Positions where your club needs another signing

Centre and 2nd row are such hard positions to build depth for, they're very much specialist positions and 80min positions so you never build any depth through bench rotation and if you're a decent centre stuck behind 2 starting centres you're almost guaranteed the pick of 15 other clubs these days.

Its why I think players like Brad Takarangi and Kyle Turner are undervalued as squad players.

 

Suaali will do nicely. Plus we pissed off Souffs in the process that's a double win

 

In 5yrs time he’ll be 22. Where else would you rather go to build a career at the moment? Bennett’s a journeyman these days and will probably retire soon and Bellamy by the sounds of it probably has another 12-24months max left before he gives it up or moves into a advisory role somewhere else.

If you’re a young talented kid you could do a lot worse than attaching yourself to Trent Robinson even if it meant having to play your first few seasons in first grade out of position whilst being an understudy to James Tedesco.

Probably a fair chance he does move for an opportunity too but do you pass up on potential generational talent in the fear they will become too good and leave?

 

That's the risk of developing any highly rated junior though right or investing in any kind of junior development to a larger extent?

Plenty will flop and only a few will work out but the alternative of just not investing is far more detrimental to the success of a club.

I also don't think you can forward plan more than about 12-24 months in professional sports. 1 injury, controversy or poaching raid from another club can quickly leave you with a problem you never saw coming.

Re-signing Latrell Mitchell up to a fat contract as a teenager when he had RTS sitting in front of him arguably made less sense than this signing.

Recruit the best starting player you can and then recruit the best back up option you can. Don't think it needs to get much more complicated than that.

 

Not really sold on Staines as a first grader.

Heard alot about him being a really promising fullback but even when he has had his opportunities there he hasn't impressed and it's not like he's got a superstar sitting in the pecking order ahead of him, even Crichton was being picked ahead of him at times. But it was clear when Edwards was out with injury last year that the Panthers are a much better side with him at the back than any of their other options.

 

Yeh I said it when they signed Townsend, feels like a really unnecessary signing and I don't think he's the experienced organising halfback they think they were getting.