Thanks to whoever decided to Tell Austin he was no chance of first grade

@Telltails said:
Differentiating between 'opinion' and "fact'' clearly not a priority on this thread. A lot of pot stirring and not much else.
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And judging by some of the posts a lot of pot using.
 
I recall reading an article which suggested Austin had signed with the Raiders for 2016 and 2017 prior to being granted a release for 2015.
 
Jesus guys, the bloke is gone…

Do we need another thread every time he has a good game for Canberra? The club nailed it's colours to the mast last year, we knew it was a bad idea and we're validated.

Look to the future, stop lamenting the past.
 
Que sera, sera…

Having a sook about letting Austin go now doesn't change anything.

Given the way we're playing, Blake was no guarantee to replicate his form for us anyway, and the way this forum operates, we'd likely be saying that we should have shipped him off to Canberra...
 
Its been another good weekend for the Tigers old boys club, Koro close to the Storms best in a beaten team,Austen the Standout in his game by a country mile and Fifta picks up MOM on Sunday. You have to wonder really what is going on at Camp Concord. It is not bad luck we are running last!!!!!
 
@Cultured Bogan said:
Jesus guys, the bloke is gone…

Do we need another thread every time he has a good game for Canberra? The club nailed it's colours to the mast last year, we knew it was a bad idea and we're validated.

Look to the future, stop lamenting the past.
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I wonder if they are banging on about Austin on the Panthers fans site? Their local junior, targeted for big things, stuck in the lower grades…..... someone else got it wrong. I can hear the yeah buts already.
 
@goldcoast tiger said:
@Yossarian said:
Well there are a number of things going on.

1\. Do we hold a bloke to a minimum wage contract if he can get good coin elsewhere? Sure we could have some may argue we should have but would it have been the right thing?
2\. Austin is the dominant half down there. The half back does bugger all. For Austin to achieve that for us we're basically holding back Brooks being a dominant half. Okay maybe short term that works but long term is it the best?
3\. Of course there is the question of Moses and whether he's better off learning the job in the NRL or NSW Cup.
4\. He had a few games for us and we still got smashed. Just because he's doing well at Canberra is no guarantee he'd be doing the same for us.
5\. Like Fifita and others before him he's gone and probably not coming back. You think the Dogs still beat themselves up about Thurston? No they draw a line and worry about the next season.

As I said I don't think it was about money, just this clubs stupid decision to gift the 5/8 position to a rookie who was unproven in first grade. Regardless of whether he was the best player for the spot.
There is no reason that he wouldnt play as well at 5/8 for us as well. Last year he covered most positions well, and most agree was one of the better players.
I don't give a hoot whether he was the dominant half or not. I think that Brooks would learn more from playing with him than his his current 5/8Losing Fifita wasnt comparable to Austin.
Fifita was a Mug at that time and had his share of behavioural problems and was better off gone, Austin was an entirely different person and was the sort of person that we wanted( ( (. according to quite a few comments last year)
I realise that the ship has sailed, but it is just one more dyslexic decision that this club makes on a regular basis. This one we may regret a lot more over the next couple of years. While there should be consequences for non performance on the field, so too, there should be consequences for non performances off the field as well.
But there's not.
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I was so disappointed that the club didn't do a lot more, to try and keep him here.
Blake was our shining light in 2014\. It doesn't surprise me one iota, that this young man is killing it in his prefered position.
If only we could turn back time GCT. :ugeek:
 
@Tigermama said:
@goldcoast tiger said:
@Yossarian said:
Well there are a number of things going on.

1\. Do we hold a bloke to a minimum wage contract if he can get good coin elsewhere? Sure we could have some may argue we should have but would it have been the right thing?
2\. Austin is the dominant half down there. The half back does bugger all. For Austin to achieve that for us we're basically holding back Brooks being a dominant half. Okay maybe short term that works but long term is it the best?
3\. Of course there is the question of Moses and whether he's better off learning the job in the NRL or NSW Cup.
4\. He had a few games for us and we still got smashed. Just because he's doing well at Canberra is no guarantee he'd be doing the same for us.
5\. Like Fifita and others before him he's gone and probably not coming back. You think the Dogs still beat themselves up about Thurston? No they draw a line and worry about the next season.

