Quote: Eastside "Absolutely nothing wrong with promoting an existing player to marquee status. It doesn't give the same excitement as signing a NEW big Aussie name though, that's all I'm saying.'"
And signing a new name marquee Aussie isn't a guarantee that all will go well or it will bring crowds in which has been proved many times.
On previous threads people have asked who's the best players we've had in 30 years
Best prop - Andy Platt
Best 2nd row - Dennis Betts
Best halfback - Gregory and Edwards were top of the answers.
I'm sure if we went
Best full back -rads and Tomkins would be there or thereabouts
Best loose forward - farrell/lockers would be in the frame along with Hanley
Best hooker - dermott/Newton would be at the top of most people's lists.
Where do they all come from?
Now before people start throwing gene miles/bell/Barrett/renouf or henry paul out there.
The games/cards have changed, not necessarily for the better imo but it has.
And when it comes to 600/700k per year players were out the running.
Do we want to risk 300ks on Tyrone Roberts, Jamie sandow, Blake Austin? Which realistically is about the top we could afford
Even Leeds this year with their acquisitions are taking risks (although merrin I think is a quality purchase).
And would any of those put 2/3k on the gates purely because of their signature?
And those signatures and 2ks would only just about cover their cost and has been proved it doesn't guarantee it will happen or keep those fans.
Promotion of and inspiring of our youth and our own players in terms of making them star names is something we should be focussing on.
Making gildart, Burgess, Manfredi, Williams, Davies, Farrell and the next generations coming through household names rather than making out that these players are 2nd or 3rd best and not worth the money they get is also something we should do at club level and "Game wide".
Again, not the full answer, but part of dozens of things that need to be done.