@tiger_fanatic3 said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1449735) said:
Thompson wants out of the dogs and Tigers and Cowboys seem the only logical choice. Benefit for us is doesn't need to shift too far from where he is. Cowboys only a casual interest with no offer on the table.
It coincides with madge saying we need a top class prop. That can’t be a coincidence .
Thompson isn't a top class prop .....barely 1st grade standard
I actually agree with this . But I’m not In the majority , and whether he is that player or not , he carries the “marquee” player tag. We need to make stepping stones and I don’t think signing him , with my previous post about salary cap management , will hamper us in the future . But it could begin enough of a perception shift that enables us to buy that potential true marquee on a few years time .
Wait... We have done this before.
Perception shift. Not Marquee but looks Marquee. Oh so we can attract talent.
Terry Hill comes to mind.
Some say Josh Reynolds, I definitely say Moses Mbye* a 320k max player on 750k.
Chris McQueen for some bizarre reason we signed after a neck injury.... (market perception I think).
I don't think it works. We seem to attract Media attention rather then good players.
Yet I like Jason Tamou as a signing, I thought that was brilliant and he has only worked out Okay...
Signing we have two choices.
Leadership
Talent Potential.
We seem to go Talent Potential a lot in this club.
*you know, dud signing but a class bloke. Moses Mbye, best of luck with the Dragons.
What do you do though ? There’s never been less talent to go around . Is it because of bad development, a change in society towards rugby league , no investment in the right areas , or just simply nepotism , at key strategic points in a players development .
I have no idea , but no one in the last 2 years that’s come on the market not named Lattrell Mitchell , would have moved the needle at all, and most would have put us back a few years .
I’ve seen rebuilds in a variety of sports , and most look exactly like this , in actuality , way worse . They’re usually out the back of the league getting lapped by the next best team.
It’s not justification to acknowledge that development takes time . Ideally you want what the storm , panthers , Tampa bay rays , Oakland As , type perpetual development cycles , where when a guy gets too expensive , you can ship him off , because there’s 2 ready made kids who will do just as good a job as him, and sometimes better .
That’s the holy grail of franchise building . But its straight difficult to achieve .
The gws giants are building something similar , which is in stark contrast to the suns , who made a me of thier original build .
This is extremely key , if you’re a team with lower finances / status , or infrastructure ( storm) .
Lets stop thinking so short term.
Each year, whatever happens a player will get punted and others will get hired.
Where is our development. Where is our Grit? When our bright young forward Melbourne storm great doing extra's after a game and goes "oh that's what I should be doing" you know were missing something.
Long term we need a culture of development and we need to foster that. There will always be a Latrell or a Ponga floating around. We need to get the club and development right and start building now, but with a view too 3 + years in the future.
Ive literally been saying the exact same thing . The issue , once again , because of the selfishness and self interest of anyone who’s ever held any modicum of power in footy , things like the draft , and talent dispersion were put in the “well it’s not my fault you’re crap at development , why should I be punished “
Totally taking for granted that due to the changes in society , and the natural migration of people, geography is 90% of having a talented junior base . And just because you have it today , is no guarantee you’ll have it tomorrow .
**South’s will experience this , if they haven’t already , the gentrification of thier catchment , will lead to less kids wanting to play/ parents letting them .**
So with all that said and done , for the future of the game , the talent needs to be dispersed , through a draft .
That’s obviously not every player , and if it’s a 2 round draft , or 3 round draft , that’s with the introduction of a 17th team , 51 players .
There’s way more than that every year coming out .
This whole argument about making kids go where they don’t need to us crap . The egos will push them to want to go first , and if not , you pick a player who does , or trade down to a position to get the player who does want to come , plus a whole bunch more .
Also it will generate buzz , capture the zeitgeist, and control the sporting landscape for 10 out of 12 months a year .
You add a free agency period either side of it , and now you’re cooking with gas .
It works . It just does .
But we are too short sighted to see it .
