As we transition with our rebuilding phase, I'm wondering if we have gone about it the wrong way around.
We have a great Home ground, we have great fans that will support the club, we have a world class training centre, we have the new constitution and Leagues Club to rival most others, We have the shiny new coach and assistant coach's, and we have a world class Halfback, with a new culture developing.
It appears that we have been checking off for some time all the ingredients required to have a winning club. This brings me to what I see as a major fault within our club.
It appears we are able to identify the players we wish to sign, there are many examples of that within our system right now, none better then Iongi, Lomax, Addo Carr and Walker. However there also appears to be a problem with getting classy players that are being courted by other teams over the line and sigining with our club. The 4 players I mentioned were not being courted by any other club.
So how do we fix it. If we are identifying where the club was falling behind with all of the above and we set about turning it around and fixing it, to the boards credit, then surely the same Board can see we are seriously lacking in the art of getting a quality player that other clubs want to join our squad.
What is it that is lacking in this area. Is it a lack of understanding of what makes the player tick, are possible recruits issues, fears, not being addressed during the negotiations, is it a stigma that players don't like our club, Is it the rookie coach might not be good, is it a lack of third party deals or investment clubs etc. Do the player managers not get on with our club. There must be something that is turning off potential recruits. Over the last couple of years we have lost so many players and potential coach's for that matter, that the club has identified as wanting or wanting to keep, and we havnt been able to get them accross the line.
So I do wonder who at our club is identifying the problem, and what needs to be done to turn this around. Over the next 12 months, we as a club have a huge war chest of salary cap $$ to be spent, but it won't matter if the club cannot sign the good 1st choice players they are targeting.
It makes me wonder, what our club would look like if we were to recruit say Gus Gould. Would that even be possible. I do wonder what type of $$ would it take to hire someone like him. We seem to be very light on in the reputation and signing power of our current head of football. I'd happily pay Gus Gould $2m a season to be our recruitment spokesperson, the man that makes the deal, that courts the new player. Surely someone of his experience and stature would be a crucial and club defining signing. Perhaps the very last piece of the Eels puzzle.
Im no fan of Mark O'Neill head of football operations, I have made that very clear. So how do we get the club to at least review what mistakes have been made or continue to be made that turns so many players away from us.
I think it's crucial for any future success, more so then any one player. We should be going for the best of the best people out there to be working on our contract negotiations and selling our vision to new recruit prospects. We search high and low for the best layers, then why don't we do that at Boss level, at management level.
Im not sure of whom we should even target if we were to replace Mark O'Neill, but i am of the strongest opinion that the club to move forward must as a matter of urgency delve very deep into what is going wrong at this level, and fix it. We have an oppurtunity with our war chest to really go after some serious talent right now,
Replies
BE how you've described it is what I think he really is and what his role is you've described it to a tee.
I use the nfl model of thought around this where if your recruiting and retention of players your head coach JR and GM MoN are joined at the hip then it's passed onto the sub roles where Rogers receives the message from above and they go find that talent.Jim as CEO you report to after the process from the the fore mentioned has taken place.
I don't know if we work like that at all but this is how my thoughts are around our R and R committee.
I assume you didn't like my explanation Coryn.
Last point I have no idea what Rogers actually does, never have heard him comment on anything or one.....responsible for negotiations I find hard to believe.
I expect that a list of duties exists for everyone, practically how they are practiced we are never loikely to know....pretty confident though that Ryles has the buck stopping with him in "his" roster......how much we actually pay comes back to the CEO and the strength of Ryles arguments to go further than expected in price.
We offer about as much as most clubs except TPAs Parramatta being a CBD and with all its fan base numbers none to throw money support behind it
The Dogs since Laundy got on board can offer a bit more so can other teams and it matters.
There’s really only two ways this went down, in my opinion.
One: Parra made a stronger offer on Friday night, Galvin was ready to sign, but then the Dogs came back with a bigger TPA and locked it in. That would line up with the talk about Moses going to Ryles for more money.
Two: Galvin was always heading to the Dogs, and the Eels were just there to make it look like a race.
Either way, the front office probably had no shot unless they overpaid and then the same people blowing up about missing out would be the first to whinge that we paid too much.
I think bulldogs offered him the 7 instead of the 6 spot which parra couldn't offer and also a spot for his best mate at 9 bit of a coincidence that sexton and reed are looking for clubs the day after he signed
He definitely considers himself as the dominant playmaker and didnt want to Moses apprentice.
Thats some serious ego for a 19yr old.
Yea I also thought that could be a variable. Gould sending Vella to talk him into thinking he will be a nobody behind Moses, but at the Dogs he'd be given keys to the club house.
either way, after seeing how this is playing out, I really don't want this at our club.
I think he just preferred Ciraldo > Ryles.
Could it be that simple and the Dogs are in a window now so the situation is more favourable for him.
Smart is going to the better situation because the money will always be there down the track.
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