I think there's a bit of a difference to claiming we let them walk, and making them offers that can't match other clubs. We went deep into negotiations with them, but Paulo got offered around $700k from the Eels. Boyd $600k from the Titans. It was a business decision for us, not football based.GreenMachine wrote: ↑April 5, 2021, 8:23 pmBoyd and Paulo were allowed to walk after they decided to test the market. Whether by design or luck it was the right move.afgtnk wrote: ↑April 5, 2021, 8:01 pmDid that happen by design, or through necessity and chance?GreenMachine wrote: ↑April 5, 2021, 7:52 pmBut Jack wasn’t cutting it at Fullback, hence the change.afgtnk wrote: ↑April 5, 2021, 7:40 pmI don't think that's the case tbh, rather we don't have the player currently in the position to play that style of game. We try to or have tried to, and certainly did when Jack was in the position. There are numerous moments within our matches where the situation is screaming out for one.GreenMachine wrote: ↑April 5, 2021, 6:04 pm It’s safe to say we just don’t play a style of game that utilises a conventional ball playing fullback.
We would probably see more from a Jack in the box that trails our forwards through the ruck given our propensity to play more in the middle.
It’s probably the only downside to CNK’s game - his lack of ‘off the mark’ speed to play that role.
Either way, I just don’t see us making a play for a fullback anytime soon...not while our game plan isn’t centred around the conventional ball playing fullback.
Anyways, though the response to a mere mentioning of CNK is now predictable, my point was mainly to make an observation regarding what Sticky said pre-match. Reading between the lines, he doesn't seem to be content.
We opted for a more defensive mindset across the park (shifted Austin) and the result is this grind fest play style we see every week.
I seem to recall we offered a very generous contract to Austin, just like we did to Boyd and Paulo - two guys who were large contributors to our lazy middle defence. There's every chance Austin would still be here if simply didn't value himself as high he did, and consequently I don't think Jack moves either. We moved Jack/recruited CNK only because we needed to cover the position, as it was late in the year as I recall and hence difficult to recruit.
Jack was moved from fullback to play in the halves (where Ricky has always claimed his best position) and the club sourced CNK through Cappy’s connections during his time at the Warriors.
At the end of the day the team is structured to play through the middle and rely heavily on adlib work of our hooker and halves and less on a ball playing fullback off a pass out the back.
I can’t see that changing because it’s clear as day we are heavily invested in having potent middle rotation and depth.
Like I said, we tried hard to re-sign Austin and threw good money at him but failed, even after his ordinary 2016/17/18. We still wanted him, he didn't want us. Although this may have happened to him some stage, he did not suffer the same fate as guys like McCrone, Sezer, FPN, and Tilse, who were dumped mid-contract. We didn't punt the guy.
Can't agree with the point about not being structured to play with a ball playing fullback either because we play more up the guts. I think every team is, and we are absolutely no different. The two aren't mutually exclusive - playing up the middle should give you more opportunities out wide. Like I said, in any given match of ours there are a number of situations that screams for the injection of a fullback as a second receiver. Hell, I can give you a number of clear examples in the match that just passed - we simply don't have one with that skillset.