Just looking at the ladder and recent results, bulldogs raiders both had strong seasons last year and now look horrible and languishing at the bottom of the table. Yes recruitment and coaching is imporant but you also need a hell of a lot of luck with draw, bounce of ball and injury. I think considering everything that has gone wrong for us in first 10 rounds Ryles has done well. Ciraldo and Ricky not so much 😂
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Neither of those are luck - both changed their spine.
Jamal Fogarty was superb at the Raiders, as soon as he left they've crumbled.
Reed Mahoney and Toby Sexton both moved on from the Bulldogs, and they've plunged down the ranks since.
These are both more proof that a great, balanced roster with key spine players almost exclusively dictates success.
Ciraldo is overrated. People naturally assume because he has Gould behind him, he is a great coach, BULLSHIT. With the roster the dogs have, any half decent coach would have them playing a better brand of football, or at least competing.
Not only do injuries and suspensions to your own team affect wins and losses throughout the season, but other teams injuries and suspensions and when your team plays them. Often you will see some teams regularly playing against teams near full strength, whilst others seem to get a run of matches against teams with a long injury count plus a suspension or 2. At this stage of the season ( 10 rounds completed ) some teams have had majority of their starting spine players most weeks whereas other teams ( Eels are 1 ) have had 3 of their 4 1st choice spine players unavailable. When you consider that most clubs have a large percentage of their salary cap invested on their 1,6,7 and 9, teams missing 2 or 3 of these players struggle for consistency and wins. Usually your back up / depth players in these key positions are being paid a quarter or less than your top players in the spine.
Another thing I've been thinking about lately is the 30 man roster and if this number needs increasing? With the speed of the game increasing, fatigue injuries are becoming more often. Naming 19 players from a 30 man roster has been difficult for some clubs at this early stage of this season. It's impossible to believe that the injury lists will only get bigger as the season goes on. I believe clubs must apply to the NRL if they need to select a player or players from outside their top 30. The top 30 roster surely must be increased in coming years. I think a top 35 roster is needed moving forward. Depth quality is another concern especially with 2 new clubs entering the competition in the next 2 seasons. One of these new clubs ( Perth Bears )will produce close to zero juniors over the next decade. Hopefully the NRL doesn't rush the 20th team into the competition and they consider junior development numbers wherever they put the 20th club. Surely the south island of New Zealand is the way to go, hopefully not before 2031 or 2032.
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