Re: Have Leeds lost hunger, as a club? : Tue Sep 05, 2023 4:36 pm  

Once were Loiners wrote:

Given this season it felt like the club just had to make a statement about not accepting being rubbish any more. When we signed Miller I thought we were going to go big at halfback. Then Frawley. Its pretty damning when Peter Smith's comments are basically about giving Frawley a chance. Oh, and he's played 50 NRL games.

The criticism on here and elsewhere has been growing and its really hard to feel excited for next season. One thing's for sure, I doubt Rohan will treat the off-season and pre-season games as a glorified Its a Knockout. If we don't come out of the blocks strong I think he'll be in all sorts, even if its mostly down to the club not being willing/able to spend.

But what's going big at half back going to cost? When we were linked with Luke Brooks at the start of the year his salary dwarfed our marquee figure. Brooks is one of the most maligned half backs in the NRL (you probably dismissed as such) but he was out of our reach. You've been talking about signing young, first grade half backs with their whole careers in front of them. It just isn't going to happen. Best we can hope for is a young unproven half whose pathway is blocked (Volkman) or a veteran who is looking to extend his career, maybe Chad Townsend. We need to accept the grim reality that the UK game is no longer in the same financial ,universe as the NRL, and plan accordingly. The best plan is to invest in our own youth development, and pick up what we can from the NRL in the meantime.

Re: Have Leeds lost hunger, as a club? : Tue Sep 05, 2023 4:56 pm  

I agree Arthur, it’s a painful truth that we simply cannot attract the cream of the NRL to come over here. So, with this knowledge, and that we’ve had almost certainly both halfback positions to fill at the end of the season, why are we still scratching around for signings? This reflects terribly on GH and the club IMO.

Re: Have Leeds lost hunger, as a club? : Tue Sep 05, 2023 5:13 pm  

Agreed Batley and I think that we couldn't give the 2 halves this year a definitive decision on retaining them well into the season reflects those delayed plans. It's seems fairly clear that we are being more reactive to filling slots than identifying the targets early and working to a plan.

Re: Have Leeds lost hunger, as a club? : Tue Sep 05, 2023 5:22 pm  

If we had a plan we should have de- registered Tetevano weeks ago when it became apparent he wouldn't play for us again, giving us a quota spot for this year.

Re: Have Leeds lost hunger, as a club? : Tue Sep 05, 2023 5:25 pm  

Difficult that one really as theres rightfully in his circumstances an obligation to the player. However, we've known this was his last season all year.

Re: Have Leeds lost hunger, as a club? : Tue Sep 05, 2023 5:38 pm  

Seth wrote:

Agreed Batley and I think that we couldn't give the 2 halves this year a definitive decision on retaining them well into the season reflects those delayed plans. It's seems fairly clear that we are being more reactive to filling slots than identifying the targets early and working to a plan.

They could have had a long list of targets that they want to bring in but if the players don’t want to come they don’t want to come. So now we’re probably looking at players that do want to come, where the quality isn’t as high.

For all we know, we started with Nathan Cleary and worked our way down to Frawley

Re: Have Leeds lost hunger, as a club? : Tue Sep 05, 2023 5:59 pm  

leedsbarmyarmy wrote:

They could have had a long list of targets that they want to bring in but if the players don’t want to come they don’t want to come. So now we’re probably looking at players that do want to come, where the quality isn’t as high.

For all we know, we started with Nathan Cleary and worked our way down to Frawley

theres a hell of a lot of levels between those two, that process must have involved a lot of conversations with a lot of players! I wonder if one was tyrone may though he decided Hull was a more exotic location?

Re: Have Leeds lost hunger, as a club? : Tue Sep 05, 2023 6:12 pm  

Rohan Smith wrote:

We’re in the market for halves and we’re talking to people throughout the world of rugby league.

And we came back with Matt Frawley

Re: Have Leeds lost hunger, as a club? : Tue Sep 05, 2023 6:27 pm  

leedsbarmyarmy wrote:

They could have had a long list of targets that they want to bring in but if the players don’t want to come they don’t want to come. So now we’re probably looking at players that do want to come, where the quality isn’t as high.

For all we know, we started with Nathan Cleary and worked our way down to Frawley

I doubt that’s correct as on the way down they’ve not been in contact with me or my agent.

Re: Have Leeds lost hunger, as a club? : Tue Sep 05, 2023 6:41 pm  

FGB wrote:

And we came back with Matt Frawley

Who were we talking to, his Mum?