Fulton’s West Syd plan success or failure ??

[conanu]

Although Bob Fultons master plan of recruiting young players from Western Sydney may have shown flashes of brilliance, has it really been a success if every time one of these young superstars makes first grade and strings a couple of decent games together their managers agitate for huge contract upgrades. We basically end up paying loads for players we helped develop so therefore any benefit we got from developing them is lost because we end up paying overs after being held to ransom by their management. Put this into the equation and then ask yourself has the Fultons Western Sydney masterplan really worked or are we in the same position financially if we had just signed the player after they debut for another club. Its nearly worse when we develop them because we feel more pressure to retain them after all our investment in their development.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

It’s a pass , just.

But, a lot of the issues we’ve had ( or are having ) are from these players.

50/50 at best

 

[Shoe1]

Although Bob Fultons master plan of recruiting young players from Western Sydney may have shown flashes of brilliance, has it really been a success if every time one of these young superstars makes first grade and strings a couple of decent games together their managers agitate for huge contract upgrades. We basically end up paying loads for players we helped develop so therefore any benefit we got from developing them is lost because we end up paying overs after being held to ransom by their management. Put this into the equation and then ask yourself has the Fultons Western Sydney masterplan really worked or are we in the same position financially if we had just signed the player after they debut for another club. Its nearly worse when we develop them because we feel more pressure to retain them after all our investment in their development.

It has paid some dividends, but manly has traditionally done better with a mix of locals, country boys and Queenslanders.

I think adding some western Sydney guys has been a good thing, but I’d keep the other channels open too.

 

[Frogz]

C - at best... We have achieved very little from this. The entire club is not performing very well at any level. It has also forced us booting out very promising players, to keep what we now have. Gutherson and Hynes come to mind. I look at Cronulla at the moment. Built up a team of no real champions, but with Hynes leading the way they are a real good footy side. We have backed these kids in from the west, that the Panthers reject. IMO. and its cost us salary cap space dearly. If Schuster is actually on $800k, its a total failure

 

[Tragic Eagle]

IMO The scheme suffers from two undermine factors;
1. Too many of the boys from the west are under the same player manager and money rules to players and family. New contracts means more commission for the manager. Now whilst that doesn’t affect the likes of Penrith we don’t have the vast junior talent they do.
2. There is too big a disconnect from the the Worker club and Manly. The number of good players reaching regular first grade from workers has been minimal.

I would like us broadening our horizons again. Like signing an English International and talent from the Queensland cup or the central coast.Sadly not much quality left in the bush.

 

[47MVEagle]

EDITED IN LIGHT OF FURTHER INFORMATION:

Looking at the players we’ve gained from it:

Manase Fainu - obviously nobody could have predicted what was to come, but the club letting Api go in favour of him & standing by him & his family for the duration of his court case (along with COVID delaying proceedings for 2 years) really hamstrung us in regards to the hooker position.

Haumole Olakau’atu - he’s the best (in regards to ability, application & consistency) we’ve had so far BUT WE ONLY GOT HIM BECAUSE HE USED TO ACCOMPANY HIS COUSIN MANASE TO TRAINING & THE COACH GAVE HIM A RUN.

Josh Schuster - obviously very talented but has injury & apparent discipline issues.

Jason Saab - still a work in progress but is another good one BUT WE GOT HIM FROM ST GEORGE

Sione Fainu - went to the Tigers before playing first grade.

Samuela Fainu - looks good so far

GCKT - looked promising in the trial games.

Latu Fainu - can’t comment as haven’t seen him play yet.

I don’t consider Paseka, Aloiai, Sipley or Keppie as having come from the pathways because we got them from Tigers, Warriors & Eels (juniors) respectively.

 

[Shoe1]

Someone told me that we got 3 great players from the west - Boyd, Dorahy and brown.

Of course I corrected them - they are all from nsw country!! Just passed through the magpies

 

[Budgie]

Complete failure.

And it was never going to work because of the different cultures.

The only way to go is have a Manly culture and gradually introduce people from all over into it, so that they can buy into an established culture.

We had our own culture which continued from the seventies all the way through to the sacking of Tooves. And then the most ridiculous decision ever brought half a squad in from an already established culture - too big a group to not hold on to their own culture and not even see what a Manly culture used to be.

Again, a club needs to have its own culture into which it introduces (maybe indoctrinates others), not the other way round.

 

[Nordburg]

Looking at the players we’ve gained from it:

Manase Fainu - obviously nobody could have predicted what was to come, but the club letting Api go in favour of him & standing by him & his family for the duration of his court case (along with COVID delaying proceedings for 2 years) really hamstrung us in regards to the hooker position.

Haumole Olakau’atu - he’s the best (in regards to ability, application & consistency) we’ve had so far.

Josh Schuster - obviously very talented but has injury & apparent discipline issues.

Jason Saab - still a work in progress but is another good one.

Sione Fainu - went to the Tigers before playing first grade.

Samuela Fainu - looks good so far

GCKT - looked promising in the trial games.

Latu Fainu - can’t comment as haven’t seen him play yet.

I don’t consider Paseka, Aloiai, Sipley or Keppie as having come from the pathways because we got them from Tigers, Warriors & Eels (juniors) respectively.

Saab was from the Dragons and Olakau’atu wasn’t “discovered” by Fulton,he was sitting in a car driving Manase to and from training

 

[47MVEagle]

Saab was from the Dragons

I know, but I consider him part of the pathways only because of his closeness to the the others - he was very close to Keith Titmuss & came across because they wanted to play together.

