Found out early this afternoon but had to be fished out of Lake Como by the rescue services.
Just recovered now to post a few comments and replies to the deluded who as usual be trying to make a case for another dud joining the club.
Dreading the nightmare when the reality kicks in again

Thought you were a bit quiet this afternoon. Maybe it was the shock. Normal service resumed I see.

Its not just Charles though.Its seems the stategy of the club is to have five or six of our younger players being regular first team players by then but its hardly likely to happen given past experience at the club.
Yes we have promise in Charles and Moy but will they make it no one knows.
The two who i think will make it are Barron and Martin.
Cant see any of the current forwards making the grade.
Staveley showed promise before his injury and maybe he could be the odd forward who breaks through as a regular first team player

and then what?
We become harder to beat so that makes a difference when we try and sign quality players.I dont think so
Signing quality players is about the DOR selling the club, maybe telling a few porkies on the way like Pearson did with Gaz Ellis but getting your man is what its all about.
Myler is a Rookie at selling..Started well in signing Asiata but it all went backwards after that. and instead of making him the benchmark and a selling point used to attract some quality players he made the lazy recruitment of the average Joes we will be seeing next season

We managed to get herman to sign last season so it can't be that hard to bring in quality players

The are are more Props about than Half Backs. Of the 24 first choices halves in SL how many are actually any good right now?

Its just lazy recruitment from an inexperienced DOR who has no selling experience so wouldnt have a clue how to sell the club to a player who we had interest in.
Thats why companies employ sales and marketing personnel

And Asiata this season. If we offer bigger and better deals than other SL clubs they will come here irrespective of our standing. As someone pointed out (sorry can't remember who) Penrith's Jerome Luai one of the best players in the world has signed a 5 year contract at Wests who are regarded as a badly run club fighting it out for the wooden spoon. I'd say 99% of NRL players come over here for the money and the majority of those players will sign for the club who offers most.

Lam is an exception. His dad is the coach, he may have secured a better deal with Leigh and the contract dispute may have got messy.

Agree with this, I just haven’t seen it with Charles yet I know he’s young etc but I think Martin and Moy are much better equipped to make it long term.

I'm extremely concerned about the recruitment thus far and money aside I bet bet Asiata is wondering what the hell he's signed up for, playing in a team full of ageing journeymen and a few promising local youngsters, hardly an inspiring recipe.

We started off with the signing of Asiata and the thought of financial investment but that all just seems like a smokescreen now.

This p1ss poor recruitment will not inspire new passholders and will struggle to maintain the current level. I'm struggling to remain positive and can't see me spending the £400 or so on renewing, not with this level of signing.
I'm no longer prepared to help subsidise the club when we get absolutely nothing in return in terms of signings or performances.
Where does the line get drawn?

Have to say, I’m really considering renewing next year, just don’t see the point.

Your use of the phrase 'it seems like a smokescreen now' is interesting and bears out what I said yesterday about a concern that whatever was on the table investment wise could just have been withdrawn in the face of what a mess we are in. I hope we are wrong but I'd like some sort of statement on it from the club.

I really liked the Cartwright appointment on paper as he seems to tick most of the boxes of what we need at the club. My only worry was that sometimes Aussies with no experience of the league really underestimate the competition, I know he did a season as a player but that was 30 years ago. Maybe he’s just massively underestimating what’s needed? Sezer just isn’t a player that’s anything special in SL, in fact he’s one of those rare players that’s seemingly better suited to the NRL and how it’s structured. Having him tied to a two year deal at 33 taking a quota spot is just absolute madness. A lesser extent Cust too, I feel he could offer a bit more but on the evidence so far he’s not been anything special.

Maybe the coach has just been allowed to make a couple of poor calls? Maybe he’s been offered better players but stubbornly wants people who he’s worked with? That’s just a huge guess on my part, but I’m not convinced players refuse to join because we’ve had a couple of poor seasons. It’s not stopped Wakey recruiting decent players. We’ve either not got the money or maybe just still making poor recruitment decisions.

A factor with Luai will be he's won everything at Penrith, played SOO, been in a world cup final etc so not a lot more to achieve so may as well take the money. Also it's believed Penrith can only offer him a certain amount due to the salary cap, everyone's had a wage rise due to their success so the cap is doing is doing its job and redistributing players across the league.

But yes money is still the biggest factor though.

Agree. On a slightly separate note I wonder if Wests are paying part of his wages as Sezer had a contract option for next season.