Lost in the million reasons why we should get rid of BA Sanders leaving the club at the first chance is near top of the list.
Hes not going somewhere where he'll slot straight into an NRL halves gig .. he's going to be backup for the short term like he is here .
Having a quality young 7 developed in your system is a god send . Eventually if you're good in that area you will lose them , but for those early years of their development they provide you with good backup and in the salary cap era that's your reward for their junior development. Add to that it gives you cover for a couple of years in the ever changing rugby league landscape. Say touch wood someone cops an injury and circumstances chance .. for a couple of years developing the next NRL 7 gives you cover.
I honestly can't imagine a world where a figure like Wayne Bennett , Gus Gould , Bellamy , Trent Rob etc etc tells a young half we need you the next couple of years and they leave . There's stories about how Penrith had Jarome Luai coming through but signed Maloney to pair with Cleary and Gus sat him down and said sit it out and develop here .. he did and they both got the rewards. Melbourne is currently doing it with Pezet . Clearly , BA and those at the club don't have the same pull . The most promising 7 coming through the grades would rather develop under Ricky Stuart and to me that's another damning reason to get rid of him. He has no clout in the game , his voice means F all . It's at the point where his development history and 3 finals wins or whatever it is in 11 years is a pathetic resume and it doesn't come close to stacking up against the heavy weight coaches. If Bennett was here I bet he stays . BA has got to go .
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How do you know he won't play 1st grade? Strange has only played a handful of 1st grade games, he could fall into a massive heap over the next few weeks when teams work him out. Sanders chances of jumping Fogarty and Strange is much much higher than jumping Moses and Brown
That's like saying how do you know he won't play first grade here. Mitch could touch wood break his foot and be out 12 weeks again . Hes not signed there to be first choice 7 whilst ever they have fogerty on contract , the money they're on should tell you that for starters.
Best we can do now is see how he goes next couple of weeks then piss him off for an outside back.
Its development mate. Theres no guarantee going to Canberra is going to result in a first grade spot . At this stage of his career he'd be looking at where he's going to be given the best chance to become an NRL player over the next 18-24 months. Part of that of course involves who the current halves are but thats irrelevant if you move to a new system , new state/territory , new coaching staff and don't progress. We don't have the coaching staff that makes a kid like him want to bide his time and learn. The top clubs do. You could name current young players at all the top clubs that have chosen to bide their time rather than jumping at a possible chance. Our coaching staff is not one that makes a kid want to do that.
Ricky was able to buy fresh talent. But he took off before they arrived . He quit because it was too hard too so it from scratch. Which is exactly my point. He has a massive pool of good young players in the Canberra catchment and he has to buy players from other clubs. As I said , if all positions , he can't even produce a halfback. If he didn't get Fogerty he'd be sacked by now.
I'm sure when Ricky saw our cap was fully maxed out with a dead last roster and he let go of 10 blokes on an over head that he couldnt get off the books .. he was in too deep. The Raiders opportunity in that situation as a legend of the club is too good to pass up.
We went and got blokes desperate for a job/ to forge a coaching career. I think BA did well with what we had in those initial years but the 2016 clean out was his big break the others didnt have. We had to get under the cap and then we could start buying .. many said the punishment was too light at the time because it re-set everything when we were in a huge hole but i think the league took the opinion that for the greater good we were better off not being thumped by 30 every week and unable to spend for 5 years.
BA has done well for us in the early days but he hasn't taken us to where he should in 11 years. 11 years is an absurd amount of time for a coach to be in 1 place in any sport and usually only reserved for those who have had ultimate success. Our atatck and more importantly defensive systems are miles behind and not reflective of the consistency we've had in coach.
Lot of fuss over a kid that could be the next Tom Humble.
or keith blackett
Faaaark.
You do realise it's Sanders decision to leave? He is promised first grade time when Fogarty retires or moves on he will be given first crack.
Sanders and strange are best mates, bum buddies and played a lot of junior rep footy together. Add into that Stewart as well has played junior rep footy as well with Sanders and obviously strange.
Wouldn't matter who the coach was, Sanders was going to join them if he got offered first grade. The only way to stop him would be a massive contract and it's all on potential and no halves position available for him.
No point playing a junior who is leaving, blood someone who is keen to stay.