Why did Gus re-sign this alleged player for 2yrs in Sep 2022 when there were doubts about him? If there was no market value for him and not really deemed to be NRL standard these types of players can be signed to 1yr deals.
We have to ask questions why are players being signed for multi-year deals and not wanted well before their contract is up. One year deals cause less damage for a club. People wonder why Roosters seemingly have no cap issues for starters they're not playing for players to play at other clubs something Penrith no longer has issues with these days they did previously.
As for Mahoney. It was never implied about mental health or mental well being. He's also never been on any form of sick leave. He said he had doubts during the season whether he made the right move coming to the club. The hypocrisy is that before the season started he was in the thick of all the over hype. If he did have issues he received support. He was expressing doubts about a decision he made whether he made the right move to join the club.
I rate Marshall-King a better 9 and would never have flicked him off. I wouldn't have had Mahoney captain. Fox was my choice. I can see mistakes Gus has made with recruitment and retention since he took complete control in July 2021. People here blindly support one person to the point it's a cult. People bagging the alleged player for not being NRL standard need to ask the question why was he re-signed for 2yrs instead of 1yr? Same as RFM being re-signed for 3yrs after coming back from the surgery complications with his injury. I don't support giving one person complete control of club operations.
To the clubs credit they have learned from the over hype of last year other than postings from Jobels we haven't heard much about our squad. Xerri is the exception and there's always going to be the redemption stories. The overkill on that has died down. They have done well to downplay the season ahead as best they could outside of the mandatory media grabs they have to do as part of the NRL terms of licence agreement.
This could have and should have been resolved immediately. We are still yet to hear from the side of the alleged player in question other than the fact he wasn't late for training.
Just with regards to club captain.....
IMO, they have 2 key roles.
1) off the field, they have to portray and articulate the clubs image. They must communicate well and be the people's majority choice.
2) on the field, they must be able to speak to the refs in a way that can have positive influence to the teams fortunes. This means they must have good communication skills, good repoire and keep emotions in check. They must also be respected by their own players.
What they don't need to be, is the highest paid, or longest serving member, don't need to be a rep player or most popular. In fact I couldn't gives a rats arse if they are one of the youngest. If they can be (1) and (2), they are good enough.
On that note, it can't possibly be JAC. He sounds like a clown. Can't be Burton, sounds like.... worse than a clown.
Mahoney seems the logical choice and I'm glad they went with him although he needs to work on his emotions and being able to sway a ref.
I actually would like to see Hutch being made VC. If he can hold a spot in the 13 (which I think he will), I believe he speaks well enough to make a good captain.