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If I know there the future or have future prospects I pay them under the table or whatever it takes to keep them off the cap.Whatever it takes.Whatever junior is identified as a long term prospect he's locked up much like Sua Wishart Pezet Howarth and alike are at Melbourne so we aren't having these stupid discussions about losing juniors when there's obvious ways around it.Identification is obviously the key here.
Dont even get me started on DB record contract be damned he still should be in blue n gold he's even admitted he couldn't see himself playing anywhere else.Travesty losing the best junior we've produced in the last decade plying his trade elsewhere.
Second part of the plan I'm brooming everyone not named Jason Ryles in the R and R committee and he gets carte Blanche of who he goes after and part 2 of the mentioned I'm pairing him up with an established team builder Peter OSullivan is my favourite I'm definitely head hunting him after seeing his work at his last 3 stops.I'm also getting as much after football opportunities setup for players nd screw it TPAs aswell as if there not in place your skidding yourself if you aren't winning a premiership.
In no way and I mean no way am I keeping the same shite that's running recruitment & retention at Parra now that's the area I'm overhauling since the board is like Kevin Costner in the untouchables.
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Coryn, yep. You’re not wrong. That’s often how it works. In the shadows. No club is ignorant of that reality.
There’s a reason the RLPA doesn’t want tax returns and full NRL contract transparency. The NRL’s auditing department would be working overtime. Imagine the optics and outrage.
In some ways, they’d be better off with a soft cap. But even that would be a fight. Clubs like the Broncos, Roosters and other big TPA clubs would much rather keep the current system.
The thing is you’re being offered $6m or $13-14m in a guaranteed NRL contract versus comparable TPAs (which don't always pan out), you know which deal many will take unless you're promised a lot more.
Clubs risk too much if they’re directly involved or pay under the table. Seriously, if you were running a club, would you risk it? Sharp and co. tried it with bollocks invoices (a popular one other clubs have got away with). It would be incredibly foolish for a club to try that these days.
TPs are in a different position. Super fans, really. But they don’t all have endless pockets for every player. They’ll usually reserve that money or offer various investments or financial instruments or future promises, for the marquees they believe are worth it. And they wouldn't touch us for many years after our self canabilzing Dark Ages.
The other thing is that if you're rebuilding like us, TPAs don't magically solve everything. If you're paying overs to retain the juniors you want, then paying market rates or overs again at the top end, your cap still gets squeezed. Depth suffers. RL is a weak-link sport.
PNG and the government-backed model may end up being a different story altogether. An outlier in NRL history.
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Where do we go from here mate I feel it's stagnated a little and we can't continue along the same lines.
I feel at bare minimum we need a freshen up in certain spots.
I think we all realise how uneven the field is but the nrl have allowed that to operate so do we finally have to go and get our hands dirty also.I think we do.Black ops CIA covert operations.If we aren't good enough to not get caught or others hold more sway than we do and are allowed to blur the lines well we need to be talking to those people and yes 40 years without the mentioned the point has been reached.I mean what's the worst that can happen I mean seriously.If your not pushing boundaries of the rules and trying to play with a straight bat when others aren't well I think that's how naive we are.
If we are attempting a Penrith like setup we'll be on that another 5 or how many years minimum which isn't really an issue we should be doing that regardless.But we really need to level up quick in the recruitment stakes.5 yrs is being generous to because we need alot of things mainly players to go right for us so we can capitalise.From what I've seen so far we are short.
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Dragons on a roll and the Titans winning. Spoon could be on the cards for us.
Hoe, have you had a look at the dragons lately. Its not all panic buying. They're doing much better than Parramatta in development. Most of their pack are young guns and they've unearthed a couple of good outside backs.
Sure, they may have over spent on a few signings but that's the market at thr moment. The top players can nam their price
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Chiefy, I was not impressed......how coud you be......equally not happy wih Rylie Smith and Renzo.....is this all mental?
I think you need to be a fly on the wall to understand what is happening.
I personally do not hold MON responsible for First Grade but underneath that he definately has a responsibility, teams/club like Parra should have more depth than we displayed today, regardless of the obvious circumstances.
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How in the hell are Dragons on a roll? They got slaughtered by Cronulla in the end. Spoon is not on the cards. I do not see Dragons getting 4 wins more than us by the end of the year.
