What wins these days...

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Loobs

Living in the demountable.
Is it a pair of million dollar halves, or is it cheaper halves and the money distributed elsewhere?

The last team to win with their halves being the highest paid players was probably us in 2008.

Bunnies last year, not on much. Rorters - Pearce is probably on a fair chunk but Maloney less so. SBW was their big spend. Melbourne no. Us in 2011 no. And so on.

We need strike forwards. Guys that can (as much as I hate this expression) "bend the line" and set a platform for our backs. From there average halves appear a lot better and anything is possible.

So Joke Lly and crew - time to go shopping and give us fans some good news. The only thing that can lift the team from this ****storm is signings. Give us hope that there is a plan here. Fans will not give two ****s where DCE and Foz are off to if there are more impressive names coming back. And they are out there, so get out the cheque book and start signing!
 
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Don't think it will be as easy as signing a couple of big name players (that's even if our recruitment team can even convince top tier players to leave their current sides) Over the past 12 months we have seen Gift, Choc, DCE and possibly Foran exit and have only signed a few average players. Our pack is the worst in the comp, we have a few aging super stars, and now have also lost our young gun halves pairing.

I totally agree it would be ideal to keep Foran and DCE and pay them only 800k max (which is what Manly offered not 1 million each), and then sign burgees or JWH or Tamou for 500k - but the reality these forwards will demand around 750k-850k on the open market too. Merrin just signed for 750k, Taumalolo received an offer for 1 million a season, etc

I suspect the same will happen to Souths and Dogs and Roosters over the next 2 years when their top players come onto the market. Manly have been very fortunate to keep such a good playing rooster over the past 8-10 years, but it is getting harder these days with the salary cap and Manly have not brought up many quality forwards through the ranks recently either which makes it harder.Just in a difficult phase right now and will take time to rebuild.

Hopefully our recruitment team and land a few key signings like we did with BK, and then Kite and killer. We need a forward leader! We look lost in the forwards now that we dont have choc and gift. Souths had Sam Burgees last year, Roosters had SBW in 2013 and we had gift when we won in 2011 (Clive Churchil) We need a forward leader, but who is out there that fits that discription?
 
Having good staff and training facilities helps. But In terms of a team you want a good 1,3,4,7,8,9,10 the rest can be cheap depth players.
 
We have to be successful in 2015 on the field to have any chance of attracting anyone.

That looks highly unlikely to me, it's looking like a 10th to 12th finish to me.
 
If history tells us anything (and we were once the greatest exponent of it) paying big money for players doesn't result in premierships.

Combination of developing young guys, identifying young talent, and buying in positions you are weak in is the answer.
 
Well position doesn't mean much. Look at the Sharks and Titans.

We have the benefit of location - has always been a big draw and will continue to be. The off field stuff needs to be sorted soon. We've lost two old warhorses which whatever - we've lost a bunch over the years. The halves hurt but more because of how they've gone about it but I couldn't justify the dollars (or terms) with needs elsewhere. We have re-signed virtually everyone else. JSL, Turbos, Hiku, Matai, Ballin looks like it will get done. It's bad but not as bad as the media is making out but we need some signings to turn the tide.

If they can get something done soon to start it we can move on.
 
I also think JK wants the rest of the old guys done by 17. Ballin will resign till then and maybe Stewart gets an extra year then it will be Hiku, Turbo, Gutho etc filling out the back line.
 
I also think JK wants the rest of the old guys done by 17. Ballin will resign till then and maybe Stewart gets an extra year then it will be Hiku, Turbo, Gutho etc filling out the back line.
Tom and jake are both already signed through to the end of next year
 
What wins is a team of big strong disciplined men with the most heart and a few guys who are good with the ball and finding gaps.

We've got one of the worlds greatest backlines in my opinion but we havent been winning for a while now. This is because the majority of our forwards are smaller than our backs and dont have half the urge or willingness to play as tough or disciplined.

If you can get a team where Ballin hands off to a giant with the passion to run like his size and repeat for 4 tackles, hell, i could figure something out once we get to the business end of the field.

Tooves gimme a call.

On a serious note, what im trying to say is you dont need a 1.2M halfback and 1.25M 5/8 to win a game. Take their money, end the contracts of the guys who dont fit a power game and buy big forwards who run like they know their size. One current good half combined with an up-and-coming prospect with good kicking games will suffice.

The money we would have had to part with the keep our current two would have seen us out of the finals for years. Regardless of their skill. We'd have had the world greatest halves pairing and the rest of the team fringe reserve grade.
 
Our backs 1-5 are perfect and we have plenty of quality depth. We have the forwards capable of being a great bench but outside of hooker and Buhrer we need starters for our pack. Spend 500ish on the halves (Elgey and Hastings) then load up on forwards and off we go.
 
Team P W L PD Pts
3 3 0 48 6
4 3 1 28 6
3 2 1 10 6
4 2 2 39 4
3 2 1 28 4
3 2 1 15 4
3 2 1 14 4
2 1 1 13 4
2 1 1 6 4
3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
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