I must admit like many of you I have wondered these last two years what the plan was, you know the one , the forward plan.
I was confused as any of you!!!
BUT, I can see it now slowly coming together.
Bozo knows full well that 2018 sees literally hundreds of players on the market with very few signed ( no doubt due to the unknown cap factor), AND he's prepared to wait, and wait 2 years if he has to ( remember this all started at the end of 2015).
So in 2015 we shed a bunch of players and gain Marty, Dylan , Myles and Brown as first graders with experience , adding livewires API and Matty to fight it out for the 9 position.
This was stage 1.
Let's not rehash 2016 as that's been done to death , but most of the above have been good to fair ( even Brown who if played in his preferred position probably isn't too bad ) ,with the exception of Myles who ( on field ) has been a dud. How and what they do with Myles over the next two years will be important and you can bet the pressure will be on him big time, I would not be surprised to see him gone in 2017 if this continues.
So then at the end of the 2016 season we release another number of plodders , journeymen and also rans and pick up what we do desperately need , a 5/8, PLUS due to cap issues a number of " players with potential " and some with a bit to prove, all for not huge dollars.
That's stage 2
Bozo knows he's gotta pay for the two retiring legends for the 2017 year but also knows he won't get a game out of them, so they have to be happy with their 5/8 and whomever can fill a spot for the dollars.
When you think about it, pretty smart recruiting considering the constraints.
He knows he can build a team around the Turbo's and Cherry, and now he has a pretty good 5/8 so it's all about who steps up into the 9 position now, ( and how they go might determine our 2017 position), but he knows he needs quality 1/6/7/9 to reach a GF, and don't worry if none of Api, Matt or even Brown step up into 9 he'll buy one for 2018.
During 2017 some players , like Kelly, and perhaps Locke, and now perhaps Kennedy have an opportunity to shine , if they do they'll be here in 2018, if they don't , Blacktown for a year and then **** off!!
All not on big dollars , unless they explode out of the blocks and take the opportunity, it's in their hands.
Then King Bonza sets himself for a big raid on the available talent , a strike centre and a test quality forward , and if the 9's don't work, a quality hooker as well, assisted by the end of the legends payments and budget buys and he knows he'll be able to afford the best of the best.
Like that old song, I can see clearly now ( the rain has gone), yes I can see where we are headed.
All along we have been thinking WTF, but all along there was indeed a plan , we just didn't know it.