Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Surely recruitment involves a whole bunch of people - with the coach having a huge say.

Talent scouting on the other hand used to be largely ex players, fans, contacts etc out in the country. I can remember back in the early 1990s I even turned my hand to a bit of talent scouting. I remember trying my darnedest to get the Magpies to sign Mal Peckham. The kid was a genius. Little did I know at the time, Arthur Beetson who was at Cronulla then, was similarly keen. Apparently Artie had identified Peckham ahead of Dave Peachey but the young three quarter simply wasn’t interested in leaving Moree (he did later play one season with Redcliffe however). Many years on and after all the dust has settled - stories of the great Mal ‘Sunboy’ Peckham are still told far and wide in NSW country circles 👍
the Bulldogs 7 recruitment guys can make 7x more contacts than our 1 guy. Does it make sense now?
 
I'd hedge my bets I'd know about as much as most,
Having followed them for more than 30 years - Although not as closely the last 2-3.

FYI Jersey Flegg is mid table, And the Magpies are 9th out of 13 Teams, Both Top 5 Comps.
Matts and Ball didn't play finals in either System.
How far back you want to go?

You're definition of 'Really Strong' might need some Adjustment.
cup came dead last, last year & started this year 1/4. richo added external recruits bc he always says you need a strong cup team to have a strong FG side and they have turned that team around. they are at least a chance of finals which hasn’t happened in donkeys years. with the additions of jock & javon that team will be even more competitive

they sacked the flegg coaching staff in may and the team has improved off the back of that, with genuine talent that can’t crack into the cup squad and limited development deals on offer because other talented kids in our pathways have already snapped them up for next year. tino tavana is one of them

just looking at a ladder and saying our pathways are a mess isn’t a correct reflection of how the club is working to strengthen the squads
 
cup came dead last, last year & started this year 1/4. richo added external recruits bc he always says you need a strong cup team to have a strong FG side and they have turned that team around. they are at least a chance of finals which hasn’t happened in donkeys years. with the additions of jock & javon that team will be even more competitive

they sacked the flegg coaching staff in may and the team has improved off the back of that, with genuine talent that can’t crack into the cup squad and limited development deals on offer because other talented kids in our pathways have already snapped them up for next year. tino tavana is one of them

just looking at a ladder and saying our pathways are a mess isn’t a correct reflection of how the club is working to strengthen the squads

Hang on, You said it was 'Very Strong' atm (Which is Dogshit)

Now you're saying it's 'Better', Better Than what?
We have NRL players coming through our Pathways - Wow, Do any of the other clubs know?
Surely we're the only ones?

I get all the kids are playing up, I can see that
- But that doesn't mean the pathways are really strong - It means they're desperately out of whack.
And going off the results for as far as I can remember - That's how it's been.
 
But seriously I look at the Canterbury NRL squad and I don’t see where these forty five extra recruitment/talent scouts are making a huge difference. Outside the Penrith guys they are either local juniors or other teams offcuts.

It's all still fairly recent, Is Gus 3 years in or some?
How are their Matts, Ball and 20's doing (Serious Question)
 
Hang on, You said it was 'Very Strong' atm (Which is Dogshit)

Now you're saying it's 'Better', Better Than what?
We have NRL players coming through our Pathways - Wow, Do any of the other clubs know?
Surely we're the only ones?

I get all the kids are playing up, I can see that
- But that doesn't mean the pathways are really strong - It means they're desperately out of whack.
And going off the results for as far as I can remember - That's how it's been.
how are they out of whack? all that writing and you didn’t make one actual point there
 
It's all still fairly recent, Is Gus 3 years in or some?
How are their Matts, Ball and 20's doing (Serious Question)
Yeah granted they are strong in junior reps, but they’ve always been pretty strong down there. Wests have been fairly strong in recent years too. The Dogs junior reps pick off guys from other pathway systems - Conti, Cooper Toy, Cassius Tia etc. I would suggest you don’t need 45 guys to achieve this.

