Quote: Eastern Wildcat "ME's plan is a long term one, and not a short term one.
Those supporters who are expecting a Cleary, need to come back down to earth an be a little more realistic, we need to remember where we are right now, league wise, and as it stands, were not guaranteed super league just yet.
What we are bringing in mostly, is younger players, with a decent standard, which will hopefully make us a more competetive side for the future.
Going back to ME, what he is doing for the club in terms of players off the field, such as the facilities, ie recovery rooms etc, this can only abode well for the future, in terms attracting players from here and the NRL, that are of a higher calibre. Hopefully, this word will be spread among players, both here and over there. Also further development to the stadium will aid this.'"
Firstly I think we need to stop bringing Ellis into the player side of things. Other than making cash available he has nothing to do with who we sign. He’s a smart man, so he knows he knows Sid all about signing players. This is all the work of Powell and co.
Basically though you’re correct. I will add one thing, there is imho no point bringing in a NRL superstar in season one, it would be counterproductive imo. For the first few seasons we need to build a team and an ethic. When that’s in place, it’s then you add the final ingredients.
If you did what Alegend suggests you end up with a Wally Lewis situation - a player who is far too good for the team and earns far more than they do, although the latter is always a problem.
People wax lyrical about Lewis as a player and rightly so, but his impact on the fans was way higher than on the team, who remained pretty dire..
It’s all about timing, and next season will require a team effort first and foremost. Once we are established, then we wave the cheque book.
If you want proof look at KR, they have built gradually and it’s worked. They could probably now attract the highest quality NRL players available, and it would probably work for them. Not sure we could do that in year one even if we tried.