Quote: lefty goldblatt "Maybe it's time, we as a club (and possibly the game in general), reassess these Aussie imports'contracts.
e.g. take a ball park figure of £250,000 p.a. as his ceiling.
He would reach this goal by appearances, winning games and cups, AND actually seeing out each year of his contract. Too many times now, "superstars" from the NRL are coming over for big money, then suddenly getting cold feet, or a better offer back home. Whatever happened to honour?
Bar Walters in 2000, I can't recall any Aussies going back early, until the last few years.
Yes, this homesickness tag can be covered under the umbrella of "mental health", which extends to players' families, but then the clubs have to look at recruiting again, at great inconvenience to themselves.'"
If we assume that Widdop is going then how many is that that have left their contracts early in recent times? Three (Widdop, Roberts, Sandow)?
Is that a lot in the context of the total number of players who have come from the NRL over the years?
I don’t disagree with focusing on more on home grown talent because clearly that removes the homesickness risk but I think it’s worth going for a foreign player if they have the quality on the park.
