Would I be correct in saying we lost the Large brothers, Goodfield,Walker, Fui, etc (along with Galvin, DaSilva) while Richo was weaving his magic
To be fair I think most of the circumstances predated Richo but you are right it did happen on his watch. I admire Shaun's goal to produce the best pathways system in the world - it is a lofty goal but we need to break down what pathways really means.
Pathways in more than a means to get your best juniors into the NRL. Any approach focussed on that will have some wins but more losses. I believe pathways is about talent identification, recruitment as required, identification of the pathway, retention and support of those that drop off - no matter at what point they drop off.
When we have a wholistic system and players feel supported, especially if they drop out of the system, like most will, then we can realistically become a destination club as we can hold the system up as the gold standard for player care. It will provide the point of difference between us and other clubs.
Unfortunatley, it all takes time but as long as WT are able to undertake a process of spiral development/continuous improvement we are on route to achieving this aspect of being a top 4 club. There is plenty more to work on - but $ are limited at present.
This is a two way street - it is not just HBG that needs to change. Shaun needs to turn WT around and change the us v them attitude into "we" and HBG need to get over their reluctance to spend $ on WT and live up to the consitutional mandate to support rugby league in the region.
When HBG are coming to WT and asking how much more can we give to make it happen and WT say, no we have the resources we need, use that for other community needs will we have finally reached a mature state.
Long answer, but I really think we are at the start of the journey and if we can get both sides of the coin to act in the best interests of WT we will finally be able to address our ability to attract, maintain and convert our pathways players into NRL stars.
