What's going on with recruitment and retention in recent years?

[SamKerrSimp]

We're allegedly releasing Dominic Young 18 months in to a 4 year deal, we've had Brandon Smith sign a 2 year deal elsewhere passing on a player option in his favour, 12 months ago we signed David Fifita who thankfully reneged on the deal and fast forward to today he's been dropped from the Titans and allegedly being shopped around.

We had Angus Crichton on the outer last year starting in reserve grade and playing off the bench for a few weeks until David Fifita reneged on his deal with us then we re-signed him and then cut loose Sitili Tupouniua who was 6 months in to a 3 year extension 4 year deal in total then obviously we had the Terrell May situation that we don't need to go in further.

What's going on with the recruitment and retention? Who is making all these decisions? Something seems very disjointed that we are signing guys not suited to the way the coach plays, that we can re-sign blokes and get rid of them 6 months later and punt others not even half way through their contract. Something is very wrong in this area of the club.

[dice]

It will make more sense when we win the premiership next year.

If you pick any position, it is clear that we have stacked the talent, kept the ones who can win us a premiership, and cutting our losses with those that can't.

Just adding with the amount of salary cap we freed up this year it was a once in a generation opportunity to do it this way before the keepers demanded top dollar.

[Mickie Lane]

We're allegedly releasing Dominic Young 18 months in to a 4 year deal, we've had Brandon Smith sign a 2 year deal elsewhere passing on a player option in his favour, 12 months ago we signed David Fifita who thankfully reneged on the deal and fast forward to today he's been dropped from the Titans and allegedly being shopped around.

We had Angus Crichton on the outer last year starting in reserve grade and playing off the bench for a few weeks until David Fifita reneged on his deal with us then we re-signed him and then cut loose Sitili Tupouniua who was 6 months in to a 3 year extension 4 year deal in total then obviously we had the Terrell May situation that we don't need to go in further.

What's going on with the recruitment and retention? Who is making all these decisions? Something seems very disjointed that we are signing guys not suited to the way the coach plays, that we can re-sign blokes and get rid of them 6 months later and punt others not even half way through their contract. Something is very wrong in this area of the club.

Nick, Robbo & recruitment, its not hard to work out.
Its the modern day way the game is.

[Kentucky_Fried_Rooster]

I’m a little concerned about it.
Players we are chasing might start having second thoughts about signing with us.
Keep cutting players who don’t work out will have players thinking what if I sign with Easts and in 12 months time they tell me I’m not wanted, maybe I’m better off elsewhere.

[mightyrooster]

The dogs have been doing exactly the same. I think we are planning to upgrade a few contracts with some of our young talent now in the spotlight and likely to attract interest from other clubs.

[Bates]

4 Questions that come to mind when I'm thinking recruitment and retention.

1. Was last seasons squad good enough to win the comp if we were at full strength? No
2. Did we hold onto 1 or more players from last seasons squad for too long? Yes
3. If we can agree that this year is the start of our rebuild. Is the majority of the 30 man squad good enough to eventually win a comp. Yes
4. Should there be less rookies and more experienced players in our best 17? No

[Inflictor]

We're allegedly releasing Dominic Young 18 months in to a 4 year deal, we've had Brandon Smith sign a 2 year deal elsewhere passing on a player option in his favour, 12 months ago we signed David Fifita who thankfully reneged on the deal and fast forward to today he's been dropped from the Titans and allegedly being shopped around.

We had Angus Crichton on the outer last year starting in reserve grade and playing off the bench for a few weeks until David Fifita reneged on his deal with us then we re-signed him and then cut loose Sitili Tupouniua who was 6 months in to a 3 year extension 4 year deal in total then obviously we had the Terrell May situation that we don't need to go in further.

What's going on with the recruitment and retention? Who is making all these decisions? Something seems very disjointed that we are signing guys not suited to the way the coach plays, that we can re-sign blokes and get rid of them 6 months later and punt others not even half way through their contract. Something is very wrong in this area of the club.

Have you ever bought a stock that you obviously thought was a good investment at the time for it to start dropping then rather than keeping it and hoping it at least gets your money back you sell it because there is a better stock and you invest in that and it increases in price quickly? All of a sudden your portfolio looks so much better going forward.

Toia, Foketi, Marky, Hugo, Losalu, Wong, Whyte, Steep etc. have increased in price quickly this year. We bought a great stock in Robson. Dom and Cheese have dropped rapidly and we cut our losses and we spend that money on buying better stock. We also have some exciting ground floor opportunities coming through.

Now we have a mix blue chips to ground floor future blue chips. Our portfolio looks so much better.

Not concerned at all. I think players will look at the players we have going into the future and the long term success it will bring and would love to be part of it.

[QWERTY]

Now Sandon Smith apparently has been shipped around by his agent…what a full on 3 days for the club

[A Country Member]

Just listened to Savala’s manager talk about the impact of the potential DCE signing (1 year apparently) on Hugo’s career. He is contracted until 2026 and talked about the possibility of loaning him out for a year.

[Horry]

Just listened to Savala’s manager talk about the impact of the potential DCE signing (1 year apparently) on Hugo’s career. He is contracted until 2026 and talked about the possibility of loaning him out for a year.

Where did you hear this? Do you have a link. Would love to listen.

[morley101]

Maybe when Zammit left a few months ago he left a few issue’s behind and this is the reaction to rectifying these issues.

[A Country Member]

Where did you hear this? Do you have a link. Would love to listen.

There’s a podcast version too

[SamKerrSimp]

Nick, Robbo & recruitment, its not hard to work out.
Its the modern day way the game is.

So which one of Nick, Robbo and recruitment is making the decisions? I thought Nick and Robbo were the recruitment but apparently recruitment is additional to Nick and Robbo.

[MKCS]

Just listened to Savala’s manager talk about the impact of the potential DCE signing (1 year apparently) on Hugo’s career. He is contracted until 2026 and talked about the possibility of loaning him out for a year.

This is a smart solution and something that happens quite often in soccer. Hugo goes and plays a season either in the NRL or in the Super League, continues to develop and then returns round 1 2027 as a 24 year old about to enter his prime and is given the 6 jersey at the Roosters.

[SamKerrSimp]

I’m a little concerned about it.
Players we are chasing might start having second thoughts about signing with us.
Keep cutting players who don’t work out will have players thinking what if I sign with Easts and in 12 months time they tell me I’m not wanted, maybe I’m better off elsewhere.

This is a small concern for me too. The club built up a lot of good will across the league for the way they looked after players but in recent years we have been quick to discard players who have recently signed or re-signed with the club, I don't think that having increased fear of job security would be good across the playing group.