Players on contract will still cost us money, i'm not up for moving them along on unless they ask like AFB and we aren't left holding thin air for our coin. Paying contracts for a player at another club doesn't sit well with me.
We need a more suitable roster for todays 6-again touch footy style - we can carry Suli/Cust/Marty/Harper through their contracts without that being too detrimental imo (just need a couple of them to commit a bit better or improve attitude), let them adjust their play or earnt their keep.
To go, I chose:
Boyle
Parker
Foran
Croker
Siro
Jetski
Walker
Walker was hardest for me, on the back of being played out of position and acting as Mr Fixit - I don't believe he asked to be a 5/8th with Barrett or moved to FB this year, but did it anyway to help the team - and that versatility and selflessness is a quality I like.
One of the major factors has to be durability. Manly for too long have had this injury-prone team without the right fill-ins to plug the gaps - and there are some repeatedly injured players (Siro, Walker, Foran*, Croker, Suli, Parker's concussions, Jetski come to mind). Something about their technique, conditioning or rehab must play a part, and we simply need some durability - every game we drop players, whereas the Storm have virtually a full roster, the Titans only a couple out, the Panthers have gone last 2 games with no injuries etc.
*Foran wasn't exactly injured on our watch, but we all know he is held together with paddle-pop sticks and wood-glue
Kept Garrick on strength of recent couple of games, and Tuipulotu isn't ready yet in my mind, and could be a centre anyway. And the others imo either haven't had the opportunity, or have done nothing wrong.
Could have included Jorge as a release there too, but have a soft spot for the guy. He can be our 18th man who can just be set into exocet missile mode and pointed at the most deserving target (eg Greg Bird stomping Suli... "Jorge, you're on!"..if only it worked that way 😀 ) Else he likely should go as well...
