Recruitment & Retention 2027

[AyiosYiorgos]

Drinkwater signing for next year would make sense why we are reluctant to give fuller a deal for 27 and only 26. Otherwise you’d think Fuller for 2 years would be a no brainer

Drinkwater is a far better ball player, he can create as well score on his own etc..

 

[Mailroomsgi]

Goal kicker too, if he was 25/26 YO it would be a great signing but he’s getting on in years and there’s always been defensive concerns

 

[Dave03]

Forget players, we need to recruit new coaches.

 

[Eric]

Goal kicker too, if he was 25/26 YO it would be a great signing but he’s getting on in years and there’s always been defensive concerns

Stopgap measure for 2 years. Can play 5/8 as well.

 

[Eric]

Forget players, we need to recruit new coaches.

Emphasis on the plural. Ennis is the attacking coach. Deano cops plenty of flak, justifiably so but Ennis is doing an even worse job as it looks like from the outside!

 

[Mailroomsgi]

Stopgap measure for 2 years. Can play 5/8 as well.

It’ll be 3 years, 2 would be perfect but I can’t see him signing for 2

 

[AyiosYiorgos]

Gives time for Burton to develop and see if he is the messiah at fullback

 

[Eric]

It’ll be 3 years, 2 would be perfect but I can’t see him signing for 2

In that case, I wouldn't sign him. I'd use Holmes at fullback and Buchanan or Heidke centres. Or even Nick T centre though it isn't his best position.

 

[Frank Facer]

Now telegraph reporting we are trying to sign Trai Fuller immediately

I would rather Drinkwater than Fuller

 

[Frank Facer]

View attachment 1031

During tonight's game, Steve Roach said, The Cowboy's have great speed. I thought it was a funny quote.

 

[Frank Facer]

Pretty much confirms Gutho is done, he can’t play at the NRL level anymore

Allegedly Their about to sign a soon to be 29 YO fullback on a 3 or 4 year deal

It’s all very reactionary/knee jerk/scattergun whatever you want to call it

No way, not another old guy on a long term contract like Gutho and Sami.

 

[TheRev]

Very confused now if we have signed Drinkwater or not.. Fuller for 2yrs I thought was a good get, not sure hes gonna come for like a 5mth contract..

 

[Frank Facer]

Gives time for Burton to develop and see if he is the messiah at fullback

That is probably the direction I would go

 

[Frank Facer]

Nth Qld had a young player named Jaxon Purdue who looked pretty good tonight. I don't think he is officially signed for next year yet. I would offer him a million dollar long term contract to play fullback for us. He could even play 5/8 if Burton lives up to hopes and expectations.

If we have signed Drinkwater, I expect Nth Qld to play Purdue at fullback next year. He was said to be close to signing re-signing with them for a reported 750K a year for a number of years. If they get that deal done, they have got themselves a bargain. With Deadon on a reported 750K a year as well, they will have 2 of their spine positions covered with top shelf players for relative cheap prices. Great cap management on their part. I would love to have them 2 in our team for that money. I know some of you don't rate Purdue. lol

 

[Frank Facer]

Gives time for Burton to develop and see if he is the messiah at fullback

Burton just needs to be "anointed"

 

[Frank Facer]

Emphasis on the plural. Ennis is the attacking coach. Deano cops plenty of flak, justifiably so but Ennis is doing an even worse job as it looks like from the outside!

Cattle.
Spine
We need a good spine and good cattle to have good attack.

 

[Mailroomsgi]

Part of why I want a rookie coach is recruitment wise they don’t have all the juice and power to say to walk all over Ando

Think they’ll be receptive and very open to logic and reason and take Ando’s word for lots of player evaluations

More established coaches can have an ego and might want more power like Flanno currently has

It’s not the 90’s anymore, player development/recruitment/retention is so different and on a much bigger scale

A head coach can’t do it all like they used to, allow the new head coach to just manage the footy team on the field

Watsford and the rest of the staff need to step up because this all trickles down from the top

 

[redv13]

Nth Qld had a young player named Jaxon Purdue who looked pretty good tonight. I don't think he is officially signed for next year yet. I would offer him a million dollar long term contract to play fullback for us. He could even play 5/8 if Burton lives up to hopes and expectations.

If we have signed Drinkwater, I expect Nth Qld to play Purdue at fullback next year. He was said to be close to signing re-signing with them for a reported 750K a year for a number of years. If they get that deal done, they have got themselves a bargain. With Deadon on a reported 750K a year as well, they will have 2 of their spine positions covered with top shelf players for relative cheap prices. Great cap management on their part. I would love to have them 2 in our team for that money. I know some of you don't rate Purdue. lol

It’s not that the forum don’t rate Purdue, we’re just sick of hearing you froth about him in every comment on every topic. Like your other fascinations, we get it, but clearly you continue to flog a dead horse. LOL

 

[Frank Facer]

So I am hearing/reading of more players we approached who knocked us back that I either forgot about or haven't mentioned before including
Flanagan ( Dragons made offers) tried for
Helium Luki, Blaise Talagi, Corey Horsburgh.

The list continues to grow. Do any of you think we would have signed those players or any other decent ones who knocked us back if we had Dean Young or Ben Hornby coach over the last 2 years and 5 games? It isn't just on Flanno. He took over us when we were in dire straights and hasn't been able to get us out of the hole we were in when he took over. I knew it was going to take at least 3 or 4 years for us to get out of the hole we were in and that was if we were lucky.

Now there is forum talk of youngsters wanting out. They could be Pasifiki Tonga, Halangahu and the Couchman brothers who are still unsigned beyond this season. If we were to lose those players, that would basically put us back to where we were before Flanno signed, maybe even worse. I basically saw Flanno as our last hope and if those players were to leave, it would confirm those sentiments.

I don't agree with all of Flanno's selections or players he recruited, but I think the problems were there long before he arrived and he hasn't been able to rectify the situation and I am doubtful a new coach will be able to do so. As I have said, it is like re arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

I have identified one of our major problems, but it is taboo for me to even talk about it on this forum, because it is "unpopular".

I remember forum thread back in 2019 or so, Where do you see us in 5 years time. Well in that time, if anything we went more backwards and things have got worse. I saw the writing on the wall in 2012, when Craig Young was our recruitment officer. Now we are looking at the prospect of Dean Young being our coach, that is if he even wants the job. If I was him, I wouldn't take it, just like I wouldn't have when Flanno took the job.

 

[Frank Facer]

It’s not that the forum don’t rate Purdue, we’re just sick of hearing you froth about him in every comment on every topic. Like your other fascinations, we get it, but clearly you continue to flog a dead horse. LOL

I have numerous people on this forum shoot me down for saying we should sign Purdue and have very few endorse it. I had several saying he wasn't that good or that special or wasn't worth the big money I was suggesting we offer him. I said he is a future superstar and got ridiculed by numerous posters on this site for saying so. It is all here in writing. I said we should have been offering him a mil a year instead of Bula or whoever else others suggested we pursue. He isn't the finished product yet either.