 

[cc eagle]

Saab was from the Dragons and Olakau’atu wasn’t “discovered” by Fulton,he was sitting in a car driving Manase to and from training

True, Ola just came for the drive and was watching when someone asked him to have a run, can't give that one to Scott

 

[Cameron]

We should have been focusing from the central coast to harbour bridge. Too late now the bears will be back in some form and our catchment area will be smaller. Time for the gronk who owns the joint to invents some of the profits in to an academy

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

Looking at the players we’ve gained from it:

Manase Fainu - obviously nobody could have predicted what was to come, but the club letting Api go in favour of him & standing by him & his family for the duration of his court case (along with COVID delaying proceedings for 2 years) really hamstrung us in regards to the hooker position.

Haumole Olakau’atu - he’s the best (in regards to ability, application & consistency) we’ve had so far.

Josh Schuster - obviously very talented but has injury & apparent discipline issues.

Jason Saab - still a work in progress but is another good one.

Sione Fainu - went to the Tigers before playing first grade.

Samuela Fainu - looks good so far

GCKT - looked promising in the trial games.

Latu Fainu - can’t comment as haven’t seen him play yet.

I don’t consider Paseka, Aloiai, Sipley or Keppie as having come from the pathways because we got them from Tigers, Warriors & Eels (juniors) respectively.

Saab came to us via the Dragons, albeit he was friendly beforehand with some of the ‘pathways people.’

 

[manly al]

Forgetting the laws of nature in terms of above average natural and playing ability and changing demographics , Pacifica players whether born in Australia or not now are very prevalent in virtually all N R L sides especially in Sydney , A large percentage based in the western Sydney region so really have to be the - In it to Win it situation - for Manly to get their fair or required share of talent or ability to be competitive . Now a 4 th team in QLD and the Storm still having a footprint in the state as well for accessing local prospects . Blacktown Workers no doubt being able to be responsible for paying all of their contracted players , then topped up with Manly top 30 personal . Not a lot admittedly of Workers based players transitioning to i st grade but still having a presence in the area , would have to be a plus . just don't get the problem of being able to integrate or accommodate players with different [ or marginally ] cultures or backgrounds , just so commonplace in all high profile OZ sport these days and for some time now .

 

[LeonardCohen]

C - at best... We have achieved very little from this. The entire club is not performing very well at any level. It has also forced us booting out very promising players, to keep what we now have. Gutherson and Hynes come to mind. I look at Cronulla at the moment. Built up a team of no real champions, but with Hynes leading the way they are a real good footy side. We have backed these kids in from the west, that the Panthers reject. IMO. and its cost us salary cap space dearly. If Schuster is actually on $800k, its a total failure

We don’t have any Panthers rejects in our FG squad. The majority are from Canterbury/Parramatta junior catchment. All the Fainu’s, Schuster, Saab, Fafita, Gordon CKT, Keppie and Paseka we’re students at Westfields Sports in Fairfield. Haumole went to school down the road at Ashcroft and is Fainu’s cousin. The rest of the squad are from all over the place; Garrick was Wollongong, Tui from NZ, Croker from Goulburn, etc.

The idea that we are pulling reject juniors from our Blacktown affiliation is untrue. In saying that, I agree that’s it is a -c. I’m not seeing a unified playing group with a connection to the club’s history and DNA. It’s just a strange roster that does not gel.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

There were always going to be challenges recruiting so many players of close knit islander heritage from the one (albeit broad) geographic location. One gets the sh-ts with the club, several other players potentially go out in sympathy. It’s already happened.

They want to stay close to their families and resist moving closer to the northern beaches. That was unusual back in Arko’s day. In turn they come under some baleful influences out west (which is apparently ‘the best’). It’s already played out on the Fainu front. Then there was ‘Rainbowgate’* and now we have ‘Sulkygate’ (who has shut down his offending Instagram page).

The bloke is a major handful. Imagine Bob Fulton sitting down with Arko c.1965, or Graham Eadie c.1970, and both suggesting ‘I will only sign with you if I get to play in my favourite position!’ Nor can I.

Good luck to whichever club tries to sort him out.

*Really the club’s fault. They did not have the ‘wit’ at f-ckwit (head shed) level to check with the players or coaching staff. Then they highjacked the ‘Women in League round’ for their own seemingly cynical ‘Look at us, aren’t we great!’ agenda.

 

[Wombat64]

Failure

 

[Shoe1]

Wish we could have kept sunshine coast as a channel.

 

[Nordburg]

There was always going to be trouble (or challenges) recruiting so many players of close knit islander heritage from the one (albeit broad) geographic location. One gets the sh-ts with the club, several other players potentially go out in sympathy. It’s already happened.

They want to stay close to their families and resist moving closer to the northern beaches. That was unusual back in Arko’s day. In turn they come under some baleful influences out west (which is apparently ‘the best’). It’s already played out on the Fainu front. Then there was ‘Rainbowgate’* and now we have ‘Sulkygate’ (who has shut down his offending Instagram page).

The bloke is a major handful. Imagine Bob Fulton sitting down with Arko c.1965, or Graham Eadie c.1970, and both suggesting ‘I will only sign with you if I get to play in my favourite position!’ Nor can I.

Good luck to whichever club tries to sort him out.

*Really the club’s fault. They did not have the ‘wit’ at f-ckwit (head shed) level to check with the players or coaching staff. Then they highjacked the ‘Women in League round’ for their own seemingly cynical ‘Look at us, aren’t we great!’ agenda.

A certain manager’s connection with a certain recently departed development manager is the crux of the problem

 

[Eagles4Life]

Epic failure, and its not over just yet.