Recruitment and Retention for 2026

[jodragon40]

You my friend from all accounts on this forum seem like a fair and decent person ..........

Thank you, for your kind words.

You know my old man now with the good lord was 16 when the Germans came knocking on his door in Poland. He and 1 brother escaped to England and fought Rommel in the Nth Africa and Sicily campaigns.

He was proud as punch when I graduated in 1981 from the NSW P.A.

He shook my hand and said " Son, Treat everyone the same as you would expect them to treat you". Held me in good stead for 39 yrs. I still abide by that advice.

 

[HaydoM8]

None of this is correct
This has been discussed on here 6 months again so I'm not going g to start it up again.

I will accept you at face value and agree with the previous post that it is good to have stewart ...
Seems to be comparing a finesse footballer with an impact athlete ... There is room for both in a team but i think we have held onto a good one, especially if the reports of Ennis and co are to be believed.

 

[Frank Facer]

The thing with Reed is the history of players like Beau Henry - a kid who did it all in juniors/promised the world and simply failed to take that step.
We cannot just think Reed is the future and open an uncontested path for him ... we have to continue to recruit capable players and pick the best of them.

Good point. I thought Henry was going to be a top first grader. He played in that great under 20's team, which had numerous players who played first grade, including Trent Merrin, Kyle Stanley, Kane Linnett, Dean Whare, Jake Marketo and Mitch Rein. I say, you are lucky if more than 2 players from junior team can go on with it and become regular first graders.

 

[jodragon40]

It is (bordering on slander). In life I don't care if people I don't like are slandered but on a public forum, it can leave administrators open to getting sued.

Can you please change with some equivocations like, "I imagine" or "IMO" or "is possible" and maybe something like, "I don't have any evidence of this" at the end?

Eric I deleted the comment because you are spot on and I don't have money to waste on defending myself against civil liable litigation. The author was advised of my reasons for deleting the post.

 

[Frank Facer]

I think it goes the other way - i dont see Benji as someone that will drive standards. Feels like it could easily become a joint like us around the time of the BBQ. When the mood strikes they will pull out a good game but weekly grind of NRL will be beyond them ...

If I was Wests CEO, I wouldn't have given Marshall the head coaching job, with no previous experience. If he can get the cattle, he may do alright.

 

[Frank Facer]

Eric I deleted the comment because you are spot on and I don't have money to waste on defending myself against civil liable litigation. The author was advised of my reasons for deleting the post.

I apologise for that post. I had no intention of causing any problems. I just thought of it at the time and thought it made sense. I will try to me more careful in the future.

 

[jodragon40]

I apologise for that post. I had no intention of causing any problems. I just thought of it at the time and thought it made sense. I will try to me more careful in the future.

No problems. I did send you an email outlining the issue. Thank you for your cooperation

 

[HaydoM8]

Frank - it is interesting what could potentially be achieved outside the cap especially within families ...

Could the a club where a players dad is in a key role slip that Dad a bit extra and at christmas the son get a really nice christmas present from dad
Could the a club sponsor give a players family member a really cushy job

the player/agent relationship and finances there would be pretty heavily scritinised by clubs/nrl but things that happen outside the cap are a dark art.

 

[jodragon40]

Frank - it is interesting what could potentially be achieved outside the cap especially within families ...

Could the a club where a players dad is in a key role slip that Dad a bit extra and at christmas the son get a really nice christmas present from dad
Could the a club sponsor give a players family member a really cushy job

the player/agent relationship and finances there would be pretty heavily scritinised by clubs/nrl but things that happen outside the cap are a dark art.

That was happening in my day. It was the norm

 

[Frank Facer]

I mean there was that - but there was also that little incident at Coffs which was also in it - thurston was moved on as much as they backed sherwin.

I will stay out of that one.

 

[HaydoM8]

I will stay out of that one.

i might back away from it too ... dont want to push the envelope too far in here.

 

[Frank Facer]

benji is a massive draw card in recruitment, players look up to him. they’ve come off 3 spoons and made good signings. placed higher than us last year. way i see it they’re just like us trying to build their roster nicely & bring good kids through to get away from the bottom

You make a good point about Marshall being a draw card. I have seen more than one player say they wanted to play under Marshall and looked up to him while growing up. I think one would have to sit down with a coach and talk football for a while to gauge his football brain and even then some may have great football brain's and perspectives on the game, but aren't good "player managers". I can think of one good example, but won't say his name.

