Steve Sharp promised to turn the club around and in my opinion the man has delivered on his promise.
The club was a complete basket case, we became the laughing stock of the NRL.
Steve made his share of rookie mistakes in the process and the media starting with Ray Hadley launched relentless attacks on Steve and the club.
Steve's cause was only made harder by insiders undermining his every move, the club had more internal leaks than a medieval sailing ship.
The salary cap breach, the botched Foran contract negotiations and the Hopoate fiasco were not Steve's finest moments.
While some fans and the media were quick to hammer Steve and the board, his achievement's have gone largely unrecognised.
Steve put his foot down when it came to appointing a new coach, the club was pushing for Jason Taylor at the time.
The signing of BA also enticed the clubs biggest ever signing in Foran, money was a factor although a player of Foran's quality would of got his money at any club.
The club has shed most of it's dead wood, for the first time in a long time, no player the club has released succeeded at other clubs.
I think it took some balls to show Hopoate the finger, it was a mistake to offer him a contact to begin with and despite the obvious media flack Steve was sure to cop, he made the right decision in the end.
Steve had to work overtime to save the Foran deal, he managed that too, the Foran situation was a disaster in the making.
The media leaks have stopped, finally.
Steve and his board signed Shubert to help with our salary cap mess, now the salary cap issue is solved.
Not so long ago the club could not attract a second string player to the club, look at our roster now.
Under Steve's guidance the club has signed Peat's, Manu, Degoise, Gordon, Watmough, Foran, Gutherson, King, Scott and now Jennings.
I honestly don't remember the last time I was jumping out of my skin for a new season to start, we haven't achieved anything yet however, unlike the past 6 seasons, our roster looks like a top 4 team.
Thank you Steve for getting us to this point, you've copped your fair share of criticism, it's time your achievements are equally recognised.
The media is once again writing positive articles, rival fans are looking at our club with interest. Our club is now in a position to reclaim the former pride and respect this great club once demanded.
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Lol don't say that too loudly around here. You're likely to be lynched.
But I have to agree. For all the stuff ups we now have a healthy salary cap and have signed 4 players who are either internationals or have played at representative level in one off season plus young up and comers in Gutherson and Schulte.
Exciting season ahead.
Yeah you gotta pay some credit no doubt, but you cant erase all the fark ups either like most on here would like to do.
Lets see how it goes this year, but if we fail again then see ya sport.
Frank I agree but even the very best at there chosen profession make poor decisions before realising success.
Some people crumble under the pressure of errors and other learn from their mistakes, I feel Steve has held solid and has come through the other end intact.
I agree re results, a top 8 finish will buy both Steve and Brad another season of grace, anything less than a finals appearance will be a miserable result and those in charge will be in all sorts.
Also, well done Schuebert! We seem to have signed a number of players of late and I'm sure Schuey has had a hand in sorting out how to do this?
Good blog Joseph.
Last I checked we still hadn't made the eight since 2009, stop counting your chickens before they're hatched.
Our roster and coaching staff was and has been a basket case since.
You can't count chickens unless you have eggs. Our fans rolled into each season with nothing more than hope and low expectations, the perfect breading ground for unicorns.
Sharp has finally provided the club with eggs, our fans are going into this season with genuine expectation, our eggs are expected to hatch, hope is not in the equation.
Steve has turned hope into genuine expectation.
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