Quote: Winslade's Offload "I can see where you are coming from, but if you put Inglis into the second row you have to tell Currie or Hughes that they are stepping back, and whilst neither of those players are outstanding they would certainly walk straight into most SL teams. Worse still, they would see inferior players like Akauola / Latu / Davis etc albeit in a different position, getting regular game time. With the current issue of players taking a pay cut whilst the club still brings in big name signings, that's not going to help much with squad morale.'"
This happens in every team sport. Cullen put Westwood in second row and it spelt the end of the road for Paul Noone, who had been a pretty promising prospect. Noone moved on to Harlequins and the dressing room morale survived.
Currie and Hughes are experienced pros and they know how RL goes, sometimes players get replaced by new signings, some will get fired up by the challenge of proving themselves better, others will mope and moan. As long as Inglis performs, it won't be an issue. The issues for squad morale come if Inglis turns out to be garbage, and is getting picked every week because he's a big name, and the whole squad knows the guy he replaced was better. Then it's a problem for the credibility of the coach with the squad so he has to address it quickly.