 

[Eric]

i might back away from it too ... dont want to push the envelope too far in here.

jodragon40 would know better than me but as long as you are speaking about such things being hypothetically possible, but not accusing anyone, I would think it's ok.

 

[HaydoM8]

You make a good point about Marshall being a draw card. I have seen more than one player say they wanted to play under Marshall and looked up to him while growing up. I think one would have to sit down with a coach and talk football for a while to gauge his football brain and even then some may have great football brain's and perspectives on the game, but aren't good "player managers". I can think of one good example, but won't say his name.

There are plenty ... and typically they get jobs because they were great clubmen coming through.

There are four real distinct coaches for mine and we have had all of them ...

You have a bloke who tactically is great, can get the best out of the squad available to him because he can pull together a game plan that maximises what we have. Understands players are different. This is your Brian Smith or David Waite type. May not be great at squad management going forward as we saw with Brian Smith. But these blokes understand the game, understand their players and dream up a plan that gets teh best from everyone and hides the worst in others ...

You have a bloke who tactically may not be the greatest but man management is so good he can convince you that water is dry, hot is cold and the most boring of game plans based on three variations of one shift can win you a premiership. Obviously Wayne.

Then you have a bloke who has a plan in his mind and tries to bend every player into that dumb plan rather than recognise players individual strengths. This is your Mary. May be a great bloke but expecting Luc to play like Tariq because a game plan that used Tariq a week or so back worked.

Then your fourth type, a post turtle ... hopeless and inept ...

Waite to me is the best coach we have had (yes i know how dumb that sounds). He unfortunately threw his hat in with choc when the pleasure machine to do went down and was knifed out of the joint in favour of the Egg ...

 

[George Sancti]

I'm running a bit behind the celebrations, but what great news with KK committing to SGI. Huge credit to Tim Watsford, DA, and all the officials who made it happen. I can’t remember the last time I felt this optimistic heading into a new season.

 

[Dragon David]

I wanted Flanno to get the job with us and glad he did. But if you have a look at the last game we played against Souths, they had more injuries than we had and had nearly all their big name players out. We got dusted up 40 to zip and Bennett coached that game to a tee. For me it will always be Bennett first and daylight second and the fact that Doust refused to give Bennett 5 years right from the get go will come down to one of the biggest mistakes this club has ever made.

We would have won another grand final if we did have Bennett for 5 years in my opinion. Because 2011 was the last year of Bennett's contract with the Dragons, his next challenge was to rebuild the Knights and his decision to leave us was easy after Tinkler showed him the money to join the Knights in 2012. Three years straight Bennett got us to the finals and those three years I will always be grateful for.

Hopefully Flanno will have the Club playing regular finals games in the years ahead.

 

[jodragon40]

jodragon40 would know better than me but as long as you are speaking about such things being hypothetically possible, but not accusing anyone, I would think it's ok.

The legal term for this is civil defamation, which is the communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual person, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation.

Elements to prove in any civil defamation includes the following:
false statement (written, spoken, or visual) that harms your reputation, such as calling someone a crook or incompetent.
The statement was communicated to at least one other person (a third party), not just you
The statement clearly refers to you, either by name or in a way that a reasonable person would know it's about you.
The statement is untrue; truth is a defense against defamation.

Hope this helps everyone. If you are going to name and shame make sure that you have either direct or indirect evidence to support your statement.

You can still have opinions about a player, coach or team but if you name the individual and state a matter of fact about them just be careful.

We will try to keep an eye on things to assist everyone. In no way are we trying to stifle free speech or constructive conversations. Enjoy the forum

 

[jodragon40]

I'm running a bit behind the celebrations, but what great news with KK committing to SGI. Huge credit to Tim Watsford, DA, and all the officials who made it happen. I can’t remember the last time I felt this optimistic heading into a new season.

I'd suggest, tongue in cheek was it the signing of Ben Hunt?

 

[George Sancti]

I'd suggest, tongue in cheek was it the signing of Ben Hunt?

Ben Hunt didn’t cause this optimism, if anything, he taught me to be cautious with it!!

 

[George Sancti]

We would have won another grand final if we did have Bennett for 5 years in my opinion. Because 2011 was the last year of Bennett's contract with the Dragons, his next challenge was to rebuild the Knights and his decision to leave us was easy after Tinkler showed him the money to join the Knights in 2012. Three years straight Bennett got us to the finals and those three years I will always be grateful for.

Hopefully Flanno will have the Club playing regular finals games in the years ahead.

I agree with your views on the five year Bennet contract Dave. Hopefully we can have a successful run which exceeds three years this time around.