As I said I don't think it was about money, just this clubs stupid decision to gift the 5/8 position to a rookie who was unproven in first grade. Regardless of whether he was the best player for the spot.
There is no reason that he wouldnt play as well at 5/8 for us as well. Last year he covered most positions well, and most agree was one of the better players.
I don't give a hoot whether he was the dominant half or not. I think that Brooks would learn more from playing with him than his his current 5/8Losing Fifita wasnt comparable to Austin.
Fifita was a Mug at that time and had his share of behavioural problems and was better off gone, Austin was an entirely different person and was the sort of person that we wanted( ( (. according to quite a few comments last year)
I realise that the ship has sailed, but it is just one more dyslexic decision that this club makes on a regular basis. This one we may regret a lot more over the next couple of years. While there should be consequences for non performance on the field, so too, there should be consequences for non performances off the field as well.
But there's not.

I was so disappointed that the club didn't do a lot more, to try and keep him here.
Blake was our shining light in 2014\. It doesn't surprise me one iota, that this young man is killing it in his prefered position.
If only we could turn back time GCT. :ugeek:
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Is that you Cher…"if I could turn back time"...all those gorgeous sailors...aaahh...Tigermama stop dreaming again and get back on topic...wish you could come to the get together,it would be fun,however Nans birthday is so much more important as is all family...have a great time and wish Nan a happy birthday from ALL of us...
 
It's no good going back over ploughed ground,what's done is done,I wish Blake the very best in his career,he is a champion and has to look after himself….
We just have to try to ride the storm until we get some cash to recruit...then look out...
 
@Tigermama said:
@Geo. said:
I thank the Dogs they didn't see a spot for Taupau,,,,cause I love him…

I love him too Geo! :stuck_out_tongue:
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I wonder if Marty feels all this love bestowed on him….he's such a darling..."love will keep us together" ....that was a great song years ago....
 
@foreveratiger said:
I usually agree on all your posts but not this one.

Ferrari's in what? Holden Cup :laughing:. The board signed Brooks and Moses long term so which ever Coach answered that they will be using the Brooks and Moses combination got the job IMO.

Austin on the bench for 2015? Why does it have to be that way? Austin was the form 5/8th in 2014, it's up to Moses to play himself into form during pre Season . Austin proved his worth last year.
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Well think of it another way.

Presuming you got what you wanted, that we kept Austin for 2015 and he is our best half. Where does that leave Moses? You say he has to play into form, but how does he do that behind another player, either being on the bench or playing out of position. And who is to say that Moses wasn't already playing himself into form at the end of 2014? Sure he was a bit on the skinny side, but he was 30 first grade games and 4 years behind Austin in experience.

And what would we have done with Austin at the end of 2015? His salary would have been up for a substantial increase, one we probably could not have afforded. You cannot stockpile good players that only cover one position, the salary cap does not permit it. Instead, you have to choose who you think is best return on investment, for what your club needs. In 2014 Austin had played some good games for us, plus 16 games in 3 years for Penrith. At the same time, Moses had also played some decent footy and was already signed for 3 more seasons.

There is no argument that Austin is playing good footy right now. There is PLENTY of argument about whether that good footy is a result of the Canberra structure / culture, and whether or not Austin would have managed that same form with us had he stayed. There is also plenty of argument about whether Moses will be a good long-term 5/8 solution.

But in terms of salary cap management, I totally understand the decision the Tigers made. In fact I respect that they let Austin go to a superior offer, when we could easily have forced him to stay for low salary in 2015\. Considering we had resurrected his career, it was within our rights to force him to play out another year with us.

But what would that have achieved? Would we be in 1st, or even 8th place, if Austin had stayed? Totally unknown. What is known, is that if he stayed and played well, we'd be facing the same issue now that we faced in 2014 - that we have invested in juniors and we cannot hold onto an infinite number of players in one position.

Indeed I think it would have been worse this year, had Austin been playing well, the idea of not being able to offer Austin an acceptable contract because we had no money left. I can only imagine the uproar.

