Who's the best player we've ever poached?

[Bates]

Great call. Fulton is an immortal. Freddy will never be an immortal. Nor will Teddy, but he's closer than Freddy. Keary not even close.

Freddy and Teddy's careers are just as accomplished as Andrew Johns who is an immortal. They should definitely be in the conversation!

Cam Smith imo will be the next immortal.

[Duchess_of_Bondi]

I do, they're here on Friday arvo. I'll play the 9 hole afternoon comp, then head down. Local kids here are chomping at the bit in anticipation. What a great initiative it is from Freddy. Lots of people talk the talk about footy in the bush, but he actually does something. Good on you for spreading the word Duchess. We barely have a local paper here, it's all facebook now, thank god the Mrs is on that in my absence. Ricky Stuart was down here yesterday running a training session for the Bay Tigers squad.

I hope it all goes well down there BBR. My local home town back in Qld doesn't have a paper anymore either and I actually get all my NRL news through work as I don't like reading too much media. Freddy's been passionate to about doing this for many years now and he's kept it going for such a long time. He's very dedicated to this cause. I was only thinking of Ricky Stuart the other day as the work he does with his foundation is amazing from when it was first set up all those years ago too.

That's so good for the local children in your area and I hope the weather is kind to everyone also.

[Bansai Pipeline]

Freddy 100%

Kind of shocking people would suggest anyone else.

No Freddy, no club. We were on the brink of extinction. He made us relevant.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

Great call. Fulton is an immortal. Freddy will never be an immortal. Nor will Teddy, but he's closer than Freddy. Keary not even close.

Bugger your Immortal argument. Bozos contribution to Easts was furlongs behind the three greats you dumped on. Its not about 'guess an immortal' moreso what signing contributed most to our club. He was a legend player esp for Manly but thats not the point of the fred.

[Steakface]

Freddy. We've been a powerhouse since.

ROFL

Freddy, Robbo and Teddy have been our best acquisitions in the modern era.

But 'a powerhouse since' Freddy? Aside from the miracle of 2010, large stretches of 2005 - 2012 was very very depressing. It took Robbo to overhaul the lot and get things back on track.

I'd have it in this order, assuming we just count the past 30 years.

MOST INFLUENTIAL and BEST ACQUISITION RANKING - in order and definitive.


1. Freddy
2. Robbo (Coach)
3. Teddy
4. Cronk
5. SBW
6. Keary
7. Maloney
8. Gus Gould (Coach)


Freddy is an immortal level player. Every bit as good as Johns imo, just with a slightly different skillset.

I'd almost argue Robbo for top spot. Mainly because for the past 12 years, every single year we are thereabouts in the top 4 generally, or just outside. 3 prems. Several minor prems. Unbelievable record. It isn't appreciated enough as the average NRL fan has an entitlement complex and seems to demand perfection of some sort. The entire club changed for the better immeasurably once Robbo joined us. End of.

Gus (Gould) gets an honorable mention, as he laid the excellence platform and culture that inevitably led to our 2002-2004 run. Some credit to Murray and Sticky too there as well, but not at the apex.

As far as players go, more or less all our other iconic giants (JWH, Mini, Cords, Ricko, Friend, Latrell, Toops, RTS etc) came through our system

[Steakface]

To emphasise my point about Robbo - GPT coach ranking from start of Robbos tenure to now:

Craig Bellamy	~69–70%	5	6	Modern benchmark. Elite.
Ivan Cleary	~63–65%	4	3	4-peat dynasty. Elite.
Trent Robinson	~63–65%	3	4	3/3 in GFs. Elite.
Wayne Bennett	~62%	7	4	Greatest total career
Des Hasler	~56%	2	2	Strong Manly era
Tim Sheens	~56%	1	0	Earlier success, late return
Ricky Stuart	~50%	1	1	Long Raiders tenure
Shane Flanagan	~52%	1	0	Sharks 2016
Michael Maguire	~51%	1	0	Souths 2014
Anthony Griffin	~51–52%	0	0	Solid regular seasons, no GF
Geoff Toovey	~55%	0	0	Competitive Manly period
Brad Arthur	~52–53%	0	0	2022 GF loss
Kevin Walters	~53%	0	0	2023 GF loss
Craig Fitzgibbon	~60%*	0	0	Strong short tenure
Andrew Webster	~60%*	0	0	Warriors revival
Todd Payten	~49%	0	0	Cowboys ups & downs
Adam O’Brien	~46%	0	0	Knights inconsistency
Anthony Seibold	~45–50%	0	0	Mixed club results
Paul McGregor	~48%	0	0	2018 minor semi run peak
Trent Barrett	~35–40%	0	0	Low win % overall
Benji Marshall	~30%	0	0	Early rebuilding phase

[Bates]

Michael Jennings was nicely poached and for his 2013 try alone deserves a mention.

