because some loon at the Raiders think he is and offered as much does not make it true. If Hudson Young wanted to change clubs for family reasons or just a change of scenery, he should not have to find a deal worth at least $1.1 million to do so.
 
I agree on the player valuation stuff, but I don't really have a problem with the tax-free money for PNG.

It would be almost impossible to establish a franchise up there without it, and it will be quite a challenge to maintain when the tax-free deal expires. So they'll need to have done an extraordinary job while they have the cash to set up this franchise for long-term viability.

But IF they can make it work, it will be great for RL, PNG and Australia if it helps keep Chinese interests out of PNG.

PS. Even with the cash, players living in a compound?... I'm sure Jerome's a nice bloke, but all day, every day?.... Yeah, I don't see PNG ever being more than mid-table competitive.
 
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Seano said:
PS. Even with the cash, players living in a compound?... I'm sure Jerome's a nice bloke, but all day, every day?.... Yeah, I don't see PNG ever being more than mid-table competitive.
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This is the way I see it. Even with great players it will be very difficult for them to win the comp. How are they going to keep players and families happy and sane?
Some of the tribal punishment stuff you see over there outsides mining camps is very confronting and traumatic.

Of course clubs and fans will be upset about losing star players. Happy we haven't lost any to them yet.
 
BlackbuttOG said:
I don't agree with the tax free money and 3rd party assistance PNG are allowed to offer recruits. However, I do agree a players market value should be able to be contested in some form of appeals process to make sure the amount lands at an acceptable figure.
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If the Roosters had a cry in the same way, we'd all be raging.

Wait until we give someone early permission to negotiate (won't happen anytime soon), the forum will be raging lol
 
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