Ryles seems to be backing the development of younger players which is totally opposite of BA who always sought experience when buying players.
Plenty of juniors seem to have talent in younger grades but don't kick on when faced with NRL level coaching who can dissect their game and apply pressure especially in the spine and it seemed BA liked to play it safe by going with experience. I like that Ryles has stacked the squad with youth and potential giving him chance to assess them and pick the best players to keep.
We have a good collection of young players now who can fit in to different positions or as a utility. I would have been interested to see what Ryles could have done with Sanders as I don't believe he would have let him go, he would have tried to sell him on playing where needed and waiting for an opportunity. I think he would have had heaps of game time this year after Moses injury if Ryles was here over BA.
BA had no depth in the key positions and definitely not enough youth. BA relied on unwanted players from other clubs who were in their twilight years hoping get 1 or 2 good seasons as a backup. He didn't like to take risk on youth despite plenty of youth lighting up the NRL in recent years. Ryles hasn't bought 1 player over 25 that I can think of where I can't remember BA buying many under 25yo.
Players like Rankin, Asi, Morgan, and bringing Davey and Lussick back were wasted squad spots which should have been givien to young players. BA didn't have a stand out fullback backup for years and no genuine pace or young flyer like every other club. Stacking lower grades with utilities and spine players is good because if they have to transition to other positions they have better understanding of the game from playing in the spine which helps their development. Ryles is buying up some great junior talent with potential and although many will fail we only need a couple to have enough skills to step up for injury or suspension and 1 or 2 to really kick on as regular first graders.
People may be a bit upset at lack of signing and established hooker but value wise finding a good junior who comes cheap means instead of our team being dismantled after 1 good season we may be able to string a few seasons of success together. Premiership teams are made up of players playing better then their salary level and young players is the best way to achieve that. If any of these juniors do really develop into top line player they will be due for contract rise just as some of our older players on big contracts move on giving us better chance of holding them.
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Yeah there's certainly something exciting happening. Brown mentioned that it's like he's learning his role all over again. That suggests that we can expect a very different type of play from Parra.
A lot of what you say is very true. I do think that BA's "first choice 1st grade players" took up too much cap space. Leaving no monies for the next generation. They were leaving on masse to get paid better $$. BA era loved the other clubs paying freight.
Ryles has moved on some expensive salaries and redistriibuted it. Buying youth and depth at lower cost. We have an illusion right now of depth, that is still to be tested I would suggest.
To this day I still do not know how our recruitment and retention team saved their jobs, but to their credit they have turned it around.
Fake, some very valid points here, and TBH I don't know who was in charge with recruitment in the later years of BA. Was it the committee or BA?
I think the analogy of building around the experience has merits - Brown / Hopgood / Moses / Lane and Paulo with Matterson. It is going to be interesting to see if all of these experienced players step up to play consistently; as i think Lomax will be fine and Addo Carr will no doubt take the opportunity Ryles has given to him.
We should always take youth over traveller types as long as we have the strength in the right areas. DH will be interesting.
I love this approach Ryles is taking. So glad we got him in as coach, it's been the best off-season we've had in years and making me enjoy our team a bit more. Last year was an absolute bludger.
Remember the years when we had Smith, Hayne, Inu, Mateo, etc all coming through the lower grades??!! It was exciting and I loved it when we blooded the new kids. It was BA's greatest weakness as coach.
It's like coming off life support and actually living again now that Arthurs been booted.
Great blog. This is the main reason fans had had enough of what ba stood for, seemed like he was more concerned about his job rather than take risks with juniors.
I've always stated the fact that reserve grade always looked like the Reject shop, or Savers rather that a Parramatta development team.
Ryles is the opposite. He has some very knowledgeable assistants also, and our development pathways are in good hands with Shepherd overseeing the operation.
Brad was about himself, Ryles is about the club.
That's a very good point about Parra reserve grade. I never understood that rationale. Why stick with players who will never play first grade ever, even when first grade is decimated with injuries. What is literally the point? Reserve grade should absolutely be a development team for FG.
That's because brad knew that having a player in reserve grade with some fg experience gave him a better chance of sneaking into the 8 if a fg player went down , thus saving himself. He knew that blooding players took time and ability- which he and his close knit assistants didn't have.
Sneaking into the 8 was brad arthur in a nutshell, but look at his finals record - 30% rubbish win rate. Brad pulled the wool over many fans eyes. I don't like pulling out the nEpoTism card, but it was very plain for anyone to see. If you didn't come through his Rhinos or had close connections - good fucking luck.
Brad was always about saving himself and his pay packet, the club was always second fiddle.
Parramatta are a development club first and foremost.
I think your wrong Chiefy, Brad was not about himself or his pay packet.
His rationale was always doing things cheaply and in a hurry. He inherited a spare parts team and essentially was quite succesfull. The problem is he never evolved with the team/s and the players, he kept looking at his tried and tested formula that served him so well.
There is no question he was an autocrat and totally lacking in imagination. He just could not grow with the team or the club in the inevitable aspects of progression.
A lot of us old rusted on diehards were very grateful to still have a club after the events of 2015, I think we hid behind the recovery and were very grateful......most of us have now realised we were just too loyal at the end.
I do not think their was a conspiracy with BA but more of a lot of blindspots and misguided loyalty on his part, not only with certain players but definately with "one" son who should not be left accountable for his fathers misplacement......I have always maintained the Fathers and sons should not be coaching each other in professional sport, notwithstanding different success stories. Even the exceptions will come apart at somepoint.
The writing was on the wall in the year leading up to the 22 GF and somehow the players got off the deck and got him there.....BA really didn't do to much at all, in another Parrallel, David Anderson did not do much either in 2009, he admits he virtually gave up and handed it back to the players. Jarryd Hayne did the rest.
This is sport now, super professional and League has come a long way in the past 20 years, the innovators have been the victorious and unfortunately, BA was lacking when the "sharp tools" came into play.
Lets just wish him well for the future, because regardless of his results, I thnk he did bleed for his team!
What is odd though is when his job seemingly was on the line in 2018, his saving grace were the rookies he debuted. Mahoney, Niukore, Stone, Kaufusi, Salmon. He debuted them all and they were a sign of the future. BA more likely would have pitch them as his direction moving forward. The one time he relied on Juniors they came up for him.
As for BA was about himself, I am not overly sure but i can see where some come from that. Case in point was JA. It is beating a deadhorse but JA being used at 14 when he didn't offer anything either than being cover for Moses or Brown, particularly Moses. He never did that before and never did it again either. It was JA being shoehorned in. I wont say for no reason as there was a reason, but it was a dreadful reason. But BA pushing JA into that role was unfair to him. Though he changed for MA.
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