Did Battler and Rod Steel place these?

Just like the bulldogs played a legal team last night?

Quote Originally Posted by rod_steel:

Knights should take Slater and Cronk and call it even then

Sounds fair enough to me

Ok, this is not sour grapes.....

But watching this Parra team play i get the same visions as i do when watch Melbourne play - in terms of the cap...

Thats all i have to say....

How u fit......

Hayne, Inu, Burt, Reddy, Poore, Moi, Moi, Hindmarsh, Mateo, Shackelton, Keating brothers......

Grothe not even playing....

Rod, cmon, what are your thoughts?

Rostos, have a good think about what you have written here.

Hayne is the only player in that group on $400k. They spent $300k on Poore.

The other blokes would be lucky to be on an average of $200k.

There would be $2.5 million or so there. How much do you honestly think Shackelton, Inu and the Keating brothers are on?

Yep lot of their players like Robson, Keating brothers won't be on that much right now.

However how they keep them all going forward is another question. Inu is already out the door end of the season

Its getting harder to be a fan of a team in the NRL and just the NRL in general.

I remember when I was a kid and when your team was playing another team it acutally meant something very unique. Almost every team had an identity of its own due to the players that played there year in year out.

Now this thing is just an annual chop and change game of musical chairs.

Knights will be able to spend big next year. Piss off MacDougall and we'll have even more to spend. Let Cross go as well. But the big fear is that with idiots like Burraston at the helm, they seem intent on buying 'name' players who are past their use buy date just for the sake of spending the cap. That is a real worry. I reckon if marquee players who fit the need aren't available, either keep the money or buy a lot of young, raw players (or hang on to the good juniors) to increase depth. You may uncover a gem out of them.

Strong rumours that Finch is headed home to Newcastle.

If they buy O'Donnell I'll harm myself.

I wanted them to sign Carney, but they missed the boat there too.

Gidley, Carney, Mullen, De Gois would have been an exciting 1,6,7 and 9  

Enticing people to Newcastle with Stone as head coach would be hard though, I'd imagine.

Knights should be in a good position to buy one of the Storm players though. I'd go all out for Cronk, it's clear the current halves for the Knights don't cut it in the NRL.

Until they allow a discount for nuturing and developing juniors, the whole thing is a fucking joke.

Almost every NRL side would have a Newcastle junior in it. How is that fair on Newcastle's junior coaches, talent scouts etc?

You can't keep them all, but Matthew Johns should never have been forced out. That's what happens with the cap. Every year a GF team gets torn apart. I agree you can't go back to the days where teams (St George's 11 straight GF's) can stockpile talent. But this merry-go-round is bullshit.

Bruno Cullen said the other day that he suggested to Gallop that after a player has been with a club for 5 years, each year after that his salary should be discounted under the cap by 10%, so that after ten years only half of his salary is counted under the cap.

Given that clubs sign kids at 15 and 16, by the time they are at their peak they would be encouraged to stay - although I guess the risk is that clubs still have to afford to pay them.

Clubs like the Roosters have scrapped their junior development. How fucking disgusting is that?

In this regard I do feel sorry for Melbourne - they have poured heaps of time and money into the Slaters, Cronks, Smiths etc.