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

[Rooster90]

Gus & Fittler from the Panthers in the 90s
Craig Wing from the Bunnies in the 00s
SBW in the first part of the 10s, Cronk in the later part
Can i include Teddy for the 20s? we really haven't nailed a signing yet this decade

[kakaruk]

Mark harris From kone tigers after an end of season friendly in port moresby

[Red.]

Craig Salvatori was graded from The Dunbar Raiders in Paddington which was a member of the Eastern Suburbs District Junior Rugby League competition. Not a Souths junior.

[Duchess_of_Bondi]

I'll go Keary as it gave the Phone Chucker the shits.

The beauty of that one is that it wasn't even poaching. After Luke bravely told the bad tempered one to stick it where the sun doesn't shine, walked off his property in the small hours, he then slept in a bus shelter in order to catch the next one back to Sydney. Took nothing more from the angry old man after he'd been abused in front of the rest of the team, being told he wasn't earning his salary. He got stuck into Sam Burgess as well for not defending his players. Anyone who walks away from any angry abusive person, whether it's a family member, employer or friend deserves all the accolades they can get. How amazing was his good karma in sticking up for his mates? B2B premierships, a lovely family now, playing overseas and seeing some of the most beautiful parts of the world, studying hard, getting a degree and now back working for the club. Thanks Trent & Uncle Nick for supporting him. All credit to Luke however from walking away from a negative life experience and turning it into a very positive and prosperous one. Stories like Luke's are a shining example of just how professional and positive life at the Roosters really is. It's not about luring players away from the suburbs down to the beach like the old days of contract negotations. Heck, even Penrith has a beach these days..

Those Teddy & Freddy blokes are ok too..

[Duchess_of_Bondi]

Not this old chestnut again.

What's the issue here? We have some new forum members and it would be good to get their opinion as well. I've pretty much gone and hit the like button on most of the posts in this thread and I can't remember the last time I did that.

[Avalon Rooster]

What's the issue here? We have some new forum members and it would be good to get their opinion as well. I've pretty much gone and hit the like button on most of the posts in this thread and I can't remember the last time I did that.

I somehow didn't know the backstory about Keary leaving Souths, so I'm very grateful for this thread

[QWERTY]

Sean Rudder

[Bates]

My understanding was that Keary was already linked to another club( Roosters or Dragons) before the pre season camp bust up with Rusell Crowe.

Apparently Crowe was made aware of the rumoured defection. His ego got the better of him and tore strips off Keary at the pre season camp.

Bust up occurred 2016 and in the last year of Keary's contract with Souffs. By July 2016 it was announced that Keary would be joining the Roosters the following season.

[Mickie Lane]

So what if Rusty gave Keary a roasting, I don’t see the big deal about it.
It worked out well for Keary because he won another 2 comps with us.

[Duchess_of_Bondi]

I somehow didn't know the backstory about Keary leaving Souths, so I'm very grateful for this thread

And we are grateful to welcome new members. Waving to you across the heads from Bondi!

[Duchess_of_Bondi]

So what if Rusty gave Keary a roasting, I don’t see the big deal about it.
It worked out well for Keary because he won another 2 comps with us.

I wish I'd been the fly on the wall to see it Mickie. I guess it was the way it was delivered, all fire, brimstone and Gladiator type ranting and Luke objected to the way he and some of the others were intimidated. Luke went to school with a work colleague of mine, so I trust the information given to me. Anyway as you said, it was a great move coming to us and got those premierships, plus everything else positive he has achieved after making the move to the Roosters.

[Avalon Rooster]

I wish I'd been the fly on the wall to see it Mickie. I guess it was the way it was delivered, all fire, brimstone and Gladiator type ranting and Luke objected to the way he and some of the others were intimidated. Luke went to school with a work colleague of mine, so I trust the information given to me. Anyway as you said, it was a great move coming to us and got those premierships, plus everything else positive he has achieved after making the move to the Roosters.

my ex wife's sister was a 90s model, soap star, pop star and worked with/shared an apartment with Rusty's ex wife (in the early 90s before they were married and also when he was a jobbing, aspiring actor and certainly before he was 'big'). She reckons he was one of the rudest, most arrogant and pig headed people she ever met

[Bates]

Crowe is a Wanka........ Simples!

[Mr Whippet]

All depends what "poaching" means - Australian established 1st Grade players and or juniors from other clubs. The Roosters have so called "poached" some juniors from other clubs who turned into top shelf players in 1st Grade.

Both Anthony Minichiello and Daniel Tupou for instance were never selected/overlooked for Junior reps sides in their junior areas - Western Suburbs Magpies and Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs.

• Arthur Beetson
• Ron Coote
• Elwyn Walters
• Johnny Mayes
• Spiro Strattos
• John Ferguson
• Steve Morris
• Andrew Walker
• Matt Sing
• Ivan Cleary
• Brad Fittler
• Craig Fitzgibbon
• Craig Wing
• Brett Mullins - UK at the time
• Braith Anasta
• Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
• Luke Keary
• Angus Crichton
• Brett Morris
• Cooper Cronk
• Bill Mullins - Canterbury Junior
• Royce Ayliffe - Illawarra Junior - Dragons signed a lot of players from that area before the Steelers came in
• Craig Salvatori - Souths Junior
• Anthony Minichiello - Wests Junior
• Daniel Tupou - Canterbury Junior via Parramatta's NYC
• Nat Butcher - Souths Junior
• Egan Butcher - Souths Junior

etc etc

Good list, well done.
John Brass from Union was a good pick up. I think he came over with another union convert. Cardy I think was his surname. don't know where he ended up.

[Duchess_of_Bondi]

my ex wife's sister was a 90s model, soap star, pop star and worked with/shared an apartment with Rusty's ex wife (in the early 90s before they were married and also when he was a jobbing, aspiring actor and certainly before he was 'big'). She reckons he was one of the rudest, most arrogant and pig headed people she ever met

Danielle Spencer is one of the most gracious and modest women you will meet, which I have a few times as we lived near each other for a while, plus I've been to some of her shows before she got married. She has just started recording new music again too. She was very much overshadowed by him but has always maintained her own singing career, even if it was just in her own little studio. My sister worked at a school for a while and one of the students was asked to go to an acting class with him and it was not a pleasant experience. I won't go into further details. I'll happily quote Bryan Fletcher however as he was very open about calling him a thief at Fitzy's farewell dinner at the club in 2009 when giving a speech. There were a few of us from here present that night too. Thank goodness we got Luke away from that man

Nothing good ever comes from anyone going to that club from here. No wonder they all come back to the Roosters fold again eventually. Even Craig Wing turning up in this video was a pleasant surprise. I know pretty much everyone as already seen this from last year, but it's worthy of a rewatch, It came up on LinkedIn as well which is great for the club's marketing.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRIyM...RlODBiNWFlZA==