We were once one of the glamour clubs of the nrl circa 2005 around November to 2012 around the same time .This happens to one of the best 18-year-old players in the NRL and he is at one of the moderately performed clubs. We did well to retain him but this is not the state of play in the NRL today. Something has gone wrong because he should be at one of the glamour clubs who win. A market correction has been attempted and while Richardson and Betsey did well, it is a hollow victory. I don't believe this is the end of the saga.
Whilst I tend to agree with you , at the very least the nrl has a vested interest to have the best players playing for the best teams , that doesn’t mean what is true today will be tomorrow .
Penrith during the same period and well into the teens were hardly a “destination” club.
Parramatta were the basket case of the nrl , despite a brief moment in the sun for Jarryd Hayne , and manly were the club built around local boys doing local things for thier local club .
South’s were still the ugly step child of the nrl , although Rusty had just come aboard , but everyone thought he was a lunatic to give up the pokies revenue .
And Gold Coast were thought to have a team that if the ball bounced the right way could push for a premiership .
Nearly none of that is remotely true 12 years later .
The nrl will shift its allegiances to whoever is the shiniest toy. We dropped the ball in the early teens , and have never recovered . It’s even more heinous when you realise we definitely had the cattle in place to have a succession plan .