So what your saying is that you cant be in the top 25 players in a team if your only 19?? Why is that??? If Taylor had decided that Cherrington wasnt in his plans, then obviously Liddle was next in line. Id much rather him invest in Liddle at the start of the year then in Ballin. I didnt realise though that Ballin while in rehab and with limited training sessions with the first team had actually changed the whole culture of our club :crazy . The only ones defending Ballin are the guys who wont admit Ballin was nothing but a mindgame that JT tried to use on Farah to move him on.
So if Ballin is playing next year, and Farah is still here, Liddle is playing another year of reserve grade. Another masterstroke for our future. So Ballin and Farah retire at the end of next year, and Liddle takes over with no first grade experience, wow.
Hmm, not sure if you're more :question: or :brick: .
Liddle wasn't in our top 25 because he was our 4th or 5th choice hooker at the time. How many hookers do you expect the club to have in our top 25?
Cherrington was in JT's plans. Only over the course of the season has JT determined his preference for the future being Liddle Cherry but contracts were already in effect and couldn't be changed at that point, unless someone left. Which they haven't. It's black and white.
Next year we can only hope that farah leaves so we can sign/re-sign the players we need to, and have a balanced squad.
Okay Einstein, so Cherrington was in our Top 25 but after 2 rounds JT decided he wasnt. Ballin was in our Top 25 but wasnt able to play till Round 10, then went down again. My point is, which is pretty simple, read it slowwwlllly, is that we should have taken a punt on Liddle and he should have our 3rd in line hooker to begin with. Its bad roster management no matter which you spin it . :deadhorse:
Manaia was and still is in our top 25\. He was rightfully considered well ahead of Liddle at the start of the year as an older and more complete player. A combination of performance, defence and injury has meant that Liddle has now moved ahead of him. Liddle was still young and raw at the start of the season, and most judges still had Cherry down as our future long term hooker.
Why would Liddle want to sign a deal if another young player had already been earmarked as the long term future in his position? You can't predict these things and pushing Manaia aside at the start of the season would have been a crazy move.
Also while Ballin was injured when we signed him, he'd never had a serious injury before and was known as one of the fittest and most professional players in the comp. How does one predict that he'll have complications? You say just based on age? Rubbish.
Your whole argument is reactionary, and based on a series of events which were unforeseeable at the time. Good night.