OFFICIAL Royce Hunt #298

mtd#2 said:
And where are they?

Benji was a rookie at the time and it was his first time at the rodeo.

Would you agree that the recruitment in the offseason was one of the best in the last 10 years?
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Doesn't matter how good the recruitment is
- If the results don't reflect it.

Even if the recruitment is stellar, There are still plenty of mistakes made amongst it.
There's half a dozen names in the top 30 that shouldn't be there -
and we're paying players to play at other clubs that would have positively effected results this year.
 
Players and managers are attracted to clubs that have a history of being professionally run -every coach that has taken this on has sufferef the same fate. The roster problems are a club problem not a coach problem they - "collectively" - are victims of it.
If anything - Benji as an individual - has been more successful at attracting more quality than we have in years but the rot that exists in relation to the management and failure of this club is the biggest factor in players steering clear and juniors seeking opportunity elsewhere.
You don't shit on your own and expect that will attract players to come here when everyone knows that Benji is not and never was the problem.
 
mtd#2 said:
And where are they?

Benji was a rookie at the time and it was his first time at the rodeo.

Would you agree that the recruitment in the offseason was one of the best in the last 10 years?
Click to expand...
Yes and no.
We lost Stef, Papa, Bateman, Klemmer, Sezer, Simpkin, Sullivan and Tupou.
We gained Luai, May, Turuva, Bird, Skelton and Hunt.
 
Tucker said:
You don’t know what you are talking about.
This is Benjis roster. He has had final say on recruitment since 22.
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Well according to Sheens and no one has really disputed it since.

Even more recently Richo has said that the only people who know about current recruitment are he and Benji, the board doesn't even know until they tell them and he made a point that he was being serious and not joking when he was saying that.

Probably not exactly what he said but probably close enough to the general idea he was trying to convey to the listeners of that particular podcast.

I should also point out that he also said there were 2 or 3 outside signings to be announced about 2 or 3 weeks ago, but as he has said in the past, sometimes things fall over at the final hurdle, so make of it all what you will.

In any case I still have faith that Richo will make improvements in this roster, and you would have to think that this should be inevitable especially when you consider how much dead wood is coming off contract at the end of this season, the only things making this a more difficult task is expansion and perception players and player managers have of this club and the direction it is heading in.
 
mtd#2 said:
And where are they?

Benji was a rookie at the time and it was his first time at the rodeo.

Would you agree that the recruitment in the offseason was one of the best in the last 10 years?
Click to expand...
It remains to be seen.
I think on paper Api, Papallii, Klemmer, Bateman and Staines was a better recruitment drive. Especially when you also factor in the outgoings as well. Unfortunately, we didn't turn that recruitment into results for multiple reasons.
Let's wait and see if Luai, May, Hunt, Turuva, Skelton and Bird can achieve anything.
 
Harvey said:
Our owners, complete lack of governance and accountability & what seems like a need to play everything out through the media
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Didn’t they just change the governance ? The owners won’t be changing any time soon….. the media is beyond anyone at the clubs control, and Richo seems to ignore it in the main
 
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Tom Shines said:
What are the real problems and how should they be dealt with ? If Richo can’t turn this club around, then who can ?
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Said it in another thread but the club is currently being hamstrung by owners who care more about upgrades to Lidcombe Oval & keeping our NSW Cup side named the Magpies more than the success of WT's. You look at clubs like the Roosters, Bulldogs, Brisbane etc & the amount of staff & resources they have compared to what we have is mind blowing. They have whole teams of scouting & recruitment managers meanwhile all we have is Richo & Gallant. The amount of staff that's available to take to away games due to finances that other clubs have compared to WT's again mind-blowing. Remember when we couldn't take Jackson Hastings on an away trip (he was suspended) because it was too much of a financial burden? Think about why other clubs on away trips spend days in advance in the other city compared to WT's only travelling the day before & think why that is.

Why is it that Ivan Cleary said in his Autobiography that he was thinking of leaving WT's anyway because he felt the club wasn't unified from top to bottom? Same goes for Madge speaking on Matty Johns podcast said "that club could be anything but they need to be aligned from the front office to the playing group."
 
WesternSuburbsBoy said:
The amount of staff that's available to take to away games due to finances that other clubs have compared to WT's again mind-blowing. Remember when we couldn't take Jackson Hastings on an away trip (he was suspended) because it was too much of a financial burden? Think about why other clubs on away trips spend days in advance in the other city compared to WT's only travelling the day before & think why that is.
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Remember that time when he bought his own ticket to go to the away game (Think it was him)
Thinking at the time, The Storm box always has key players at away games when they're out.
Harry, Munster, Paps...
 
Tom Shines said:
What are the real problems and how should they be dealt with ? If Richo can’t turn this club around, then who can ?
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Look I do think our club should defy history and allow Benji (under the guidance of Richo) to coach at least until the end of next season.

If things continue to go south this season, they need to adjust the support structure around him whether it's assistant coaches or strength & conditioning or both.

They'll be able to recruit in more players they want and suit the culture/style for next year as well.

I think our real problems at the moment lie in ...

1 Money to invest in our player & coach development from U16s to NSW Cup that sits outside the soft cap. Obviously no more is coming from HBG, so Richo needs to secure external $$$ for this whether corporate or philanthrophy.

2 Effectiveness of the support system for Benji as mentioned above. For example, we continue to lose the ruck and wrestle every week (blind freddy can see this) so surely something has to be done with our wrestling coach and S&C staff. Either personnel change or what they coach/train needs to change.
 
WesternSuburbsBoy said:
Said it in another thread but the club is currently being hamstrung by owners who care more about upgrades to Lidcombe Oval & keeping our NSW Cup side named the Magpies more than the success of WT's. You look at clubs like the Roosters, Bulldogs, Brisbane etc & the amount of staff & resources they have compared to what we have is mind blowing. They have whole teams of scouting & recruitment managers meanwhile all we have is Richo & Gallant. The amount of staff that's available to take to away games due to finances that other clubs have compared to WT's again mind-blowing. Remember when we couldn't take Jackson Hastings on an away trip (he was suspended) because it was too much of a financial burden? Think about why other clubs on away trips spend days in advance in the other city compared to WT's only travelling the day before & think why that is.

Why is it that Ivan Cleary said in his Autobiography that he was thinking of leaving WT's anyway because he felt the club wasn't unified from top to bottom? Same goes for Madge.
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Plenty of sporting teams around the world have shitty owners …at least the WT owners have divested a lot of control and independents have been appointed to run the club which is pretty rare …it still worries me a little that a couple of loose cannons are still around on the HBG management …

The lack of resources …. What do you suggest here ? No good crying about what happens at some of the other clubs … it won’t change what happens here

They need better players to get better results ,,, those players that have some resolve and dig in when times are tough on the field …but those players don’t want to come here because they dont have the results …but the CEO and the team need to bring in someone but it’s lesser players in the main that are the only ones that come here , and around and around it goes …

I’m starting to be of the opinion that even if they have any future success, it will be like 2005 - more luck than good management and will be fleeting …
 
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Tom Shines said:
The lack of resources …. What do you suggest here ? No good crying about what happens at some of the other clubs … it won’t change what happens here
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Not crying about what happens at other clubs just pointing out the challenges that WT's face compared to other teams. We need a Politis or Laundy type to back the club financially.
 
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