The signings of our players with other clubs has always proved to be devastating news for us on the field. Last year we were boosted by the signings of Poore, Shackleton and Tahu, leading to that winning streak. When Galuvao and Lowrie were confirmed to be going to the Sea Eagles and Storm repsectively and then Kingston to Penrith, we lost the GF.
Some may think that because Cayless, Inu and Mateo are going, the boys will be more desperate to win the premiership this year but it won't work that easily. The mentality of going into a game and winning it for someone else will work for players like Hindmarsh but for Hayne, who will contemplate about possibly his last chance to play with Inu, his best friend, it will backfire. It's going to harm our most dangerous player. The 2010 Premiership is going to be tougher to win than before now.
The Future
If we can't keep a similar squad together, we can't expect to perform consistently as our strategies will need to adapt. Parramatta can no longer play a similar brand of football next year. We can no longer be the entertaining that offloads and wins off brilliant 2nd phase play.
Inu and Mateo are our 2 best offloaders, whether you like it or not. What Mateo brings to the park and the ability to throw that offload while being tackled by many, can generate an opportunity which wins games more than it loses games. Mateo can cover second row, lock and 5/8 and losing him will compel us rely on developing more utility players like him but these players aren't just developed just like that. These players need the natural talent. Also remember how freaky Mateo was in 2008, especially in the game against the Raiders when he tore them apart. Mateo is the player that I would consider our genuine surprise factor. Hayne is targetted while Mateo isn't, allowing him to take advantage of skills with the element of surprise.
Inu is also a proficient offloader and had on several occasions made magnificent offloads that led to tries last year. Inu is also a brilliant finisher and easily our best player under the high ball, with his jump height being by far the best. He racks very good metres and is always the most willing player to run out of dummy half. Just look at the stats and they will show you that. Inu is our best back in terms of the utility he offers. He can play in any of the backline positions like Hayne but he can also kick goals and we only need to look to 2007 to see how brilliant he kicked.
When he leaves, Burt will be our only goalkicker and he won't always be there due to injury, retirement etc. We have no quality goalkickers in the team. Kris Keating's goal kicking is no where near good enough. You just need to look at the Bulldogs without Hazem to see how bad they were without him but they improved because they had decent players who could kick like Bryson Goodwin and Michael Ennis. We don't. Our juniors don't have any good goal kickers. The Toyota Cup, the SG Ball and Harold Matthews teams don't have players who can kick from the sideline like Inu. This is a devastating blow for us. One that people will continue to underestimate for years.
Parramatta has now lost 2 of its 4 junior sparks. If Inu does not return to the club one day, I can say that Hayne probably has very little motivation to stay in the NRL. That's why he's been in the media in the past few days. He's been angry that the salary cap has pushed his best friend out. Put yourself into his shoes. I will feel shattered to know I won't be playing with my best friend. It will even bring tears for me.
A premiership team is one that can stay together, has a reason to play for each other, can play without worrying and wants the premiership more than any other team. Parramatta has now become a team that might have to worry. It's going to be tough this season but we need to strive harder if we want that premiership.
To conclude I will also be sending off my salary cap idea from http://www.1eyedeel.com/forum/topics/post-your-salary-cap-ideas. I will not let the cap take away any more of our players.
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Replies
100% agree with everything you said
ridiculous planning by the club
mr osborne, what the f..... are you doing to our team?????????????
I have hopes that hayne is not too upset cause he has made good friends in ben smith and others at the club. I guess the only way to know is as time passes.
Dumb move by the club.