I echo the comments CB made - that you cannot second-guess every decision the club ever makes about recruitment and retention. Some are going to be good decisions, some are going to be unfortunate decisions, and all decisions are informed by substantially more information than supporters are ever privy to.

But if you are a football follower, and you haven't figured it out yet, you better get used to the fact that we cannot keep every player that shows some potential. Salary cap forces educated guesses to be made, and without the cap, Broncos would be signing up all the players anyway.

To go on and on and on and on about ex-Tigers doing well at other clubs, it is just like someone banging on about their ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend. He's gone people, decision has been made. Either we fire the recruitment people every time a decision comes unstuck, or you suck it up as part of the wider way the game operates.

Dogs let Thurston go to Cowboys. Saints let Tallis and Mundine go to Broncos. Saints let Fitzgibbon go to Easts. Easts have let RTS go to Warriors, as have Souths Isaac Luke. Perhaps Souths should not have let Koroisau leave to Penrith, but Cowboys should not have let Segeyaro go to Penrith either. But then Cowboys picked up Granville from Broncos, who might rue that if McCullogh's form wanes.

And speaking of Broncos, they really should not have signed Barba from Canterbury, such a waste of money to then release him to Sharks. Sharks, who let Chad Townsend go, only to sign him back a few years later. Sharks who signed Anthony Tupou on a huge contract and saw his form slide away unbearably. Sharks who signed "the next big thing" Karl Filiga, who only ever managed one first grade game. But at least they got Jackson Bird from Saints, who must be spewing because they lost him when they haven't a decent backup to Widdop, who Storm didn't want to lose in the first place. And Sharks also got Luke Lewis from Penrith, who was a rep player at the time, and Gordon as well, who is now off to Parra because they think Holmes is a better prospect, even though he's only a kid. Penrith also releasing Jennings to Easts, what were they thinking; or Saints letting the Morris twins go individually to Canterbury, crazy, whilst Canterbury don't want to keep the current NSW half because Mybe might be better. Etc. etc.

You can go around forever tossing up these "what if" scenarios about player movements.
 
@jirskyr said:
Dogs let Thurston go to Cowboys. Saints let Tallis and Mundine go to Broncos. Saints let Fitzgibbon go to Easts. Easts have let RTS go to Warriors, as have Souths Isaac Luke. Perhaps Souths should not have let Koroisau leave to Penrith, but Cowboys should not have let Segeyaro go to Penrith either. But then Cowboys picked up Granville from Broncos, who might rue that if McCullogh's form wanes.
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The big difference here is that most of those clubs are generally successful ones, unlike WT. I.e they make the finals more often than not.

Recruitment and retention is always going to be hit and miss at any club, but some are smarter than others and we are the dud of the class, just like many other key areas.
 
Gus Gould knows his Footy.
He said in commentary his club and many others would be lining for Moses should it not work out at the Tigers for him.

Also the same guy that let Austin go.

Gus knows Footy….
 
@hybrid_tiger said:
@jirskyr said:
Dogs let Thurston go to Cowboys. Saints let Tallis and Mundine go to Broncos. Saints let Fitzgibbon go to Easts. Easts have let RTS go to Warriors, as have Souths Isaac Luke. Perhaps Souths should not have let Koroisau leave to Penrith, but Cowboys should not have let Segeyaro go to Penrith either. But then Cowboys picked up Granville from Broncos, who might rue that if McCullogh's form wanes.

The big difference here is that most of those clubs are generally successful ones, unlike WT. I.e they make the finals more often than not.

Recruitment and retention is always going to be hit and miss at any club, but some are smarter than others and we are the dud of the class, just like many other key areas.
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Don't you think that's just a bit easy to say? I quoted several clubs off the top of my head, but you can put positive and negative recruitment stories forward for all clubs.

How does one qualify as a "successful club"? Current position on ladder? Total # premierships? Total # finals appearances? % all games won? % finals games won?

Or how do you measure "successful recruitment"?
 
@Thunderlips said:
When Moses turns into the superstar he's being groomed to be, all you Austin apologists be prepared to eat your words.
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Oh god, I hope so.
Moses the next Austin - when he's 25.
Praying.
 
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