Big name signings and Manly

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Bomb Voyage

Reserve Grader
Hi all, I have a question that I am sure has been answered before, or that may be so obvious it does not need to be asked, but... looking at other clubs and their signing announcements over the last say, 5 years, most clubs (not all) will regularly announce noteable signings that shift the landscape of then entire club.

From what I've seen, Manly do not often nab 'big signings'. Now, is there a reason for this? Is it that our money is tied up in the likes of Chez, the Turbos etc? Is it that we had a cap restriction until recently? Is it that big name players have no interest in playing for Manly or living on the Northern Beaches?

Again, apologies if this is a stupid question but I would be keen to get the thoughts of Manly fans more in the know than I.

Thank you!
Bomb Voyage
 
Good question. So true, we haven't had a big name signing in years.
Picked up Garrick and Waddell from Reserve Grade, Suli from the gutter...
I guess Thommo was our last NRL-quality signing.
I'm frustrated that we all have been led to believe we are cultivating our future yet Des won't give them a go.
If the 17 he's picked to play Illawarra are our best then we are in real trouble.
 
We have re-signed a lot of big name players though - Turbos, marty, walker, AFB, siro etc and re-signed some promising juniors. I dare say in the next couple of years with a few journey men being moved on, re-signing some low cost players and hopefully getting a lot out of our promising juniors we'll have some money to spend. Would love to throw some cash at Fifita from the broncos. What a player he would be in the back row
 
There are other reasons, as we played below the cap a couple of seasons for an apparent infringement...while other teams seemed to go unpunished...I could add no financial relief when players like Matai, Snake were halted by career ending injuries and no compensation, while other teams were...it's affectionately known as - a Double standard.
DCE and the Turbo bros are on big coin, but not really much more than other teams Top 3 players which has always had me very curious, as to how they continue to sign quality players and even manage them when it appears they have a Full salary cap ??
The usual call is - "well they just lost this bloke or...this guy just retired", yet we are in the same position and it appears often these other teams don't need to upgrade rookie contracts, even when they achieve representative honors ?
Very valid question, but I will say this - there are 2-3 potential Superstars in the Manly system atm basically wrapped in cotton wool, who I believe the heirarchy has much faith in and will give us better rewards than looking in other backyards for big names and be definately part of the 17 by 2021/2022....really at Full strength with these rookies, feeling very confident about the future right now.
 
I think you are dead right on all counts. It doesn't really add up how some teams do it. What you said re: promising juniors is great, and I hope that is the case. But how good would it be if we could do both - foster home grown juniors and turn them into superstars AND get some nice signings every now and again? The dream.
 
Chez being on tenure for that kind of coin wasn't a wise decision in the long-term I fear.
Especially when he was going to sign for 800k or something similar im pretty sure. Then we withdrew the offer and tried to keep foran who already made up his mind he was going to leave.. then to get dce we threw the bank at him to match the tits. Since then the guys been classed as elite and he hasnt lived upto expectations consistently imo
 
1 million for a decent proven half back seems to be the standard these days..I think we will get another 2 good years from Chez after that we will all be wanting him to retire lol.
Isn’t he signed until like 2025 or something crazy?
 
Bah! What a dumb decision that was. The guys a machine and i love him no doubt but for that kind of money you'd think he would offload the ball and create some 2nd phase play. Way too much money but when you have dud clubs like parra throwing ridiculous money at the players i can see why ...
The club was in a bind over this one, Tom was the jewel in the crown and to prevent a club like the Dogs or the Dragons ,who were willing to throw everything at both Tom and Jake, we had to pay Jake a lot closer to Tom than he should really be
 
1 million for a decent proven half back seems to be the standard these days..I think we will get another 2 good years from Chez after that we will all be wanting him to retire lol.
Agree in a decent proven halfback that can’t put a cross field kick & a kick in goal to get a repeated set.
 

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