Balmainian
Well-known member
@ said:@ said:@ said:@ said:I for one wish we still had him, he and Chris Lawrence and Brooks are the last players to come through the grades at WT, ( stand corrected if I’ve missed someone) next year we will have a team made up of mainly mercenary Kiwis who are playing for the bucks, they would never consider having 2041 tattooed on their body, so I hope Ivan has a means of committing them to a team, mentally as well as physically
Well there is Sauaso Sue, Moses Suli, Jacob Liddle and Benji Marshall still from our junior base..
Then again the focus on junior development in the past few years whilst something to be proud of hasn't really translated to much on-field success…
The recruitment of mercenaries as you say is a step in a different direction for Wests Tigers..we have bought in more first grade experience than we ever have since early 2000's players from Clubs that have had success as well as representative players....IMO that can only be positive for the youth we have in our squad..
Nofo? Can't see him getting a 2041 tattoo though, maybe a 2560.
How could Nofoaluma slip my mind..I shall go stand in the naughty corner..
Point is though sole focus on Junior development hasn't led to much success..I think that 3/4 of our development players have come from other junior systems is also a change of direction..
We’ve been a club that’s big on holding on to juniors before giving the market a jersey, and I agree we haven’t had much success at all.
While it’s a loyal trait and one to admire, successful clubs besides Brisbane who have a monopoly on the Queensland system are not as loyal to their junior systems.
Maybe it’s worth a try to change the formula to see if results change.
When the sharks won 2 years ago there wasn’t many shire boys in that team.