Given that rumours have been circulating since midway last year that Corey Norman was on the outer at Parramatta, the five-eighths departure comes as no surprise.
What might - or should - surprise is news of Norman’s salary - $900,000+ if media reports are to believed.
Norman’s worth as a contributor to the Eel’s has split the fanbase for a long time. His performance on-the-field was occasionally brilliant, sometimes awful, but mostly fell just short of his reputed potential. Off-the-field he had the reputation of being a popular figure within the team, but he was never far away from controversy.
His salary needs to be viewed from that perspective.
When Norman signed his three-year deal, he had literally just dragged the club into another public relations nightmare, having been caught with drugs in his possession.
The upside, the grapevine would lead us to believe, was that Norman was willing to sign on at a reduced rate as penance for his sins. The figure of $700,000 surfaced in media reports and that seemed like a bit of a bargain for a half who was being talked about as Johnathon Thurston’s Queensland heir apparent.
What didn’t make its way into the public domain was that $700k was just the opening figure in a three-year back-ended deal that would climb to over $800k for 2018 and now $920 for the upcoming playing season.
WTF?
How does a player, who rightfully should have been pleading for his future at the club, manage to negotiate a salary that sees him leave the club as one of the highest-paid players in the game?
What an incredible leap of faith the club showed in Norman to decide that in two years time, his erratic play and behaviour would be behind him, and he would be worthy of an elite-player salary. A leap too far, you’d have to say.
I don’t think Norman ever got close to proving he was $900+K player. The fact that we’d offer that kind of money to Norman probably tells us enough to understand why despite losing stars like Semi Radradra we don’t have enough in the cap to make a decent offer to any of the elite players that have come onto the market in recent months.
However, what irks me most about the revelation is that it is indicative of the club simply not building its roster with any kind of long-term strategy or key priorities in mind.
Culture is a buzzword that gets dropped all over the place, and every leader that comes into our club talks about it as a matter of importance.
However, when it comes down to it, the club has simply not invested in the players who would drive that culture through the playing ranks.
There’s a reason that Melbourne has been successful. While Smith, Cronk and Slater are incredible football players, more so, they are incredible professionals. And when your three most senior players set a benchmark for professionalism that must rub off onto every member of your roster. It’s why blokes go to Melbourne and become better players.
Such is the variability of the NRL that three-year contracts and beyond should be reserved for those kinds of players, the ones you want to build your club around. The players who offer you as much value off the field, as they do it on it. Who’s professionalism is just as impressive as their athleticism.
You don’t need every player in your team to be a choir-boy, but you do want the guys who you are structuring your roster around, and who are earning the marquee dollars, to be the players that everyone else looks up to - for all the right reasons.
There’a a reason that a club like the Roosters, who already boasted a NSW halfback and a string of senior rep players broke the bank to bring Cooper Cronk into their team. Because his influence will go beyond the couple of years he contributes on the paddock.
Parramatta does not have a roster that has been built upon any long-term strategy. It’s been pieced together by reactively filling problem vacancies and shortcomings, often with players who were unwanted at other clubs, or else who we’ve had to pay overs to attract. All without the benefit of any TPA support, we might add. And that’s why we can only look jealously at other clubs who’s have rep talent from top to toe, and wonder where the hell all our cap has gone.
Comments
Good read Phill. I do agree, we react and do not plan with our signings.
Its my hope yet im doubtful that the review will fix this. BA has to be accountable for our cap situation one look at our roster and you cant see where the value for money is
It's not an easy thing to fix, because you've got to get those players into the team that you're going to base your side around. I think ideally you want three leaders with at least one, but preferably two of them in the spine. Do we have those?
Probably Gutherson. Maybe Brown?
To be honest the most disappointing thing about last year was not even the way we played footy. It was a lot of the boys just didn't seem to respond to the situation and showed little resilience. Some of the blokes you might have looked to as potential leaders seemed to go into sooking mode, rather than stepping up and trying to lead the boys out of adversity. That's the first issue that really needs to be fixed before we can get back on track.
Fully agree, Dr Wong. And I sincerely hope the football review really delves into how we do recruitment, negotiating, cap management and all of that stuff, because it really does seem to be an area we've been almost amateurish in, and it's literally the foundation of all of your on-field results.
Bernie wasn't employed at the time. It all comes down to Brad.
Max had no idea on who was worth what
It all comes down to brad's selfishness, and he put his own self interests before the clubs.
Blah blah blah FFS find something else to whinge about plz
Phil well written and fully agree .and Doc you are right how the hell its always only BAs fault and nobody elses is mind bogerling .But it wont stop and we will just keep getting bashed around the ears for putting our point of veiw forward .but hey thats life
I said accountable not blaming him i think its fair that he is accountable as o'neill will be from here on out
Phil I agree with your comments on this. The hope for us moving forward is that the changes that are now in place set us on a path of continued improvement.
Looking at your figures above that would be roughly $800,000 a year. That is just about what you would expect to be playing a good 5/8. Problem for the Eels is that there was too much difference between his best and his worst. The other problem was that he spent too much time at the bottom end of the scale to justify his salary.
It is popular on this site to blame BA for all of the problems but I believe that view is a little simplistic..What is certain however is that BA has the 20019 season to prove himself or he will be gone.
The downside from releasing Norman 1 year early is that we now have an inexperienced halves pairing if you consider that the most likely combination is Moses and Brown.
Heres hoping that with the new setup in the club we can be far more professional in the future
At the time of Norman's new 3 year deal -
There was no ceo as Boulos and Sharp had just been sacked months earlier and no board.
The only two capable of making signings were Brad Arthur and Max Donnelly.
Now, Max Donnelly would know his ass from his elbow when it comes to what footballers are worth meaning Corey Norman's new 3 year deal all comes down to Brad Arthur.
Brad Fkd up again, and now Bernie is trying to rectify the situation.
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