Thanks Mr Walker I thought something must of gone down as he just went off the radar.
OK so according to some reports Panthers are going to be paying $350,000 (RCG $150,000 and Blake $200,000) for who knows how long, so by my calculations that is at least one āaā grade player on our books but permanently unavailable. Can someone please explain the logic behind this decision? In a business this would be unacceptable and the manager (coach) would be asked to explain how this is a wise business decision and why couldnāt he manage the people concerned ? I reckon that no matter the answer he would be out on his ear.
Haggisā¦if this is true totally agree with youā¦extremely poor management. Long term contracts should be performance based and incentivised. If a player wants out all he has to do is play up a bit off the field or put in a few poor efforts on the field and heās goneā¦and on the same money. Not suggesting this applies to RCG however it may well apply to some of the other players who have departed the panthers in recent years.
Just as āin a businessā the new management gets the chance to correct/re-organise the work of the previous one ie the one who signed these players to these long terms deals. I am not too sure on the statute of limitations for blaming the outgoing manager - you know the one who said his job was done.
As disappointed as I am with Blake & RCG going, it has just been a continuation of previous seasons eg CHN being āsoldā to dogs etc, all conveniently blamed on salary cap, the rules of which were well established.
At least these recent āmove-alongsā have been relatively bloodless, unlike the shameful exploits of Gould getting rid of fine young men in Gordon, Lewis, Grant, Coote etc when he arrived and found they were on good contracts & demanded they take paycuts & then set about destroying their characters, whilst bemoaning the actions of previous management in signing them to over priced, long terms deals, only for him to do the same thing & then be gone.
I suggest we have to give Cleary the opportunity to put his team/squad together, accepting that there will be pain in the interim. Perhaps we could be the #1 sporting club in the country this time around 
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Nice idea, but very hard to implement. I canāt see a return to the $2,000 a win, & $200 for a loss (adjusted for inflation) deals of yesteryear.
Individual kpiās, and tying this to multi-year contracts, for a team sport are a difficult ask.
Wayde Egan >> Released (New Zealand Warriors)
I know Capewell has been playing in the centres & backrow for the gummies. I didnāt think much of him when I first saw him play, but he was definitely an improver. From what I recall he was playing on left edge.
We have a bunch of backrowers and Billy is a lock for the left edge backrower spot, so maybe he will play in the centres. We are definitely short of centres. Even allowing for Nadenās good form last season, we are still one centre short if we are going to compete with the good teams.
Thereās certainly going to be competition in the back row between The two Billyās, Yeo, Martin, Fish and now Capewell.
My thoughts are that Fish will move into the front row, with Yeo or Martin at lock, and Burns on the bench.
As you say, centres are kind of open, with both Capewell and Leui capable, not that Naden will give it up easily. He was basically just worn out from his first year of first grade.
We seem to be recruiting smart, glad we are not throwing $1m at a centre
Reports in News Ltd that weāve signed Zane Tetavano for 3 years for 350k a year.
Could be a good buy, if true.
Donāt see Leiu as a centre, and am confident that Naden will be there as a starter long term - I agree he just tired towards the end of the season. It is the other centre who is the liability - on a long term contract, lots of injuries and canāt beat a defender.
Brian re Tetavano, get āem while theyāre young (29) ???
Kevin might suggest a good prop donāt mature til 30, in
which case we got him in the nick of time.
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I always thought Luai could be our (Preston) outside (Gower) Cleary !!!
Just sayin.
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Luai could probably fill in at centre if needed, but not s long term option, he would be wasted out there.
Iād be happy to see Burton given some time in the centres to get used to first grade, like we did with Fittler 30 years ago. It would also give us backup if Cleary or Luai got injured during a game.
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Yeah Puss, just got him before he hit his use-by date. No wonder he was a bargain! 
TBH, Iām not fussed about Tetavanoās age. I think 29 means he should have 3 years of good footy in him & what he brings to the club will be a plus - weāve got a bunch of young forwards in Leniu, Burns, Martin et al who should get a lot out of being mentored by someone like Tetavano, not just in a footy sense but as someone who made mistakes, but has apparently turned his life around after serving time.
I think we look pretty good up front, but weāre a bit skinny in the centres. Whare & Naden should get first crack. Unlike some others here, I rate Whare, but heās getting older & has been injury prone, esp. his hamstrings - and once youāve done a hammy, it tends to keep coming back. Weāve also got McGrady & Creighton in the NRL squad, but theyāve barely played first grade. Ditto our other potential centre fill-ins like Burton, Blore & even Luai. Very little first grade experience in that lot.
Better hope we have a good run with injuries, otherwise we might get found out pretty quick.
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its funny how we repeat the often put commentā¦we are adding experience.
seriouslyā¦wasnt this the reason for Goulds 5 year grand plan?
lets simply admit we are just adding cattle to the herd.
And the only experience players will get is being in the run on squad and this should be on form and ability which should be the only criteria.
Burton looked alright last year in his ONLY game and he had NO experience.
We keep either telling ourselves or repeating the mantra from the club we have a āyoung teamā
That is just a smoke screen preparing us if we come uppitiest short.
My simple view isā¦if you are picked int he run on squad you are there to do a job and do it to the best of your ability, all this nonsense about buying players with experience or we have a young team is simply hiding the fact the contracted players are paid handsomely to deliver the best performance they can.
I keep coming back to this wonderful funnel Gould et all kept promisingā¦if its such a great funnel why did we let juniors like RCG and WB and others?
Gould was full of sh&t before he came here, was full of sh&t during his time here, and guess what, is still full of sh&t now.
There was talk of erecting a statue of Gould. I am planning a small brass plaque naming the corner cubicle in the toilets under the western stand the Phil Gould Dunny.
None of that matters now as he is gone & can do no more damage to us. It is now up to the current board, management, coaches, support staff & the players. We, the fans and supporters, can do our bit as well, buying memberships, jerseys etc & getting out to the games. Oh, and taking selfies in front of the dunny
Big Sam Mc has signed with St Maryās so doubt we will see him again in panthers colours. Thatās OK, just means the mighty Saints will win another comp lol
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Itās been almost a week since I posted that News Ltd. reported Panthers had signed Zane Tetavano, but thereās still no official announcement from the club confirming the signing.
Maybe it was fake news - which is pretty standard for News Ltd.
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Itās official - just seen we have signed Zane on LinkedIn lol
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