Maloney's thread the needle kick for Jenkos try was a thing of beauty.

Keary and Maloney both in the running for the most craftiest player of the modern era.

[Bates]

To emphasise my point about Robbo - GPT coach ranking from start of Robbos tenure to now:

Craig Bellamy	~69–70%	5	6	Modern benchmark. Elite.
Ivan Cleary	~63–65%	4	3	4-peat dynasty. Elite.
Trent Robinson	~63–65%	3	4	3/3 in GFs. Elite.
Wayne Bennett	~62%	7	4	Greatest total career
Des Hasler	~56%	2	2	Strong Manly era
Tim Sheens	~56%	1	0	Earlier success, late return
Ricky Stuart	~50%	1	1	Long Raiders tenure
Shane Flanagan	~52%	1	0	Sharks 2016
Michael Maguire	~51%	1	0	Souths 2014
Anthony Griffin	~51–52%	0	0	Solid regular seasons, no GF
Geoff Toovey	~55%	0	0	Competitive Manly period
Brad Arthur	~52–53%	0	0	2022 GF loss
Kevin Walters	~53%	0	0	2023 GF loss
Craig Fitzgibbon	~60%*	0	0	Strong short tenure
Andrew Webster	~60%*	0	0	Warriors revival
Todd Payten	~49%	0	0	Cowboys ups & downs
Adam O’Brien	~46%	0	0	Knights inconsistency
Anthony Seibold	~45–50%	0	0	Mixed club results
Paul McGregor	~48%	0	0	2018 minor semi run peak
Trent Barrett	~35–40%	0	0	Low win % overall
Benji Marshall	~30%	0	0	Early rebuilding phase

Comps are extremely hard to win and Robbo has achieved this 3 times which makes him one of the great modern day coaches.

However, the monkey on his back is winning a comp in the 6 again era imo.

He hasn't come close as the teams frailties have always been exposed during the final series.

6 again era punishes teams who constantly turn the ball over, miss tackles and give away silly penalties. His focus needs to here imo if we're a chance to win another comp in the near future!

I highly doubt that we can generate enough points to counter the above issues in this day and age.

[horrie hastings]

John Brass what a player he was. A complete footballer and Aubo the closest to matching him. Brass at times captained Easts prior Coote signing then Artie took over as captain. Brass was the epitome of sportsmanship.

Brass had a beautiful pair of hands and was such a great defender.

[horrie hastings]

Brad Fittler then Cooper Cronk.

[ccfc bondi]

Hate the word 'poached', which the media seems to use mostly about us. No-one comes here against their will.

Having said that, Brad Fittler was definitely not poached. He was left without a club after Penrith decided to take the Super League money, as he had an ARL contract. I would say that he and Artie Beetson have been out best signings.

Ron Coote as well, but he should have been a Rooster junior anyway, but how could I forget Teddy!

[bondi paul]

People here speaking of Gould changing the club with his golden boy but I have coach Don Furner in front of the sycophant.
Furner responsible for our success from 1970 to 72 with a GF appearance for Easts. He played a significant role with Artie and Coote coming to Easts. Never to be forgotten. The 72 GF was fixed.

[Vasco]

Freddy 100%

Kind of shocking people would suggest anyone else.

No Freddy, no club. We were on the brink of extinction. He made us relevant.

Totally.

[Batemans Bay Rooster]

Freddy and Teddy's careers are just as accomplished as Andrew Johns who is an immortal. They should definitely be in the conversation!

Cam Smith imo will be the next immortal.

Not according to the panel who decide on who becomes an immortal and who doesn't. An immortal is an immortal. If you're not an immortal, you're not an immortal.

It's a very exclusive club. Quite rightly. As great as Freddy and Teddy were and are, they're not immortals. They are both a slight level below Johns. Both are utterly fantastic footballers, who have had stellar careers at every level. There are many, many great footballers, who will never be immortals. Billy Slater tops Teddy, as painful as that is to say. He's closer in line than Teddy for sure. And Lockyer trumps Freddy. Only just, but he does.

99.99999999% of all first graders will never be an immortal. As it should be.

[bondi paul]

Furner’s time at the Roosters resulted in 2 of his recruits later becoming immortals. Coote and Beetson. Furner paved the way for Gibson success in 74 75