One Jamie Jones, or Peter O’Sullivan could do that job
 
But seriously I look at the Canterbury NRL squad and I don’t see where these forty five extra recruitment/talent scouts are making a huge difference. Outside the Penrith guys they are either local juniors or other teams offcuts.
Yeah fair enough mate. Seems like you and the owners of WT align in your assessment.

But seriously, seeing as we're being serious, their squad was put together over about 2 years. They are coming 2nd. Not many juniors are going to be good enough to crack that team right now, but Bailey Hayward is a junior. So is Kiraz. They also poach from other clubs. Jacob Preston for example. They don't necessarily have to come from within your system.

Their junior focus starts at 15/16 years old. It's going to take time to see them come through. Many of their juniors that don't make it also get poached by other clubs. It's not just us that loses juniors believe it or not. The mistake people make is looking at right now without delving into the detail.

If you have the time, this article gives a good summation about what they're doing and you can assess the long-term payoff yourself. But, I'm not going to try to convince you that 7 guys can simply watch way more junior football or make way more contacts to find the next talent than 1 guy.

 
What makes you so sure that we are not talking to forwards?,since Richo arrived the leaks have all but dried up and i have far more faith in his ability to get us the players we need than i have ever had since the JV started.
Iam just saying , that we don’t need half’s right now , but we really need forwards , yet what do they do sign TWO half’s , yes they might be looking ( and I have no doubt they are ) but it always seems that we get the mix all wrong
 
Iam just saying , that we don’t need half’s right now , but we really need forwards , yet what do they do sign TWO half’s , yes they might be looking ( and I have no doubt they are ) but it always seems that we get the mix all wrong

One half is apparently on a development deal next year ..I don’t think that prevents them signing a forward as well
 
Yeah granted they are strong in junior reps, but they’ve always been pretty strong down there. Wests have been fairly strong in recent years too. The Dogs junior reps pick off guys from other pathway systems - Conti, Cooper Toy, Cassius Tia etc. I would suggest you don’t need 45 guys to achieve this.

One Jamie Jones, or Peter O’Sullivan could do that job

I don't think you need 45 - But you certainly need more than one or two.
And to be well connected club with good communication.
I also feel you need more than the CEO and Head Coach overseeing it all.

I would suggest (And experience with it tells me) we don't have any of that.
 
Iam just saying , that we don’t need half’s right now , but we really need forwards , yet what do they do sign TWO half’s , yes they might be looking ( and I have no doubt they are ) but it always seems that we get the mix all wrong
large & galvin were back up halves to latu orignally in our squad and we didn’t replace them when they left. javon just replaces them in the depth line, doesn’t mean they aren’t still looking for first grade players.
 
At what other club (System),
Does an 18 year old Kid whos signed for 3+ years request a release before he even Debuts in NRL because he doesn't see a future at the Club?
That's on Development / Pathways - The only place he'd been before the Pre-Season.
Let's clarify what "not seeing a future at the club" means...

I am led to believe that it was all to do with who the tigers had signed and he saw them as threats... Therefore impacting his ability to play in the halves in the future... He also mentioned on an interview with Freddy and Joey a year or two ago that ppl in the club were talking about moving him into the backrow...

Then we add into the mix that influential figures in his life were telling him he is a half and he can get a start at another club - without a plan to move him to the backrow..
It really isn't as bad as it's made out to be .. Many young players "don't see a Future" because there are better players ahead of them... Or the club sees the players future a bit different to how they see it themselves..
 
Iam just saying , that we don’t need half’s right now , but we really need forwards , yet what do they do sign TWO half’s , yes they might be looking ( and I have no doubt they are ) but it always seems that we get the mix all wrong
We had Galvin, Luai, and Latu before. 3 halves.

Galvin left leaving us short on backup halves as they promoted Latu. Madden is signed so we are back at 3 halves. Javon Andrews will not play NRL and I don't think he is even on a top 30 deal, so it's not detracting from the cap or roster spots.

There is literally no one to play half if Latu or Luai went down if Doueihi doesn't sign on again. We don't even know if Doueihi will sign and even if he does, he only wants one year. We need a half that's played a few first grade games as cover.

Why is this controversial?
 

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