Especially at our club , considering how multicultural it is . And always has been . My guess is he was referencing the Sheens love affair with woodsy and Groat over himself . Which was fair enough really , as Fifita was dynamic and powerful , but had a low motor , and gave a way a lot of penalties . The game was also still transitioning into Massive unit packs , and power game tactics , of which Sheens had been left behind re. That tactic .This is not the only thing ol mate was saying though … he said there was a racial element involved … every team has clicks…. Much more serious and frankly hard to believe if it’s based on race
Groat was the “prodigy” of the 3 , exposed to nrl too early , got smashed a few times , and never really recovered .
I find it ridiculous an islander would claim a team based in the shire would been more accepting of racial diversity than a team from out west . Sheens had his favourites . He always did . For better and worse . Look at Fitzhenry, , McDonnell , Groat etc. whilst he was good at finding diamonds in the rough , k think he felt himself too much , and his ego used to deny him the ability to see what was obvious to most … Fifita was better than all of them . Even his brother was worth the long term investment , much like Sione was at the moment. No one had the patience back then , and we paid for it ..