Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

I listened to Richo on SEN and a couple of things stood out.
After talking about withdrawing the offer he said something along the lines of "the coach has to get the players he wants".
I get the feeling Fulton is gonzo.
He also talked about having a talk to Benji and how Benji has to be in charge.
He didn't mention Scott Fulton at all.

I think people are looking into his comments far too much. Have no idea if Fulton stays or leaves but Richo has always said prior to us that the coach is incharge of the team he has to coach. As such he isn’t going to call out Fulton in the media same as he won’t call out Morris/Farah/Heighno etc for their roles.

Richo job is to make sure the structure to support the coach and each person is clear on their role in which they execute to the standards needed. He will no doubt meet key players involved within the process over the next few weeks and then get cracking in the new year on structure, process, governance etc
 
I think people are looking into his comments far too much. Have no idea if Fulton stays or leaves but Richo has always said prior to us that the coach is incharge of the team he has to coach. As such he isn’t going to call out Fulton in the media same as he won’t call out Morris/Farah/Heighno etc for their roles.

Richo job is to make sure the structure to support the coach and each person is clear on their role in which they execute to the standards needed. He will no doubt meet key players involved within the process over the next few weeks and then get cracking in the new year on structure, process, governance etc
You may be right, I may be overthinking.
It just seemed a very calculated comment. Richo wasn't asked about Blake, he volunteered the information and the comment about the coach needing to get the players he wants.
I t seems to be a very public slight of Fulton. Could it be designed to have Fulton fall on his sword?
 
Ricoh won’t have much say in regards to anything recruitment orientated - it has/will be a clear message that Benji has full control in regards to who comes in and out of the squad.

If Benji believes Luai/AFB fits the vision of what he’s trying to build then it’ll remain that way.

Fulton is also included in that as to my understanding they’ve both been able to move on from previous clashes - if that remains well we’ll find out.
"If that remains" I would suggest Richo will be making sure that Fulton has his C.V. updated - he'll need it.
 
I for one am glad we are not pursuing AFB, particularly for the money he is demanding. Can't recall the last time he set up multiple tries and forced drop outs in most games he played, the money he is asking for is playmaker, game breaking money. He is turning 30 and a prop, we don't need to be that desperate, let the dragons and doggies blow their cap on a prop on the wrong side of the age ledger.
 
Ricoh won’t have much say in regards to anything recruitment orientated - it has/will be a clear message that Benji has full control in regards to who comes in and out of the squad.

If Benji believes Luai/AFB fits the vision of what he’s trying to build then it’ll remain that way.

Fulton is also included in that as to my understanding they’ve both been able to move on from previous clashes - if that remains well we’ll find out.
Why won’t he have say? He is the money man.
I can’t see any situation where Benji has full control that makes sense.
 
Shane Richardson on his immediate focus to help Benji Marshall: “Tighten up our recruitment, tighten up the way we do recruitment, tighten up leaks in the club and all the bullshit that goes with that, and just make things more like a real footy club”
I think the leaks will stop now that the Board has been scrapped. Apparently there were one or two with loose lips in that lot.
 
If the team has another poor season, it will be Benji who’s under fire before anyone else, therefore he should have the final say on all recruitment and retention decisions.
That’s asking for trouble.
If you let a young coach desperate to make his mark have the final say on recruitment and retention everyone would end up over paid. We’d be chasing the 5 best players in the comp and offering them the world.
Cap management would fall to pieces.
The coach should have the final say on what type of players he wants I.e. middles who play big minutes, fast halves, tall wingers, defensive centres etc…then we procure them following guidelines set by the administration.
Managing the cap is the domain of the business world and those budgets have to be looked after by the CEO.
Therefore the coach cannot have final say, the CEO does…as has been demonstrated by Richo pulling the AFB offer.
 
It seems some of us haven't listened to Shane Richardson's presser closely enough. While he did say juniors provide the base, he also said we need to have the cream. He described us having that cream with some exciting players (like Koroisau and Bula) but he seemed hungry for more. He stated it as not having "all our eggs in one basket" but alludes to having a balance between the cream and the base
 
If we've missed Luai so be it, i wouldn't have offered more than we reportedly offered. Nor would i have offered a 5th yr. So if he's gone to the dogs because of that good luck to him, we just go back to the original plan of backing the youth. Probably won't bare fruit for a while and there are no guarantee's i guess, our inability to land a big fish still concerns me but hopefully a new front office can change that landscape.
 
Luai has proved to be terrible at Origin level.
played excellent in his debut series when NSW beat QLD 76-6 across two games and he missed the last game NSW lost. The last two years in Origin, he has been better than Cleary. Scored a try in the 2022 decider. Was excellent in game 1 this year. Game 2 was mission impossible with Damien Cook next to him at centre and a new halves partner up in Brisbane down 1-0. Put down the series loss to Freddy picking Nicho at 14 which cost us game 1 big time
 
After reading about the dogs offer for Luai, it's safe to say that Gus will pursue anyone from the Panthers and tell the rest of the world he's not interested. Only issue is, will Gus be re-assembling his old troops only to realise that once they are out of the Panthers system, they may not be the players they once were. It may pay off but Dogs supporters should be very wary of Gus trying to replicate a system that may be abit dated by the time its in place. Just an old Panthers MKII team.
 

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