I'll be gobsmacked if Tedesco stays, 100/1 shot. They've had plenty of time to make up their mind, even Cleary has been here for >3 weeks now, if that was the thing they wanted to suss out.
Is THAT even a thing, though?
Who knows what the thing is, right?
It's not about money apparently, we have that covered.
It's not about loyalty or junior football or family ties to the region or being a hero of the region, we have that covered too.
It might have been about Jason Taylor, maybe Tedesco would have signed on if JT stayed. He had good things to say, we won't know if that was just lip service. But if Tedesco had concerns about the direction the Tigers were going and if we'd play regular finals football, surely when JT got axed Tigers would have talked to Tedesco and told him about their plan, to sign Cleary etc.
So Tedesco had not signed elsewhere (reportedly) when Cleary was signed and brought in, so he's had time to experience the new vision and coaching style. So obviously he doesn't rate Cleary, because if he had issues about stability and club direction, well you'd think he'd give the new guy a chance. But by all reports he's jumped ship within 1-2 weeks of that coach change.
Maybe he just always wanted to leave and it's taken this long to find clubs willing to pony up the kind of cash Tigers were offering.
We don't know anything about behind the scenes, but facts are Tigers are 2-1 since Cleary joined and 2/3 of our wins since he joined. The Parramatta game should have been won, it really should have been undefeated since Cleary joined. There's been a clear turn-around at the club, some key players have re-signed, Cleary presents well and is winning over the fans.
So if that isn't a positive turn-around, and honestly quite a rapid one, under the circumstances, then I don't know what is. Maybe it's become evident that for Tigers to sign the kinds of players to really turn the club culture around, we need the kind of money Tedesco and Woods absorb, and these new plans are only really possible with them moving on.
The interesting thing is that in an interview in the last 10 days Cleary made the comment, in response to a question about the offers made to Teddy and Woods, that "some people dont like changes". I found that a fascinating comment coming from a relative outsider. It suggests to me that even Cleary was surprised about how precious these young blokes are.
I got the feeling that Cleary was suggesting that Teddy and Woods didnt like the fact that the club pulled the offer from Moses. Its funny how players complain about the failures of the last 5 years but when the club makes the necessary changes to fix this, they also complain. It as if they think that somehow things can be magically fixed without any change.