Also with their signings, Sami is fine i guess? Drinkwater is good though rocks and diamonds, Watson is doing a Pezet and Keaon is a great signing but how much is he being ran into the ground. They will be better but all will be 30 by 2028.
What outside backs have they unearthed? Setu Tu? Who is ok but nothing special. Buchanon? Who cannot get a spot over Suli and Feagai?
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More stuff to read
"Good to see the eels turn on an inspiring performance today for Wiz & Frankie, i hear the boys in the sheds were told before run on today they are back on their keyboards, apparantly they all went down on one knee"
"Once in 8 years isn't enough. We are just a pushover of a club. If the coach has no balls off the field how do you expect the players to have balls on the field "
"The club has been spitting in the face of its fans ever since the 2022 Grand Final. Even that year, we couldn’t attract quality outside backs, forcing us to play Waqa Blake on the wing and move players around in the centres just to fill holes.
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What Wins Premierships? Talent, culture, systems, pathways, or belonging and connectedness?
For some, the answer is simpler. Who cares about the why? Sack as many as possible. Sign sexy names. Job done.
One thing is for sure: premierships rarely happen overnight. Clubs need patience: the exact opposite of what many fans need.
The theme of recruitment, usually strong criticism of Parramatta's recruitment and retention, has been a constant topic among Eels fans as we've struggled this season. After forty years without a premiership, and struggling this season unfolding, it's understandable why many are frustrated and crave a few sugar hits. Now.
In this week's Levels podcast, Willie Mason and Justin Horo discuss the Eels "tricky predicament" when it comes to recruitment and competing in that space. And what really matters in the end.
Many look enviously at the Dragons' buying spree. Yet so far it has produced not much beyond a last-placed finish and one win.
"You can't just go buy, buy, buy because have a look what St. George did in the last couple of years," Mason argues.
"They don't love St. George."
"I'm not saying that they're not putting in, but you have to have a pathway... and Penrith hit the jackpot," Mason says.
"You need that half a dozen that have a genuine love for the club."
"Everything else is manufactured," Mason concludes.
"Here's now where it [Dragons' huge recruitment spree] can become problematic in two years' time," Scope adds.
"Is it going to improve their play next year? Yeah."
"But could they potentially lose some good homegrown talent because of it? Yeah."
So, that's the balance. The Faustian Deal. The short-term sugar hit versus the long term. Building a team of champions and marquees versus building a champion team.
"Most clubs are manufactured trying to buy, buy, buy and thinking that you're going to win a comp because you don't have these kids who would genuinely die for that club."
Scope and Mason point to Penrith. They point to Brisbane's homegrown core. Mason points to what the Dogs are building. Even Melbourne, despite being different, have long recruited players into their pathways and culture from a young age.
Mason and Scope's common thread isn't just home-grown talent.
It's growing up together. Playing together. Connection.
Even the Panthers recruit despite losing a galaxy of stars that could fill a stadium. The difference is that they tend to do it selectively rather than chasing the biggest or sexiest names. They can afford not to.
Jason Ryles has overseen one of the biggest roster turnovers in the competition over the past season and a half. The club knows there are gaps to fill and I expect Parramatta will continue targeting quality signings for 2027 and 2028, with Jaydn Su'A likely only the beginning.
But if Mason and Horo are right, we're still only at the earliest stages, even if we recruit well.
If Parramatta had paid enormous overs to secure Keaon Koloamatangi, many fans may have celebrated the recruitment victory. But would it necessarily have been the right long-term decision? Apparently not according to Souths or Wayne Bennett. Like us, they weren't prepared to pay through the roof for him.
Interestingly, despite some of the fan pessimism surrounding Parramatta, Mason sees hope.
"I've seen their reserve grade. I've seen their 21s. I've seen their Flegg and SG Ball."
"They've got about six, seven of the best Australian school boys in the country. They're coming through. They're like 18. So, give them two years."
"They're the ones that you think can make the difference to the club."
Their argument is that the Eels' future may depend less on winning recruitment battles, cautioning against the Dragons approach, and more on developing the next generation already inside the system over the next few years.
The Broncos are evidence of a mystery beyond that.
Elite talent. Enormous resources. Strong pathways. A two-time premiership-winning coach. A roster packed with Origin and representative players. Recruitment comes easy. The result? Only one more win than us at this point of the season.
What do you think ultimately turns a club into a contender and then a premiership winner? And do you agree or disagree with Mason and Scope, and why or why not?