Players don't get 'thrown away' per se. There is this illusion that the club is impatient and makes poor retention decisions. That's not true at all. There is a salary cap to consider and ALL clubs have players that were once on their books, doing good things elsewhere. It's the nature of professional sport. And don't say they were signed and released early as some indicator that they were tossed out because the club thought they were no good; salary cap management is fluid and circumstances change. Players are often released early to (a) take a better opportunity somewhere else or (b) another player's stocks rise, requiring more cap space to retain or (c) another position has been identified as needing more depth, etc.
If Josh Schuster goes on to be successful somewhere else, it does not mean Manly made a mistake. It wasn't working at Manly at that particular time. Likewise, Gutherson. We let him go to use the money to sign Walker, who had some fantastic years at Manly in the centres, before an horrific ankle injury robbed him of his greatest asset; speed. He was still quick but never quite the same and eventually moved to the forwards. Would Gutherson have been as successful playing centre? Probably not. He is clearly a fullback and was never going to take Tom's spot. That he has been great for Parramatta, is not a Manly error, just a part of professional sport. Weekes would not be a better fullback than Tom, a better 5/8 than Brooks, a better centre than Koula or Garrick, a better winger than Saab or Talau. It was not a mistake to let him go, even if he ends up being fantastic. He was not going to make the starting side and he is too good to have in NSW Cup, so he left for an opportunity somewhere else. No one has made an error.